Heather Broster
Heather is a graduate in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario and an aspiring polyglot. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction. When she isn’t studying languages, she enjoys the great outdoors, exercising and spending time with her young son.
The English word space has several meanings, and learners of Spanish will be happy to know that the Spanish equivalent, espacio, encompasses almost all of these meanings as well. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Before we begin, let’s briefly examine its etymology. Espacio comes from the Latin spatium, a word of uncertain origin that carries …
An important adjective used to describe a person or animal with a scruffy, unkempt, dishevelled or slovenly appearance is desaliñado. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation It is made up of the negative prefix des- and the word aliñado, which means neat or well-groomed. Aliñado itself is derived from aliño, which comes from the Latin word …
In Spanish, any tool with bristles used for brushing hair or cleaning is referred to as a cepillo (brush). It is the combination of the noun cepo (meaning “branch”) and the diminutive suffix -illo. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Cepillo is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Cepillos come in …
If you have mastered the cinco sentidos (five senses) in Spanish, you will already be aware that the word for taste is gusto. A helpful way to remember this word is to think of the more formal synonym of taste, which is gustation. The other four senses are vista (sight), oído (hearing), tacto (touch), and …
My family is very lucky because we live right by the seaside, and just a stone’s throw away from our doorstep is an expansive playa (beach). If my son could have his way, he would spend hours there every day! Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation The word is derived from the Late Latin plagia, which …
Is there someone in your life who would complain about paying even a dollar more when you divides la cuenta (split the bill)? If so, you could easily call him avaro, a word with many possible English translations including stingy, cheap, avaricious, greedy, grasping, miserly, penny-pinching, or tight-fisted. In short, it describes someone who is …