Category: notes

The transcript for the latest Notes in Spanish podcast has changed slightly. There is now an exercise before the actual conversation transcript. The idea is to listen once without reading at the same time, just trying to complete exercise 1 (there is real teaching theory behind this idea!) After the conversation transcript there are 3 more exercises, but not the usual list of vocab and grammar – instead exercises 3 and 4 challenge you to find the words and phrases in a different way. The idea is that by actively seeking the answers to these exercises, the vocab stays in the memory for longer (forever, we hope!) Finally, the answers are included at the end of the transcript instead of in the forums.

Any feedback on the new format will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Lumpsuckerpig from the forums has set up a Skype cast called Spanish Notes (thanks also to Viajero, see forum posts here and here), and we will be chatting in Spanish today at 3 pm GMT, come and join us and let’s see how it goes!

Update: time change to 3 pm GMT, sorry, more planning next time to avoid this happening again!

Just do a search for Spanish Notes on the Upcoming Skype Casts page and you should find us. Hasta luego!

Somehow my friends and I, hoping for an Arsenal win, managed to end up watching the game in a bar in Madrid full of Barcelona supporters! We didn’t hang around at the end of the game… (Press clipping from El Mundo)

Update: … and some Catalans use it as an opportunity to tout independence again, see comments below.

Update 2: Looting, 45 arrests, and 107 injured in Barcelona celebrations (article here in Spanish). To all the banner wavers who claim ‘Catalonia is not Spain’ – perhaps you are right: this would never happen in Spain.

We are delighted that Cuisine from Spain has been accepted into the Culinary Podcast Network. If you come here for the food, then do subscribe to their feed, and you’ll automatically receive some of the best cooking shows on the net.

If the Culinary Podcast Network has led you here for the first time, then Welcome! Why not check out past episodes of Cuisine from Spain, or see what’s going on in the forums?

This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads. Check out some of this week’s headlines from other travel blogs in the network, including our newest member, the Escape Blog:

Ads on your next flight? (Jet Set Lara)

The Cost of Being Poor: Costa Rica vs. the USA (Travel Blogs)

The Mistaken Massage (TravelBlogger.net)

Episode 40 – Berlin, Germany (Amateur Traveler Podcast)

Johnny Rotten podcasts for Met Museum (NewYorkology)

College Town Getaways: Penn Prez’ Philly Faves (Womantraveler)

Strange food from Korea (Escape Blog)

Where in the world did Marina and I spot this Dali elephant today? (Clue – it wasn’t in Spain!) 10 points for the first correct answer in the comments below! Meanwhile, the NFS Flickr group continues to grow, there are nearly 80 photos in there now and it’s time to pick another monthly winner. So, have a flickr through the images and help us choose this month’s best. Gracias!

The week’s headlines from the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of the best independent travel blogs on the web:

– Far away, so close! – Beijing, China (Travel Blogs)
– Copenhagen: Have Booze, Will Binge (Shortcut)
– Video Episode 2 – Driving Tour of San Francisco (time-lapse) (Amateur Traveler Podcast)
– College Town Getaways: Berkeley’s Classy Shopping (Womantraveler)
– Revived Morgan Library blends old with new (NewYorkology)

iAudioguide.com has a free mp3 audioguide to Barcelona. I haven’t had time to check it out yet (… currently weighed down by a 150 page powerpoint translation from hell…) but if anyone uses it some time do come back and tell us what you think.

If you’re in Madrid this Thursday and feeling cultural, it’s book night from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Well-known Spanish writers including Soledad Puértolas and Javier Reverte will be reading and signing their latest offerings in bookshops around the city, and hosting ‘tertulias‘ (literary chats) in famous venues such as Café Gijon and Café Central. There are street concerts as well, including soprano Teresa Loring and pianist David Mason in Plaza Velazquez (next to the Prado museum, at 8.30 p.m.), Big Band jazz in the Plaza Mayor (6.30 p.m.), a string quartet in the Puerta del Sol (7.30 p.m.), and ‘gipsy swing’ in Plaza de Santa Ana (8 p.m.)

For more details (in Spanish) check out elmundo.es

— Marina

I know this isn’t exactly pleasant news about Spain, but I feel obliged to follow up on the story about the government’s shock tactic attempts to reduce road deaths ahead of the Easter holidays. Last year the total number of deaths over the Easter week was 105. This year? At midnight last night, Sunday, when nearly everyone should have been home in time for work today, the total was running at 101. What can you say? What can be done? Time for new tactics next year, that’s all.

Horror photos, a video, and debate (in Spanish) over at elmundo.es.

Update: Official total is 107, two more than last year…