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!
For our next interview, I talked to Reed, an ICPS poli-sci Spanish tutor. He’s a native Spanish speaker from Argentina, so read the interview for tips on practicing your Spanish and for movies and book recommendations! The interview was edited for length purposes.
Patricio: What do you study?
Reed: I’m an ICPS poli-sci major.
Patrico: Are you minoring in anything?
Reed: Potentially an econ minor, but they’re changing the way the department works.
Patricio: That makes sense. Getting a minor is sometimes tricky. How long have you been speaking Spanish and what made you want to learn it?
Reed: I’m a native speaker. My parents are both from Argentina, so I speak it at home with them and with my whole family basically.
Patricio: Have you lived or studied abroad in any Spanish speaking countries?
Reed: I haven’t. I’m hoping to study abroad next semester. I’ve been thinking of potentially going to Barcelona, but I’ve lived in the US my whole life.
Patricio: Is it hard for you to not forget the language being here at Reed?
Reed: I don’t think so, I speak to my parents and my family quite often so I get to use it a lot. And to me at least Spanish feels like a first language, so I feel like it’s very engrained.
Patricio: Do you practice your Spanish in other ways or is it mostly just by speaking it with your parents?
Reed: It’s mostly just by speaking with my parents.
Patricio: Have you taken any cool Spanish classes at Reed?
Reed: No, but I want to! I’m waiting for Diego to get back, because I really want to take some of his classes, but I think he’s been on leave and I don’t know if he’s coming back, but I hope so!
Patricio: Have you found a good Spanish speaking community here at Reed?
Reed: I’m actually living in the Spanish House, so that’s very exciting. I really like talking to the language scholars, I feel like they’re a really good resource for learning a language. I took Chinese in school, so I like being in the language house community and just getting to talk to everyone in all the different languages.
Patricio: I love the language houses. I lived in the Spanish House in my sophomore year and I had the best time.
Reed: Yeah they’re really nice. We just now started having the weekly events, so it’s just starting to pick up. I’m really excited.
Patricio: Do you watch any movies or TV shows in Spanish? And if yes do you have any recommendations?
Reed: Yes! I watched Wild Hills for the first time a couple of weeks ago; I enjoyed that a lot. But two of my favorite Spanish TV shows are Los Simuladores and Community Squad.
Patricio: Oh interesting, I’ve never heard of those. Where can you watch them?
Reed: I think Community Squad is on Netflix, but Los Simuladores is free on YouTube.
Patricio: What about books and songs?
Reed: Julio Cortázar is my favorite author. I love his short stories, they’re fantastic. In terms of artists, I really like Bajo Fondo, but I don’t think their music has lyrics.
Patricio: As a tutor, have you found some stuff that’s particularly difficult about learning Spanish?
Reed: The verb conjugations, because that’s not something that’s really that complicated in English, it can be a difficult thing for people to grasp and to actually use in practice. I think Spanish can also be a bit overwhelming because every country has slightly different grammar, accents and slang, so it can be a hard thing to get used to when you’re coming up to a new faculty member or friend.
Patricio: Do you enjoy being a Spanish tutor?
Reed: Yes it’s fun! I like consuming a lot of Spanish media and literature so it’s fun to get other people excited and help them out in their language journey.
Patricio: Thank you!
Learning a language can be exceptionally frustrating. Especially when the only times you are hearing this language is in a classroom, three times a week, for 50 minutes. You’ve probably heard your Spanish teacher tell you to listen to music and movies in Spanish since your first class in middle school. While this is good advice, it can be hard to understand music in Spanish such as Reggaeton, cumbia, or Spanish hip hop when you aren’t as familiar with the language. The words blend or maybe there is too much slang to comprehend whatever Bad Bunny or MC Solaar is saying. To that I say do not fret, podcasts are the way to go!
Continue reading “Podcasts en Español”Hip Hop turned 50 in August of this year! The iconic music form originated in New York City, specifically the Bronx in predominantly Black and Brown communities. Puerto Rican New Yorkers, fondly known as Nuyoricans, were and still are immensely influential in the development of Hip Hop. Although the majority of old school and newer Hip Hop is a largely AAVE and English-based genre, Spanish language Hip Hop has been around for almost as long as the mother genre and has often included Spanglish influence. Via cassettes and bootlegs of songs recorded in NYC and other places around the US, the genre spread to Spain and Latin America throughout the 80s and 90s.
Continue reading “Spanish-Language Hip Hop”Kali Uchis is a Colombian-American singer and songwriter with four albums and various EPs and singles in her discography. Uchi’s two earliest albums, Por Vida and Isolation, are primarily in English but are heavily influenced by Latin R&B, soul, psychedelic soul, and Latin American Boleros. For anyone learning Spanish, these earlier albums might improve your cultural fluency with modern Latin music and musicians. Likewise, for someone at a 200-400 level in Spanish, Uchis’ two most recent albums Sin Miedo (del amor y otros demonios) and Red Moon in Venus, are a great way to immerse yourself in gooey eclectic bilingual love-stricken bops that tease with verses flowing between Spanish, English, and Spanglish. If you’re struggling to understand the fast-paced lyrics of musicians such as Bad Bunny or even Rosalia, Kali Uchis might be the girl for you. Her slow hooks and unique take on reggaeton make you want to play her discography on repeat. Rumor has it that Uchis will be releasing her fourth studio album very soon so get ahead of the trend while you’re at it! Feel free to check out her socials if you need some more convincing 😉
Gracias y buena suerte!
Looking for a new trashy teen drama after Elite went off the rails? Don’t worry, I got you covered.
Continue reading “Rebelde: Battle of the Bands—but make it a telenovela.”Artist Reccomendation: Silvio Rodríguez
60s/70s Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez was a household name while I was growing up. My parents used to tell me stories about the one time they went to his concert, and one of their friends kept requesting “Ojalá!” (one of his most popular songs) by yelling the title constantly from the audience. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I actually listened to his music and fell in love with it.
Continue reading “El espíritu revolucionario a través de la música”
Today’s blog post brings a music and television recommendation all in one.
Luis Miguel: La Serie is a Netflix drama series that follows the life of legendary Mexican singer Luis Miguel throughout his early life and rise to superstardom. This show intimately explores Luis Miguel’s private life, focusing on the challenges he went through to balance his public image with his relationships with friends and family. With beautiful camerawork, fun 80s aesthetics, and a heavy dose of LuisMi’s most popular songs, this series keeps you hooked from beginning to end. It’s no surprise that it has become a favorite in the Spanish-speaking world.
Luis Miguel is currently available on Netflix. Keep an eye out for the third season, coming out today (October 28th)!
Or, if you’re just looking for something to listen to, here are some of my favorite Luis Miguel songs:
Headed into the break but still want to practice your Spanish? Check out these six Spanish short films for quick and easy immersion! Each film is directed and filmed for and by native Spanish speakers, and they come from a wide range of countries. Many of the shorts are also favorites at film festivals around the world! Make sure to check out Uno by Javier Marco. For more Spanish shorts, check out Short of the Week, and sort by country to find more foreign language short films.
Best for: Beginners Genre: Action Location: Peru Watch for: an exciting short with a dramatic endContinue reading “Six Spanish Shorts to Watch Over Winter Break”