Spanish Teaching

Poll Results: big city Spain, here we come

Erin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:45:00 +0200

Results from our last poll are in!

Seems readers of this blog would choose to study in a major city in Spain (37%), a small town in Spain (21%) or a major city in Latin America.

The full results are below. (If you'd like to explore the cities and towns in Spain and Latin America, by the way, don Quijte's destinations page is a good place to start.)

Where would you study?

If you won a free course today, where would you study Spanish?

Latin America, in a major city

30 (20%)

Latin American, in a small town

21 (14%)

Spain, in a major city

53 (37%)

Spain, in a small town

31 (21%)

Nowhere. I'd keep studying in my home country.

8 (5%)

Total votes: 143

Poll results: Passion wins!

Erin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:43:00 +0100

Results are in from our latest poll and passion for Hispanic language, culture and literature is far and above the primary reason our readers are studying Spanish.

Darn good reason, too. Thanks for your participation! A new poll is up.

Here are the full results:

What brings you here?

What's your primary motivation for studying Spanish?

Other reason. Why didn't you include it?

15 (12%)

Work/business

13 (11%)

Travel

12 (10%)

Family reasons

8 (6%)

I plan to live in a Spanish speaking country.

9 (7%)

I am living in a Spanish speaking country now.

8 (6%)

Passion for Hispanic language, culture or literature.

52 (44%)

Total votes: 117

What's with all the napkins on the floor? Long overdue poll results.

Erin — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:58:00 +0100

Way back in September we presented this poll question to you:

Out for tapas lately? Honestly, how comfortable are you tossing your napkins on the floor in a Spanish bar?

Luckily the Spanish have yet to give up the habit of tossing their napkins to the floor while eating pinchos (tapas), usually standing and closely surrounded by dozens of other enthusiastic bar patrons. The custom makes sense to you from the moment you take your first bite of pincho moruno or lomo a la plancha while desperately trying to juggle a glass of Rioja or reach for a place to temporarily store it. Pinchos are eaten standing for the vast majority of clients in a small Spanish bar at tapas hour, and it's just easier and if you ask me, a whole lot more fun, to drop your napkin right where you are as you head for the next pincho.

From this tradition comes, usually, a period of discomfort for extranjeros who envision their mothers scowling in disapproval.

It also leads me to the best advice I can give you for picking out a bar in a strange Spanish town. If you've hit prime pincho hour and the bars are full, by all means pick an establishment packed with locals. But when you find yourself facing two bars empty enough for you to see the floor, perhaps because most folks have already headed home for the comida or cena, your best pick is always the bar with that incredible mess of napkins on the floor.

With sincere apologies for the delay then, here's how you answered that question:

Honestly, how comfortable are you tossing those napkins on the floor in a Spanish bar?

Are you kidding? I even throw the clean ones down there. What's your hang-up?

20 (18%)

I do it, but I'll admit I look both ways first.

13 (11%)

Takes everything I have to do it, still, but I do it. When in Spain...

19 (17%)

No way. What if my mother sees me?

13 (11%)

Throw the what? where? I need a trip to Spain, don't I?

46 (41%)

Total votes: 111

Poll Results: We're sitting out the San Fermines

Erin — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:41:00 +0200

A new poll is up!!! We all know the place you really want to eat in Spain is the bar with the endless sea of napkins on the floor (meaning it's recently been wall to wall packed with grazing Iberians), but how are you doing with the hard-learned (for some) Spanish napkin-tossing (straight to the floor) technique? Let us know in the new poll!

Here are the results of the last poll, about the running of the bulls:

Speaking of the Sanfermines ("the running of the bulls") in Pamplona:

I've always wanted to run, but I'd never actually do it

11 (23%)

You've got to be nuts to participate in that

13 (27%)

I think the whole thing is insane, people get hurt!

5 (10%)

It's a common tradition in Spain, during fiestas, but tourists and publicity have ruined it in Pamplona

12 (25%)

Running of the what? Where?

0 (0%)

I swear I am going to go run some year

6 (12%)

Total votes: 47

Poll Results: You want more lessons, and exercises, and slang and...

Erin — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:21:00 +0200

Well, you've spoken!

And we're prepared to listen.

Our latest poll asked what you'd like to see more of on this blog. 60 readers responded to our poll, and told us what they'd most like to see here on Spanish Teaching are exercises in Spanish, Spanish expressions, and slang.

We'll try to incorporate all of that in the Spanish Teaching mix, but I'll toss out two additional ideas if you really are on the hunt for practical Spanish lessons, slang and otherwise, for free.

The free Weekly Lesson we send out to don Quijote website members will bring you vocabulary, lessons, expressions, and a quick weekly look at culture and fiestas.

Meanwhile, every don Quijote Monthly Newsletter includes a monthly "survival guide" of colloquial expressions, along with travel and cultural info and a recipe. It's available in Spanish as well, with an English version if you're a beginner or just find yourself stuck on a term or expression.

I'll continue to post excerpts from both of these resources here on the blog but if you're really after a good steady dose of practice, I'd recommend subscribing. Both are free!

Here are the poll results:

Poll Results: most Spanish Teaching visitors are learning Spanish - for the sheer pleasure of it!

Erin — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:08:00 +0200

Blog poll results are in!

We asked why you were learning Spanish and 82 of you responded.

The most common motivation?

Just plain fun! We wholeheartedly approve of that reason for learning any language. Here are the full results:

Poll Results: What's Spain's best gastronomic gift to world cuisine?

Erin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:42:00 +0200

We're paella lovers, as it turns out.

I can't say that I voted with the majority this time around. It's not that I don't love a good paella. It's just that I can't for the life of me remember when I last ate one. Now a perfect, golden tortilla de patatas....that I cannot go a month without. Pair it with a cup of gazpacho, and I'll sign anywhere, that I am never leaving Spain.

62 of us responded to the poll:

New Poll is up

Erin — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:25:00 +0200

A new poll is up.

As for the last, I can't say we're fascinated by cinema controversy at this blog.

We asked:

With the diversity of languages and nationalities of director and actors in this year's nominated films, do you think the Oscars should remove the category "foreign film"?

Poll: Would you go to a bullfight?

Erin — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:00:00 +0100

Bullfighting is undoubtedly the most controversial tradition in Spain. Yet, considering the role the corrida has played in Spanish culture, would you include a bullfight in your exploration of Spanish culture, given the opportunity?

58 of you answered our poll. The results?

Blog Poll Results: Is Spanish Sexist?

Erin — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 23:52:00 +0100

Is Spanish sexist? Our blog poll says no.

We asked what you thought...

BLOG POLL: Barcelona tops list of places our readers would like to study Spanish

Erin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:25:00 +0100

Results are in for our latest poll: "Spanish Abroad - where?" 90 visitors participated and Barcelona led the pack as the most popular destination for a Spanish course (26 votes), with Latin America not far behind, with 20 votes.

Here are the complete results:

Poll Results: Not a single one of us would miss the chance to study Spanish in Spain or Latin America!

Erin — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:03:00 +0100

Results are in on our latest poll!

We asked if you had (or hoped to) study Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country. And the results convince me to keep hanging out at this blog! I live and work in Spain because an acquaintance offhandedly recommended I take an immersion Spanish course back in 2001. I get the impression all of you would make the same recommendation. 77 visitors participated in the poll, with these results:

BLOG POLL RESULTS: Have you read Don Quijote?

Erin — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 15:41:00 +0100

A tip of the hat today to you, our well read, clearly diligent Spanish-studying visitors.

41% of the 68 visitors who responded to our most recent poll reported that they had indeed read Cervantes' Don Quijote - in Spanish.

Here are the full poll results:

Poll Results: Why Study Spanish?

Erin — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:19:00 +0200

Poll results are in! And a new poll is up.

We asked why someone choosing a foreign language to study should choose Spanish.

Here's what 44 of you told us:

NEW POLL: So what makes Spanish worth learning, anyway?

Erin — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 17:14:00 +0200

A new poll is up!! Right there----to the right, and maybe just up a touch. Yep, there!

If you have an idea for a poll question, please leave us a comment. Or email me - just click on my name, in the header of this entry.

Results of our first poll: What do you think of Spanglish?

Erin — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 17:07:00 +0200

The results are in! We've closed our first poll.

We asked: What do you think of Spanglish?

Here's what you told us.

Of the 60 visitors who voted: