Welcome to my blog!
This blog is my humble attempt to give students and teachers of Spanish resources that offer insight into the culture of the world in Spanish. I believe that the more you know about the culture of the people who speak Spanish, the more rapport and communicative competence you acheive, and along with this knowledge comes cooperation, harmony, and understanding.
Aqui hay un video que explica porque algunas estudiantes estudian espanol.
Why they study Spanish - Por que estudian espanol
Here are some other reasons why language is important from a cultural perspective:
Some characteristics that separate us from the animals are our appreciation of beauty, our capacity to create, and our ability to learn and understand. Language allows for this to happen by functioning as a medium to tell stories, teaching survival skills, giving us insight about the choices we make, and passing traditions and knowledge to others. It fills the monotony of every day life by making it andecdotal and meaningful.
It also reveals the inner person and allows those who use it and learn it on a regular basis a chance at making an exciting intellectual, spiritual, and scientific journey. As humans not only do we face a mirror everyday but we also face our fellow humans with whom we must communicate to survive. Without language we would live in a lonely world. Language is as valuable and as dangerous as fire. It can spread in all directions if it conveys something of interest or notoriety. It can cause as much harmony as it can conflict, and it can begin, maintain, or end human relationships. It is the medium through which religion and politics spread, and it allows us to document our history and knowledge. It is used in literature and drama to evoke emotion and self-contemplation.
Foreign languages are merely different forms of the same medium with certain unique characteristics attributed to the cultural history and traditions of the language speaking group. Knowing foreign languages gives us insight about the cultural history and common practices of people who live in different areas. It facilitates the appreciation of the beauty of different heritages and respect of their traditions. It is also allows for the appreciation of unique individuals with interesting perspectives, thus adding to our own perspective and making us more interesting. It can also allow us to look at our own culture, appreciate it, and respect it by viewing it in a different light. This is why I study and teach language.
