Joanna Houseman
Thanks to family connections and work opportunities, Joanna has a lifelong affiliation with Spain and has been learning the Spanish language since the age of 12. Following university, Joanna spent a year living and working in Barcelona where her level of spoken Spanish was elevated to new levels (and she also dabbled in a little Catalan). Upon returning to the UK, she spent another year working for a Madrid based company whilst living in London, liaising every day with the factory in Spain. Joanna and her family then decided to up roots and move to Andalucía where they lived and worked for 12 years, fully integrated into Spanish village life and supporting the ex-pat community with their language challenges. Now living in Wales, Joanna has kept her connections to her village in Spain and returns as often as possible.
The Spanish word for strong, fuerte, comes from the Latin adjective fortis meaning strong and also brave (valiente). Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Fuerte is an invariable adjective, meaning it does not change to agree with the gender of its subject. However, it does change to agree in number, becoming fuertes in the plural form. ¡Es …
An animal that has lived and worked alongside humankind for centuries is the horse or caballo in Spanish. Caballo comes from the Latin caballus meaning packhorse, of disputed origin. One theory is that the word originally came from the Ancient Greek καβάλλης (kabállēs), a loanword from an Asiatic language. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Caballo is a …
An important ingredient in many Spanish dishes is the stock used for flavour and body. This stock or broth is called caldo. The word comes from the vulgar Latin calidus (or callus) meaning hot. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation As a masculine noun caldo takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Lo mejor para un resfriado es …
An important word to understand the meaning of if you come across it on a sign or label is peligro. Peligro is the Spanish word for danger, hazard, threat, peril or risk. It comes from the Latin pericŭlum which in turn came from the Proto-Germanic *feraną, the Proto-Indo-European *bʰowHéyeti and the Proto-Indo-European *per meaning around …
The Spanish word for earth is tierra, from the Latin terra meaning earth or land. Tierra derives from Terra (or Tellus) Mater (Mother Earth), the Roman primordial goddess of planet Earth. The Earth or la Tierra is the third (la tercera) planet from the sun (el sol) and the only planet in our solar system where …
In colder climates, we like to wear a scarf around our necks or heads to shield ourselves from the cold. This is typically a long piece of cloth made from heavy, thick material such as wool or fleece. In Spain, Mexico, Chile, and parts of Latin America, this scarf is called a bufanda. It is …