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 friend, amigo, originally comes from the Latin amīcus, meaning friend, which is derived from amare (to love). Latin American pronunciation European pronunciation Amigo is a masculine noun and takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Este es mi amigo José. This is my friend José. The feminine version of the word …
The second colour in the rainbow is orange. Orange in Spanish is naranja and the word originally comes from the Sanskrit nāraṅga (orange tree) and taken from the Arabic نَارَنْج (nāranj) meaning (bitter / sour orange). As you have probably guessed by now, the word naranja is also used as the word for the fruit …
Around 20% of the world’s population speaks English either as a native or as a second language. The Spanish word for English is inglés and comes from the Old French word angleis, the name for one of the tribes (the Angles) which invaded the United Kingdom in the 5th century. Latin American pronunciation European pronunciation …
The fruit of the olive tree is known as the aceituna. The word aceituna comes from the Hispanic Arabic word az-zaytúna, which derives from the classical Arabic اَلزَّيْتُونَة (zaytūnah), which came in turn from the ancient Aramaic, zaytūnā. Olive oil was called az-zait. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Aceituna is a feminine noun and takes the …
The fifth colour in the rainbow is blue. Blue in Spanish is azul and comes from lapis lazuli, lazulī is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum taken from the Arabic لَازُوَرْد (lāzuward) and Persian لاجورد (lâjvard) both meaning sky or heaven. Lapis is the Latin word for stone, so lapis lazuli literally means ‘stone from the sky‘ or ‘stone …
Let’s look today at another important member of the family. The brother of your mother or father, your uncle, is known as tío in Spanish. It was inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese tio, originating from Late Latin thīus, from Ancient Greek θεῖος (theîos). Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Tío is a masculine noun, and of course, …