While it may have been many years since you have had reading instruction, you are using the fundamental skills you learned when trying to conquer English the first time. In many ways, those same basic approaches for new English readers can be applied to learning to read in Spanish.

So let’s start with a basic skill: practice. A methodical routine of reading will mimic what you experienced in early grades. Setting aside time to practice your reading skills, even if it’s only 15 minutes a day, can have positive impacts on your overall language development progression.

But practicing is only part of the process.

A large part of language acquisition comes from vocabulary and sentence structure. That’s right, all of those sentence diagrams you did in elementary and middle school may finally pay off! Gentle readers, you have to be consuming written material that is at your specific level, and continue to build vocabulary as you read.

So let’s start with vocabulary. I’ve already covered the Zettelkasten method in a previous post, but here’s the short description: use flashcards to methodically build your working vocabulary. There are even tools to help you do this (including Anki, Quizlet, Remnote), but a stack of 3×5 index cards works like a charm, too.

With so many ways to discover new reading material, but what you choose initially must interest you. Gentle reader, I think life is too short to read sample paragraphs about topics that aren’t important to you. For example, I can give you a list of topics that really pique my interest and help me learn vocabulary at the same time:

• Cooking: That’s right, cookbooks and cooking blogs are a great way to learn useful vocabulary and often come with a simpler sentence structure. Since I enjoy cooking, this was a great way for me to learn step-by-step sentence structure and the names of all sorts of ingredients.
• Science fiction and fantasy: I really like going to fantastical places when I am reading. Young adult fiction often provides exactly what I am looking for, wrapped up in an entertaining tale.
• History of ancient cultures: Think National Geographic-level reading, with LOTS of pictures and illustrations. I enjoy learning about faraway places and events in English, so why not in Spanish, too? At a local newspaper and magazine shop (yes, those exist here in Spain!), I was able to find a number of glossy special-interest books in Spanish that are full of learner-friendly vocabulary.

But what was I talking about with sentence structure? Well, think about the difference between a science journal article and a newspaper article. The sentence structures of these two types of publications are designed for two different types of audiences. As sentence structure becomes more complex, the grammar being used is also more complex. The reader must be prepared for the mental gymnastics required to “decode” a written concept and make sense of the words.

As an experienced reader, you have an existing framework for your reading skills. You may not be the most knowledgeable about the specific parts of sentences, but you know how to use a language to communicate an idea. In reverse, that means you are able to read something in another language and look for the subject, the verb, and the object of a phrase or sentence. As with speaking and listening, it’s important to start at your level. If that means you are reading beginner books from the library, that’s okay. Your level is probably not Miguel de Cervantes or Benito Pérez Galdós. It may mean that a picture-heavy magazine may be a great place to start.

There are also many newspapers, both online and in print, that may help you build your familiarity with a new language. Often, newspapers work to appeal to a wide variety of readers, so the sentence structure is simplified and the vocabulary is limited to the context of the story. When I read a newspaper, I also feel like I am adding to my cultural knowledge and I can use those topics to have conversations with local people.

​The next step​

Okay, now that you have identified what you want to read, the next step is to start reading with a stack of notecards or a vocabulary flashcard tool and translator handy. As you look up words, make a note of the new vocabulary. Break sentences down and try to identify the subject, the verb, and the object. You will probably be reading sentences three or four times to get the details clarified.

Another activity that I have used to help me develop my reading skills is to pretend that I am a translator. In a notebook, I will translate a paragraph and struggle through the vocabulary, the presentation of topics, and the connections to the larger written piece. While it’s easier to do that in my head after practicing so much, I still find value in writing out the translation for a section of literature.

Bonus tip​

If you’re really feeling brave, then find a reading selection that also has an audio component. This is a great technique for building fluency, but it takes a lot of concentration (you can call it “study” if you wish!). See if there are books or magazines on Amazon or other book seller services that are combined with the audio version of the writing. Listening to your audio book at a slower speed can help you establish a mental reading pattern along with correct pronunciation and inflection. Over time, you will be able to increase the speed.

Language learning is not a simple task, and your brain is actually developing new neural pathways to build literacy in a new language. You will benefit from regular learning activities and practice. Good luck, gentle reader!

This post, we will tackle ​speaking.

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But living in another culture requires some mental gymnastics around language acquisition. A common point of advice is to watch television in the new language. I think that’s great advice, but my real language advancement has come when I had to engage more than one skill in the real world. There are four major language development skills (at least in today’s world): Speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Gentle reader, would you like some practical tips for each of these four skills?

This post, we will tackle listening.

I’m often asked how I learned Spanish, and I always preface my answer with, “I’m a horrible Spanish student.” It’s true. I don’t study as much as I should, I haven’t memorized conjugations of critical verbs, and often have to use “caveman talk” to get my point across. I still have so much to learn, and I’m learning over a long period of time, and for the rest of my life.

Before I lived in Spain in 2013, I found a language tool that really helped me begin my Spanish journey. It’s called Fluenz, and this tool concentrates on listening, reading, writing, and pronunciation. Every lesson is a short conversation that is then explained to you, word-for-word, by a bilingual speaker. Following the lesson, there are multiple exercises to build your proficiency.

What I really appreciate about the Fluenz approach, though, is the gradual acquisition of new vocabulary, new concepts, and new language uses in a progressive pattern. I really thrive in structured learning environments, and this tool gave me the steps I needed when I first started learning Spanish.

Watching TV (or YouTube videos) is good advice once you have reached a level that you can understand some of the language. Don’t be discouraged if it’s too difficult, because that is a sign that it is, in fact, too difficult. Head for a kid’s show instead, or a cartoon. Find a YouTube video that is the right level for you (search “learning spanish” and find a teacher and a structure that appeals to you). Podcasts, like News in Slow Spanish are excellent for tuning your ear to new language skills.

If you are motivated to start learning right away, then I recommend thinking carefully about how you prefer to learn. Would you thrive in a live classroom setting? Do you prefer to learn in a quiet personal setting?Are you most successful when you can study and then discuss your learning?

Another thing that many language students forget is time. Learning a language is not a quick race, but a marathon that will take quite a bit of time and energy to yield success. If you start with your listening skills, then you are on the right track to language learning.

One final note: If you know where you want to live that speaks that language, then try to find speakers in that area. For example, Spanish, English, Portuguese, and French have millions of speakers and dialects, and it’s very helpful to “tune your ear” to that style of pronunciation sooner rather than later. Heck, in Spain, accents change from village to village!

Stay tuned for more language considerations in upcoming posts!

Now I know. Those two years between 2013 and 2015 secured Spain as a force in my life, in many of the strangest ways. In those two years, I learned so much about myself, others, and my own future trajectory. Part of the reason my experience was so high-quality was the cultural setting of Valencia. While every culture has its “rough spots,” Spain’s positive quality of life far exceeds the challenges that come with being a foreigner for me.

In October 2021, I moved back to Valencia with my husband. For those of you wondering why it took six months for me to post another blog entry, here’s an overview of what has happened since June last year:

• April, May, and June 2021. Collected visa paperwork and related documents. I knew that this would be a challenge, but now we had to get everything done for two people, not one.
• Mid-June 2021. After a visit from my dear friend Deb, we started packing our house in Atlanta in earnest. We began cleaning out every cabinet, closet, and bookcase. We ordered the box we used for our move (for those wondering, I have now made two incredibly successful moves with https://upakweship.com/)
• July 2021. We made the final decisions on what we were taking. Our box was the width and depth of a shipping pallet (about 4’x4′ or 1.5m squared) and was six feet (2m) tall. Everything else was donated, gifted, or discarded. Everything in the box was inventoried and packaged securely. We also mailed our visa applications to Miami, where our applications would be processed. (We applied for a student visa for me.)
• July 12, 2021. Our goal was to get our home ready to sell and move temporarily to Minnesota. Our box was picked up to head to the port for overseas shipping. We still had two days left in Atlanta, but realized that there was no reason to stay. So we packed our bags and hit the road. Our trip from Atlanta to Valencia had begun.
• July 13-18, 2021. We traveled to Lexington, KY, and Rockford, IL, on our way to stay with family in Minnesota. We planned to be in Minnesota for about three months, and spend some of that time traveling to see family and friends.
• July and August, 2021. It was fantastic spending time with our Minnesota family! I also started a new job as a (very) part-time online science teacher.
• September 2021. We knew this would be a busy month. We had planned trips to West Virginia, California, and Florida. While in Florida, we had to go to Miami to pick up our visas, as well as complete a bunch of other tasks. We also sold our home in Atlanta.
• October 2021. In early October, we flew to Valencia and stayed for two weeks in a rental apartment. In that two weeks, we rented a new apartment and began the paperwork required for our visa. We also set up internet service, a new bank account, and spent time with friends that we hadn’t seen since our last trip to Spain in 2019. I also started school learning Spanish.
• November and December 2021. Our box of home goods arrived and we started setting up our new apartment in earnest. We continued to see friends and explored our neighborhood. We both worked on our Spanish skills with varying levels of success. We have made some new friends, both expats and Spaniards, and the holiday season was filled with some great memories. These months were also very intense with the paperwork required for our visa.
• January 2022. Now that the holiday season is over (it ends here on January 6), we are starting the new year by moving into a new rhythm, a new home, and a new social landscape. Spanish language continues to be a high educational goal for both of us.

What’s next? Well, gentle reader, I hope to resume a regular posting cycle soon, so stay tuned as we explore expat experiences, Spain, and especially Valencia, together!

If you’ve made it this far in the post, thanks for reading!

I’ve already raved about my problem with tostadas con tomate that I ate pretty much every day for breakfast while we were there. I have tried to recreate the flavor and taste of the extremely simple meal, but I finally gave up. Other people with a somewhat sweeter breakfast palate (you know who you are!) might have sampled the napoletanas on various days. These crusty little treats are basically chocolate filled croissants, and are a remarkable accompaniment to cafe con leche. Trust me on this one, gentle readers. I think I have had dreams about this breakfast.

I’m not much of a food photographer, because usually I am too durn hungry to think, “Oh, wait one moment while I get my camera, adjust the settings for the perfect shot — oh, wait, is the lighting good? — and… just one more minute…” Nope. I’m much more interested in the consumption end of the process. So, in the pictures below, I want you to understand the sacrifice and restraint I demonstrated before making these treats MINE.

Below, you will see a napolitana, some olives that accompanied a ridiculously delicious sandwich (bocadillo de tortilla española), some sandwiches from 100Montaditos, croissants in their native habitat (a plate), and cafe con leche.

A word to wise about junk food in Spain: it exists. Restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, and many, many more can serve up the same guilt-ridden food that they serve here in the US. One of my favorite “fast food” options in Spain is 100Montaditos, which is little sandwiches (montaditos) that make for a quick bite. The variety is ridiculous, hence the name. On Sundays and Wednesdays, this restaurant will be packed, because it’s 1€ for most montaditos and the cheap beer and sangria are even cheaper! And while Spaniards consider this junk food, compared to a burger from McDonalds, a montadito is practically health food.

No, dear friends, horchata (or in Valenciano, orxata) is from a little town on the side of Valencia, and made with the chufa nut, or tiger nut. Like many plant-based milks, this concoction includes ground chufa nut meal that is cooked, strained, sweetened, and served cold (or at least room temperature). It is usually quite sweet and has a slightly grainy texture. On hot Valencian afternoons, a cool horchata is a lovely way to have merienda, or late afternoon snack… something to hold you over until dinner. Considering that lunch is about 2:00PM and dinner will be around 8:00PM or 9:00PM, having a late afternoon bite is a welcome addition to the day.

In Valencia, horchata is most traditionally served with fartons, which are basically breadsticks that have a smear of a crisp icing that, I believe, is designed to flake off and land on your shirt and pants so everyone can see what you had for a snack. Fartons are not really that sweet (for Americans, think Olive Garden breadsticks, minus the garlic and butter), but the real reason is to add some substance to the merienda and to cut the sweetness of the horchata. Pro technique tip: Dip an inch or two of the farton in the horchata for a soaked-sweet-bread sensation, much like dipping a cookie (or tea biscuit!) into tea. While the farton doesn’t provide a crunch, it does give a different sensation and flavor to the snack.

Legend has it that horchata was named when by King James I (or Jaime el Conquistador; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) as he was re-establishing Spanish rule in the country. Constantly being at war is a thirsty business, and James stopped in Alboraya to grab a refreshing beverage. A local village woman gave him this, and he was so impressed that he said that she was (in colloquial English) worth her weight in gold. In Valencia, gold = or and woman = chata. The result? Orxata, or in Spanish, Horchata. (One note on the pronunciation of Horchata: if you are pronouncing the “H”, please stop now. Start with the OR sound… and while we are at it, fartons is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, with the O like in the word tone, like farTONEs. You’ll be speaking like a pro in no time!)

So, this always leads to trying the stuff… where is the best place? One of the most famous places is Horchatería Daniel in Alboraya. From where I used to live in Benimaclet, walking to Alboraya is about a 20-minute journey, and the metro lines go there as well. Horchatería Daniel is easy to find, as everyone in town knows where it is, and is a bit of a tourist attraction. The important thing, though is to have horchata directly from the proverbial horchata fountain. We ordered horchata, several different confections, and had a lovely merienda before walking back across town to the hotel.

If you find yourself in Valencia, I highly suggest visiting Alboraya and enjoying merienda with horchata and fartons at least once. Have a sip of the drink that started in this tiny town and spread across the entire Spanish-speaking world.

I know, there aren’t many pictures due to the cruddy artificial lighting. Trust me, I took pictures, and these are the best I have to offer for this outing!

In 2016, I traveled on 56 trips, visited 80 cities, 5 countries, and was gone from home 166 days. In 2017, there were 28 trips, 51 cities, 5 countries, and 115 days away from home. And in late 2017, something happened: I changed jobs. I’m still with the same company, but my role is very different, and I am really enjoying the work that I do. I feel very lucky to have found this role, and I work with some awesome people!

School is another reason for the silence. I was finishing my Ph.D. program, and if you have ever had the joy of completing one of those, you know that there are strange bumps in the road that can either derail you entirely or strengthen your resolve to finish. I chose the latter, and graduated this past January in Tampa. After many years of working toward that goal, it was really great to finally reach it.

Clearly, there was plenty to keep me busy!

At this point, gentle reader, you may ask, “Will you ever go back to Spain?” The answer is most definitely yes. In fact, I have been back to Spain twice to visit family and friends, and there will be more trips in the future. I just returned from three almost-idyllic weeks in Valencia and Madrid. Stay tuned… I’ll be blogging about my experiences in the next few weeks.

This year, the event was held on a ridiculously hot day, and I was sweating with the rest of the thousands of people who had come out to watch the spectacle. You might think that a celebration held at 8:00PM might be a little cooler, but gentle reader, it was definitely not. The abundant sunlight that characterizes most of Spain was in full force that evening, making for a hot, humid, and sticky event.

Regardless of the heat, the crowd enjoyed seeing the spectacle, which occurs in three parts. First, there is a parade of horse-drawn floats, loaded with falleras in traditional costumes or themed costumes that match their float. An announcer introduces each float in Valenciano (which I don’t understand, sadly), and the steady stream of floats continues until all groups are introduced. The concourse for the Batalla de Flores is a long, skinny strip of land, so participating groups enter, then circle the entire area so everyone gets a good look at the floats and the participants.

A word about the floats: WOW. Most are decorated with flowers and incredibly artistic that are imaginative and interesting. Whether taken from movie inspirations, sheer creativity, or hobbies, the floats alone are worth watching this event. I have to admit, though, that felt a little bad for the horses… I hope they were well-rewarded after this event.

Second, prizes are awarded to each of the category winners (again, not terribly knowledgeable about this, but as competitive as Spaniards are, this is apparently quite important!). Prizes are in the form of banners to be suspended from the floats during the Batalla. At this point, the floats continue to wheel around the course so the banners can be accepted. As you can imagine, this takes a good while!

Finally, after about an hour and a half of waiting and watching the floats move in a circle, the Batalla de Flores is kicked off with fireworks. Floats start moving in a steady rotation while audience members lob flowers at the floats. For their part, the falleras use tennis rackets to hit flowers back to the audience. Some falleras seem afraid of the flowers, and some look at this as an opportunity to be a little more aggressive in their thousand-dollar dresses.

All said, this was a definite spectacle and worth attending. If you want to go to this, make sure to buy tickets for seats up close to the action. Check with florists and online at the Fería de Julio website to buy tickets, but the ticket sales close several days prior to the event. Otherwise, you will be standing behind the paid seats, and while the view is not the best, you don’t want to miss out on the flower throwing. Trust me, I found out the hard way.

However, as you have seen in previous posts, the weather receives its fair share of jibes and jokes, and here are a few that emerged as people tried to deal with the hot weather through humor. Combine that with a little political humor, and we are off and running!

One degree more in this heat and I am going to go from a bombon to hot chocolate.

Where exactly is Valencia, now?

I fell asleep in Patacona (implying that he fell asleep on the beach… Patacona is one of the beach areas near here).

You all are going to die…. where the temperature is usually listed.

So, the mayor of Valencia (see this post to learn more about her shenanigans) opened up the Fallas this year with a speech that made her look ridiculous. Even though she has been the mayor of Valencia for over 20 years, she does not speak Valenciano, which is a bit of a slap in the face to her constituents. This year, during La Cridá and after way too many gin and tonics, she kept referring to “el caloret,” which is a word that does not exist. She was trying to talk about the handsome men that personified Las Fallas… and ended up creating a word that made her look like an idiot. One commenter said it clearly: “Rita borracha no puede hablar ni valenciano ni castellano (Drunk Rita can’t speak Valenciano or Spanish.”)

The internet and most of Valencia had a field day on that one. Someone even created a pretty funny remix, and you can clearly see the woman and young lady standing next to her on the right knew that she was flubbing it up. Look up “caloret valencia” online and look for images to see more along these lines of political sarcasm.

So, onto current times. With the hot weather, someone felt that the time was right to describe the temperature in terms of the weather. (Gentle reader, I hope that the joke exposition was not TOO difficult to follow!)

Th Lord of the Rings was not exempt. “Frodo, you have to throw the ring [in the fire] in Mordor… or Valencia.”

This is the highway on the way to Valencia…