Carnival is one of the most beloved holidays by both kids and grownups, regardless of their age. While it is true that children usually enjoy it more than adults, —possibly due to its spontaneity and lack of sense of ridicule— Carnival is a time to dream, a time when we dare to be what we want to be without worrying about what others say, a celebration to live without complexes.

February is already here, and with it all the preparations for Carnival celebrations, but... Why do we dress up? What is the origin of Carnival? Although there are different theories about it, they all seem to agree that it is an event in which seriousness and rectitude are forgotten to give way to fun and revelry.

Keep reading this article in English or switch to the Spanish version to perfect reading skills.

The Origins of Carnival Celebrations

While some claim that the origin of the Carnival dates back a long time before, —about 5,000 years ago— most sources suggest that it is a holiday related to the pagan festivities in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, the wine and earthly passions. However, it was not until the Middle Ages when the celebration spread throughout Europe.

When is Carnival Celebrated?

Carnival is one of those seasonal events, that is, one of those celebrations that take place on very specific dates and for a reason related to the season or time of the year in which we are. Although Carnival dates may vary depending on the country or continent, the festivity usually starts on the Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday and culminates on the day before Ash Wednesday   —known as Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras represents the practice of “the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season” before and during the Easter Holidays. In fact, the name "Carnival" means literally "abstinence from meat."

How is Carnival Celebrated Today?

Although Carnival is an ancient tradition, each country holds its own customs and rituals nowadays. Anyway, Carnival is a time to dress up, a masquerade party in which people change their roles. Moreover, it is very common to accompany the event with concerts, music, feasts and all kinds of recreational and cultural activities. Below, you will find a list with some of the most interesting Carnivals in Spain and Latin America.

Carnival in Spain

Spain is a country rich in traditions, from the Holyday Season customs to the rituals of the Holy Week, passing through Carnival celebrations. Some of the most popular are those of Águilas (Region of Murcia), Cádiz (Andalusia), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) and Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca, Castilla y León). Next, we describe some of the traditions you’ll enjoy if you live the Carnival experience in Spain.

Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The Carnival in the Canary Islands is perhaps the second most famous in the world after Brazil. Santa Cruz de Tenerife offers a party that shines through the colorful parades and floats. The contest of the Carnival Queen is especially important, and the winner is usually the most striking and ornamented design. It was declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest, the biggest award an event can obtain.

Carnival of Cadiz

In Cadiz, this party is the most relevant of the year by far. In addition, it was declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest, a distinction that shares with Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Águilas, in Murcia. Through the cheerful comparsas and chirigotas —musical chorus typical from Carnival that sings humorous songs through the streets of the city— Cadiz becomes a satirical stage to protest and homage the hottest events of the year.

 

 

Carnival of Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca

The so-called "Carnaval del Toro" (Bull Carnival) is the main festival of a small town called Ciudad Rodrigo, in Salamanca, Castilla y León, Spain. The characteristic that distinguishes this celebration from the rest —and gives name to the event— is the celebration of bull runs and capeas. Especially relevant are the run of the “Domingo de Carnaval” (Carnival Sunday) and the so-called “Toro del Aguardiente” (Firewater Bull)—home-made spirits and foods are distributed during the bull run—held on Mardi Gras in the early morning.

Carnival of Águilas, Murcia

The Carnival of Águilas is the most relevant in the Region of Murcia and one of the most popular in Spain. It was declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest in 2015, distinction that shares with those of Cádiz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The most special feature about this celebration is the so-called “Carnaval de la Noche” (Carnival of the Night), an event that moves the spectacle to the streets of this small town throughout the whole night.

Carnival in Latin América

Although it is true that the Brazilian Carnival is one of the most relevant traditions in Latin America, Carnival is celebrated in other countries on the continent, each of them performing its own customs and traditions. Here you go a sample of the attractions you’ll find if you get to experience some of the most popular Carnivals in Latin America.

Dominican Republic: Carnival of Santo Domingo

This is not only the most popular Carnival in the Caribbean, but also one of the most popular festivities in the islands. Moreover, since the Carnival of Santo Domingo coincides with independence celebrations, the principal actors are some very characteristic and curious characters found in the folklore of the Dominica Republic: the “Diablo Cojuelo” (“Devil Cojuelo"), the “Roba la Gallina” (the “Steal the Hen”), or the so-called “Pepines”. During these holidays, all the floats in the region gather in the capital and compete for prizes awarded nationwide.

 

 

Mexico: Carnival of Veracruz

The Carnival of Veracruz, Mexico, has been declared the "Happiest Carnival in the World." This is probably due to the festival of light and color that shines through its parades, as well as the musical and festive atmosphere that floods its streets during the almost 10 days of festivities. One of the most special events is the so-called “Quema del Mal Humor” ("Bad Mood Burning”) opening celebrations on the first day of Carnival.

Argentina: Carnival of Gualeguaychú

It takes place in the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, every weekend of January and February. It is so important that it is called the “Carnaval del País” ("Carnival of the Country"), and is famous for its comparsas, which compete to win the first prize of the contest. Each year a different topic is chosen, and costumes and songs are composed to celebrate it. It is one of the essentials in the list of Latin American Carnivals.

Colombia: Carnival of Barranquilla

The Carnival of Barranquilla is the most important folklore festival in Colombia. It was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by Unesco in 2003, and its main events are: the so-called “Batalla de las Flores” ("Battle of Flowers") and the colorful parade of floats. This Carnival most important actors are three characters that are very important in the folklore of the region: “Rey Momo” (“King Momo”), “Maria Moñitos” and the “Hombre Caimán” (“Cayman Man”). In addition, different theater and music festivals are also held in the city on these dates.

At don Quijote, we hope you enjoy this post and discover some of the most colorful and original Carnivals in the Spanish-speaking world. In addition, we know that you will take the opportunity to practice Spanish and establish ties with speakers of different varieties of the Spanish language.

 

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Te invito a un té

The sentence above, which means I’ll buy you a cup of tea, is the perfect starting point to begin with today’s post. Te and té are very similar words. In fact, their only difference is a little orthographic mark, which can go unnoticed. Do you want to know why this acute accent is so important? Keep on reading to understand how diacritics work in Spanish.

You can also read this post in Spanish.

What are diacritics?

Diacritic marks are often used in Spanish to tell the meaning of two similar words apart, usually monosyllables. As a general rule, words with only one syllable must never be emphasized with an accent. However, to avoid confusions and ambiguities, sometimes we do use diacritic marks.

These are the most common word pairs in Spanish that use diacritic marks to differentiate their meanings. Have a look at the following examples.

 

Without diacritics	With diacritics
De    Preposition    Voy a hacer un curso de español.    (I’m gonna take a Spanish course)	Dé    Present subjuntive tense (verb ‘dar’)    Ojalá el profesor dé las notas hoy.    (I wish the teacher could give us the marks today)      Imperative mode (verb ‘dar’)    Dé la mano firmemente cuando se presente.    (Shake hands firmly when introducing yourself)
El    Article    El profesor de español se llama Ramón.    (The Spanish teacher is called Ramón)	Él    Pronoun    Él es el padre de Hugo, se llama Antonio.    (He is Hugo’s father, and he’s called Antonio)
Mas    Conjunction (same meaning as ‘pero’)    Quería ir mas no se lo permitieron.    (He wanted to go, but they didn’t let him)	Más    Adverb expressing quantity    Llegaré más tarde.    (I’ll arrive later)      Adverb expressing comparison    Natalia habla más que Isabel.    (Natalia talks more than Isabel)
Mi    Possessive    Mi perro se llama Tofu.    (My dog’s name is Tofu)      Noun (musical note)    Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si	Mí    Pronoun (after preposition)    A mí no me gustan las anchoas.    (Anchovies don’t please me)
Se    Pronoun    Ella se ducha por las noches.    (She takes showers at night)	Sé    Present indicative (verb ‘saber’)    No sé dónde vive.    (I don’t know where he lives)      Imperative mode (verb ‘saber’)    Luis, sé bueno en casa de la abuela, por favor.    (Luis, be good at your grandma’s place, please).
Si    Conjunction (conditional)    Si tengo tiempo, te llamaré.    (I’ll call if I have the time)      Noun (musical note)    Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si	Sí    Adverb    - ¿Vas a venir a la fiesta?      (Will you come to the party?)    - Sí, es mañana a las 19:00, ¿verdad?      (Yes, it’s tomorrow at 19:00, right?)
Te    Possessive    ¿Cómo te llamas?    (What’s your name?)	Té    Noun (plant, beverage)    ¿Qué prefieres: té o café?    (What do you prefer: tea or coffee?)
Tu    Possessive    ¿Cuál es tu clase?    (Which is your class?)	Tú    Pronoun    Tú eres más alto que yo.    (You are taller than me).

 

We hope you found this post useful for understanding Spanish diacritics. Thank you very much to Ramon, Head of Studies at our Spanish school in Malaga, for helping us with this article. Keep on learning Spanish with don Quijote!

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Goya Awards 2020

Last weekend, 3.6 million people watched the 34th Goya Awards ceremony, honoring the top Spanish movies of 2019. This is the Spanish film industry’s main event, equivalent to Hollywood’s Oscars. It is organized by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences and this edition was held in the city of Malaga.

If you’re looking for a fun different way of learning Spanish or you’re just a moviegoer, keep on reading to find out which were the top 2019 Spanish movies according to the Academy. Or, if you prefer, click here to switch to the Spanish version of this post.

Almodovar Movies Keep Winning

 

 

 

Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas… these are all names that sound familiar to you, right? Well, imagine all three together in one production. Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory) is the undisputed winner of the ceremony and probably one of the best Spanish movies in 2019.

This biographical story, which is also nominated for the 92^nd Oscar Awards as Best International Feature Film, has been chosen Best Film of the Year by Time magazine. On Saturday night, this movie was awarded with several Goya prizes, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Pedro Almodovar. Good luck at the Oscars!

 

Most-Awarded Spanish Movies

After Pain and Glory, with 7 awards, the second most-awarded movie was While at War (Mientras dure la Guerra), which got 5 prizes, including Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup. This historical drama was directed by Alejandro Amenabar (The Others, The Sea Inside, Regression) and it shows how Miguel de Unamuno, a popular Spanish writer, lived the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

Fire Will Come (Lo que arde) is a movie shot in Galician language which was awarded with Best New Actress and Best Cinematography, so if you’re a photography lover, you know what’s next on your watchlist. And, by the way, this is one of those Spanish movies on Netflix. There’s no excuse!

Another movie awarded with two Goya Prizes is The Endless Trench (La trinchera infinita), which has not one but three directors! The film won Best Actress and Best Sound.

Best Spanish Actors and Actresses

Some other major prizes in this Goya Awards ceremony include Best Actor for Antonio Banderas in Pain and Glory and Best Actress for Belén Cuesta in The Endless Trench (La trinchera infinita). The protagonist of The Mask of Zorro played the role of a film director in his decline, who remembers his early life through flashbacks. Belén Cuesta tells the story of a woman who lives a forbidden romance during the Spanish Civil War.

Goya Winners 2020

To sum up, these are some of the Spanish movies you can’t miss according to the Goya 2020 Awards:

Best Picture	Pain and Glory	Best Director	Pedro Almodóvar for Pain and Glory
Best Actor	Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory	Best Actress	Belén Cuesta for The Endless Trench
Best Supporting Actor	Eduard Fernández for While at War	Best Supporting Actress	Julieta Serrano for Pain and Glory
Best New Actor	Enric Auquer for Eye for an Eye	Best New Actress	Benedicta Sánchez for Fire Will Come
Best Original Screenplay	Pain and Glory	Best Adapted Screenplay	Out in the Open
Best Spanish Language Foreign Movie	Heroic Losers	Best New Director	Belén Funes for A Thief’s Daughter
Best Animated Movie	Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles	Best Cinematography	Fire Will Come

 

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We have already talked about the presence of the Spanish language in the world, even in some remote countries we could not imagine. The spread began in 1492 with the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and, today, it is the second language most used by native speakers worldwide. Its relevance due to the great number of speakers in some countries such as the United States (according to CNN, there are an estimated 58.9 million Hispanic people in the US, comprising 18% of the population) has forced different industries to localize and translate their products in order to reach the Spanish-speaking audience.

Continue reading this post in Spanish and improve your reading skills!

This is the case of the music industry, a business that moves billions of euros every year. There have been many Latin artists who have achieved fame by singing tracks in Spanish, even reaching the top positions in charts and rankings all over the world. At don Quijote, we once again claim music as an instrument for teaching Spanish as a foreign language. For today’s blog post, we’ve selected 10 international artists who managed to succeed with songs performed in Spanish.

1. Jennifer Lopez

Source: Wikipedia Commons

The North American singer of Puerto Rican origin has an entire album recorded in Spanish. It is entitled Como Ama una Mujer (2007). She has also a Spanish version of her song Dance Again (2012).

2. Christina Aguilera

Source: Wikipedia Commons

The North American artist released an entire album in Spanish: Mi Reflejo (2000). This album was nominated as "Record of the Year" for the Latin Grammy Awards of 2001.

3. Beyoncé

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Irremplazable (2007) was the singer's third single in the United States. It was recorded in Spanish as part of the `Luxury edition’ of the album B'Day (2006) and was the first crossover of the artist to the Latin market.

4. Tiziano Ferro

Source: Wikipedia Commons

The Italian artist recorded his first single Perdona (2001) in Spanish. The song belongs to the album Rojo Relativo, which was a gold record in sales.

5. BSB (Backstreet Boys)

Source: Wikipedia Commons

The first song that the Orlando boys recorded in Spanish was Nunca Te Hare Llorar (1997). Never Break Your Heart (the original track) was the second single from the first Backstreet Boys album.

6. Madonna

Source: Wikipedia Commons

The Queen of Pop also crossed language barriers and took the plunge and popped out in Spanish. Madonna introduced some phrases in Spanish in two of her hits of the 80s: Who's that Girl (1987) and La Isla Bonita (1986).

7. Mariah Carey

Source: Wikipedia Commons

This vocal goddess recorded the ever memorable ’90s hit My All in Spanish, renaming it Mi Todo (1997). Whoever translated the song did not a great job and Spanish speakers criticized this new version.

8. Nelly Furtado

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Almost a decade after she came to fame in 2000 with the single, I'm Like a Bird, this Portuguese-origin singer recorded an entire album in Spanish: Mi Plan (2009). The presentation single of her album, entitled Manos al Aire, made history as it marked the first time a North American artist reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart with a song that was originally written in Spanish.

9. Bon Jovi

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Spanish is not the strong point of. Cama de Rosas (1992) was a Spanish version of his song Bed of Roses. If we listen to the track, it is quite clear that the artist would need a Spanish course to be able to express himself more clearly.

10. Demi Lovato

Source: Wikipedia Commons

She tried it along with Pablo Alborán at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2011. The song performed was Solamente Tú and was very well received by the Spanish public.

As Colombian artist J. Balvin said some time ago in an interview for ABC "By Singing in Spanish you can go as far as in English." The great reggaeton star also explained that his intention "is not to make music for Latinos, but for human beings", and the truth is that half of the audience that attends their concerts does not speak Spanish. Can we say then that music in Spanish is increasingly popular even for an audience that doesn't speak it?

Want to learn more Spanish through music? Enjoy our video about last decade’s top tracks in Spanish!

 

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In other languages, such as English or French, when a sentence contains a negative expression (e.g. never or jamais), we don’t add the usual negative adverb (not in English or pas in French). Why? Because we would be creating a double negative sentence, which is incorrect in these languages. In Spanish, however, grammar works differently in this regard.

Do you want to know more? Don’t worry, after reading the explanation below you won’t be in doubt anymore. Keep on reading this article in Spanish or click here to switch to the Spanish version.

When not to use double negatives in Spanish

When words such as nunca or jamás (never), tampoco (neither), nadie (no one), and ninguno (none) precede a verb, then we don’t add the adverb no, as it occurs in other languages. For example:

Nunca hago deporte (I never do sports)

INCORRECT: Nunca no hago deporte*

Yo tampoco hago deporte (I don’t do sports either)

INCORRECT: Yo tampoco no hago deporte*

En mi familia nadie hace deporte (No one in my family does sports)

INCORRECT: En mi familia nadie no hace deporte*

Nada de lo que haces puede considerarse deporte (Nothing you do can be considered sports)

INCORRECT: Nada de lo que haces no puede considerarse deporte*

Ninguno de ellos hace deporte (None of them does sports)

INCORRECT: Ninguno de ellos no hace deporte*

 

When to use double negatives in Spanish

On the contrary, when these negative words go after the verb, we must place the word no before the adverb. For example:

No hago deporte nunca (I never do sports)

INCORRECT: Hago deporte nunca*

Yo no hago deporte tampoco (I don’t do sports either)

INCORRECT: Yo hago deporte tampoco*

En mi familia no hace deporte nadie (No one does sports in my family)

INCORRECT: En mi familia hace deporte nadie*

No puede considerarse deporte nada de lo que haces (Nothing you do can be considered sports)

INCORRECT: Puede considerarse deporte nada de lo que haces*

No hace deporte ninguno de ellos (None of them does sports)

INCORRECT: Hace deporte ninguno de ellos*

In any case, the core message does not change. The only difference is a reinforced negative nuance.

Surely you won’t ever have any more doubts about double negatives in Spanish!

(Also: surely you will never have any more doubts about double negatives in Spanish!) ?

Thank you very much to Ignacio Sellés, Spanish teacher at don Quijote Alicante, for contributing to the blog with today’s article. Keep posted to continue receiving Spanish language tips and tricks weekly.

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Today we are going to cover some characteristics of some indefinite adjectives and pronouns in Spanish. Are you familiar with any of them! ? Click here to read this post in Spanish. Let’s go for it!

Algún, alguno

They both express an undefined quantity somehow relatable to the speaker or an indeterminate fact.

1. Algún, as well as alguna/algunos/algunas, is a determiner (in this case masculine and singular). It refers to someone or to something and it precedes a noun that must be masculine and singular as well. It occupies the first position in the sentence.

¿Algún huevo para hacer la tortilla?

(Do you have) any egg to make a Spanish omelet?

 Algún año viajaré a Chile.

One day I will travel to Chile.

2. Alguno (not algún) is a masculine, singular pronoun that refers to someone and specifies the gender and number of the word that follows.

En Andalucía no todo el mundo pronuncia la “z” como una “s”. Yo sé de alguno que lo hace con el sonido “z” también.

In Andalusia, not everyone pronounces the letter “z” as an “s”. I know some people who do use the sound “z” as well.

3. Besides, alguno can also have the same role as algún + [pronoun]. It can be used this way when the speaker does not want to repeat the name.

- ¿Tienes algún libro de gramática?

- Aquí no, pero creo que tengo alguno (= algún libro de gramática) en casa.

- Do you have any grammar books?

- Not here, but I believe I have some (=grammar books) at home.

Ningún, ninguno

They are both indefinite adjectives. However, these two words have different meanings and they can’t be used in the same way. Let’s find out why:

1. Ningún and ninguna mean not one, and therefore they must be used in plural. You’ll find them always placed before a masculine, singular noun.

No queda ningún bombón en la caja. (There is not even one chocolate left in the box)

No hay ningún cliente en la tienda. (There are no customers in the store)

2. Ninguno has the same meaning as ningún + [nombre], but we use it when we don’t want to repeat the name we are referring to.

- ¿Tienes algún libro de gramática?

- No, aquí no tengo ninguno (= ningún libro de gramática).

3. When talking about people, we use nadie instead of ninguno. But we’ll get deeper into that in our next blog post.

We thank Lucas, Head of Studies at our Spanish school in Seville, for his contribution to our blog. Keep on learning with don Quijote!

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Let’s talk about machine translation. Often abbreviated as MT, it refers to automated software that can translate text inputs from one language to another. Google Translate or DeepL are some of the most popular machine translation services on the Internet.

Although the machine translation market size is expected to grow worldwide in the next years, as Statista data shows, Google Translate will never achieve the efficiency of human-powered translation. Do you want to know why? Keep on reading to discover some of the funniest Google Translate Fails in Spanish and why they can’t (yet) be avoided.

Switch to the human-translated Spanish version of this post.

Polysemic Words: A Nightmare Scenario

Without the right context, polysemy can be a great challenge for translation machines, especially in short text strings. When a word has multiple meanings, Google Translate chooses one according to the information given in the rest of the sentence. But, as you can see in the example below, that doesn’t always work.

The word school refers not only to a teaching organization, like don Quijote Spanish schools, but also to a large number of fish swimming together in the same direction. However, Google Translate does not quite grasp the difference. The result? A target text stating that some fish spend most of their time being schooled.

Proper Nouns Hinder Proper Translations

Proper nouns should only be translated in very specific cases. For example, when a fictional character’s name defines something about his personality. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, you’ll know how important it is for Gandalf the Grey to become later Gandalf the White. That’s why, for once, Spanish movie translators did well in translating this character’s name for ‘Gandalf el Gris’ and ‘Gandalf el Blanco’.

However, in most cases we shouldn’t translate proper nouns. In the example below, Google Translate didn’t realize that Pink is (also) a proper noun and ended up saying a that a color went straight into the Billboard Hot 100 list.

Proverbs and Sayings: A Long Way to Go

Google is getting more and more efficient thanks to artificial intelligence. However, and even if English<>Spanish is one of the language pairs most human input, it makes mistakes. It can translate well-known sayings, like it’s raining cats and dogs, but it doesn’t work with the less common ones.

The equivalent Spanish saying in the following case would be mejor pájaro en mano mejor que ciento volando.

Cultural Differences: Guaranteed Failure

Even professional translators can sometimes overlook cultural differences… imagine how often machine translation does so. How many lives does a cat have in your language? In English it’s nine, but in Spanish it has seven, and in Arabic only six. And believe us, Google can’t tell the difference.

Final Thoughts

Automation is taking over the world, but there are some tasks that a machine will successfully perform on its own. Translating is one of them. If you work in an international environment, we strongly recommend you to take a business-oriented Spanish course so you don’t need to rely 100% on Google Translate for your emails and presentations.

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As the 2010s come to an end, don Quijote wants to take the opportunity to pay tribute to this last decade’s top tracks in Spanish. Because the end of a decade is almost the end of an era, especially when we talk about artistic movements such as music.

Switch to the Spanish version to improve your reading skills.

As a Stevie Wonder song says: "Music is a world within itself, it is a language we all understand." Although it is true that the language of music is universal, understanding the lyrics helps a lot when making the most of the them. In fact, music can be an effective and fun way to learn a language. For this reason and for all those who are studying Spanish as a foreign language, we have selected a playlist with last decade’s top tracks in Spanish. We are sure that you’ll learn some very useful expressions while enjoying these dance floors’ greatest hits.

2010 Enrique Iglesias & Juan Luis Guerra: Cuando me enamoro

 

 

Cuando me enamoro is a Latin pop and bachata song performed by pop singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias (Spain) and featuring singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra (Santo Domingo). It was released as the first single from Iglesias ninth album on 26 April 2010. The song is the main-theme of soap opera very popular in Mexico and became a contender for Latin Grammy Award in 2010.The single has sold around a million digital downloads worldwide.

2011 Don Omar & Lucenzo: Danza Kuduro

Danza Kuduro is a bilingual song (Spanish-Portuguese), performed by Puerto Rican singer Don Omar and Portuguese–French reggaeton recording artist Lucenzo. It was released on August 11, 2010. In 2011, a remake was included in the soundtrack of the movie Fast Five, in which Don Omar plays a role. Danza Kuduro was the Top song in Spanish in 2010 and the music video has received over 1 billion views on YouTube.

2012 Juan Magán, Pit Bull & El Cata: Bailando por el mundo

Bailando por el mundo is a song by the Spanish artist Juan Magan, featuring vocals from American rapper Pitbull and El Cata. It was launched in October 2011 and became Top track on Latin music lists in several countries. Currently, the music video has more than two million views on YouTube.

2013 Marc Anthony: Vivir mi vida

 

 

This is a Spanish cover of the original song C'est la vie, by the Algerian artist Khaled. It was the first single from the 3.0 album, by Dominican artist Marc Anthony, and was released on April 15, 2013. It has sold more than 300,000 units worldwide.

2014 Enrique Iglesias, Descember Bueno & Gente de Zona: Bailando

Bailando is a song by Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias, Cuban artists Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona. The song was written by all of them and produced by Carlos Paucar. It was released by Universal Republic Records as the sixth single from the record.

The original Spanish version served as the theme song of the soap opera Reina de Corazones. Bailando was the tenth best-selling song in 2014 with 8 million units.

2015 Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias: El perdón

 

 

El Perdón is a song by American singer Nicky Jam and Spanish artist Enrique Iglesias. On 10 July 2015, an English-language version of the song, titled Forgiveness, was released.

2016 Nicky Jam: Hasta el amanecer

"Hasta el Amanecer" is a song by American singer Nicky Jam. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Song and the Urban Song of the Year in 2017. It was also nominated for Single of the Year at Lo Nuestro Awards in the same year.

2017 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee: Despacito

 

 

Despacito is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yanke.  It was released by Universal Music Latin in January 2017. It has been ranked among the best Latin songs of all-time as well as the most successful Spanish-language tracks in pop music history.

2018 Nicky Jam & J Balvin: X

 

 

X is a song by American singer Nicky Jam and Colombian singer J Balvin. It was released by Sony Music Latin on March 2, 2018. A Spanglish version of the song was released on April 27, 2018. The music video has more than 1.7 billion views on YouTube up to now.

2019 Bad Bunny & Drake: Mía

 

 

Mía is a song by Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny featuring vocals from Canadian rapper Drake. The song was released by Rimas Entertainment Records on October 11, 2018 as the second single from his debut studio album. The song topped the charts in Spain, and reached the top 10 in Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and Venezuela.

Here you have the video of our YouTube channel for you to enjoy!

 

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As Mark Twain said, 'One must travel to learn’. At don Quijote, we are perfectly aware of the importance of exploring and discovering new cultures and ways of seeing the world, especially when we want to learn a foreign language and truly master it. For this reason, we want to dedicate today's blog post to propose a fascinating road trip through the Patagonia of Chile and Argentina, a trip to awaken all the senses, as well as a perfect opportunity to escape winter and learn Spanish in Latin America.

Continue reading or switch to the Spanish version and practice your reading skills.

We have designed this road trip for all those who want to have an unforgettable experience full of adventures and challenges to overcome, an experience full of paths to travel and landscapes to admire. We have prepared a travel itinerary with 8 stops in some of the best destinations to visit in the Patagonia of Chile and Argentina. It is highly recommended to take this trip at this time of year (between the months of December and March), since they are in summer and temperatures are much more pleasant.

But Chile and Argentina are huge, so it would be too long to take a road trip through all their territory. For this reason, we have focused our route on Patagonia. We will cross the borders of both countries on different occasions, being able to enjoy a great variety of scenarios: from inhospitable places with majestic glaciers, to bustling metropolises and wonderful mountain landscapes.

1. Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

 

Buenos Aires is the capital city of Argentina, a place that gives off a contagious energy, a city that spreads fascinating enthusiasm to the millions of people who visit it every year. It is the cultural heart of the country, but also the birthplace of tango and the world capital of theater. Take advantage of this stop to meet the sociable porteños —the “people of the port” in the Buenos Aires region— and enjoy a total immersion in the language and culture of this vibrant metropolis.

 

2. San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

 

 

After a long (but fascinating) drive from Buenos Aires, we will arrive in San Carlos de Bariloche. Located in the province of Río Negro and next to the Andes mountain range, it is the most populated and visited city in Patagonia. The main attractions of Bariloche are its incredible natural reserves, full of forests and lakes, and its well-known ski resorts. In addition, Bariloche was declared "world capital of adventure tourism" in November 2012 and has one of the most important scientific and technological centers of the American continent.

 

3. Puerto Varas, Los Lagos, Chile

 

 

And, through the wonderful landscapes of the Puyehue National Park, we move to Puerto Varas, in the Los Lagos region, southern Chile. It is a beautiful city of German colonial style that is located on the banks of the great Llanquihue lake, and from which we can enjoy spectacular views of the still active Cabulco and Osorn volcanoes.

 

4. Chiloé Island, Los Lagos, Chile

 

 

Taking a ferry in Puerto Coronel, we will reach Chiloé Island, within the same region of Los Lagos, in Chile. Castro, its capital, offers a great group of churches that were declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2000; as well as the characteristic palafitos, a type of construction carried out on a kind of wooden pillars by the sea.

 

5. Punta Arenas, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena, Chile

 

 

After one of the longest journeys on our route, we will arrive at Punta Arenas, very close to the so-called “end of the earth” (excursions are made to Antarctica and nearest deserts).  Located in the Strait of Magellan, where the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean meet, it is the southernmost point of Chilean Patagonia. You will admire the monument to Hernando de Magallanes, located in the famous Muñoz Gamero square; as well as the interesting Nao Victoria Museum, where you will contemplate a replica of one of the galleons of the Portuguese explorer and navigator.

 

6. Puerto Natales, Natales, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena, Chile

 

 

Puerto Natales is a port city located in the southern part of Chilean Patagonia, on the banks of the Señoret channel. In the city, we can visit the Municipal Historical Museum, where some history and tools of the indigenous population of the area are exposed. In the northern area, we can explore the impressive Milodon Cave, an important settlement during prehistory. In addition, Puerto Natales is the main entrance giving access to Torres del Paine National Park, as well as the port from where ferries crossing the Patagonian fjords leave.

 

7. Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

 

 

It is a National Park known for its impressive mountains; its turquoise blue lakes; its majestic glaciers; and its golden-colored meadows, home to different endemic species of South America (such as the guanaco, a kind of alpaca typical in the area). Some of the main attractions in Torre del Paine are the construction composed of three white granite towers giving name to the park, and the popular horn-shaped peaks, known as “Cuernos del Paine”.

 

8. El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina

 

 

Once again, we cross the border, this time to reach Calafate, in the Argentine region of Santa Cruz. It is a city near the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park. In this park, you will admire the impressive Perito Moreno glacier. In addition, you will have the opportunity to explore the interpretive center called Glaciarum, which serves as an introduction and presentation for the numerous glaciers of the place.

 

As you can see below, in the route that we have designed especially for you, we have marked the path to return to the city of Buenos Aires, place from which we started this wonderful trip. We hope you love today's blog post, and, above all, that you are fortunate enough to make this exciting road trip through the Patagonia of Chile and Argentina. Just don't forget to share all your experiences!

 

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Spoiler: same as ‘little’ vs ‘a little’

Our latest post about Spanish language talked about quantifiers such as mucho, bastante, demasiado and poco. In today’s article, we are going to go over the differences between poco and un poco when used with uncountable nouns.

If what we are saying is all Greek to you, switch to the Spanish version of this post and keep on reading.

Countable or Uncountable?

To better understand this blog post, you need to know first what countable and uncountable nouns are:

• Countable nouns are realities that ca be counted unit by unit. In other words, they can be assigned a number. For example, libro (book), niña (girl), casa (house), botella (bottle), or beso (kiss) are countable entities.

 

Tengo tres libros de terror

(I have three horror books)

 

En España es normal saludarse con dos besos

 

• However, uncountable nouns depict realities that, due to their nature, can’t be broken into units. Therefore, they can’t be counted. Substances, materials and abstract concepts usually fall into this category: leche (milk), agua (water), azúcar (sugar), paciencia (patience), miedo (fear)… For example:

 

En esta piscina hay mucha agua

(This pool has a lot of water)

 

Mi profesor tiene bastante paciencia

(My teacher has a lot of patience → is very patient)

In this case, it would be incorrect to say, for example, tres aguas* (three waters) or 20 paciencias* (20 patiences). The quantity of this kind of nouns is determined by quantifiers such as mucho (a lot of), bastante (quite some), demasiado (too much) and poco (too few), but not with numbers.

                                                                     

Poco vs un poco

The type of nouns we’ve just reviewed, uncountable nouns, can use the formula we introduced at the beginning of this post: un poco (a little). The difference between poco (little) and un poco (a little) depends mostly on the speaker and the message he or she wants to convey.

• Poco (little) highlights the idea that there is almost nothing. In other words, the word has a negative connotation. For example:

 

Hay poco café en casa. ¿Puedes ir al supermercado por favor?

(There is few coffee left at home. Can you please buy some more?)

 

• Un poco (a little) expresses that there is a bit of something, although not that much. In other words, the word has a positive connotation. For example:

Hay un poco de café en casa. No es necesario que vayas hoy al supermercado hoy

(There is little coffee left at home. You don’t need to go to the supermarket today)

In the first instance, the speaker considers that there is not enough coffee left, while in the second example he or she considers that there is few coffee left, but it is enough.

To summarize, with poco the glass is half empty and with un poco de the glass is half full.

Many thanks to Ignacio Sellés, from our Spanish school in Alicante, for writing this post. Keep on learning Spanish with don Quijote’s language resources!

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