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Showing posts from January, 2019

Grupo Básico Español – lección dieciocho

Grupo Básico Español – lección dieciocho Buenos días señores y señoras. Bienvenidos a la lección dieciocho de la clase de español. Now we are moving on to Chapter 8 of Sueños. In this chapter, we will learn to describe people, body parts and also take a trip to the doctors. However, before that, there are a few things to complete from Chapter 7 and also some quick revision. Last week, we learned how to say whether we liked (or disliked something): me gusta o no me gusta , además me gustan y no me gustan . We also learned how to ask if someone liked something: ¿Te gusta? o ¿Te gustan? That’s the informal, what would it be if you were in a formal situation? Indirect Object Pronouns I = me You (informal) = te He, she, it and you (formal) = le We = nos You (plural informal) = os They, you (plural formal) = les Occasionally, my wife answers questions asked of me. I don’t mind, it’s usually quite helpful … like when she finishes my sentences. If w

Mexicans furious about being subtitled in Spanish

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One of the surprise hit films from 2018 was Roma, a Mexican film showing on Netflix written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Set in 1970 and 1971, the film is a semi-autobiographical take on Cuarón's upbringing in Mexico City and follows the life of a live-in housekeeper to a middle-class family. The title refers to Colonia Roma , a neighborhood in the city. It has sparked a lot of controversy in the Spanish-speaking world because the film is recorded in Mexican Spanish and Netflix decided that, for the European Spanish market, it would put subtitles in Castellano. I often talk about the differences between Spanish spoken in different parts of the world. It seems Netflix now believes that Mexican Spanish and Spanish Spanish is so different that one cannot understand the other. This is what Ana from Butterfly Spanish had to say: Hola a todas y a todos: Espero que estén muy bien. Muchas disculpas por no haber escrito pero aquí estoy.