¡Felices fiestas!

To wish someone "Happy holidays," use: ¡Felices fiestas!


The more specific "Merry Christmas" is: ¡Feliz navidad!

Words Ending in -ión and -ad Are Feminine

Words that end in:

-ión and 

–ad 

are always feminine. 

For example:

la población, la nación

la libertad, la publicidad, la ciudad.

Maintain Your Spanish: Watch Subtitled Movies

When on a break from Spanish classes, there are lots of ways to maintain your Spanish.

The general rule is to do what you would normally do, but in Spanish. One great example is watching movies.

It should be easy to find movies from these internationally-known Mexican filmmakers:

• Guillermo del Toro directed El Laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)

• Alfonso Cuarón is famous for Y tu mamá también 

• Alejandro González Iñárritu directed Amores perros

All three men worked on the 2008 film Rudo y Cursi and are also known for their English-language films as well (including one of the Harry Potter films, the Hellboy movies, Babel and 21 Grams).

The Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has a long list of hit films, including Volver, Bad Education, Talk to Her, All About My Mother, and Live Flesh.

El Secreto de Sus Ojos is an Argentinian movie that won an Oscar in 2009 and Diarios de motocicleta came out in 2004.

Instead of looking for something specific, the best approach is probably to browse what is available and easy to get on Netflix, OnDemand or in your local Blockbuster store (if you live near one that's still open)--then pick something that would genuinely interest you.

On Meeting versus Knowing...

The last post on Spanish for the Professions was all about professional introductions. It concluded with an admonition not to confuse the Spanish verb for introducing people (presentar) with the verb for inserting coins or credit cards into machines (introducir).

A similar confusion arises around the past tense of the verb conocer.

In the preterite, it means "met" (as in, to know for the first time):

-Conocí a mi esposo en California hace 15 años. 
(I met my husband in California 15 years ago.)

In the imperfect, it means "knew" (as in, I used to know):

-Conocía a Jeff cuando era niño, pero no lo he visto desde hace mucho tiempo. 
(I knew Jeff when he was a boy, but I haven't seen him in a long time.)

This is one preterite/imperfect difference that is clear cut. Enjoy it!

On Professional Introductions: What to Say When You Meet Someone for the First Time

Proper introductions are an important part of professional life--you have to be able to introduce two colleagues who don't know each other in a professional manner.

Here are a few pointers for pulling that off in Spanish:

• Start with the name of the "highest ranking" person (use your judgement: in each situation, is it the boss, the visiting guest, the oldest person present, the person with the most seniority at the company?)
• Use titles where appropriate, which is more common in Spanish than in English: Doctor, Doctora, Licenciado, Licenciada, Ingeniero, Ingeniera, Señor, Señora.
• Say: the title and name of the person you will introduce + "le quiero presentar a" + the name of the person you are introducing:

 -"Doctora María Sánchez, le quiero presentar a mi colega, Kevin Jones."

When you are the one who has been introduced to someone you've never met before, you can say:

-"Mucho gusto."

-"Encantado." (if you are male)

-"Encantada." (if you are female)

If the other person beats you to it, simply reply:

-"Igualmente."

And the most important thing to remember is that the Spanish verb for "to introduce" is presentar.

(NOTE: The verb introducir exists, but is used in a context such has inserting a coin into a Coke machine or inserting your card into an ATM.  Watch out for that false cognate!)

Maintain Your Spanish Over Break: Watch 4 Minute Newscasts Online

Students who have to take a break from Spanish classes are often looking for ways to keep up with their Spanish when they're not getting their usual daily dose.

The solution is always to do what you would normally do, but in Spanish.

If you like to watch quick news summaries of the major headlines, check out Telediario en 4' on Televisión Española.  It's a four-minute newscast with partial transcripts of the main stories included on the website so you can read along.

Don't worry if you can't understand everything--watch the video to see if you can get the main idea and try to understand the spoken words as you read along.

Some of the stories require specific background knowledge related to European politics. Others are international stories that you probably have the background knowledge to understand better.

For some reason newscasts are hard to find online, but this website is a sure bet: www.rtve.es

And if you scroll through the site, you will see all kinds of videos, including American cartoons like "Bob Esponja."

Las Posadas Starts Today!

Like so many holiday traditions, this nine-day re-enactment of Mary and Joseph's journey in search of lodging includes indigenous traditions, singing, parties and piñatas. Today is the first day of Las Posadas.

While on winter break, you can keep up with your Spanish by reading about different holiday traditions in the Spanish-speaking world in Spanish. Follow this link to read more about Las Posadas.

To find out about Las Posadas events in your local community, consult the Spanish-language newspaper (that's La conexión or ¿Qué pasa? in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area).

Once you learn all about Las Posadas, ask yourself: do I know this much about the traditions I participate in?

DTH to Advertise Summer School Program: Minor in Spanish for the Professions

Look for ads in the Daily Tar Heel in January: students can complete the entire minor in Spanish for the Professions during summer school 2011.  This is for the medical track only.

The minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH offers four separate tracks:  business, journalism, law, and medical.

With the allotted resources, the Department of Romance Languages can meet demand for business, journalism and law--that's about 90 students per academic year.  That same number of students are on the waitlist for the medical Spanish program each semester.

The Department of Romance Languages simply cannot offer enough sections of Spanish for the Professions courses to meet the demand for medical Spanish, but the Summer School has stepped in to offer the entire minor to 20 students in summer 2011.  Here's how it would look:

Summer session I:

Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265)

Service-learning APPLES 1-credit add-on (SPAN 293)

(Allied course: optional)

Summer session II:

Medical Spanish (SPAN 321)

La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335)

Carolina Student Launches Microfinance Program in Guatemala City

In the summer of 2010, UNC-CH student Santiago Beltrán launched FAC Internacional: El Fondo de Apoyo Comunitario Internacional.

During his first semester on campus, Santi got involved with the micro-loan organization, Community Empowerment Fund, through the Campus Y.

By his second semester on campus, he had been awarded the UNC Entrepreneurial Public Service Fellowship to start a microfinance program (FAC Internacional) in Guatemala City in collaboration with Lemonade International.

Once in Guatemala, Santi quickly went to work with local organizations that already had a strong presence in the community. Through the local schools, he found Nestor, the Loan Program Coordinator who runs things on the ground in Guatemala---coordinating the activities of various borrow groups and a savings group.

Back on campus for his sophomore year, Santi has built the student organization in Chapel Hill and now has the FAC Internacional website up and running. Be sure to check out the donate tab on the website, which features individual entrepreneurs and their projects. 100% of your donations go directly to the entrepreneur of your choice.

To Politely Accept: "Sí, gracias."

-"¡Sí, gracias!"

This tiny little expression is confusing to English-speakers because it's the equivalent of "Yes, please." If your first language is English, your instinct will be to use a direct translation (which would be understood--phew!).

Over winter break, practice this expression in a Mexican restaurant:

-More chips?
-¡Sí, gracias!

-¿Otra margarita?
¡Sí, gracias!

Then when you back in class or in the office, use it in those contexts:

-¿Te entrego la tarea?
-¡Sí, gracias!

-¿Te cierro la puerta?
-¡Sí, gracias!

SPAN 327: Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World

In the spring 2011 semester the Business Spanish course at UNC-CH will be an entrepreneurship course entitled Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World.


Students will read a book on business plan writing entitled Cómo desarrollar un plan de negocios by Brian Finch, using it as a guide to prepare a business plan throughout the semester.


Some students will have their own ideas for a business plan, but many will be able to write a plan related to their community service-learning placement. To guide us through our service-learning experiences we'll use the text Comunidades: Más allá del aula by Ann Abbott.


In addition, we will study several business cases about sustainable development in Latin America. Three of those cases with come from the book La empresa sostenible en América Latina: Estudios de caso by Susan Ward and Lawrence Pratt.


This course allows for interdisciplinary work across departments at UNC-CH because students from two different minor programs feed into this course: the minor in Spanish for the Professions housed in the Department of Romance Languages and the minor in Entrepreneurship housed in the Department of Economics.

New! Grammar Component Added to "Spanish for the Professions"

Starting in the spring 2011 semester all section of the survey course Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) at UNC-CH will have a grammar component.  There has always been a lot of demand for grammar in the minor program in Spanish for the Professions.

Students in this minor program are prohibited from taking the department's main grammar course (SPAN 300) and this has been a disappointment to many so we're bring grammar to the minor.

What does this mean?  It means that in addition to the primary text Spanish for the Professions (from Carolina Coursepacks), students will also Manual de gramática: Grammar Reference for Students of Spanish by Zulma Iguina and Eleanor Dozier.  After brief explanations in class, students will do self-guided work in the text and have frequent quizzes in class.

This addition gives the course a strong grammar component while allow the primary focus to remain on content-based instruction in Spanish for the Professions.

Maintain Your Spanish during Winter Break: Download Podcasts

Today is the last day of classes for fall semester at UNC-CH.  Everyone is racing around trying to finish up their academic obligations so they can go on break, but many students want to know how to maintain their Spanish over break.

The question "how do I maintain my Spanish during break?"  is most often asked when students have to take a full semester off from studying Spanish for some reason, but it doesn't hurt to stay in practice even during a short break like winter break.

The answer is always: do what you would normally do, but do it in Spanish. So some tips will work for you and others won't fit with your life as well.

Today's tip is for iPod users: download free podcasts of Mundo from BBC World Service (available on iTunes).

Each broadcast is less than 20 minutes and covers major international headlines. So while you're driving home, out walking the dog or going for a jog you can keep up with your Spanish.

As a bonus, you'll sound really smart when you also know the biggest headlines throughout the Spanish-speaking world!

Spanish for Journalism students publish articles in Latijam

This semester students in the Spanish for Journalism and Mass Communications course (SPAN 322) published articles in a mass media outlet: Latino Journalism and Media at Carolina (or "Latijam").

This was part of a collaboration between the minor in Spanish for the Professions in the Department of Romance Languages and the Latijam program in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

The Spanish for Journalism course is a service-learning course so most students were able to write a news article related to the work they were doing in the local Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities.  For example:

• the first article published was written by Elizabeth DuVall about the 10th anniversary celebration of our local Latino Community Credit Union: La Cooperativa Latina de Crédito celebró su décimo aniversario.
• Kelsey Rice wrote about a new bilingual recipe book: Recetas para una vida saludable: El programa Saludamos y "You say tomato; Yo digo tomate".
• Colleen Cook published an article about an adult ESL program entitled Más latinos quieren aprender inglés.
• Allison Meeks' article is about her work at a food bank in a local church: Voluntarias afroamericanas atienden un banco de alimentos que hacen feliz a muchos latinos.
• Ashley Patton and Jessica Roache wrote about La Fiesta del Pueblo in their article entitled Más de 20,000 visitantes acudieron a La Fiesta del Pueblo.

Stay posted to Latijam for more publications!

Congratulations to all the students for their hard work in the course and for their publishing successes!

¡Buen provecho!

Before beginning a meal or whenever you come across someone eating, say "¡Buen provecho!"

Today's @SpanProfessions tweet was about one important cultural difference. Aside from "Enjoy your meal!", American English lacks an expression that is common in so many other languages:

• ¡Buen provecho! in Spanish

• Bon appétit! in French

• Buon appetito! in Italian

But what does that have to do with Spanish for the Professions? You wouldn't want to appear rude in the following circumstances...

...business lunches...

...business dinners...

...you bump into a colleague at a coffee shop...

...you sit next to a business person on a long international flight with meal service...

...what else?

Can you think of other contexts in which you would need to say "¡Buen provecho!"

Professional Presentations

As we approach the end of the semester, many students (and professors) have final presentations on their minds.  The ubiquitous PowerPoint was the subject of the last post, but it is by no means the only (nor the best) way to give a presentation.

One kind of presentation that is common in many professions is the poster session. Go to any convention center that is hosting a professional conference and there will surely be a poster session going on in the exhibit hall.

Because students in the minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH are preparing to use their Spanish language and Hispanic cultures skills in the workplace, they have to present at least once in poster session format.

A professional poster does not require the use of scissors, paste, markers or construction paper. Everything is electronically processed.  The posters are large (at least 11 x 17), colorful, contain visual support, and often laminated.  Several posters are displayed in various parts of the available space at the same time.  The audience members mingle in the exhibit hall and look over the posters, quickly ascertaining which topics presented are of interest to them.

The presenter's job is to:

• engage interested audience members (while being careful not to take any less interested audience members "hostage" by assaulting them with a long, memorized speech)
• ask people who seem interested if they have any questions
• ask a few questions: find out a little bit about what they do that might make your work interesting to them
• be ready to answer very detailed questions about your poster ("how can you justify using that N value?")
• be ready to answer very general questions about your poster ("Tell me about your project.")

In the classroom, the poster session proves to be an interactive and engaging alternative to the traditional memorized presentation delivered to a passive audience--especially if the professor grades the interactions among students (instead of trying to individually interact with each and every presenter).

PowerPoint Presentations

As the semester comes to a close at colleges and universities everywhere, it's presentation time! If you're preparing a final presentation using PowerPoint, remember the golden rule:

Don't write everything you want to say on the slides and then read them out loud to your audience. Everyone in your audience can surely read and would rather just take a handout and go home to read the presentation.

The heart of the presentation should be about what you have to say. The PowerPoint slides should:

• frame your topic with a declarative statement instead of a dry title. Instead of "The industry:", try to really assert something: "The industry model is too old to be sustainable in the 21st century"
•  instead of a bulleted list of text on the rest of the slide, provide compelling visual support for what you are saying (a photograph, a colorful chart, dramatic statistics, a pithy quote).

Remember: it's you giving the presentation and PowerPoint backing you up--not the other way around.

Summer School Offers Entire Minor in Spanish for the Professions (Medical track)

The minor program in Spanish for the Profession at UNC-CH is able to accommodate demand in three of its four tracks:


Business
Law
Journalism


The demand for the Medical track in the minor exceeds the capacity of the entire minor, but there was an opportunity hidden in that problem: the Summer School Program was happy to offer the medical track in the minor.


For the first time in summer 2011, the Summer School will accept 20 students to complete the following:

Summer I:

SPAN 265: Spanish for the Professions

Allied course* (optional)

Summer II:

SPAN 321: Medical Spanish + SPAN 293 (service-learning)

SPAN 335: La comunidad hispana

This is a separate summer school program that will not accept students who are participating in the Academic Year minor program in Spanish for the Professions.  Students cannot take just one minor course in summer school. Watch this screencast to understand why.