The key to developing your proficiency in any language is to take every opportunity to practise. Listening to different voices and accents and exposing yourself to new vocabulary can really bring your skills on in leaps and bounds. When you embark on a course of our Private Spanish Lessons or any of our other learning offerings, our native tutors will give you a solid foundation on which to build, but we do encourage you to put what you learn in our classrooms to the test out in the real world, and here are some of the best places to do it.

1. 1.     Madrid
   The Spanish capital boasts myriad attractions for visitors. Art lovers are sure to enjoy the masterpieces on display at the famous Prado and Reina Sofia museums; shopaholics can soak up the atmosphere and test their haggling skills at the enormous El Rastro market.
2. 2.     Barcelona
   Home of the unique architecture of Antonio Gaudi, Barcelona is a must-visit city. Cultural venues are plentiful with museums dedicated to Picasso and Miró; the city is also home to the National Museum of Art of Catalunya.
3. 3.     Valencia
   Take a guided walking tour around the ancient walls of the Islamic and Christian parts of Spain’s third largest city and see Valencia’s many historical architectural treasures, as well as one of the most futuristic – the City of Arts and Sciences by local architect Santiago Calatrava.
4. 4.     Ibiza
   It may be famous as the party capital of the Balearics, but Ibiza has something to offer all ages and tastes including artisan markets, endless sightseeing and dining opportunities and excursions of every kind, so there is no shortage of chances to try out the language.
5. 5.     Cadiz
   The historic Andalusian port was the scene of the signing of the first Spanish constitution in 1812, chosen as the city was one of the few places not to have been invaded by the French. As the oldest continuously-inhabited city in Spain and indeed Europe, it has innumerable places of interest to visit and practise your Spanish along the way.

These wonderful locations are just a short flight away, and a trip to any or all of them is a great opportunity to enrich your knowledge of Spanish language and culture. We speak a lot about this and more places in our Spanish language course.

It can’t have escaped many people’s notice that the World Cup will be taking place in Brazil this year, starting on 12 June.

Spain are of course defending champions, having won the 2010 tournament in South Africa, and adding to it by beating Italy 4-0 to win the Euro 2012 championships in Ukraine. Spain is a proud and passionate footballing nation, also boasting the best club teams in Europe at present, two of whom, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, will contest the Champions League final this coming Saturday.

Football is also the most popular sport in many other Spanish-speaking countries, who account for a further 8 of the 32 countries playing in the World Cup. They are Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras and Argentina.

Though football isn’t of course the main focus of our Private Spanish Lessons, we thought that it might be fun and topical to run down some footballing vocabulary for you to try out during the tournament:

world cup – mundial
goal – (el) gol
foul – (la) falta
free kick – tiro libre
handball! – imano!
extra time – tiempo suplementario / prórroga
kick-off – saque de salida
national team – (la) selección
own goal – autogol
penalty – tiro penal / penalti
red card – tarjeta roja
yellow card – tarjeta amarilla
referee – (el) árbitro
fan / supporter – hincha / seguidor

And if you don’t happen to be watching right until the whistle (silbato pitido) and you miss the result of a big game, you might want to ask ¿cómo terminó el partido? to find out what the score was. Not a football fan? Don’t worry – it will all be over on 13 July for another four years!

“It is with sadness that we report that since this blog was written, Gabriel Garcia Marquez passed away on 17 April 2014 after being in fragile health for some time. Many notable figures including presidents past and present paid tribute to the visionary author, who will be much missed, especially in his native Colombia and his adopted home, Mexico.” We will still using his novels for our Spanish lessons in London.

We normally encourage our students to have a go at using Spanish as often as possible. Your efforts will normally be appreciated, however, there are some Spanish phrases that you really should ditch and stick to what you learn in your Spanish lessons instead. Here are just a few:

1. ¡Ay, caramba!
   Best translated as ‘Oh my gosh!’ or similar, it’s quite outdated. Leave this one for Bart Simpson.
2. Hasta la vista
   The Spanish equivalent of the French ‘au revoir’, it was popularised by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in Terminator, but it’s just too cheesy for most Spanish speakers nowadays.
3. Mi casa es su casa
4. Literally meaning ‘My house is your house’, in other words, ‘Make yourself at home,’ but times have changed and this isn’t used seriously any more.
5. Vale
   Usually used in the same sense as ‘OK’ or ‘Sure’, this is a word that is used in different senses in different countries, and it can be inappropriate if used incorrectly, so it’s best avoided.
6. No Bueno
   Most often used by non-Spanish speakers to mean ‘no good’, it’s very bad grammar and most Spanish speakers would feel silly saying it, so if you don’t want them to think you’re silly too, get it right (no es bueno=it’s not good) or leave it out.
7. Yo quiero Taco Bell
   The slogan of the Taco Bell Chihuahua in a well-known advertising campaign, meaning ‘I want Taco Bell’, this really shouldn’t be attempted while you’re eating out in Spain!
8. Arriba!
   In the sense of ‘Hurrah’ or ‘Come on!’ those old enough will remember it as part of the catchphrase of Looney Tunes cartoon mouse Speedy Gonzales. If you also recall his over-the-top Mexican accent, you’ll understand why this saying is not cool!
9. Muy caliente Often erroneously used as ‘hot’ in the sense of ‘attractive’, this actually means well, warm or hot (temperature). You wouldn’t describe an attractive person in English as ‘warm’, now would you?

The custom of combining the names of two languages to describe the adoption of borrowed words is something most of us are familiar with. Most of us have heard, for example, of Franglais – a combination of Français and Anglais – in which English words are adopted into French grammar, le weekend being an oft-quoted example.

Similar examples exist all around the world, and Spanglish is just one such example, where English words have found their way into the Spanish language and subsequently become subject to Spanish grammar rules.

Spanglish tends to be more prevalent in the Americas, where the influence of English is so much stronger than in mainland Spain. Here, the use of verbs such as chequear (to check) is common, whilst the ‘standard’ versions (comprobar or verificar) are used in Spain. The use of English words for modern technological terms is also widespread in many languages, and this has given rise to ‘new’ Spanish verbs such as textear, meaning ‘to text’ and other similar verbs like emailear and even twitterear.

Basic nouns also frequently pass between languages – so the appearance of words like mañana, amigo and tortilla in English could also be classed as Spanglish, and likewise in the other direction, words like el sándwich and el mouse have passed into everyday Spanish.

In today’s increasingly globalised world, it seems certain that this flow of words between languages is going to increase. If you would like to learn more about new and ‘true’ Spanish, then our native tutors can offer Private Spanish Lessons throughout the London area.

When preparing for a move to a Spanish-speaking country, many people benefit from taking an Intensive Spanish course such as those we offer here at Lingua Clinic. Even if you are going to take up a position which will entail speaking mainly English at work, it will help you to adapt to your new location and go about your business outside of work if you have a good grounding in the language. Everyday things such as shopping, asking directions and socialising with your new friends and colleagues become so much easier when you can make yourself understood, and understand those responding to you, in Spanish.

There are opportunities throughout Latin America for English speakers in a wide variety of professions. It is perhaps not surprising that there is always demand for those qualified to teach English as a foreign language. However, it is not just in the education sector where English speakers are sought after. They are also often required in the tourist industry for their ability to deal with foreign visitors or operators’ international branches. In addition, large corporations are increasingly outsourcing business processes to South America for the cost benefits they can achieve. This means that there are also openings in technology, finance and many other business sectors for those with marketable skills. If you don’t see yourself as a corporate animal, then perhaps you may be interested in the wealth of voluntary positions which are available throughout the continent for those wanting to help emerging economics.

Latin America is home to some of the most vibrant cities in the world, and with a relatively low cost of living, it’s a great choice for those looking to embark on a life-changing experience, so why not check out the prospects available to you?

There’s an app for literally everything these days and Spanish dictionaries are no exception. But how do today’s apps measure up against the long-established paper dictionary that has been the language students’ trusty companion for generations? We examine the pros and cons of each.

The app wins hands down on portability and convenience.  With no books to carry around and a large vocabulary at your fingertips, the Spanish app is certainly a very useful tool for anyone learning the language. They’re great for speedily looking up the odd word that you might have forgotten while you’re on the go, and they’re invaluable when you’re travelling to a Spanish-speaking country and don’t want to use up your baggage allowance with heavy reference books.

Some apps even include a voice recognition feature, which can be handy when you don’t know how to spell a word or you’re trying to have a conversation with someone and are struggling to understand something they are saying. However, these features don’t always accurately capture the words being spoken, particularly if there is a lot of background noise.

We do find though that most apps can’t yet compete with the breadth and depth of information contained in a paper dictionary, and the traditional dictionary tends to fare much better when it comes to giving in-depth definitions and examples of the usage of words in different contexts. Apps are developing all the time and have some exciting capabilities which are sure to get even better in the future, and in our opinion every tool that can help in any small way when you are learning Spanish is a force for good, so our advice is make the most of them, but don’t throw your dictionaries away just yet.

As we grow up, we’re constantly having our grammar corrected by our parents and teachers until the rules become completely ingrained. It’s understandable then that when we start to learn another language, we try to apply the rules we already know to it. This doesn’t work though, as we frequently (but patiently!) have to explain to students.

With Indo-European roots, English and Spanish grammar has similarities in places, but there are also significant differences. One of the first things you have to come to grips with as a beginner is gender. As English doesn’t assign a gender to inanimate things, this is often a source of confusion early on for learners. Agreement – changing adjectives to match the nouns they describe – is still more difficult, especially in the early days when just one form can be a struggle to recall. Word order differs in many cases too. Taking once again the simple example of a noun and an adjective, the phrase “the tall man” would translate as “el hombre alto”; as you see, the adjective comes after the noun, whereas it is the opposite in English.

Verb conjugations and word endings can also be challenging for English speakers who have not been exposed to other languages, but these basic examples illustrate the danger of trying to apply your native grammar rules to a foreign language. Difficult though it can be at times, the best approach is simply to absorb and accept the rules of Spanish and forget about trying to make sense of them in the framework of English grammar. Don’t feel daunted though; the rules are not complex – simply different to English – and your native Spanish tutor will be there to help you every step of the way.

Legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz, known as the Queen of Salsa (La Reina de la Salsa) was one of the most successful exponents of Latin music of the 20th century, earning twenty-three gold albums during the course of a long and illustrious career. She was born in Havana in 1925 and was the second child of Simon Cruz and Catalina Alfonso.

Cruz got her first break way back in 1950 when she was called upon to fill in as lead singer for a popular Cuban orchestra. For fifteen years she toured all over Latin America with the band, who adopted the name ‘Café con Leche’ (Coffee with Milk). However, after the Cuban revolution, she opted not to return home and became a US citizen. She continued recording and performing, also appearing in a number of films, until shortly before her death, from brain cancer, in 2003.

Listening to music is a great way to keep in touch with the language between Private Spanish Lessons. It can help you to pick up new vocabulary as well as reinforce the words you already know by repetition. Think about how we learn our own language growing up: we’re surrounded by stimuli of all different kinds, picking up words from music, television and those around us, not just in the formal setting of the classroom. If you’re not already familiar with her work, why not listen to some of the songs from Celia Cruz’ back catalogue and see how much you can learn from them. Once you get to know the tunes, singing along can help you to improve your pronunciation too!

There can be few people with knowledge of contemporary music who are unfamiliar with the name Gloria Estefan. She’s the most successful crossover Latin musician ever, with seven Grammy awards and 100 million record sales to her name. Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan was born in September 1957 in Havana, Cuba. Have you ever wondered at the lengthy names quoted in our biographical blogs? These follow Spanish naming customs where the paternal name (Fajardo) is given first and the maternal family name (Garcia) second. ‘de Estefan’ was added after her marriage in 1978 to Emilio Estefan.

Aside from a musical career spanning over four decades, Estefan is perhaps best known for her courage and determination in recovering from a fractured spine after her tour bus was involved in a crash in March 1990. There was speculation that she may never walk again and she endured a great deal of pain, once saying, “There were times when the pain was so bad I prayed I’d pass out”, yet she committed herself fully to intensive rehabilitation therapy and resumed touring and singing after just 10 months.

More recently, Estefan has diversified into children’s literature, writing two successful books, The Magically Mysterious Adventures of Noelle the Bulldog and its follow-up, Noelle’s Treasure Tale. Both are available in Spanish language versions entitled Las Magicas y Misteriosas Aventuras de una Bulldog Llamada Noelle and El Tesoro do Noelle: Una Nueva Magica y Misteriosa Aventura respectively. Reading children’s books is a great way to complement your Private Spanish Lessons and expand your knowledge of the language. The simpler language of children’s literature is more manageable for learners and you can gradually increase the difficulty of your reading as your skills improve – just as we do when learning our native languages.