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Spanish (español) is a Romance language named for its origins as the native tongue of a large proportion of the inhabitants of Spain. It is also named Castilian (castellano) after the Spanish region of Castile where it originated. Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin.

Map-Hispanophone World-1-

Spanish speaking world

In 1999 there were, according to Ethnologue, 358 million people speaking Spanish as a native language and a total of 417 million speakers[12] worldwide. Currently these figures are between 400[2][3] and 500 million people respectively. Mexico contains the largest population of Spanish speakers. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and is used as an official language by the European Union and Mercosur.

Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of spoken Latin in central-northern Iberia around the ninth century[28] and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile (present northern Spain) into central and southern Iberia during the later Middle Ages. Early in its history, the Spanish vocabulary was enriched by its contact with Basque and Arabic, and the language continues to adopt foreign words from a variety of other languages, as well as developing new words. Spanish was taken most notably to the Americas as well as to Africa and Asia-Pacific with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, where it became the most important language for government and trade.[29]

Due to its increasing presence in the demographics and popular culture of the United States, particularly in the fast-growing states of the Sun Belt, Spanish is the most popular second language learned by native speakers of American English. The increasing political stability and economies of many larger Hispanophone nations, the language's immense geographic extent in Latin America and Europe for tourism, and the growing popularity of warmer, more affordable, and culturally vibrant retirement destinations found in the Hispanic world have contributed significantly to the growth of learning Spanish as a foreign language across the globe.

Spanish is the third most commonly used language on the Internet after English and Mandarin. It is also the third most studied language and third language in international communication, after English and French, in the world.[30][31][32]

ResourcesEdit

Barcelona

Spanish English Frequency Dictionary Edit

This Spanish frequency dictionary covers about 95% of all spoken Spanish, and 85% of all written Spanish you encounter on a daily basis. In the book you will find

  • 2500 most used Spanish words listed by frequency and alphabet
  • frequency rankings as part of speech (most used nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc..)
  • 2500 Spanish to English example sentences showing word usage
  • phonetic spelling of Spanish words with the International Phonetic Alphabet
  • Recommended in conjunction with an audiomethod (Michel Thomas or Pimsleur)
  • Great for building vocabulary fast
  • No grammar

Duolingo Edit

  • Unlimited advancement available.
  • Recommended as an adjacent learning tool.
  • Not recommended to be used as the only tool.
  • Covers every field.
  • Very useful as it offers a lot of material for translation, forcing the user on a hands on approach while offering good aid.
  • 3 minutes to create an account and know all there is to it about how it works.
  • Free. Thank you based anon!

Pimsleur Edit

  • 5 levels Available with 150 lessons available.
  • Recommended as a learning tool.
  • Strongly not recomended to be used as the only tool.
  • Covers mainly speaking and being able to hold a conversation.
  • Easy to use, just open the audio file and repeat.
  • http://www.pimsleur.com/Learn-Spanish-Latin-American Try a free lesson!

Rosetta StoneEdit

  • 5 levels available for both European Spanish and Latin American Spanish
  • Recommended as a beginning tool.
  • Strongly not recommended to be used as the only tool.
  • Covers pronounciation, reading, listening, vocabulary, writing.
  • Very poor for grammar.
  • Easy to use. Shouldn't take more than an hour to set up and begin using.
  • More expensive than it's worth. Thank you based internet!

StudySpanish.comEdit

  • Numerous lessons on grammar, vocabulary, verbs, pronounciation, etc.
  • Not recommended as the only learning tool.
  • One of the best tools for Spanish Grammar.
  • Partially free, but requires payment for additional content.

Lang-8Edit

  • Language exchange social networking website.

InterpalsEdit

  • People who want to learn English are willing to help you learn Spanish. (And a lot of them are really cute!)

Books and .PDF filesEdit

Webs to Download eBooks in Spanish Edit

Media Edit

NewsEdit

Movies and TVEdit

Spanish TV series: Edit

  • Águila Roja (RTVE )
  • Al Filo de la Ley (RTVE )
  • Amar En Tiempos Revueltos (RTVE )
  • Ana y los 7 (RTVE )
  • Aquí no hay quien viva (Antena3)
  • Bandolera (Antena3)
  • Betty la Fea (Ugly Betty) (The original version of Ugly Betty. Yes, imperialist dog US of A along with the rest of the world ripped this show off. The original version is the best version without a doubt.)
  • Con el culo al aire (Antena3)
  • Cuéntame (RTVE )
  • El Barco (Antena3)
  • El Comisario (Tele5) (Mitele)
  • El corazón del Océano (Antena3) Takes part during the conquest of America, the King Carlos I is worried about the race mixing so he decides to send a ship with 80 spanish maidens to you-know-what in the New World and spread the Spaniard love.
  • El Príncipe (Tele5) (Mitele)
  • El Secreto de Puente Viejo (Antena3)
  • El tiempo entre costuras (Antena3)
  • Física o Química
  • Gran Hotel (Antena3)
  • Hispania, la Leyenda. (Antena3)
  • Hospital Central (Tele5) (Mitele)
  • Karabudjan (Antena3)
  • La Reina del Sur (Antena3) Colaboration between Colombia and Spain, based on reality, a Queen Drug Dealer.
  • Los Hombre de Paco (Antena3) Follows a police man and his friends.
  • Los Serrano (Tele5) (Mitele)
  • Manos a la obra (Antena3)
  • Mujeres Asesinas (Based on real cases of crazy women killing people. To the degree of how much is based on real life is arguable but the series is good overall.)
  • Qué vida más triste (laSexta) A guy tells his life to a camera, with a lot of irony and sense of humor, also yeah, his life is quite sad lel.
  • Rescatando a Sara (Antena3) Mini serie about a woman trying to get her daughter back after she has been kidnapped.
  • Señoras que (Antena3)
  • Sin tetas no hay paraíso (Tele5) (Mitele) Spanish version of the Colombian original series.
  • Tierra de Lobos (Mitele)
  • Toledo (Antena3)
  • Un Paso Adelante (Antena3)
  • Velvet (Antena3)
  • Vientos de Agua.

Spanish TV Programs of Actuality: Edit

  • Al Rojo Vivo (laSexta) Politics, politics and more politics.
  • El Intermedio (laSexta) News and political news with a lot of humor.
  • El Objetivo (laSexta)
  • Encarcelados (laSexta) Program about different spanish people imprisoned abroad.
  • Equipo de Investigación (laSexta) Investigations about different kind of topics, issues and news.
  • laSexta Columna (laSexta)
  • La Sexta Noche (laSexta) Basically political debates, they end up easily shouting and insulting at each other.
  • Más Vale Tarde (laSexta) News

Spanish TV Programs of Entertainment: Edit

  • Atrapa un millón (Antena3) Kinda stupid, but meh, people from all over the country and can be fun.
  • Bricomanía (Nova)
  • Buenafuente (laSexta)
  • Callejeros (Cuatro) (Mitele) They make programs of "investigation" trying to get to dirtiest of the dirt. Still good to practice the listening as there are people from all over Spain (and foreigners) with different accents and using more or less slang, or not using it at all.
  • Cruz y Raya (RTVE) It's a bit old program (1987-2007), made of humorous sketches. You can find many of them on YouTube.
  • Desafío extremo (Cuatro) (Mitele)
  • El Club de la Comedia (laSexta)
  • En el aire (laSexta)
  • Frank de la Jungla (Mitele) The guy is a jerk, but you can laugh.
  • La hora de José Mota (RTVE)
  • Museo Coconut (Antena3)
  • Pasapalabra (Mitele)
  • Policías en acción (laSexta) Program that follows different police in action and their duties.
  • Sé lo que hicisteis (laSexta)
  • Vaya semanita (eitb) (YouTube) Program of humor about Euskadi and the rest of Spain. Very good.

Spanish Webseries: Edit

  • Cálico Electrónico (YouTube) A damn fucking hell of abusing cunts using bloody goddamn fucking strong language.
  • Comaland (YouTube) It has a big accent from south spain and some slang.
  • Crónicas Drakonianas (ATP) (YouTube)
  • Enjuto Mojamuto (RTVE) (YouTube)
  • Familia Ibérica (YouTube)
  • Háztelo mirar (ATP)
  • Las Crónicas de Maia (ATP)
  • Malviviendo (YouTube)
  • Niña Repelente (YouTube)
  • Treintañeros (ATP)
  • Zombicidas (ATP)

Television Stations in Spain: Edit

Some of the TV series dubbed in Spanish: (virtually all American shows have Spanish subtitles)Edit

  • Adventure Time
  • Breaking Bad
  • Bones
  • Criminal Minds
  • Futurama
  • Friends
  • Game of Thrones
  • Gossip Girl
  • Hellcats
  • House
  • How I Met Your Mother
  • Metalocalypse
  • Misfits
  • Modern Family
  • My Name Is Earl
  • Pretty Little Liars
  • Prison Break
  • Raising Hope
  • Scrubs
  • Sex and the City
  • Skins
  • South Park (Latino)
  • Supernatural
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • The Mentalist
  • The Simpsons
  • The Sopranos
  • The Walking Dead
  • True Blood
  • Weeds

Subtitles:Edit

Spanish Monologuist: Edit

They could be a bit hard to follow because of the speech's speed of the comedians. Here's a list of some popular and recommended artist:

  • Dani Mateo
  • Dani Rovira Andalusian accent [1]
  • Goyo Jimenez Specialist in Murrica stuff.
  • Luis Piedrahita [1] [2]

Music Edit

Small indications: Inside "[]" will go additional genres, pe.: Flamenco rock, Danzón electronic, etc. And the country of origin will be at the end in Superscript style. The wikipedia pages have their corresponding more complete version in Spanish, check them while you're at it.

Afro Edit

  • Buena Vista Social Club: [Son, Danzón, Afro-Cuban] Cuban
  • Susana Baca: [Afro-Peruvian] Peruvian

Bachata Edit

Flamenco Edit

  • Andy & Lucas: [Pop] Spanish Not really flamenco, but a "light" version of it, kinda.
  • Camarón: Spanish
  • Camela [Pop] Spanish
  • Diego "El Cigala": Spanish
  • El Fary: [Copla] Spanish
  • Kiko Veneno (Rock): Spanish
  • Los Chichos: [Rumba] Spanish
  • Los del Río: [Sevillanas, Rumba, Pop] Spanish

Fusion Edit

Folk Edit

  • Mercedes Sosa: [Argentine Folk] Argentina

Indie Edit

  • Triángulo de Amor Bizarro: [Noise Rock]
  • Los Punsetes

Metal Edit

  • El Reno Renardo: [Comedy heavy metal] They are rude, gross and lewdy funny. A few songs also have very strong critics against the goverment/society mixed with irony and humor. It can be difficult to understand because they have a lot of cultural references and use slang/rude words. Spanish
  • Saratoga: Spanish
  • Stravaganzza Spanish

Pop Edit

Rap Edit

  • Calle 13: [Reggaetón]
  • Cypess Hill: (Exitos en Español)
  • Doble V (Violadores del Verso): [v1] Spanish
  • Don Omar: (Terrible, basically hip-hop in Spanish, if you want to listen something like Pitbull, this is your "singer")
  • Bad Bunny/J Balvin

Reggae/Reggaetón Edit

  • Cultura Profetica: [Reggae] Spanish

Rock Edit

Rumba Edit

  • Muchachito Bombo Infierno

Salsa Edit

Bonus Songs Edit

Some songs are and/or have been quite popular, growing a special place in the people's heart. In general those songs have big cultural roots so it's more likely that they would be popular on certain countries and completely unkown in the rest.

Por clasificar/To Classify: Edit

Other webs that may catch your interest: Edit

  • Asco de Vida: A web where people say "bad, awful, sad, fail" things that have happened to them and other stuff. Sometimes you can laugh too much. Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes life is a potato.
  • Inciclopedia: The Red-pilled wikipedia about everything in the world. Totally and absolutely serious in every aspect. Every word can be understood as The Ultimate Truth given to the plebs from the deities while they were hanging out with Chuck Norris in the rave of the Party God. Use with caution. Once you have seen it, you cannot unsee it.

Anime and Manga related: Edit

  • Holanime Streaming of anime with spanish subs.
  • AnimeID Streaming of anime with spanish subs.
  • animeFLV Streaming of anime with spanish subs.
  • JKanime Streaming of anime with spanish subs.
  • MCAnime Download and forum of manga and anime. From South America, used worldwide.
  • SubManga Manga online.
  • AnimeHeavens Streaming of Anime with spanish subs and Download Button

Brotips Edit

  • If you have any experience learning this language, please share it. It's greatly appreciated!:
  • English movies and TV dubbed in Spanish. The Spanish love to dub things, so if you have seen a movie or TV series before in English, download it in Spanish, without the subtitles, and watch it. Many people say this is one of the best ways to learn the language. Many foreign people who have learned English say this is how they did it, so take note.
  • Consider that Spanish is a language that spans 3 continents and many, many cultures and dialects. There is a "Neutral spanish" accent for America and other for Europe, the american is the acent of "Bogota" and the european the accent of Aragon and Navarre, Why? in Bogota use words who are comprensible for all the latin americans and the aragonese and navarrese consider it is rude speak with any kind of accent so they are accustomed to speaking in a way that is understandable to all speakers but in any case don't worry too much about it, in your initial stages of learning your goal is to be understood, not blend in. If later, someone tells you that you sound like a Spaniard, Mexican or Argentina, take it as a compliment because that means you are understandable.
  • Though Spanish has examples of great literature, it might be fair to say the real textual richness of the language is in its song. Spain and Spanish-speaking North and South America contain myriad musical styles and the lyrical traditions of these music contain a lot of opportunity for the listener. There is rock and techno in Spanish, but why would you learn another language to listen to music that is already common in your culture? Flamenco, tango, afro-peruvian, afro-cuban, coplas, Veracruzan marimba and many other musics have rich lyrics for you to explore.
  • If you find yourself drawn to learning about how to learn a language too much, try instead to read articles in spanish about how to learn english, thus solving both problems.

Pronunciation Brotips Edit

  • The vowels may use an accute accent [acento agudo], ( ´ ), in some words to express the stress on the syllabe. Eg., á (árbol), é (intrépido), í (río), ó (canción), ú (último). 
  • Speaking of vowels, be aware that Spanish only has 5 vowel sounds. English, for example, despite having 5 or 6 written vowels, has upwards of 12 different vowel sounds. So limit yourself to "ah" as in father, "eh" as in let, "i" (ee) as in beat, "u" as in "blue" and o, which is discussed below.
  • English-speakers are notorious for botching the "o" in spanish. In English, this word actually has two vowel sounds "o" at the beginning of the vowel and  then "oo" made by rounding (puckering) the lips. Essentially, we have the "u" vowel hidden inside our way of pronouncing oh. Practice saying "No" in English and in Spanish. Put a finger to your lips as in the gesture for silence (Shh!!!) and say English "No". You will feel your lips contract. Now, say "No" in Spanish. If your lips contract, stop. When you can say "No" without moving your lips (not actually all the difficult) congratulations, you've eliminated one aspect of your gringo accent in one word. Keep trucking, there's still lots of work to do.
  • All of the stops in Spanish are unaspirated. Learn what that means and stop doing it.
  • The "R" is Spanish has two expressions. Intervocalic R is a flap, the same the sound represented by the two T's in the American pronunciation of butter; if you're a weeaboo, it's that Japanese sound that is rendered in romaji as R. Word-initial R (and sometimes word-final R) and RR are trills, the rolled R. Don't roll all of the R's, as that will obscure the diffference between "pero" (but) and "perro" dog.
  • While we're at it, the Spanish letter "D" also has two sounds. Whenever it is the first letter in a word, or found after an "n" or an "l" it is pronounced similarly to the "d" in the English word "dog". In any other situation however, it is pronounced more like an English "th" sound like in the word "this".

Useful Links Edit

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