It’s official, the K-pop (Korean pop) craze has arrived at the Language Lab. I’ve become enamored with K-pop’s fan-cams, shiny photocards, and the trendy choreography. Fortunately at the Language Lab, the K-pop culture has spread worldwide, and I made a list of international pop groups to keep an eye on. These groups have taken the popular model of K-pop but with a local flair that makes the music appealing to its country of origin. Give them a listen!
Argentina: K4OS
Chile: Q_ARE
Today we’re interviewing Bruce, our drop-in Spanish tutor! We chatted about what first motivated him to learn Spanish, and the amazing power of language tutoring at Reed!
Leilani: Hi Bruce! First, could you tell me a little bit about yourself, and for how long you’ve been speaking Spanish?
Bruce: My name is Bruce, and I’m from the Portland area. I started speaking Spanish, or at least taking classes, in seventh grade. And then I did it for five years. I did the IB [International Baccalaureate] program, so I did IB Spanish in my junior year. In my senior year, I wasn’t able to take Spanish because I had already taken the highest level my school offered. So I started again last year in college. I started at the intermediate level, and now I’m taking 321 [Theory and Practice of Hispanic Literature].
L: What initially motivated you to start learning Spanish?
B: I don’t come from a family that speaks Spanish at all, but it was the only language that was offered at my middle school. My brother was also a couple of years older than me, and he was starting to learn, as well. It was more so that I wanted to learn another language. Now, I’m glad I chose Spanish because it aligns with a lot of what I’m interested in. I’ve been really interested in Latin American politics, art, and history. When I first started to learn, I didn’t have that reasoning. But now I’m really glad I chose to study Spanish.
Continue reading “Discussing why you (yes, YOU) should come to Spanish tutoring with Bruce!”
Hispanic Heritage Month starts today, September 15! Learning a language is more than memorizing grammar and vocabulary—it’s about connecting with people and cultures from around the world. Hispanic Heritage Month occurs every year from September 15 to October 15, in commemoration of the many independence days and national celebrations across Latin America. Whether it’s meeting new friends at Spanish House’s weekly events, celebrating with Latinx Student Union, or engaging with the Hispanic community in Portland, here are some ways to celebrate Hispanic culture all month long!
Continue reading “Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!”Listening to music in the language you’re learning helps you improve your pronunciation, listening skills, and even grasp some grammar patterns. It’s fun, you can do it anywhere, and it’ll expand your Spotify playlist. Here’s some of my favorite artists broken down by genre.
Continue reading “Patricio’s recommendation of the week: Listen to more Spanish music!”If you’re learning Spanish and are particularly interested in learning how it’s spoken outside the classroom, watching movies and reading books is a great way to learn it. If you’re interested in how Spanish is spoken particularly in Mexico, please for the love of God don’t watch Emilia Pérez. There’s so many things wrong with that movie I could write a whole blog post about it. Instead, here are some recommendations for you to watch! I ranked them in order of the level of Spanish I estimate you need to comfortably understand what’s going on, from easiest to hardest.
Continue reading “Mexican media for Spanish learners!”
THE SKY IS FALLING, and you can read that in three other languages on TheFableCottage.com. I discovered this website with a friend as we attempted to read bedtime stories in each other’s languages. TheFableCottage is a multilingual library of bedtime stories written in French, German, Spanish, and also Italian! Each story has a few features that make it really helpful for beginning students: audio recordings, captioned video animations, illustrations, and English translations if you get stuck. All of their free short stories can be found on each language’s respective website: TheFrenchExperiment.com, TheGermanProject.com, and TheSpanishExperiment.com. (Stories can also be accessed on TheFableCottage, but not all of them are free.) This is a great resource for beginner-level students, as the grammar and vocabulary are written using everyday and simple language. These stories expand upon the beginner-level language you’ve learned so far using a story you’re likely already familiar with. Having an additional resource like this can supplement what you learn in class and in your textbook by creating a new context where you use your target language. For example, you may have introduced a photo of your family to your 100-level class, but you can practice that same family vocabulary in the context of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I found the short stories on TheFableCottage to be the perfect resource for anyone in their first year of a language class, and I recommend that you check it out!
This week I interviewed Emilio, a Spanish tutor who’s eager to help people out with Spanish. In our interview, we covered topics such as feeling disconnected from one’s culture, what it means to have a diverse cultural background for one’s identity, and how to sound natural when speaking a new language. Emilio’s advice is to be shameless when speaking! The interview is posted below and was edited for length.
¡Hola! My name is Reed (he/him) and I’m a native Spanish speaker. I’m Argentine/American. My mom being a Spanish teacher made me sit through her lessons since I was a toddler, so I learned how to teach Spanish as a second language. I’ve taught all levels of Spanish in the past, including grammar, spelling, vocabulary, reading, and pronunciation. I’m happy to work through any questions and exercises you might need help with! I have a pretty flexible schedule so feel free to reach out if you’d like to arrange another time!
