"A la carta" by RTVE.es (Spanish television) gives users free access to any documentary, series or anything else that appears on Spanish television.GREAT for Spanish teachers and Spanish learners! This would be a great compliment to an online Spanish course.

Check out the site at:

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/

You can choose from a wide range of series, 57 of them. such as the famous Águila Roja, or "El Quijote", a mini-series about Cervantes' Don Quixote of the Mancha. You can also check out Spain´s take on the famous American series : Knight Rider, known as "El Coche Fantástico" or Spain´s version of the Golden Girls, called "Las Chicas de Oro". I really liked "Amar en Tiempos Revuelos" during the first year, before it became more like a soap opera, it is about Spain during the Franco regime.

One of my favorite programs is called "Españoles en el Mundo" (Spaniards throughout the world) which features Spaniards who live in different parts of the world. They show you around the city and explain how they became expatriats, always interesting stories.

If you prefer Spanish films, there is a weekly selection among others.

There are many documentaries, sports, and for radio fans you can listen to Spanish radio as much as you want.

Anyways, I we thought this information might be helpful for those who want to practice their listening skills, improve their Spanish, keep up with Spanish series, or just want to introduce their students to Spanish accents.

Enjoy the same Spanish television you would in Spain! ¡"A la carta"! (ON DEMAND!)

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This year’s Royal wedding was proof of how much the Brits (and the rest of the world it seems!) love their royal family. But did you know that throughout the long history of Britain’s monarchy a few Spaniards have been in there too?

The British and the Spanish have not always been on friendly terms, way back in the past, but there have been moments when the two countries have been linked through royalty.

Back in the 16^th century, King Henry VIII was famous for his succession of six wives, and on of them was Spanish! His first wife, Catherine of Aragon (known in Spanish as Catalina de Aragón) was in fact the daughter of the Spanish king and queen of the time, Ferdinand II and Isabella I, famous for sponsoring Columbus’ journey to America. She had also been previously married to Henry VIII’s brother, Prince Arthur, and clearly had a thing for the family! Through her marriage to Henry VIII she was Queen of England from 1509 to 1533, until the king wanted a divorce. He had fallen in love with another woman, to become his second wife, and Catherine was now too old to bear children. Despite being pregnant 6 times, only one of their children survived, Mary I, and Henry believed this to be a punishment for marrying his brother’s widow.

Mary I would also find a Spanish partner, in the form of Phillip II. His family wished for him to marry Queen Mary in order to gain a higher social status and he did just that, ruling England and Ireland alongside her until her death in 1558, when he lost his rights to the throne.

Perhaps the most unlikely Spanish monarch however was during the reign of Henry VII, the father of Henry VIII. Juan de Lepe, a sailor from the Andalusian town of Lepe, one day on his travels ended up in the court of Henry VII and somehow came to be a sort of court jester and assistant of the king. The two enjoyed playing cards and chess together and one day, thinking he had won, the king gambled the throne of England for 24 hours. Juan de Lepe accepted and won the bet, making him King of England for just one day. The Little King of England, as he was known, made the most of the occasion and made himself rich, as well as later requesting that the fact that he was King of England for a day be written on his tombstone!

So it turns out that Great Britain and Spain have an intertwining Royal history. If you want to know more about Spain’s fascinating history, why not take a Spanish and History course in Spain?

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Available as of today: the don Quijote Phrasebook for mobile (cell) phones! Take all the important Spanish sentences with you when you travel. And the best part? It is completely FREE! Currently available for Windows Phone and Android.

Description:

don Quijote's English-Spanish phrasebook is a very useful tool for all those who want to travel to Spanish speaking countries. It is designed for Android and Windows. It is a tool that does not require Internet access in order to function; all you have to do is download the application on your mobile phone and you'll have the phrasebook available to you. This phrasebook is divided into ten categories, with more than 400 useful words and phrases for travelling, meeting people, shopping, going to the bank, post office or doctor's...all the categories that a traveller needs the most. You can use the application when you want to change money, buy cinema tickets, ask for directions, reserve a table or ask for a bottle of wine in a restaurant. Each phase has an English translation, as well as a phonetic transcription to help you with the Spanish pronunciation. The words and phrases have been compiled by native Spanish speakers with a lot of experience in teaching Spanish as a foreign language and those who know the communicative needs of foreigners when visiting a Spanish speaking country. All the vocabulary is standardised to avoid confusion with the regional varieties of each country. Download this application and take it with you wherever you go!

Download here for FREE for Android users

Download here for FREE for Windows Phone users

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Real Madrid´s most famous player, Cristiano Ronaldo has been offered a huge sum of money by Manchester City to play for them!

It is rumoured that the Portuguese football player was offered a whopping 23.5 million a year to play for the British team. However Ronaldo was not tempted by this offer! He said "I am not going. I don´t see myself outside of Madrid. I am happy here."

When he was interviewed he assured audiences that for him money was not the most important thing. He said that if he wanted to he could have far more money in his bank account. He currently has another four years contracted with Real Madrid.

Ronaldo is a player who enjoys worldwide fame and regularly breaks records season to season. He has scored a spectacular 87 goals in 89 matches! This season he scored a world record of 54 goals in a season! What's more is that 41 of these were in League matches - another record breaking total.

If he were to have accepted the offer made by Manchester City he would not only have been accepting a sizeable salary but would also have been appointed team captain. Despite their offer though he will remain with his current team in Spain.

Ronaldo transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009. He was bought by the Spanish club for 80 million! Manchester City are now offering to top this though offering Real Madrid a rumoured 170 million for the player!

The Real Madrid star is without a doubt one of the most sought after, and one of the most expensive, football players in the world.

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Last weekend I took a short break down to the south of Spain for some sightseeing in sunny Seville. Seville is one of Spain’s most famous cities and now I know why – there’s so much to see in this beautiful town and plenty of authentic Spanish culture to take in, all under the rays of the Andalusian sun!

Seville’s best known monument, its cathedral, was my first stop. As the world’s largest gothic cathedral, it is so big that I had actually been able to see it on the bus ride into Seville. Once I got closer up it was even more impressive, both inside and out. The exterior has incredibly detailed gothic design, whereas the interior displays various religious treasures and is also the site of the tomb of Christopher Columbus. Inside you can also access the Giralda (tower), which was a little bit tiring to climb but absolutely worth it to see stunning views of Seville from all angles.

Next was the Alcázar, the royal palace of Seville. This would have to be my favourite of Seville’s buildings due to its unique mix of Muslim and Christian architectural styles. It was interesting to find out that it was a Christian king who ordered the magnificent palace to be built incorporating Islamic style, proving that the Spaniards and the Moors did once live in harmony together. As well as its beautiful internal patios, the Alcázar also has stunning gardens that are extremely well kept and ideal for a relaxing break before continuing to see the city.

Seville is said to be the epitome of all things Spanish and after visiting, I can’t help but agree. Around every corner you’ll find flamenco dress shops, traditional tapas bars and small churches. Then there’s the bull ring, considered as one of the most important bull fighting arenas in Spain, home to one of the country’s famous yet controversial traditions. I particularly enjoyed looking around the small boutiques of handmade leather goods, jewellery and textiles as well.

Seville has an endless amount of things to see and do and although there are entrance fees for most of the main attractions, there are great savings for European students under the age of 25. Plus, if you feel like the heat is getting a little too much and fancy a dip in the sea, the coastal city of Cadiz is not far away!

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Edwin Honig died last week at the age of 91 in his home in Providence, Rhode Island. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He was born in 1919 in Brooklyn where his maternal grandmother, a Sephardic Jew, installed a passion in him for Spanish literature.

Edwin was a University Professor at the prestigious Brown University from 1957 to 1982 and is credit with translating famous Spanish literature masterpieces by Garcia Lorca and Cervantes to the English language. Edwin Honig also translated La vida es sueño (Life is dream) by Calderon de Barca and works by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa to the English speaking world.

He studied English as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin where he graduated in 1944 before serving in Europe in World War II. As a professor at Brown University, Honig went on to found the Creative Writing Program which eventually evolved into the present Department of Art and Literature. In 1973, Honig created the Copper Beech Press which was dedicated to publishing and translating poetry.

Edwin Honig made great contributions to bringing Spanish literature to the English world. In 2010, his nephew Alan Berliner, a renowned documentary filmmaker, presented the film "Translating Edwin Honig: Alzheimer's of a poet" at the New York Film Festival.

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Leonard Cohen, born in Montreal in 1934, was just announced the 2011 recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award.

Leonard Cohen is a Canadian singer/songwriter, musician, poet and novelist who is famous for being reclusive and well regarded by critic for his high quality work and rich lyrics. He was chosen for the award no only for his rich literary songs but also his written work of poems and songs such as Flowers for Hitler (1964) and Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956) or the novels: The Favorite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966). Earlier this year he issued a compilation book Poems and Stories.

The Prince of Asturias Awards started in 1980 and are awarded annually in Spain by the Prince Felipe of Asturias Foundation to people or organization that make notable contributions to science, humanities or public affairs.

The jury emphasized that he will be awarded one of the 8 prizes for his thought-provoking songs and because he is “considered one of the most influential authors of our time, his poems and songs have beautifully explored the major issues of humanity in great depth” .

He will be awarded the Prince Asturias prize in Spain in the fall which consists of a 50,000€ cash award and a statue designed by Joan Miró.

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A few weeks ago I visited El Valle de los Caídos and thought it was definitely worth a mention as it’s one of the most unique places I’ve visited here in Spain.

El Valle de los Caídos (literally, the Valley of the Fallen) is a unique monument comprising a huge Catholic Basilica and a stone cross which is a staggering 150m tall, making it visible from 20 miles away. It is situated in the Cuelgamuros Valley, in the Sierra de Guadarrama hills, to the north of Madrid, making for stunning views surrounding the monument.

Upon arrival I learnt that, more that just being an impressive building in the middle of nowhere, the monument was actually conceived to honour all those who died in the Spanish Civil War, which took place from 1936-1939. The dictator Francisco Franco, who ruled for almost forty years following his victory in the Civil War, decided on building the large monument to commemorate the deaths of both Republicans and Nationalists who fought in the war, 40,000 of whom are buried in the surrounding valley, hence the name ‘Valley of the Fallen’. The whole area, particularly the cathedral, has a very solemn feel to it, in light of its tragic history.

However, it was apparent that there was also a controversial aspect to this monument that was not to be overlooked either. Despite being built as a commemoration of all those who died, there are several features which favour the right wing party of Franco, causing some protests in recent years to close and even destroy the monument. It features the inscription: ‘Caídos por Dios y por España’ (‘Fallen for God and for Spain’), a phrase which falls in line with the ideals of the dictator, plus it is known that a considerable proportion of the people who built the monument during its 18 years of construction were in fact Republican prisoners who had been captured by Franco’s side. Some opponents to the monument also think of it as a shrine to Franco, as both he and the founder of the fascist Falange party, Antonio Primo de Rivera are buried within the basilica. Recently in the Spanish news, there has been mention of removing the remains of the two men and locate them elsewhere, in order to avoid this controversy.

Before visiting, I was completely unaware of the historical significance of the monument and its surrounding area, but afterwards whilst admiring the stunning views of the valley, I’d certainly been left with a lot to think about.

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F.C. Barcelona won the final of the Champions League which took place on Saturday at Wembley stadium.

They beat the British team 3-1 with Pedro, Messi and Villa each scoring a goal. The Spaniards were absolutely delighted with their victory and celebrations went on throughout Saturday night and even continued into Sunday as well.

The first half of the game ended with both teams equal 1-1 after goals from Rooney and Pedro. However as the second half began Barcelona came back with more determination and managed to demonstrate their superiority.

Barcelona were without a doubt the stronger team. They had 19 attempts to score, whilst Manchester United only had 4. They also had 67% of the possession during the game!
Sadly for Alex Ferguson´s team this was their second loss to the Catalan team. They were also defeated by them in 2009. This is the fourth time that Barcelona has managed to win the Champions League final!

Spaniards are renowned for their love of football and this year has been a great year for it. Spain now has both the world cup and the Champion League cup in their hands – quite an achievement!

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The Spanish Gran Prix took place in Barcelona on Sunday. Sebastian Vettel won first place, just beating Lewis Hamiliton.

Vettel has been doing well this year having won four out of his last five races. This time however Hamiliton was closer on his tail.

Spain´s own Fernando Alonso ended up finishing in fifth place though he had been in the lead for the first 18 laps!

Alonso despite his excellent and daring start could not maintain his lead due to the inferiority of his car. His result has been commended nonetheless with commentators impressed that he managed to do so well in the car which was inferior to those of the other drivers.

The race made exciting viewing for spectators as it was close throughout. The leadership position changed hands 9 times during the 66 lap race! What’s more is that there was only 0.6 seconds between Vettel who finished first and Hamilton who ended up in second place!

So all in all Sunday was an exciting day of racing in the Spanish city which is well known for its sporting prowess; having hosted the 1992 Olympics and also being home to one of the most famous Spanish football teams, F.C. Barcelona.

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