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!