In our first blog slang installment, here are a few of the more curious sounds you'll hear wandering round Spain, in colloquial Spanish, formal Spanish and with a reasonable equivalent in English:
A mi, plin No me importa Makes no difference to me
En un pis pas Inmediatamente, rápidamente Right away
De eso nada Negación rotunda, no, no y no No, no, absolutely not!
Ni fu ni fa Resultar indiferente It's all the same to me
And last, this business of pe and pa.
Saber o conocer algo de pe a pa means to know everything there is to know about something.
If you'd like to pick up a bit of slang every month, subscribe to our monthly bilingual newsletter, which includes a slang survival guide, recipes in Spanish, Spanish sayings, handy URLs for learning Spanish, don Quijote news and offers and a monthly cover story on Spanish travel or culture.
A recent article from Gannett, a leading US news service, stresses the growing demand for bilingual professionals in the US job market. Recruiters now not only seek conversational skills but the ability to read and write well in a language other than English. According to the article, only 11 percent of Americans speak English and a second language fluently. An excerpt:
"Most workers in the United States don't need to speak or write a second language. But recruiters say some telemarketing, banking, engineering and financial service companies are looking for workers and managers with bilingual skills because of the growing immigrant population in the United States or because they are doing more business in foreign countries.
Dayna Romanick, a national recruiter for Manpower Professional, said the Fortune 100 companies she deals with are asking more frequently for managers who speak Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese and other languages.
And when it is not mandatory for some jobs, being bilingual "is icing on the cake."
"I had a wonderful time learning Spanish in Madrid," says Nick Bennett Britton, an IT consultant from Winchester. "After morning lessons, I'd go for long walks in the city, visiting museums, popping in to cafés and just enjoying life in Spain. Speaking the language and hearing it all around me made me progress much faster than I would have done in the UK."
Read more comments from students who have learned a language by travelling to the country where it's spoken (including several don Quijote students) in this article in the Telegraph.
A virtual visit to Salamanca, have a look at this video, discover this amazing Spanish city full of history and culture, and see our first school of Spanish, don Quijote Salamanca school.
Here's the perfect blog to read regularly if you want to practice your Spanish, learn commonly used colloquial phrases and practice writing in Spanish by leaving comments. What's more, you will learn about Spanish culture, history and everyday life while you're at it.
Best of all, it's a warm, funny, and thoroughly interesting read.
A mis 95 años is the blog of María Amelia, who lives in a pueblo in Galicia. On her 95th birthday her grandson gave her a blog, and she's been diligently blogging ever since. She's talked about life in her pueblo and much of the history she's seen in Spain, including the civil war and the transition to democracy. María Amelia gets dozens of comments daily from all over the world, so you can feel comfortable leaving her a little note in less than perfect Spanish.
Here's how she opens her blog:
"Amigos de Internet, hoy cumplo 95 años. Me llamo María Amelia y nací en Muxía (A Coruña) el 23 de Diciembre de 1911. Hoy es mi cumpleaños y mi nieto como es muy cutre me regaló un blog. Espero poder escribir mucho y contaros las vivencias de una señora de mi edad."
We've just added two new partner schools, carefully selected to meet our standards of quality in teaching and service.
This news add two truly emblematic (should I even say legendary?) Spanish cities to your don Quijote options: Pamplona, a cobblestoned city of tradition, and yes, the famous running of the bulls, and Cádiz, (above, in photo) a sun drenched enclave rich in history, traditional culture, and white architecture against blue Andalucian skies.
Read more about Cádiz and what you can do in your free time through the entire province of Cádiz- from walks on pristine beaches to hikes in the sierra - here.
Read what TourSpain has to say about lovely, historic Pamplona here.
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!
La lengua española sigue evolucionando y ganando importancia en el terreno internacional. La fuerte presencia hispana en Estados Unidos y la reciente decisión de Brasil de introducir la enseñanza del español en la educación obligatoria han fortalecido la presencia del español como lengua internacional, a la vez que han abierto nuevas expectativas y oportunidades económicas para la educación lingüística.
Aquí tienes un interesante artículo publicado por el periódico español "El País" con más información sobre la presencia del español en el mundo y sobre el negocio del idioma.
Do you speak Dutch? If you do, you will love these travel stories from our Dutch students travelling to Madrid, Cuba, Mexico, Granada, and much more. It is always useful to hear first hand what to study abroad is like.
Do you speak Dutch? If you do, you will love these 
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