Learn vocabulary about bad weather in Spain (medium to advanced level B2-C1)

Posted on 22/03/2025 by Zutoia

Would you like to learn more vocabulary in Spanish related to bad and adverse weather in Spain? Do you feel that “hace frío” y “llueve” is not enough to understand the interesting weather broadcast that is daily explained in the Spanish news? Here you will find three interesting activities to learn and practice some new vocabulary. Enjoy!

Actividad 1: flashcards para aprender/repasar vocabulario en español sobre el tema “meteorología adversa”.

Actividad 2: rellena los huecos para practicar el vocabulario que hemos repasado (¡y también vocabulario nuevo que quizá tengas que consultar en el diccionario!)

Actividad 3: ¡ahora ya estás preparado para ver y entender las noticias meteorológicas de la televisión pública española! Haz click en el siguiente enlace de RTVE (Radio Televisión Española) y comprueba cómo tu nuevo vocabulario te ayuda a comprender mejor las noticias y la actualidad meteorológica (Fuente: noticias RTVE del 22 de marzo de 2025; sobre las consecuencias de la borrasca Martinho).

La borrasca Martinho deja ríos desbordados y cientos de viviendas afectadas

Activities 1 and 2 were created with https://h5p.org

‘al fin’ VS. ‘al final’

Posted on 01/04/2020 by Zutoia

Hello there!

One of my C1-level students of Spanish language (let’s call him Juanito) asked me the other day: what is the difference between “al fin” and “al final” in Spanish? I had to stop for a bit and think twice about it. But after a while I think I was able to give him a decent explanation that I would like to share with you here.

First of all, we have to speak about the word “el final” and “el fin”:

el final = the end –> El final del libro no me gustó. / Estamos en la fase final de producción.
el fin* = the goal –> Esa empresa persigue fines inmorales.

*–> The problem is that very often “el fin” is used as a synonym for “el final”. But the good news are that this happens mainly on set phrases. Let’s see some examples:

Para algunas familias, es difícil llegar a fin de mes. (make ends meet)
Este fin de semana vamos a ir al cine. (weekend)
Algunos dicen que el fin del mundo está cerca.(world’s end/the end of the world)
Tenemos que poner fin a la guerra y el odio entre naciones. (put an end to)
¡Por fin has llegado! = ¡Al fin has llegado! (at last)

After all this we can now better say that:

al fin = por fin (at last) ¡Al fin dejó de llover! (At last the rain stopped!) o ¡Por fin dejó de llover! (At last the rain stopped!)
al final (at the end). Al final no hemos hablado sobre ti (At the end we didn’t speak about you).

MORE: Sometimes we use “al fin” when in English you can use “finally”: After 15 minutes I finally found the keys. –> Después de 15 minutos, por fin encontré las llaves.

MORE: we use “finalmente” as “para terminar” when in English you can use “lastly” o “to sum up”: (Después de una larga presentación) Finalmente, me gustaría recordarles que nuestra reunión de mañana será a las 12:00h. (After a long presentation) Lastly, I would like to remind you that tomorrow’s meeting will be held at 12:00.

‘mientras’ VS. ‘mientras que’

Posted on 20/10/2019 by Zutoia

This week I visited Universidad de Alcalá (UAH) (Madrid, Spain) to attend the workshop COROLA “Copulas within and across Romance Languages”. As you can infer from the title of the workshop, it was a perfect event for me to learn more about ser and estar, the verbs around which my PhD revolves. The workshop was really interesting and I am looking forward to attending next editions!

Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)

Patio Palacio San Ildefonso (UAH)

After the workshop, while I was taking a night walk in this beautiful Spanish city (Alcalá de Henares), I met a group of exchange students from Ireland and UK. Their knowledge of Spanish was simply amazing. We had a great time and they also asked me a great question that I was not able to answer with ease at that moment: What is the difference between ‘mientras’ and ‘mientras que’?

So in this post I am going to explain the distinction between ‘mientras’ and ‘mientras que’ and I would like to dedicate it to these nice exchange students! It was great meeting you, people!

Let’s see. Here you have a simplified overview of the meanings.

mientras + indicativo = while
mientras + subjuntivo = as long as
mientras (between punctuation) = meanwhile
mientras que = while (with the sense of BY CONTRAST)
Other considerations:
- mientras más…, más… = the more…, the more…
- mientras que in Latin America.

Now, let’s see explanations and remarks of these five options.

1. ‘MIENTRAS’ + verb in INDICATIVO

Example 1 (present): Mientras tú cocinas, yo preparo las bebidas, ¿vale?

Example 2 (past): Mientras tú cocinabas, yo preparaba las bebidas.

When mientras is followed by indicativo we are using “mientras” as a conjunction with temporal aspect which could be translated to English as while. Let’s see the translations:

Example 1: While you cook I (‘ll) prepare the drinks, ok?

Example 2: While you were cooking I prepared (was preparing) the drinks.

–> In German, the translation would be während.

2. ‘MIENTRAS’ + verb in SUBJUNTIVO

Example 1 (present): Los jóvenes pueden entrar gratis al museo mientras presenten su carnet de estudiante.

Example 2 (past): En aquel tiempo, los jóvenes podían entrar gratis al museo mientras presentaran su carnet de estudiante.

When mientras is followed by subjuntivo we are using “mientras” as a conjunction with conditional aspect which could be translated to English as as long as. Let’s see the translations:

Example 1: Young people can enter the museum for free as long as they show their student card / upon presentation of their student card.

Example 2: At that time, young people could enter the museum for free as long as they showed their student card / upon presentation of their student card.

–> In German, the translation would be solange.

–> You can also say “siempre que + subjuntivo” with the same meaning: Los jóvenes pueden entrar gratis al museo siempre que presenten su carnet de estudiante.

3. ‘MIENTRAS’ when used alone, between punctuation

Example 1 (present): María estudia. Mientras, Laura escucha música.

Example 2 (past): María estudiaba. Mientras, Laura escuchaba música.

When mientras is used between punctuation we are using “mientras” as an adverb which could be translated to English as meanwhile. Let’s see the translations:

Example 1: Maria studies. Meanwhile, Laura listens to music.

Example 2: Maria was studying. Meanwhile, Laura was listening to music.

–> In German, the translation would be mittlerweile or währenddessen.

–> You can also say “mientras tanto” with the same meaning: María estudia. Mientras tanto, Laura escucha música.

4. ‘MIENTRAS QUE’

Example: Mis asignaturas favoritas son inglés y español, mientras que las tuyas son Geografía e Historia.

We use mientras que for contrasting two things. It is semantically similar to “by contrast” or “while” in English. Let’s see the translation from the given example.

Example: My favourite subjects are English and Spanish, while yours are Geography and History.

The same way we can use, in English, “by contrast” and “while” for this situation, in Spanish we can use not only “mientras que” but also “mientras” (Dear reader, please, do not desperate!) So it would be also correct to say: Mis asignaturas favoritas son inglés y español, mientras ~~que~~ las tuyas son Geografía e Historia.

–> In German, a valid translation would be dagegen.

–> You can also say “en cambio,” with the same meaning: Mis asignaturas favoritas son inglés y español. En cambio, las tuyas son Geografía e Historia.

5. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

5.1. In Spanish, to express “the more he has, the more he wants” we can say it using ‘mientras’. Also, and only in this case we can use ‘cuanto’ instead of ‘mientras’. Both ‘cuanto’ and ‘mientras’ are correct but ‘cuanto’ is a little less formal than ‘mientras’.

Mientras más tiene, más desea.

Cuanto más tiene, más desea.

5.2. Although as expressed in section 4, ‘mientras que’ has only a contrastive aspect, in American Spanish you can use “mientras que” also for temporal purposes. This means that in Spain this is not correct:

*Mientras que tú cocinas, yo preparo las bebidas, ¿vale?

But it is accepted in American Spanish.

I hope this was useful. As a compact summary, we could say that…

…you should always use “mientras” unless you want to express “while” with an aspect of CONTRAST, where you can choose between “mientras” or “mientras que”.

🙂

Where to learn Spanish on “holidays”

Posted on 19/11/2018 by Zutoia

Many students often ask me where can they find a school that offers Spanish courses in Spain or other Spanish speaking countries. This is what it is called learning a language through immersion: you go to the country where the language is spoken, visit a language school everyday in the morning, do cultural activities in the afternoon, live with a family (other accommodation options are of course possible) and practice everyday with the locals. We could call it language holidays, where you improve significantly your language skills in a particular period (usually, at least for a week) through language and cultural immersion. For example, I did it this summer with Chinese, during six weeks, thanks to the scholarship I received from Shanghai Municipality.

So, let’s say that you have a week off or more. And you want to use this time to improve your Spanish (or start with it). What can you do? Where to start looking? How to find a good school? How to choose the city? In this post I am going to provide you with some useful information about schools that offer this language and culture programms in Spain and Latin America. Please note that all schools offer always all levels (from absolute beginners to experienced) and that usually you can join the school every Monday of the year. All the information I am going to share with you was collected by myself in Expolingua Berlin 2018, the must-attend anual event about languages in Berlin (Germany), with more than 150 exhibitors from more than 30 countries.

Spain

Valladolid city

Located in Castilla y León, one hour train-trip away from Madrid, the Spanish of Valladolid represents Castilian Spanish, sharing this pure accent with other cities like Salamanca, Guadalajara or Soria. The population is around 300.000, the perfect size to get in contact with locals and get to know the city pretty well in a relatively short period. On the website www.spanishvalladolid.com you can find all the information about institutes and educational centres in the city, but I would like to recommend you one of them: El Camino del Español.

El Camino del Español school (Valladolid)

It is a private school that offers courses of Spanish and manages the accommodation wishes of the students: living with a Spanish family, in a student residence or in private apartments. For example, if you are an individual traveller you can do a 20 hours per week course (all levels available, from absolute beginners to experienced speakers) for 230€ a week and live with a family for 135€ a week (half board). Anything is possible with El Camino del Español ! The school is also specialized in organizing Spanish for groups, taylor-made programs for groups of all ages (schools, high-school, universities, friends, families, etc.) that combine classes of Spanish and cultural activities such as workshops, excursions, guided tours, nature and all you can imagine. The school offers the possibility of obtaining a scholarship which covers the accommodation cost.

Learn Spanish in Valladolid

Bilbao city

If you want to learn Spanish in the North of Spain, you can choose Bilbao (Basque Country) as your destination (there is where I come from and I can guarantee it is an amazing place!), where you will be able to enjoy culture, surf, amazing gastronomy and beautiful landscapes recently chosen, for example, as filming locations for Game of Thrones. Bilbao has an international airport and it is located 1 hour away from the south of France. At the same time, in Bilbao you can also get in touch with Basque language, which is the oldest living language in Europe. Even if both languages are official in Bilbao (Spanish and Basque) you will experience that daily life in the city is mainly in Spanish, so do not worry at all about difficulties practicing with locals what you have learnt during your classes. Moreover, the accent is one of the clearest in Spain and Basque people are good communicators.

Instituto Hemingway (Bilbao)

Since 1999, Instituto Hemingway is a private school that offers courses of Spanish in the centre of Bilbao, as well as can organize your accommodation and cultural activities. Their website provides all the information you need in many different languages. Take a look and plan your language holidays in Bilbao. For germans, please note that they have the Bildungsurlaub Annerkenung. Instituto Hemingway is an Cervantes Institute-accredited school and can prepare you for the official exams of Spanish language, too.

Learn Spanish in Bilbao.

Quest (Bilbao)

Quest is a travel agency that organizes tailor made programs with Spanish or Basque classes and accommodation. If you decide to learn Basque, it will be an amazing cultural journey. You can visit their Facebook page here.

Learn Basque in Bilbao

Castellón de la Plana city

If you prefer to learn Spanish on the Mediterranean coast with fabulous weather, you can choose Castellón de la Plana (also known as Castellón) for your next stop. The city has a population of 170.000, which makes it very handy and authentic.

Ágil Spanish Institute (Castellón)

Since 1995 Ágil Spanish Institute organizes immersion programs where you can learn Spanish and participate in many cultural activities on the Mediterranean city of Castellón. Ágil Spanish Institute is also a Cervantes Institute-accredited institute and offers DELE and SIELE exams preparations. Arriving to Castellón will be easy from any of the main airports of the area (Valencia, Alicante, Barcelona, Reus or Madrid) and if you don’t feel like doing it by your own the school can organize a transfer for you. Here you can consult all prices and you can see the brochure I got about it in Expolingua Berlin 2018.

Learn Spanish in Castellón

Learn Spanish in Castellon AGIL

Canary Islands

Learning Spanish in the Canary Islands is a great way to enjoy the pleasure of improving your language skills while staying in a well-known holidays destination. The Canary Islands in Spain guarantee 99% great weather all year long because of its eternal springtime weather. The Spanish accent in the Canary Islands is something in between Spanish peninsula accent and Latin American accent.

La Casita de Laura (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)

Laura is a passionate teacher of Spanish as a second language who offers personalized, practical and flexible Spanish courses combined with a mentoring in cultural activities which will make you immerse into Spanish culture in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The courses are private (1 student) or semi-private (3 to 6 people) and allow you to speak Spanish from the very first day. Laura will help you also to find an accommodation according to your preferences and budget. Take a look at her website at www.lacasitadelaura.com and meet Laura thanks to her presentation video.

Learn Spanish in Gran Canaria. La Casita de Laura.

Learn Spanish in Gran Canaria2. La Casita de Laura.

Cantabria

Cantabria is located in the North of Spain, a beautiful green area with more than 200 km. of coastline and beaches, beautiful and authentic villages, elegant cities like Santander (its capital) and an incomparable gate to the Art of the Upper Paleolithic, with 9 of its more than 6.500 caves declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Wow.

The Spanish accent in Cantabria is also very neutral Spanish from Spain which includes a nice gentle melody that you will love. You can fly to Santander airport (in Cantabria) or alternatively to Bilbao (1,5 hour drive) or Madrid (4,5 hours drive).

CIESE (Comillas, Cantabria)

CIESE-Comillas (International Center for Higher Spanish Studies) offers courses of Spanish taught in a context of immersion and it is also accredited by Cervantes Institute. The institute is located in Comillas, a village in Cantabria of about 2500 inhabitants, considered to be a step forward for Catalan Modernisme (Art Nouveau) as well as offering medieval and baroque buildings.

CIESE offers also courses aimed at professionals working in Business, with courses of 30 hours per week (minimum, two weeks) of Spanish for Business Management and Administration, Finance and Banking, Marketing, Economics, Law, etc. Other courses of Spanish are also offered for students and professionals working in health care (nurses, medical practitioners, researchers, hospital administrators).

IUMP (Santander, Cantabria)

If you prefer to study in the capital city of Cantabria, Santander, you can check the language and culture courses at the IUMP (Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo).

Other in Spain

donQuijote

Since 1986, donQuijote teaches Spanish at all educative levels in many cities of Spain an Latin America. Check donQuijote website to discover its Spanish language and culture courses in Alicante, Granada, Málaga, Marbella, Sevilla, Barcelona, Madrid, Salamanca, Tenerife or Valencia.

Latin America

Argentina

The lovely country of Argentina offers you a diversity of landscapes and activities, as well as qualified language centers in every region of the country. You can study there one week or more with flexible programs and accredited certificates. Check all the information in the pictures below:

Brochure of http://www.studyinargentina.org.ar

Guatemala

Founded in 2000, Mundo Spanish school in Guatemala offers Spanish courses of language and culture in Antigua Guatemala, 45 km. away from the capital city of the country. You can check all the information on their website. Their programs include language courses, weekend trips, accommodation with local families, guest house or hotels (you can also live with your teacher!) and the opportunity of volunteering in local projects. Check the brochures below:

Spanish in Guatemala

Other in Latin America

donQuijote

You can check all Spanish language and culture courses that donQuijote school offers in 20 destinations in the following 12 different countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, México, Perú and Uruguay. donQuijote is specialized in Spanish courses and cultural immersion since 1986.

I hope this post helps you to choose your next Spanish language course in a Spanish speaking country. ¡Hasta pronto!

‘Me alegra’ VS. ‘me alegro’

Posted on 06/06/2018 by Zutoia

Hello there!

Many students ask me about the difference in Spanish language between ‘me alegra’ and ‘me alegro’. I am going to give you -I hope- a very easy explanation using some analogies.

‘Me alegra’ works like ‘me gusta’: It works just the same way than “GUSTAR”, “ENCANTAR”, “FALTAR”, etc.

Example: Me alegra tu visita.

Something makes me happy. In this case, your visit MAKES me happy. It also works with plural if that something that makes me happy is plural: Tus canciones me alegran (Your songs make me happy).

–> Of course you can use it for all persons: (a mí) me alegra(n), (a tí) te alegra(n), (a él/ella/usted) le alegra(n), (a nosotros) nos alegra(n), (a vosotros) os alegra(n), (a ellos/ellas/ustedes) les alegra(n).

–> In German, the translation would be: Es freut mich.(Etwas produziert Freude auf mich). The example would be translated as “Deine Lieder freuen mich“.

–> Grammar: in the example “Tus canciones me alegran” we can see that “tus canciones” is the subject, and “alegrar” is working as a transitive verb.

‘Me alegro’ works like ‘Me llamo’: the verb is simply reflexive.

Example: A conversation between two friends:

– (Amigo 1) ¡He conseguido trabajo!

– (Amigo 2) ¡Me alegro!¡Yuhu!

The infinitive is “alegrarse”, just the same way as “llamarse”, so we need to use it with the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) + conjugation of the other part of the verb (alegro, alegras, alegra, alegramos, alegráis, alegran), so we will have:

–> Me alegro, te alegras, se alegra, nos alegramos, os alegráis, se alegran.

–> You can add extra information after “Me alegro” to explain why you are happy about: Me alegro por + sustantivo (Me alegro por tu nuevo trabajo), o Me alegro de que + frase subordinada (Me alegro de que tengas un nuevo trabajo).

–> In German, the translation would be: Ich freue mich (auch reflexiv auf Deutsch, oder?)

–> Grammar: as I said before, in this case we are having a reflexive use of the verb.

I hope this was useful. If you have any questions, let me know.

🙂