A lovely song by Mecano accompanied by some lovely footage and pictures of the Puerta del Sol.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rzqhCyE2Lw

Having just watched Les Mis 25 years old, I feel inspired to post some videos from the Spanish version –

Sale el sol (One day more)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o5JeLsvkPs

Sálvalo (Bring him home)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srcVrBvsyS4

Soné una vida (I dreamed a dream)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz9DdvIFg5E&feature=related

And an amazing clip of 17 multi-national Jean Valjean’s singing Can you hear the people sing?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4924xJl38E

In what seems like a past life sometimes when I used to teach Spanish to secondary pupils, we used a text book called Vaya.  Apart from my gripe about their assertion that Spaniards have pets ‘grillos’ on their balconies (yet to meet one!), my other main problem with the book / course was the fact that the pictures looked nothing like what they were supposed to be illustrating, particularly the food.  The ‘churros’ looked like those posh butter curls you get on hoity toity places, and if I showed you the ‘paella’, you’d be hard pressed to identify it.

Not sure why I thought of it today (perhaps I had a nostalgic thought?) but I did, and it reminded me of this marvellous group on Flickr called Comida española which features over 2000 photos of Spanish food.

So much easier to explain ‘chocolate con churros’

or ‘albóndigas en salsa’

or the scale on which paella’s are sometimes cooked

when you have a decent picture to help you!

You can search the group – for example, ‘tapas’ or ‘garbanzos’ or ‘tortilla’

To finish, here’s a picture that might come in useful in the next week or so…

NB watch out for the CC license under which images are shared – some are All rights reserved which means they’re copyright.  Look for CC Attribution Share alike that you can use as long as you say to whom they belong.

PS if anyone has ever met a Spaniard with a pet ‘grillo’ could you please let me know!

Today is El Día de los Santos Inocentes in Spain and other Hispanic countries, their equivalent of April Fools Day.  But it goes deeper than that as it has its roots in the story of Christmas when Herod ordered the killing of all baby boys, and Mary and Joseph escaped with Jesus having been warned in a dream to flee.

Find out more here in English or here in Spanish

Here, a man who runs a joke shop talks about the types of jokes people buy

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaBAZjr3tFA

And this clip shows an ‘inocentada’ involving a mouse!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTZirr32zGM

Even the Simpsons get in on the act!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9EotIriEOo

I know I normally stick to Spanish with the odd diversion into Catalan, French or German. However, this Christmas is very different as my family and I are spending it in Iceland.

So, in the spirit of our adopted country at this time of year,

Gleðileg jól

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74tzIAH1eo8

Want to find out more about Icelandic Christmas traditions?

Jólasveinarnir (Yule Lads) click on the links below the article to find out about each one of the lads who have been kindly delivering presents to my boys.

Find out more here about other traditions such as the Yule cat and Grylla.

Þorláksmessa – find out more about the tradition carried out on 23rd December.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3UHKu7ykR0

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZiHtnljJFE

A lovely app for iPad from Kumquat in Argentina, featuring Christmas carols in Spanish.  Beautifully and quirkily illustrated, you can choose whether you want them sung to you, or if you’d rather sing them yourself! Although it’s possible to access many of these tunes on the web, I think it’s well worth £1.79 as you get everything in one place – lyrics (which highlight as they are sung), sound files and illustration!

Shame I discovered it too late to use in school, but I know it’ll be a hit as my ‘testing panel’ love it!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Screenshots from the app.

This clip combines two of my favourite things  – Spanish and iOS devices.

Made completely on iOS devices like iPhones, iPods and iPhones, here is NorthPoint Community Church wishing you a Merry Christmas.  Funky and fun!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcexJQM-8W0

And here’s more Christmas music from the same place if you enjoyed that.

Perhaps this one will prove more useful at the moment!

A very catchy Christmas carol about the Wise Men arriving at the stable in Bethlehem.

Click the image to access the song with subtitles, or go here for the lyrics.