You know when you are traveling abroad, feeling all confident after taking all those lessons and studying all those flashcards, and you walk into a little cafe or restaurant, ask for some peach juice, and the waiter just stares at you? You know you formed your question correctly, you studied so hard and even consulted the phrase book before asking! Well, did you ask for “zumo de melocotón” or “jugo de durazno”? It makes all the difference.

Depending on where you are, Spanish food vocabulary can be completely different from what you may have learned. And while this may be frustrating at times, it is also one of the greatest things about Spanish and it’s ability to adapt and evolve with the people who are speaking it. I mean, think about all the different ways English-speakers have come up with to say bathroom: toilet, water closet, loo, restroom, etc. So I say take this chance to learn a few extra words that all mean the exact same thing! That way when you are traveling in Argentina, you won’t get that disappointed look from that cute waiter or waitress. Take a look at a few more examples I found below and study hard!

Popcorn: palomitas (Mexico, Spain), cabritas (Chile), crispeta (Colombia), pochoclo (Argentina, Uruguay), cotufas (Venezuela), rositas (Cuba), popororo (Guatemala)

Catfish: siluro (Spain), bagre (Latin America)

Tortilla: tortilla (Mexico and central America), omelete-like egg dish (Spain)

Strawberry: frutilla (Argentina), fresa (Spain, Latin America, South America)

Avocado: palta (Bolivia, Peru, Southern Cone*), aguacate (Spain, Latin America, Northern South America)

Sweetcorn: maíz (understood everywhere), tierno, elote (Mexico), choclo (South America), jojoto (Venezuela)

Bean: poroto (Argentina), alubia, judía (Southern Cone*), frijol (Spain), caraota (Venezuela)

Pepper: pimiento (Spain), ají (Argentina, Uruguay, Peru), pimentón (South America), chile (Mexico)

When I am traveling, I find that many of the people I meet are so wonderful and open to helping out a traveler who just wants to learn a little more about their culture, country, or town. I also find that I am saying “gracias” about a hundred times a day! So in an effort to expand my daily vocabulary, which is always a good idea anyway, I sought out some new and maybe even poetic ways to give thanks for all the little, and big, things total strangers do for me when I need it the most.

I find that saying Te agradezco la ayuda/la información/etc. is a great way to communicate a deep thankfulness and appreciation for whatever the person just gave you. A couple other similar phrases are Estoy agradecido por…(or of course Estoy agradecida if you are a woman) and Siento agradecido/a por…They all mean about the same thing, being thankful and appreciative of whatever the person has given you.

Another of my favorite ways to be thankful is to relate to the person just how much they have helped me. Me ha ayudado mucho/muchísimo (You have helped me so much) or Me ayudará la información, etc. (This information will really help me.) It’s always a good idea to let the person know that not only do you appreciate what they he or she has given you but that you will be using it in the future. You just have to remember your future tense, right?

Last of all, if I find I have exhausted these other thank yous and I am really looking to impress, I might try something a little more formal. Te doy gracias por… is always a winner. It may be a little old fashioned and formal, but you know some people are really into all the pomp and circumstance.

So, there is a thank you for each and every situation, and I can promise that a well thought out thank you can take a long way when you happen to be a long way from home. So try a few of these newfangled terms of appreciation, you’ll thank me!

Every country has its dish to boast about, but has there ever been a dish a country fights over more often? It seems that every region in Spain has a claim on the “correct” way to make a paella, just like they each claim to have the “correct” way to speak Spanish. But that’s another article. And I have to say, after trying every paella I could get my hands on, I think they are all right! Whether they are traditional Valencian, seafood, or mixed, give me a properly prepared paella and I am one happy lady.

Now where paella originated is a matter of debate with stories ranging from a cheap king serving his leftovers with rice to try to skimp on a feast bill to the Moorish influence of rice and fish casseroles. But the truth is probably that field workers would prepare a rice dish in a pan over the fire and add whatever ingredients they happened to have around, which usually included snails, rabbits, and vegetables. Once the main populace caught on, things got a little more involved.

The key to correct preparation, so I have been told my many a Spaniard, is the paellera. Also just called a paella itself, this pan has two looped handles and my dip slightly in the middle to hold the oil for sauteing. But the main importance is the fact that it is big, and I mean very big. The rice should be only as thick as “un ditet,” or the width of one finger, so about 1/2 an inch. You want as much rice touching the bottom of the pan as possible so you get that delicious, crispy layer called the socarrat. So if you don’t have a paellera hanging around, just grab the biggest stainless-steel or other all metal skillet you can find. Cast-iron isn’t the best choice since the sides are so deep and non-stick pans aren’t the best at creating that crispy bottom.

Next is the sofrito and this is where the debate begins. Sofrito is a combination of tomato, onion, garlic and a variety of spices, herbs, and peppers. It’s a little like the salsa we love so much with tortilla chips here in the US, but is cooked instead of raw and a good bit less chunky too.

The meat is of course the next big item on the big debate. For a traditional Valencian paella, you start sauteing rabbit, chicken, and/or snails, as well as beans and artichokes. This is the most famous paella recipe, and ask anyone from Valencia and they’ll tell you it’s the only correct way to eat a paella. There are also the seafood recipes that are more popular along the coast which include mussles, squid, octopus, fish, and all other delicious sea foods. Then there is the mixed paella, probably the most well-known throught the world as your standard paella. This is a delicious combination of the seafood and the Valencian paella with some spicy chorizo sausage probably thrown in there as well.

No matter what kind of paella you are eating you can know it tells a little bit about the cook. To make a great paella takes love, care, and attention to detail that you may not find in every restaurant out there boasting “traditional paella.” But don’t let that stop you! It sure doesn’t stop me from dipping my fork in the paellera for one last bite of the socarrat!

If you’re like me, then you are definitely excited about the festivities of Cinco de Mayo, when everyone in the U.S. gets together and stands in long lines at mexican restaurants to enjoy fajitas, nachos, tacos, and their favorite drinks, all in celebration of Mexico’s independence…or not.

The idea that Cinco de Mayo is all about Mexican independence is a wide misconception in the U.S. Even many college Spanish majors don’t know the real reason they set aside May 5th for piñatas and lime flavored drinks, so read along and maybe you can win the big prize for Cinco de Mayo trivia.

Americans are sometimes a little disappointed to learn that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independece Day, but rather a commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It was an important battle because the French outnumbered the Mexicans 2 to 1 and had not been defeated in almost 50 years, yet the Mexican army under General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín was victorious. Unfortunately, with money on the mind (France was trying to occupy Mexico to make them pay their debts), France deployed another 30,000 troops within a year and won Mexico City, installing Archduke Maximilian of Austria as ruler of Mexico. The story gets better when, after ending the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln helped Mexico to expel the French and assassinate Maximilian, thus restoring the Mexicans to power in their own country.

So even if the French did end up ruling Mexico for a while, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated to commemorate the bravery and victory of Zaragoza’s outnumbered army at the Battle of Puebla. So, during your festivities with friends and family, why not toast to the bravery of Mexico and maybe educate some of your fellow Americans on the real reason they are celebrating on the 5th of May.

Your heart rate increases, the room seems smaller and stuffier, maybe you start to sweat a little too because it is time for the listening portion of the exam or you are alone with only Spanish-speakers for the very first time. You have studied so hard and you know all kinds of great vocabulary from all those flash-cards. You can talk about your family members and where you want to travel on vacation. You even know how to use the subjunctive correctly to describe your doubt and dreams.

So how is it that when you hear someone speaking Spanish to you at a normal speed, it all sounds like one word? The answer is elision, the omission of sounds when individual words are combined into phrases and sentences, and you do it all the time in English as well. When asking someone “How are you doing?”, you don’t usually pronounce each word separately with pauses between each word, right? Instead it sounds more like “howeryodoin?” This is a very common practice for informal, regular speech in almost any language. It just seems more apparent in Spanish because you have learned each word individually instead of in phrases and regular context like your native language. While you learned “¿Có-mo es-tah us-ted?” is the correct way to ask someone how he or she is doing, the more common pronunciation is more like “¿Cómwestáusté?”. And it can get even more complicated when you have to differentiate between “helado” and “el lado” or “ha alquilado” and “alquilado,” but this is where context really comes to the rescue.

Now for a few solutions to the problem that plagues almost all students of a new language. I have always found watching movies and television shows with the Spanish subtitles on to be extremely helpful. This way, you can hear what the speakers are saying and at the same time connect it to the individual words you are more familiar with through reading. Also, if you are using DVR or watching a DVD you can pause, rewind, and play as many times as you like, you can listen to tricky phrases over and over until you are more familiar with them. I also suggest listening to newscasts since the newscasters are usually professionally trained public speakers and will enunciate a little more clearly for a more dramatic effect. Listening to your favorite Spanish songs while reading the lyrics may be a little more fun, but I have always found it to be a little difficult since pronunciation is really not a priority when rhyming and following the beat are involved.

In conclusion, listening is just plain hard at first. But just like learning how to conjugate a verb in a new tense is hard for the first few (hundred) times, it gets easier with practice. Focus on getting the general idea of the conversation and not so much translating each individual word and the rest will come in time. Until then, “¡Háslwégo!”

Tapas, those delicious little snacks you can get in any bar in Spain, have recently been making quite a splash in the United States. In the past 3 years, I have seen 4 tapas bars pop up in my neighborhood alone. And people are crazy about them! The thing is, other than serving tiny bits of expensive food and over-priced drinks, these trendy American tapas bars have almost nothing in common with your traditional Spanish tapas bar.

In many places in Spain, dinner is not served until 9 or 10 o’clock at night. So many people like to “tapear” or go out and eat tapas at a few different bars to meet up with friends, discuss the day, and in general just relax in a fun social atmosphere. In a lot of the major cities and in most parts of Adalucía, when you order a drink, often you get a tapa for free. Or sometimes it is the other way around; if you order a tapa, you get a free drink.

Now, how this tradition came about is debated among a few popular theories. First, it is important to know what “la tapa” means. Literally, it means “cover” or “top,” so it is important to keep this in mind when thinking about its history.

Some say that some sneaky tavern owners from Castilla-La Mancha found that a strong smelling and tasting cheese could “cover” the flavor of cheap wine. This way, they could sell the not so great wine for a higher price by including a free piece of cheese.

Others say that when King Alfonso XII was visiting Cádiz on the south west coast, he ordered a cup of sherry, which is famous in this region. In order to protect the wine from the blowing beach sands, the waiter covered the wine glass with a slice of cured ham. King Alfonso apparently enjoyed it and asked for another glass of sherry with a “tapa” just like the first.

Less legendary is the thought that since you are most likely standing when you are out having drinks with friends, you would need to cover your drink with your plate in order to have a free hand to eat. Or that you would need to top your sherry, a very sweet wine, with bread or ham to keep the curious flies away.

Now what kind of tapa you get with your drink widely depends on the region, but the staples are olives, of which there can be many different varieties, bread with aioli, and some kind of fried seafood. It is also very common to see small slices of bread topped with Spain’s famous jamón serrano or slices of cheese. My favorite is tortilla española, which is very similar to an omelette with pieces of fried potato and onion inside instead of cheese.

There are thousands of tapa recipes out there and I encourage you to try a few on your own. Being all the fad right now in the US, your friends would definitely be impressed if you invited them all over for an early evening of tapas at your house. ¡Salud! and ¡Buen provecho!

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Chocolate, flowers, dinner, dancing, and most of all love. Everywhere you look on Valentine’s Day you can see love-birds holding hands and trading sweet poems and gifts and friends exchanging Valentine’s cards, balloons and hugs. Valentine’s Day can be celebrated by all and in many different ways, depending on where you are in the World.

In most of South America, Valentine’s Day is known as “El día del amor y la amistad,” or Love and Friendship Day. This special day is not just for lovers! Many groups of friends exchange Valentine’s cards and gifts and later go out for dinner, all in the name of friendship.

In Spain, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in much the same way as in the U.S. and the U.K. But many people also celebrate “El día del libro y la rosa” on April 23 in which men give their special lady a rose and she gives him a book in return.

This year in Venezuela, Valentine’s Day has been canceled! Or, rather, postponed until the 16th where it will be celebrated for a whole week. Hugo Chavez thought with such a big voter referendum coming up on February 15, that Valentine’s Day may be too distracting, so he just moved the celebration to the day after.

Colombia celebrates Valentine’s Day on September 20 where it is very popular to send gifts from secret admirers.

Bolivia also favors September for its day of love, celebrating el día del amor on September 21 in conjunction with Students’ Day, Day of Spring, and Children’s Day. It is common to give cards, flowers, chocolates, and teddy bears to friends, family, and loves.

No matter where you are, Valentine’s Day is a day for love and friendship and a great time to show those you love how you feel.

¡Feliz San Valentín! ¡Feliz día del amor y la amistad! ¡Feliz día de enamorados!

One of the most common questions I get from people learning a new language is this: “How many words do I need to know to be able to have a conversation?” The answer is different for everyone, and it definitely depends on what kind of things you want to talk about. If you are learning Spanish as part of your job and do business with Spanish speakers, then your minimum vocabulary will be a lot different than someone who is learning Spanish so they can surf off the coast of Peru or someone who wants to study classical Spanish poetry in Madrid.

How many does a person actually use?

The average person has a vocabulary of about 10,000 words, but it is possible that a person can understand many more words than he or she actually uses. This number is the same no matter what language the person speaks. However, the number of words that he or she actually uses on a day to day basis is much lower. Think of your total vocabulary number (including all those words you learned to take the SAT or the GRE) versus the words you use to chat with your friends or talk about your weekend. Pretty different, right?

Research shows that in an average day, we use about 1,000 different words. Day to day, the words we use do not vary too much either, meaning we tend to stick with about a basic daily vocabulary of around 1,000 words. Some research has even shown that young teens only have a daily vocabulary count of 240 words! And some experts say that 50% of all spoken language consists of the 100 most common words in that language.

So how many do I actually need?

So take your pick! You can probably get around a Spanish-speaking country if you know the 100 most common words, but the closer your daily vocabulary is to 1,000 or above the better. So get started! You know where the vocabulary lists are!

We are excited to release today a new (and improved) Spanish Word of the Day. We have added richer translations, pronunciations, parts of speech, example sentences, and idioms. Our hope is that the word of the day will give you enough information not just to translate the word, but to use it in your conversations. You can choose to receive the new Spanish Word of the Day by email by selecting the option in your account settings. ¡Ojalá que le guste!