Blog 6

I'm going to go a little off topic on my blog and talk about something I've been thinking about when it comes to Latin American culture. Maybe I'll talk a little bit about food at the end (although, this definitely has to do with family, holdays, etc). One of my other classes this semester has been a psychology class dealing with Reasoning and Decision-Making. I've also had a Cross-Cultural Psychology class here at UT. In the former of the two, we just discussed how individualist cultures and collectivist cultures influence how decisions are made by members of each culture. It turns out it's a lot more complicated than "they do this and we do that" since you can manipulate people in lab settings to make decisions based on the other cultural tendancies, but the culture definitely has an influence on the decisions. Anyway, I'm getting off topic a bit. My point has to do with who we talked about when discussing the two different categories. The primary examples of "collectivist cultures" are generally east Asian cultures, and sometimes includes other parts of Asia and eastern Europe. The primary examples of "individualist cultures" are generally western European countries, the United States, Canada and Australia. Notice any countries missing? Africa, yes, but also Latin America. Mexico sometimes gets lumped in with the other North American countries, but overall the Latin American countries don't seem to get included with one cultural type or the other.

Going back to my Cross Cultural Psychology class, I'd have to wonder if maybe this is because the Latin American countries are kind of a combination of individualist and collectivist cultures that is harder to characterize simply. Based on prior experiences, these psychology classes, and SPN 506, it seems as though... at least where family is concerned... there may be somewhat of a colletivist focus. Family seems to hold a very high importance and, while that can be true in individualist cultures like those found in the United States, the bond seems to be stronger. On the other hand, there are still strong signs of individualist tendancies when it comes to competativeness for jobs and such.

Anyway, like I said, this was a little off the path of the current chapters but I thought it was an interesting observation. Oh well, back to studying!

Chapter Six has been my favorite Chapter in Spanish this semester. It is definitely because we learned all the vocabulary for foods and verbs on how to cook food and prepare foods as well. I think that this will be a very beneficial chapter for me because if I ever decide to travel to a foreign country where the primary language is Spanish, I will be able to order food and comprehend a menu at the restaurants. The verbs such as cortar(to cut) or mezclar(to mix) proved to be very helpful in terms of understanding and explaining a recipe.
Also in Chapter Six, we discussed our favorite movie. My favorite movie I talked about was "The Hurricane" starring Denzel Washington. It was kind of difficult to explain the movie in Spanish but I learned a lot of new terms that described film in Spanish such as la fotografia and la trama.
The most difficult aspect of Chapter Six was without a doubt the direct object pronouns. It took a lot of practice to try and figure these out. I also had trouble remembering which were direct and indirect.

Chapter 5 and 6

In Chapter 5 we learned about the appropriate uses of ser, estar, and haber. Ser is used to identify the locations of events and adjectives that describe nouns, haber (hay) is only followed by nouns, and estar is used to mark location in general, with adjectives to indicate a change from the norm or from your expectations, and to indicate current state of health/emotions. We also learned about fiestas and celebrations and the different social normals for the spanish culture. Although it has been a few weeks, when learning about the different names for family members we brought pictures to class. This helped us learn how to identify the different members of our family while also getting to know a little bit more about our classmates families.
In Chapter 6 we started learning the ordinal adjectives, (first-primero, second-segundo, third-tercero, etc.) We also finally started getting more into identifying the different parts of a sentence with pronouns, direct objects, and indirect objects. I'm still getting mixed up with the sentence arrangement since it can't be written in the same way as in English, and I keep catching myself trying to write it in Spanish literally from English. The past couple of weeks we have also been learning the foods. Words that are finally not extremely similar to the ones in English, I've actually had to study the foods. With the foods, we have learned how to write recipes using the impersonal "se" followed by verbs such as "cortar"-to cut. Today we did our presentation and I think it was a good ending to the whole semester. Everyone was able to be relaxed, have fun with spanish, and maybe make fun of the fact we still have a lot to learn. Hopefully I won't forget all of what I have learned this semester over summer, but I'm sure if it leaves me it will all come back as soon as classes start up. ... or at least I hope!

Chapters 5 and 6

The most important thing we have learned from the two chapters is the impersonal se. Se is used to refer to people in general. When we use "se" there is not a subject in the sentence. Se + the verb is how the sentence is written. For example, "Se juega balero con una taza y una pelota." There are two forms of the verb that get used when writing with the impersonal se. There is the third person singular and the third person plural. The form used in the sentence goes with what you are talkin about. For example "Se corta la papa" or "Se cortan las papas." The verb used is conjugated just like gustar is.
We also learned a new way to use estar. We can use estar when describing something permanent such as height, but only when we are using it to say something like "Wow, you are so tall!!" The reason for using estar here would be to use it as like, "Wow, you have grown so much." The persons height is a shock and something new wto you although it is permanent.
I really enjoyed everyones projects today!! I hope you all do very well on the test, and all of your other finals too! I am going to miss this class and everyone in it!!

Blog 6

In chapter 6, the main focus is on food. In most hispanic contries food is not looked at as just nutrients to the body but also establish and maintain a social relationship. Two or more people going out to have drinks or etc. is a way to be social. This is also how it is here in America. Many people go out to clubs, bars, or restaurants just to hang out with friends in a nice social enviroment where you can also meet other people as well.

Blog 6

Chapters 5 and 6 were my favorite thus far, particularly Chapter 6. In chapter 6 we learned about different holidays and the cultures of different countries. I found the culture information very refreshing because I have felt overwhelmed by all the grammar we have learned all year. I learned many cool facts that I didn't know before. We also learned many grammatical things that made writing a lot easier. For example, we learned the differences in instances where you would use conocer and were you would use saber. The section about family was easy because I remembered a lot of that vocabulary from before. The section on negative and indefinite expressions was somewhat confusing but useful to know. The impersonal se also made writing much easier. I wish that english had a similar word or phrase because I always would get in trouble in English class for using an impersonal 'you' because many people don't like that. I also was able to get clarification on when to use ser, estar, and haber. We also learned the correct way to use possessive adjectives and pronouns. After studying this section, I realized that I didn't completely understand it the way I should.
Chapter 6 was our favorite chapter we studied because I want to be a food writer/critic.
I could probably write a column in spanish with all the vocabulary I learned from this chapter. We learned the ordinal adjectives which have come in handy when I talk about my track meets in spanish telling which place I got. We also discussed direct and indirect object pronouns which make writing easier because you don't have to continuously write the long hand subject in paragraphs. The section on the culture of Spain was also interesting because it's a place that I have always wanted to visit.

Puerto Rico..Sorry so late!

Puerto Rico is very different from the United States even though it is in its territory. Take for example it government, weather, and education.

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in elections, only in primaries for United States president. However, they do vote for their governor and they vote every four years. There is also a difference in political parties. In the U.S., we have mainly Republican and Democratic. In Puerto Rico, they have PNP, who want states hood, PPD, the popular Democratic Party, and PIP, who want independence. Puerto Ricans, in contrast to Americans, also do not have to pay federal taxes. Their taxes are local.

Not having to pay federal taxes is one of the many reasons why I would love to visit Puerto Rico. Another reason is because of its weather. In Puerto Rico, it is summer year round and the beaches are warm, similar to the gorgeous waters in Hawaii. Summer is my favorite season and I can just imagine how gorgeous Puerto Rico is with its colorful flowers, sparkling beaches, and warm atmosphere.

As far as education, Puerto Rican students receive more days of vacation due to the combination of holidays from the U.S. and their own country. For example, they get out of school for Christmas, December 25th, and for Three Kings, January 6th. Even though they receive these extra days off, they still go to school for two semesters, August-December and January- May.
Considering all of these factors, my next vacation will most definitely be Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico

Thursday Enrique came to discuss Puerto Rico with us. Many questions that I had were answered. The question I wanted to ask him most was why in regeton music, which I am a big fan of do they can puerto ricans boriquas. I learned that this name originated from the indigenous people that lived on the island before the name was changed after spanish influence. The name of the island was once called Boriquan. I thought this was very interested. Another subject that was clarified for me was the political connections between Puerto Rico and the United States. I knew that Puerto Rico was a territory of the United States, but I didn't know what exactly that meant. Enrique explained that there is a governor of the country that represents Puerto Rico in US relations that is voted on. However, they do not have representatives that are voted on in the senate or congress. Because of their unofficial ties to the United States, Puerto Ricans are not required to pay federal taxes. But there are local taxes that they have to pay. There are many different opinions on the political state of the country. Some people feel that Puerto Rico should seek independence from the United States , but many people are concerned because other independent countries in the area are very poor and struggle economically. Also, they feel it's a good economic opportunity to be connected to the United States. Some people feel that Puerto Rico should try to became an official state of the United States so they can have equal representation in the senate and congress. However, now people don't have to pay federal taxes and that's good. Overall I learned a lot of new things about Puerto Rico and had many things I already knew clarified. We had an awesome discussion.

Puerto Rico

I found class to be really interesting on Thursday. Enrique talked about Puerto Rico and how wonderful of a place it is. He mentioned thatPuerto Rico is part of the U.S and is located next to the Dominican Republic. As he was talking, I found it hard to believe that he said less than half of the people know English especially since they are part of the U.S. Enrique also mentioned that they dont have there own independence. He said that majority of them dont want to be like the others around them and dont want to poor like that. He also said that most of there sides are rice, beans, and chicken, and that it is nothing compared to chipotle. He made Puerto Rico sound so pretty and would like to go there someday.

Puerto Rico!

In Thursdays class session we had a guest speaker by the name Enrique. He is from Puerto Rico Currently living in the United States. In class we all came up with questions to ask him in hopes to learning more about this carribean island. Many questions were asked and i think the ones that interest us the most were questions like; what does the island looks like, is it safe, what type of sports do puerto ricans partake in, whats the government like and things along that nature. Well do to the fact that my father is half puerto rican, he has several people on his side of the family who lives there. It really sucks that i wasnt taught any spanish growing up because it definitely would have helped when meeting people and trying to have conversations with them. most puerto ricans do speak english so i didnt have that hard of a time connecting with people from P.R. Ive been there a few times and and there's defintitely good and bad parts of the island, but as we all no you'll find that any place you go. Some of the things i learned about puerto rico was mainly how the government works. Puerto Rico is a self governed commonwealth. The head of government is one that will be elected by the puerto rican people. they are to serve four year terms just like in america. however the big man of P.R. is the president of the united states. popular foods that you will find eaten in puerto rican households are alot of rice, beans, and chicken. The main sport in puerto rico is baseball. they have a legit basketball team that plays in the olympics every 4 years but baseball has a big history there. This summer for the 2008 olympics my twin bro and I were asked by the P.R olympics commitee to represent them in the games for track and field. The goal for us is to run for usa but that wont be decided until after the Trials begining early this summer. Overall puerto rico is a cool place to visit and if you've ever thought about going be sure to check out San Juan's beach! it's awesome. :)

Puerto Rico

The talk in class last Thursday was pretty interesting. Puerto Rico seems like it's in a bit of a weird situation as territory of the United States... especially when looking at the situation through the eyes of someone who grew up in the United States and heard since he was a kid how important it is for a group of people to be represented fairly in government and how independence is such an important attribute to have or obtain. It seems like there are several ways that the U.S. tries to make the situation fit within the values they allege to espouse. The fact that Puerto Rico doesn't pay taxes except those that are used by the Puerto Rican government seems like it could be almost a direct reaction to someone asking "but what about cries of 'no taxation without representation!' that were so important in the American Revolution?" Ok, so they aren't represented the same way... so we'll make sure not to tax them that way. There seems to be a strange paradox with regard to how much power or self governing ability that Puerto Ricans are granted. IT sounded like the situation was basically that they made their own decisions... unless the U.S. decided that something was important enough for them to step in? The split along whether or not Puerto Ricans want to gain statehood adds an interesting dimension to it all, and it is further complicated by the issue of language (see, it all ties back to the class nicely, right?). If more than half the people don't speak any English, that seems to impede progress towards statehood, especially in times when parts of the U.S. are actually arguing over whether or not English needs to be the official language of the country (or at least parts of it). To me it underlines the importance of learning more than one language. While it is certainly not something that has proven easy for me (as my grades will attest to), I certainly see it as something important and responsible.

puerto rico

I learned a lot of things about Puerto Rico from our speaker in class.

Puerto Rico is located in the middle of the Caribbean. The capital is San Juan. They are still independent; the independence movement has pretty much died out. Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1898. Even though they are U.S. citizens they cannot vote for president, however they don't pay taxes, and vote for their own governor. They have 3 established political parties, which are PNP-statehood, PPD-democratico, & PIP-independents. Just like the presidential elections, they vote for their governor every four years. As for the weather, the speaker said its always nice and summery, however each year there is always a chance of a hurricane. There are pretty beaches and a big rain forest. They celebrate the same holidays as the U.S. plus Puerto Rican holidays as well. As for the food, I learned that they eat a lot of rice, beans, and meat, which is the typical plate. They do not eat spicy foods. Although they are U.S. territory, they have their own teams in the Olympics. Also, an interesting fact I learned is Puerto Rico is where reggaeton originated.

Puerto Rico

I found our talk about Puerto Rico interesting. I knew very little to nothing about our little island protectorate until then. I especially found the fact that they DONT want independence interesting. Apparently they see how poor everyone else in that region is and would rather not have that happen. Also I really want to go to their beaches. Sounds beautiful

Chapter 5

Class on Thursday was really informative. I learned things in those 50 minutes that I never knew about Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbeans, right off the coast of Florida. As far as politics go, there are no relations between Cuba and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a part of the US, but the people do not have the same rights as American citizens. They are not allowed to vote in presidential elections, only in primaries. However, to compensate for that they do not have to pay taxes, only taxes for their local government. Their are three political parties in Puerto Rico: PNP- Partido Nuevo Progresista, PPD- Partido Popular Democratics, PIP- Partido Independencia Puertoriqueno. Another thing is that Puertoriquenos do not need passports to get into the United States.
As far as culture and language goes most of the people from Puerto Rico do not know English. Most of the food that is eaten in the country of Puerto Rico consists of rice, beans, and some sort of meat. It is apparently really hard to find a vegetarian meal in Puerto Rico, so I would have some difficulty traveling there. Climate and land wise, Puerto Rico has many different areas of climate. In the north there is rain forest and in the south there is dry weather. The weather there is warm and there is a high chance of being hit by hurricanes because it is an island. Furthermore, their beaches are supposed to be beautiful and I would love to go experience them. I really enjoyed this lecture because I learned alot more than I thought I was going to and I wish we could learn more about the hispanic culture. I think it really puts what we are learning into perspective.

Puerto Rico

The most important fact about Puerto Rico is its location. Puerto Rico is located in the carribean next to the Dominican Republic. They are also a territory of the U.S.
In Puerto Rico less than half of the people know English. Enrique said maybe 40% of people know English. I think that is crazy considering that they are a territory of the US and they would like to become a state. I think that it is extremely important that a majority of the population can speak English before they become a state. If they can't, then more than half of the United States wont be able to communicate with them.
We also learned that Puerto Ricans eat a lot of meats, and beans and rice as a side. Their food is not spicy. They also do not eat chorizo. Enrique said that chipotle is not the type of food they eat. There rice and beans are separate sides, they do not eat them in tacos or burritos.
Puerto Rico has three major parties: PNP, PPD, PIP. These parties all have different goals. PNP want statehood. Most people in Puerto Rico do not want to become independent from the US anymore. They have not really strived for independence since the 30s. Enrique said that they can see how the independent states are around them, and they do not want to be that poor. Although some people still would like to become independent, a majority does not.

Puerto Rico Blog 5

I guess you don't always realize how much diversity there is around the world until you either visit there or speak with a native. Surprisingly, I learned a lot more in Thursday's class time about Puerto Rico than I had expected.
Puerto Rico is an island near Cuba that in past years has had a movement towards independence. More recently, this movement has come to a halt because they are afraid of having the same amount of poverty as their neighbors Cuba. Today, they have no relationship with Cuba.
Within Puerto Rico's government there are a few guidelines unlike most governments. Puerto Ricans are born as US citizens, however, they can't vote for our president or pay taxes. Instead, they are allowed to vote in primaries and pay taxes to their local government. They hold elections every four years, but vote for a governor instead of our president during election time. Puerto Rico has three political parties including PNP, PPD, and PIP. Their capitol is San Juan.
When asking about the climate in Puerto Rico, we were informed that it always feels like summer, the beaches are pretty with warm waters, and there is a very high chance for hurricanes during the late summer months.
I found it interesting that Puerto Rican's celebrate all of the US holidays, as well as a few of their own. Also, they don't eat the typical Mexican spicy foods, (because they are not Mexico of course. On their dinner plates you will find lots of rice and beans on the side with meat, but no spicy foods or salsa.
I'm not sure that I ever gave it too much thought on how Puerto Rico was, the government works, or what they eat on a daily basis. However, learning about somewhere new is always fun and interesting and I'm glad we had a day of culture.

Puerto Rico

In class on Thursday we had a guest speaker/substitute talk to us about Puerto Rico. I thought it was very interesting and I really did learn a lot. First of all, in the Spanish-American War Puerto Rico was to given to the U.S. by Spain. It is a territory of the U.S. and not a state. It remains a territory rather than independent of the U.S. because the people fear becoming poor and having problems much like Cuba does. Although Puerto Rico is a part of the U.S. they can not vote in federal elections. However, lucky for them, they also do not have to pay federal taxes. I thought it was really cool that I would not need a passport to visit and they do not need one to come here. I did think it was strange though that they have their own Olympic team. On the climate side of things, Puerto Rico seems very nice. It is pretty much summer year-round and the beaches are similar to Hawaii's beaches and have warm water! There is also a high possibility gor hurricanes because it is surrounded by water. Like in the U.S., they celebrate Christmas with a Santa Clause. However, they have another holiday for the three kings on January sixth. The most interesting thing to me was that most people do not know English. It's actually less than half of the population!

Puerto RIco

In class on Thursday we had a discussion about Puerto Rico. The country is located in the Caribbean next to Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico and the US are connected because Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. Government was major topic discussed by the class. I learned that the Puertorican government is not run by the US, but by Puerto Rico's Federal Government. Also Puertoricans are not allowed to vote in the primary elections of the US, but they do get to elect their governor of the country, and they have 3 major political parties. One amazing fact is that a we do not need a passport in Puerto Rico, because of their relation to the US. Although there are many traditions and celebrations in Puerto Rico, some of the major ones are Santa Claus and Christmas-Dec.25, and 3 Kings Day-Jan 6. An interesting fact that was given was Puerto Rico's original name was Boriken, which was given by the native inhabitants. In many Reggaeton songs the Puertoricans refer to themselves as Boricans, from the word Boriken. Some famous puertoricans are Daddy Yankee and Winsel y Yandel (reggaeton artists), Ricky Martin, and Jennifer Lopez.

Puerto Rico: The forgotten territory

What a day in class we had on Thursday. After taking yet another thrilling quiz we were introduced to a place where the water is warm, the beaches are beautiful, and if you don't go too far inland you won't be harmed by the local population (according to Sydney). Watch out Hawaii, you have competition, and the new hot spot is Puerto Rico.

Now I must admit after finding out that Puerto Rico is merely a United States territory, not a state, I was a little dissapointed. Part of me wanted to scream out in independence for the Puerto Rican people, the other part of me wanted them to become a state so I could include them in my Southwest Airlines frequent flyer miles to the entire 50 states (would be 51 states). But the sooner I realized why some of the Puerto Ricans didn't want independence, (they see how poor Cuba is), I can understand why they would only want to be a territory. Sure it stinks not having representation in Congress or getting to vote in the general election, but if you were to look on the bright side they don't have to pay federal taxes. And Puerto Rico still holds local elections to the elect their own governor and other local offices.

The coolest thing about Puerto Rico is its various landscape. With a rainforest in the northern part of the country and a dry forest in the southern part, there is a little for everyone. Also Puerto Rico is very good in sports such as baseball and basketball. In fact, they played the U.S. very closely in an Olympics basketball game not too long ago. Furthermore, the food in Puerto Rico consists mainly of chicken, turkey, and beef with rice and beans. Besides the diet, other interesting notes about Puerto Rico is that there are no religions. The government is in charge of religious practices. However, they do celebrate Three Kings day on January 6th of every year. And don't forget its always summer in Puerto Rico. (That should be there motto when it comes to trying to get people to vacation there)

From Politics to the ghetto

i forgot the sub's name from Puerto Rico so I'm going to refer to him as "Bob." We asked Bob a series of questions ranging from politics to the ghetto. I've completely forgotten that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United State, and that technically it's citizens are also of the United States. Puerto Ricans have limited rights, for example, limited voting rights. But of course they don't pay taxes, so they really aren't that upset about it. Even though PR is a part of the US, they have a lot of independent things like their own Olympics team. Hurricanes really mess PR up.....it's pretty dangerous. PR doesn't have the traditional foods like we think all latin countries have. they have beans and rice, but no burritos y tacos....and they really don't like spice. They made reggaeton!! props for that. Only 40% of the citizens know spanish so that's a barrier for getting statehood. And on the last note that I've learned about PR. Don't go to the ghetto!!! you'll get shot and/or shanked. All in all.....I really want to go to PR now.......a lot......

Blog 5

After learning more about Puerto Rico and it's relations with the US on Thursday, I think I might be honestly more confused than I was. Puerto Ricans are considered US citizens and they don't need passports to travel in and out of the US, however they have their own Olympics team. That is just very strange to me. It's like they are a country but not really. They have their own elections and their own polictical parties (3 of them, actually), but they can also vote in US primaries. Not that I know a whole lot about politics, but I thought the primaries were for deciding what candidate would represent the major political parties. So, in other words, the Puerto Ricans have their own political parties, but they can still have an impact on ours. It just seems to me that the Puerto Ricans are very active and opinionated about whether they should be a state or not, but honestly that most Americans don't understand the situation and so don't have an opinion. I didn't know any of this before. It's really stupid. I think America should probably just let Puerto Rico govern itself or go ahead and make it a state, not this stupid limbo where they're kind of part of America but not really. Most people there don't speak English, which would be a problem if they were a state. They would also have to start paying federal taxes, which SUCKS, but they would get representation in Congress and be voting for their own state reps and senate members. I don't think I even know why we have Puerto Rico in the first place. Was it really fair to trade colonies of people who have their own culture and lives in a political bargain? I'm thinking no. But I'm also pretty apathetic about politics in general. I would just like to see all the Puerto Ricans happy and in harmony, preserving their culture but branching into the world, whether it be as a state or an independent country.

Puerto Rico

On thursday I learned intersting facts and historical events about Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United Stated that was given from Spain in 1989. Boriken was the previous name of the territory that was named by the indigenous people and then it later became Puerto Rico as we know it today. One of the most important political issues that Puerto Rico is facing today is Independency. Though the Independent Movement was strong in the 1930's, they are not very important today. The Puerto Rican people can vote but only for local elections and not for the president of the United States and their elections are also every four years. But the advantage of not being an Independent state is that they do not have to pay taxes to the federal government but only to the local government. In Puerto Rico the federal government is in control of everything, there is no commerce or exchange of goods with other countries through Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, they celebrate Christmas just like America but they also celebrate the day of the 3 kings on January 6. Most of the food eaten there contains a lot of rice and beans with meat as a main dish. They have their own olympics team which doesa very well in basketball. The country is best known for their rainforest and beutiful beaches. But being surrounded by water cause a high risk of hurricanes throughout the year. One of the most interesting facts that I learned during the presentation was that more than half of Puerto Ricans know the english language where as in America there is a large number of Americans that know and are learning the spanish language. The presentation was very fun and educational. The speaker was very nice and knowledgable about the country. Great Presentation!

Puerto Rico

On Friday, we had a substitute professor/teacher. The lecturer answered our questions about Puerto Rico's locations, traditions, and history. As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico has a very significant political background. In the early 20th century, independence used to be a hot issue among the citizens. Today, however, independence is not as radical because Puerto Ricans recognize the disadvantages of running an independent nation. Half the nation doesn't speak English. Also, Cuba, which is independent, has many problems.

On the upside, Puerto Rico doesn't have to pay taxes. As a result, certain rights are cut like voting in certain elections. Advantages and disadvantages aside, some people still believe independence is the only answer. In fact, 3 major political parties exist, PNP, PPD and the PIP. Each has its own views.

After discussing politics, we moved to general information about places and history.

Today we had a substitute from Puerto Rico who answered numerous questions that we drilled at him throughout class after we took our quiz. I learned quite a bit about Puerto Rico from him that I found really interesting and honestly, I might just be considering good old Puerto Rico for my spring break destination next year.
Puerto Rico became a U.S territory in 1898. In Puerto Rico the people vote for their own governor and do not participate in voting for the U.S president. A lot of people in the class were concerned with the politics of Puerto Rico.
When asked about the climate in Puerto Rico our teacher exclaimed that "todos es tiempo el verano." Claiming that the weather is always like summer there. We asked about the beaches and he said that the beaches are beautiful and the waters are warm. This only makes Puerto Rico sound more and more appealing to me. Also, I figured that if I decide to visit there sometime that my spanish will be very useful because he said that less than half of the people in Puerto Rico know english.
We asked many questions about the culture and I was interested in learning about the difference between the food there and here. He told us that the food there is not like Mexican food with burritos and tacos and all the spicy food. He said that the food consists of beans and rice as a side and then some form of meat but the food being spicy is not typical of Puerto Rican food. In terms of holidays Puerto Rico has many due to the fact that they share their own as well as some U.S holidays. One holiday that they celebrate in Puerto Rico that we don't, takes place on January 6th and is called "Three Kings."

Blog 4- It's hot and what are you wearing?

This chapter was the most useful in my opinion so far. Not only did we finally learn how to describe what we are wearing and what others are wearing but we also learned to describe the weather. Now when my grandpa calls me and asks hows the weather I can respond "hace calor" or whatever the weather is in spanish! How exciting! Anyways, thats not all the great fun we had in this chapter. We also learned about reciprocal verbs and stem changing verbs. Personally I like a little spice in life so stem changing verbs aren't that big of a deal to me. You just have to learn to look for them and memorize them. Furthermore, reciprocal verbs only occur for nosotros and ellos/ellas/uds. so its not that big of a deal. Just remember to use nos or se to describe "we ...each other" or "they ... each other". No worries. Also the irregular verbs are the same as the stem changers. They add spice. Plus we already know some irregulars like ir and tener. The rest of the chapter was pretty simple. I did like the whole "ir + a+infinitive" formula to describe how your doing something in the future. It is very useful in everyday conversation like "Voy a correr" or "Voy a estudiar."

In culture news, this just in, the Caribbean uses more subject pronouns than other Spanish-speaking areas. They are already so good in baseball and now this? Cmon Caribbean. Also Hemmingway loved the island of Cuba for its beautiful scenery, great cigars, and enough cat litter for his 2 million cats. Wait those are beaches? Sorry. Watch your step. (really it was only 57 cats but still)

Honestly though, this was a fun chapter. The test wasn't too bad and the homework load is getting better. I really like learning how to speak a new language its just something about 20 worksheets that crawls under my skin. I understand in order to learn effectively we have to do them but it just gets a little repetitive and boring. The speed "dating/socializing/meet your neighbor" was by far the best class yet. And the family day was cool too. We should have a pattern to class. Like mondays are dictoglas days, tuesdays are watch a cool video and write what they are saying day, wednesday is reading day, and then thursdays are conversation day were we just talk to our neighbors about different things. Just mix up class where we don't sit and do a dictoglas 3 days in a row. Or atleast email me and be like "dictoglas day is coming" so i can prepare myself. Ill be sure to wear comfortable shoes that day or something so I can make it through it.

Adios

Chapter 4

In chapter 4 we learned how to describe the climate and wheather, using hace, esta, hay, and tengo. We also learned the names for different types of clothing, and careers; and how to describe them. We also covered were stem-changing verbs (o-ue; e-ie, e-i); I still kind of dont get that. One of the harder things we learned were reciprocal verbs, in which recipricol actions are described by placing nos or se in front of the verb your using. During this section, I liked that we watched the video of "the wallet" I thought it was a fun activity. I also like the song we listened to, everyone really got into it and that was fun.