Spanish NewsBites Blog

Where You Don't Return From

This terrific image is by the photographer Alberto García-Alix, a selection of whose work is appearing at Madrid's Reina Sofia museum. The exhibition is called De donde no se vuelve (Where you don't return from - a great title) and features some of the finest images by the man thought of as the photographer to the movida. This photo says so much about the mix of old and new, traditional and avant-garde, crude and sophisticated, beautiful and ugly, false and authentic - I could go on - that is Madrid. It's called Tarde de San Isidro (San Isidro Evening). Meanwhile, back at Spanish NewsBites, recent posts have dealt with cuisine, the Mexican singer Julieta Venegas and the fact that the future of the United States is looking considerably more Spanish-language based than the present. We have also introduced a minor but significant change to Spanish NewsBites - we believe the font you are now reading, and the spacing of the text, should make Spanish NewsBites a more enjoyable online experience. See you soon...

New Spanish Grammar

If you're really serious about your Spanish, then you'll have pencilled December 2009 in your diary today. Luckily, it falls around Christmastime that the Nueva Gramática del español, the Royal Spanish Academy's immense new grammar of the Spanish language, will be published. There are 22 Spanish language academies, and all have made their contributions to this 3,200 page monster - described as a  "relief map of the Spanish-speaking world" by Víctor García de la Concha, the director of the Academy, who today announced the publication date of the tome. It has taken 11 years to prepare,.and will also be available in a reduced, 300-page form - probably enough for the purposes of most learners of Spanish.

What better Christmas gift than an explanation of the differences between ser and estar and por and para?

Menawhile, over at Spanish NewsBites, recent posts have included penguins, poetry and pesos. See you there!