This blog is under remodeling so currently the Pages are empty. It's going to take a while for me to finish it, so bear with me.

In the meantime, feel free to browse through the archives! I have over 40 Spanish language learning posts.

Important Announcement! Changing the blog's name!

As we all know, I don't post daily. So, I've decided to change the blog name to "
Your Simple Pinch of Spanish" instead of "Your Daily Pinch of Spanish".

I am also going to change the blog's layout and theme to make it more accessible and easy to use. I realize with this theme it's kind of hard to access my older posts, and so I'm going to organize everything to make it easier to use. <3

Another thing that went into my decision to change my blog's name is, as I've let you all know before, when I ended my previous website someone decided to buy the domain and keep my original content without my authorization. (I mean it's okay for them to buy the domain name, since I deleted my site, but it was NOT okay to steal my original posts.)

Because of that reason I had decided to keep my previous blog name, so that people would know it was me here, and not a copycat. But even when I had the website I had decided I wanted to change the blog name, because when I chose that name, I was home without a job and without college, so I had all the time in the world to blog, and because of that, I decided to make a daily blog to keep my mind busy and have fun sharing my native language with people who wanted to learn it.

Now I believe that, I should just ignore that person who stole my original content, and continue to create more new content, whenever I can, and just because I want to.
It still hurts to see that my content hasn't been removed from the site, and that someone else is using it with no shame (I even sent an email to an address that now appears at the top of the page, and had no reply from the shameless people.)

Eventually it will stop hurting. I know that the people who follow my content know that I am now on Blogspot. Anyway, whoever stole my content never wrote original content of themselves; they just posted some photos on my original posts, and posted "by Susan" at the bottom... So these people are just taking advantage of others since they have no talent of their own.

I expect to dedicate more to this blog soon. I'm currently working on two novels, so I haven't had much time to blog. If you want to know more about my blogs, follow me on Tumblr! In my Tumblr blog you have ALL the links to every single thing I do online.

Thank you for your support, and I will see you soon. :)

~Maria

Well guys, I haven't gotten around to writing a new post in ages!
Not only because of the hurricane Maria and all that, which left us without energy or internet, or even phone! for months, but also, I haven't had much motivation, you know?

A big part of is that I'm a little afraid of the same person that still keeps my original content from my old blog, stealing my content again. I went there the other day and I saw that the page was gone, but I visited the page again today and I saw that my old content is STILL there and hasn't been removed by whomever acquired my old web address. I guess getting a website name was a huge mistake because it was just too expensive to maintain for me, and I had to drop it, and now that person bought my old website name and kept like a ghost version of my old website even though I deleted it. I don't understand. Anyway, whenever I think about this blog, I think about that mess and feel kind of awful. I just have to accept that these annoying, awful things happen on the internet, and that I just have to ignore it and continue to create my original content, without fear.

I hope you guys forgive my lack of posting, and can stick around for some more Spanish lessons.
In the meantime, I have a lot of posts that you can benefit from. Browse the blog, and I hope you can find the information I've shared here useful. :)

~Maria

How to say you have an itch in Spanish

Hello everyone! ¿Cómo están hoy? (How are you today?)

I haven't been posting new Spanish lesson blogs in a long time, partly because of the hurricances leaving me without electricity and internet (I live in Puerto Rico), and partly because I was a little disappointed that my website was stolen and is still being used by someone else (someone names Susan, apparently?) after I deleted it to pass all the content to this blog, which is free and easier to use. But not I hope I can make it work here. I don't know how many people follow the blog, but I like posting Spanish lessons. (I just wish I hadn't chosen the word "daily" since we all know how good I am at "daily" lol).

Ok, without further ado, here's today's short Spanish lesson! :)

I chose to make it about itch, because I've been crazy with allergies these days, and my eyes just won't stop itching. haha

Vocabulary:

Itch - Picor (pee-cohr)

To be itchy/ To have an itch - Tener un picor (teh-nehr oon pee-cohr)

(Something) is itchy - Da picor (dah pee-cohr)


Additional vocabulary (for the examples):

Camisa - Shirt (kah-me-sah)

Ojo - Eye (oh-hoh)

Todo - Everything (toh-doh)

Tener - To have (Teh-nehr) (Tengo - I have) (Ten-goh)


Examples:

Tengo picor - I have an itch

Esa camisa da picor - That shirt is itchy

Me pica el ojo - My eye is itchy

Eso da picor - That (thing) is itchy

Me pica todo - Everything is itchy


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I hope this short lesson was easy to understand. I hope I can come back with more lessons soon. Thank you for your support! I hope I can be at least of a little help for your Spanish learning journey. :)

~Maria

How to say you have a headache in Spanish

Hola a todos! (Hello everyone!) Welcome to Your Daily Pinch of Spanish :)

Today I have for you a short lesson: How to say your head hurts.

I had the most horrible series of headaches this last week. It lasted like three days! And it was just horrible. I couldn't spend much time on the computer, and sounds were just aggravating.

Headaches can be so annoying, and sometimes we need to tell the person being noisy next to us that we have a headache (Lol)

Let's begin!

Dolor de cabeza (doh-lohr deh cah-beh-sah) - Headache

Jaqueca (hah-keh-kah) - Headache

How do you say it?

1. Tengo dolor de cabeza - I have a headache.

*This is the most common one you will hear if you come to Puerto Rico. Also:

Me duele la cabeza - My head hurts

2. Tengo una jaqueca - I have a headache

This is seldom used in Puerto Rico, but it seems to be the most common in most other Hispanic countries. I hear it all the time on Television, and so it is the one you might be hearing the most learning Spanish and traveling to Hispanic countries.

*You can add the words: terrible, horrible, horrendo, and fuerte

Tengo un fuerte dolor de cabeza - I have a strong headache.

Tengo una jaqueca terrible - I have a terrible headache

*Terrible is written exactly the same as in English, but it is pronounced differently. Keep it in mind. It is: Teh-rree-bleh 

Tengo una jaqueca horrenda - I have a horrendous headache

Tengo un dolor de cabeza horrible - I have a horrible headache

More about headaches:

Sometimes when a person is annoying, or a child is very wild and energetic, people will say they are a headache. For example:

Él es un dolor de cabeza - He's such a headache

Ese nene es un dolor de cabeza - That kid is such a headache

*Nene is another word for niño (child). Nene translates as 'kid'. Nene is the masculine; the feminine is nena. *The word nene or nena is also used by couples to call each other sweetly, so it can also translate to something like 'baby', 'honey', or 'sweetie', in this context.

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 This is it for now. I hope you found this little lesson useful. :)

If there is any doubt, do contact me. I have a Twitter page and a Facebook Page. I also have a Tumblr where I post a link to every new lesson/post.

Until next time! :)

*This lesson was originally  posted on my now deleted website. The website was bought by someone else who remade it using my content without my permission. So please do not support the website, and if you like my content, please support this blog. Thank you. :) 

~Maria

Read and Translate: Ear and Ear

Hello everyone and welcome to Your Daily Pinch of Spanish :)

I have another Read and Translate post for you today. You'll learn the difference between ear, and, well, ear. You'll see!

 Cuando su hija era pequeña tuvo varias infecciones de oído. Que tuviera las orejas pequeñas no tenía nada que ver. Ahora de grande le molestan los sonidos fuertes, sin embargo, tiene muy buen oído para la música. 

English translation now :)

When her (*or his; it's not specified) daughter was a child (*literally: small) she had a few ear infections. Having small ears had nothing to do with it. Now that she's older she's bothered by loud sounds, however, she has a very good ear for music. 

Now I'll explain some interesting points in this reading:

*The word pequeña (or pequeño if it's a boy) translates to small, but when you're talking about a person, it means 'child'. I think in English people do this, too.

'Cuando era pequeña' - When I was a child.

*Varias translates to 'various', but it also translates to 'a few' in some cases.

*Ahora de grande - This can translate to 'Now older'. De grande literally means 'of bigger'. This would be more casual speaking. To be more accurate, or more correct, you can say 'Ahora que es grande' or 'Ahora que es adulta(o)'.

*The word oído - It means 'ear'. But this particular word for ear refers only to the inner ear, be it the inside or the hearing ability:

'Buen oído para la música'- Good ear for music.

'Le da picor de oído todos los días' - He(or she) gets an ear itch every day.

'Ya ha oído esa canción antes' - He(or she) has already heard this song. (*Oído is also a past verb form of the verb oír, which means to hear.)

*The word oreja - It also translates to 'ear', but this is used for the physical ear only.

'Él tiene as orejas grandes' - He has big ears.

'Ella tiene aros de oro en las orejas' - She has gold earrings on her ears.

*The word buen - Is the same as bueno(a). It translates to 'good', as in 'capable', but also as in 'nice'. But buen is used in front of the thing it's describing:

Es buen hombre - He's a good man

Es un hombre bueno - He's a good man

More Vocabulary:

1. Hija - Daughter

2. Infección - Infection

3. Ahora - Now

4. Sonido - Sound

5. Fuerte - Strong. When talking about sound, loud.

6. Música - Music

7. Sin embargo - However, Although, Though.

(For Spanish pronunciation guide, click here.)

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This is it for now! I hope you enjoyed this lesson post, and that you found it useful :)

Any doubts or if you notice any typos, you can contact me on my Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr blog. Thank you for reading! Until next time! :)

Read and Translate #3

Hola everyone and welcome to the site :)

Today I have another read and translate post. I will share with you a casual conversation - a story about me - and give you some vocabulary and explain some expressions.

Let's begin:

Pues, todos los días digo que me voy a ir a dormir temprano, y entonces enciendo la computadora por la noche y me entretengo, de modo que se hace tarde y termino acostándome tarde de nuevo. Esta noche voy a hacer todo por acostarme temprano. (En otras palabras, no voy a encender la computadora por la noche.)

Ok, so now here is the translation:

So, everyday I say I'm going to bed early, and then I turn on my computer at night and get entertained (*sidetracked), so it gets late and I end up going to bed late again. Tonight I'm going to do my best (*lit. do everything) to go to bed early. (In other words, I won't turn on my computer at night.)

I'll explain some of the expressions in here that you might find interesting (and useful):

1. Pues - Here this translates to 'So'. When you start telling a story and you go 'So... this and that happened', it's exactly the same. You start 'Pues... Pasó esto y aquello.'

2. En otras palabras - In other words

3. Me entretengo - This literally translates to 'I get entertained' but it's the same as saying 'I get sidetracked', or 'I get distracted', depending on when you're using it. You can say 'me entretengo' like about playing a game or reading and such, and it would translate to 'I get entertained'.

4. Voy a hacer todo para... - I'm going to do everything to... *This expression I don't know if it's used all over Hispanic countries, but I know I use it here in Puerto Rico. 'Voy a hacer todo' translates to 'I'm going to do my best', although literally it means 'I'm going to do everything.' Say it when you want to do your best to achieve something. 'Voy a hacer todo para viajar este año' - I'm going to do the best I can to travel this year.

5. Termino - I end up. * This one translates to 'end up (doing x)', but it also translates to 'I finish'.

Some vocabulary from this reading:

1. Dormir (dohr-meer) - to sleep

2. Temprano (tehm-prah-noh) - early

3. Cama (kah-mah) - bed

4. Noche (noh-cheh) - night

5. Computadora (kohm-poo-tah-doh-rah) - computer

6. Tarde (tahr-deh) - late

7. Encender (en-sen-dehr) - turn on

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 This is it for today :)

I hope you found this lesson useful and fun. If you have any doubt, just contact me in the comments, or on my Twitter or Facebook page.

Thank you for reading!