JimenaPulse
About Jimena de la Frontera, the province of Cadiz and Spain as a whole, focused on this small village in the mountainsArchive for LANGUAGE
SPOTLIGHT ON SPANISH 2
About pronunciation. Spanish is an easy language to pronounce (unless you’re not Scottish and can’t rrroll your Rs). Unlike English, French, German and many others that depend on what comes before or after them, with only a couple of exceptions there is only one way to pronounce the vowels: a (short, sharp ah without the h aspersion sound), e (short eh, also minus the h), i (short ee as in seen), o (sharp o as in och!), u (short oo). We’ll get the exceptions out of the way right now: U is not pronounced when followed by E or I and preceded by Q or G (in this latter case, it is pronounced only when it has a ¨ above it (two dots, called diéresis in Spanish and umlaut in German and sometimes in English, though I am sure to be told it is a dieresis in English, too, but without the accent). So:
UNDER THE SIGN OF Ñ
‘Ñ’ is a new JimenaPulse series on the Spanish language. It does not pretend to be anything more than a help to those wanting to improve their command of the language spoken where they have chosen to live. It is by no means a course, but rather, a sort of online dictionary, humour and pronunciation included (We are looking into getting sound out, too). Nevertheless, we must point out that, as has been said before, ‘if you don’t have the need to learn, you won’t’ – just like when we were babies learning English: we had the need. Many expats never take the trouble to get a handle on Spanish because they can live here perfectly well, if restrictedly, without it. If this is you, then this series is not for you.
SPANISH CLASSES BEGIN TOMORROW
Anyone interested in learning Spanish at the (free) Ximena Adult Education school is advised that classes begin soon. Information and orientation is TOMORROW Tuesday, at 11.30am. Classes are planned with the following schedules: Mondays and Wednesdays at 5pm, and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11.30am. The school is on Calle Sevilla, about 50m up from the Town Hall, and can be identified by the plaque on the door (picture).
A-COUPLE-OF-WORDS-A-WEEK
Starting on October 1st, JimenaPulse will bring you a new Spanish word twice a week. Each new word will have a (Castilian) pronunciation guide as well as a translation of its meaning, concentrating on words used locally and/or in the Spanish of Andalucía. We will be guided by your comments and suggestions as to what you need to learn soonest. You could help us by making these right now, so we can create a basis on which to work. We will be grouping a month’s words by subject: Shopping, Building, Driving, etc. Please be aware that this is a major undertaking that will be tested as to your reactions and the number of comments we receive. And, while we’re a it, we’re looking for an advertising sponsor for the page that will remain up forever more as a reference to those who visit us after you do.
FLAMENCO FESTIVAL’S OFFICIAL PRESENTATION
This year’s Flamenco Festival, it’s 27th edition, was presented officially this morning at the headquarters of the Mancomunidad de Municipios together with other activities (click on ‘Read More’ below for details) that are held along with the Novena in honour of Jimena’s patron saint, Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles. The flamenco festival is at 10.30 on Friday, September 5th, at the square by the railway crossing. Tickets are €10 or €5. On the programme is one of flamenco’s most contemporary voices, Arcángel, who will be accompanied by guitarist Miguel Ángel Cortés. Another singer, in a more traditional style, is Antonio Reyes, while bailaora (flamenco dancer) Noelia Sabarea offers selections from her show Aborigen, which has recently opened the door to enormous success. Read the rest of this entry »
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