Its going to be another fun-filled week here at Spark this week! We have a cultural programme full of exciting things for our students, and anyone who would like to join in, to do in Spark and around El Puerto!!

This Thursday Nico will be taking our students in the Spark Van to Cádiz to see a flamenco show and have drinks and tapas around the city! Now I dont know about you but I think that sounds fantastic!

On Wednesday we will be having our Español en Acción event with Lucia which this week is going to be a trip to the 7 Esquinas bodega here in El Puerto! An excellent opportunity for you to practice your Spanish!

Friday night we will be having a Gourmet & Juegos night in the Sparkville kitchen with Orlaith and Ceci for a chilled out and fun Friday night!

On Monday night of course we will have our usual welcome drinks to give our new students a warm welcome to Spark with the first drink on Spark! Don´t forget, if you want to join in with this event there is no problem in you doing so!

So thats it for this weeks cultural programme at Spark and remember, if you want to join us at any of the cultural events just send and email to info@sparklanguages.com!

I have the cultural programme attatched below if you wish to view it and have a Sparky week!!

Spark Spanish Cultural Programme 17-23March 2013

La Feria del Vino Fino en El Puerto de Santa Maria!

feria el puerto crop

Typical Feria Dresses

The Spaniards are known for their party spirit, and La Feria is no different! This is a week of dancing ‘Andalucian Style’, drinking beer and eating amazing typical Spanish food! What more could you possibly want?!

Every town in Andalucia has its own feria or fair, and it would be possible, if one had superhuman powers of endurance, to spend the whole summer following them around the region.

The first feria takes place at Seville in April (two weeks after Semana Santa) and the last is at San Pedro de Alcántara in mid October. La Feria in El Puerto de Santa Maria is the next feria to take place after La Feria de Sevilla, usually the week after.

Lang-Hols

La Portada de La Feria!

The history of La Feria dates back to the middle ages, and was the principal means of interchange of local products within town and cities. This soon developed into an anual party where everyone comes together to enjoy their time together. There are themes for each day of La Feria, one being Ladies night and another dedicated to work socials where you and the people you work with have a day together socialising at the Feria together. It is truly a festival to represent togetherness and fun and relaxation as a family or group of people.

Why not read the experiences of one of our previous Spark Sec’s at her first ever Feria De Vino Fino en El Puerto de Santa Maria to find out first hand what this amazing festival is really like!

If you found this post interesting and would like to find out more information like this and much much more, sign up to our newsletters using the link below. If you would also like to read more about our Spanish courses or if you would like to go straight to purchasing one of our courses, please click on the corresponding links below.

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This week at Spark we have a really action packed cultural programme with a cultural event being run every day of the week! ¡Qué divertido!

On Tuesday Nico will be taking our students in the Spark van to see the beautiful beaches at Sanlucar and watch the amazing sunset while sipping drinks and eating tapas, now doesn’t that sound wonderful?!

Our Español en Acción event this Wednesday is going to be cooking the famous Spanish dish, Paella, with one of our Spanish teachers, Lucia, in the Sparkville kitchen. A great opportunity to practice your cooking skills!

This Thursday we will be having a relaxing night of home cinema here in Sparkville where we will watch a Spanish film with our Spanish teacher, Ceci.

We have our usual Friday event of the Gourmet being run by our Spark Secretary, Orlaith, this Friday so our can let their hair down after a week of learning Spanish

And of course, as per usual, we have our welcome drinks with Inge and our Spanish teachers on Monday night to get to know our new students and give them a warm welcome to El Puerto. If you wish to come and join us please feel free to do so! Remember, first drink on Spark!

If you wish to join us for any of these events please do! Let us know if you are going to come by sending an email to info@sparklanguages.com

If you would like to see the full programme I have attatched it below. Have a Sparky week!

Spark Spanish Cultural Programme 09-15March 2013

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SPANISH COURSES

INge Hol, Director of Educational programme at Spark Spanish

Inge Hol, School Group Director

With our partners Terra Linga and Language and Friendship, we are very excited to be receiving this coming 15th of March, Clear Lake High School all the way from wonderful Indiana in the USA!

We have a jam-packed programme with excursions around the wonderful town of El Puerto de Santa Maria and also a day trip to marvellous Cadiz. We’re be doing activities including learning Flamenco and Clear Lake students doing a presentacion en español 🙂 for their hosts here in Spain. We are truly looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing experiences with the students and their accompanying teachers, Kama and Andy, and we know that all of our host families are very eager to meet the students.

From everybody here at Spark, I, Inge, Director of School Groups programmes, and Nico, the chaperone and excursion leader, and Cecilia, the family coordinator, would like to wish the group a safe journey. We look forward to welcoming you very soon and helping create an experience of a life time. Un saludo desde una España soleada.

This week we have got an exciting new programme ready for everybody who wishes to participate in our fun Spanish cultural programme. Let us know by sending an email to info@sparklanguages.com.

Spark Spanish cultural programme 03-09 March

Puente Fin de Semana – Long Weekend

In all countries we get the enjoyment of having a 3 day long weekend off of work, school and generally have a lovely long weekend. Here in Spain they take it one step further, by having a ‘Puente’.

Andalusia Flag/Region

Andalusia Flag/Region

Puente, also known in English terms as a ‘bridge’ is in fact a 4 day holiday. This is when a public holiday falls on a Thursday or a Monday, which automatically (obviously..!) entitles you to the Friday or Monday off as well (lucky them!). However, in many cases this year, they get the Wednesday off too.. Mental, no?!

Puente falls on the same weekend every year as Andalusia celebrates it’s national holiday, Andalusia Day. ‘Día de Andalucía’ is celebrated on the 28th February, celebrating being an autonomous community in Spain. Schools are usually closed for 3 days in the week Puente (in English, a 5 day weekend..!) and they spend the 2 days they actually are at school doing traditional customs such as the ‘desayuno andaluz’, Andalusian breakfast, which consists of sliced toast, with olive oil and orange juice.

However, for the majority of people in Andalusia, this four day (or five..!) long weekend is spent socialising with family or friends, and making the most of the extra two days off of work! So to everyone near or far, whether you’re working or are in fact lucky enough to have Puente off of work, we at Spark wish you a happy ‘Día de Andalucía’!! It truly is one of the most remarkable regions in Spain, with so much to offer, why not try it out yourself and study Spanish here at Spark!

Here is a blog post of a previous Spark employee who tells us what she got up to at Puente!

If you found this post interesting and would like to find out more information like this and much much more, sign up to our newsletters using the link below. If you would also like to read more about our Spanish courses or if you would like to go straight to purchasing one of our courses, please click on the corresponding links below.

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Spanish in Spain

Hi there,

Well, this weekend was an extra special one for two reasons: 1 We had amazing weather for this time of year,  and 2: it was the Andalucian bank holiday weekend meaning we got Monday off work! Here in Spain they refer to it as a “Puente” (bridge) weekend.

What to do, what to do…

Well, on Friday night, I stuck with tradition and visited Bar Granada for a few drinks with some friends. Fiona and I have only been in El Puerto for a month and already, we have our own nickname at the bar. We are now collectively known as “avellanas” meaning “hazelnuts”, the name is based on our favourite “chupito” (shot) flavour. I can’t decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

On Saturday, the sun was splitting the rocks and it honestly felt like summer had arrived. I got my first experience of enjoying a BBQ on a rooftop terrace. It was a gorgeous hot day, the food was delicious and some people even managed to get a tan!

That night, we also went out to celebrate Becky’s “despedida de soltera”, her hen night. And what a night it was. We had been given dares to complete as part of the party, items such as “do 5 press ups in the pub” or “dance completely alone in a club for the duration of a song” were some of the milder ones completed! It was a very funny night and the Spanish people were more than willing to help us out in completing some of our dares!

On Sunday, I got some churros and hot chocolate (a very tasty morning meal) and took a stroll around El Puerto de Santa Maria. Really, I didn’t get up to much apart from chilling out on the local beach and writing some postcards to home.

On Monday, we got to visit a stunning beach called “Puerto Jerez” which takes only about an hour to get to if you choose to walk from the centre of El Puerto. It is a very small, but very beautiful beach with an amazing view of both the tranquil blue waters and the intensely bright and radiant sunsets. To top off a wonderful day of relaxing and sunbathing, we went to a delicious pizzeria called “Blanca Paloma”. Watching the picturesque pink/orange sun go down, with some friends and some great Italian food was definitely a brilliant way to spend the weekend!

 

Until next time,

Audrey

 Spark Deco in El Puerto !!!

Capture Staff

You all have probably heard of Sparkville Residence, or even discovered it yourself, haven’t you? Well, you won’t recognize it anymore! As clean as a whistle, we’ll make her, a second life we’ll give her, a lovely gem, we’ll transform her!

The SparkDeco Dream Team is coming soon to El Puerto de Santa Maria. The challenge: A week to change! Painting, decorating, furnishing, all should be done. A room, it’s not only the place we go to bed for a well-deserved sleep. A room it’s also the treasure chest of your life: your clothes, your jewels, your books, even if it’s just for a week. And we at Spark know it. That’s why we try to welcome you as if you were at home, comfortably installed in your own room.

One of our basic double rooms will be transformed into a cozy nest for lovers on holiday with Spark. And if it works, all our rooms will be changed ! So, no matter if you are a proud single or a couple in love, you will have your own Sparkville room which will become your small corner of paradise.

So let your heart miss a beat for this ‘room sweet room’, and come to Spark to learn Spanish!

Can you imagine what it is going to look like? Which colour will we choose? Yellow canary, orange pumpkin, green courgette or candy pink? I’ll let you guess!

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Spanish Info Request Chat with SparkSpanish Book Spanish Course

This week we have got an exciting new programme ready for everybody who wishes to participate in our fun Spanish cultural programme. Let us know by sending an email to info@sparklanguages.com.

Spanish cultural programme 24 Feb – 02 March

Learn Spanish Expressions with Spark Spanish/Aprender frases hechas con Spark

At Spark we encourage our students to use authentic Spanish expressions by giving them an “expresión del día” and promoting the use of it throughout the day to gain extra points in the Bursting Bubbles booklet, our innovative Spanish challenges booklet which is designed to help students achieve more during their learning experience on our Spanish Courses.

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Apprendre les expressions espagnoles avec Spark/Aprender frases hechas con Spark

A Spark, nous encourageons nos élèves à utiliser des expressions typiquement espagnoles en leur proposant chaque jour une “expresión del día”. Pour les motiver, l’utilisation de cette expression leur donnera des points supplémentaires dans le livret Bursting Bubbles, notre livret rempli d’étonnants challenges en espagnol conçu pour aider les élèves à développer toujours plus leur expérience d’apprentissage

Regardez ci-dessous la liste de nos expresiónes del día pour vous aider à Sparker votre espagnol !:
Spanish Expressions

¡A vivir que son dos días! – Vivre ce jour comme s’il était le dernier.

Al mal tiemp, buena cara – Contre mauvaise fortune, bon coeur.

Caerse de un guindo – Tomber des nues.

Chuparse los dedos – Se lécher les babines !

Coger el toro por los cuernos – Prendre le taureau par les cornes.

Comerse la cabeza – Faire travailler ses méninges.

Costar un ojo de la cara – Coûter les yeux de la tête.

Cortar de raíz – Tuer dans l’oeuf.

Cuando se cierra una puerta, se abre una ventana -Si une porte se ferme, une autre s’ouvre.

De “pe” à “pa” – D’un bout à l’autre.

Dar en el clavo – Taper dans le mille.

Dar mil vueltas a alguien/algo – Faire tourner en bourrique

Dar una vuelta – Faire un tour d’horizon.

Echar flores a alguien – Jeter des fleurs à quelqu’un.

Echar un vistazo – Jeter un coup d’oeil.

Estar a tope – Faire preuve d’intuition.

Estar colgado – Être taré /givré / frappé.

Estar como una cabra – Être timbré.

Estar como una cuba – Être bourré comme un coing.
Spanish Expressions

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Estar en ascuas – Être sur des charbons ardents.

Estar en el chasis – N’avoir que la peau sur les os.

Estar hasta el cuello – Être dans le pétrin.

Esto pasa de castaño a oscuro – Dépasser les bornes.

Estar piripi – Être éméché.

Estar siempre con la misma canción – Chanter toujours la même chanson / Radoter.

Esto va viento en popa – Aller le vent en poupe.

Hacer la pelota – Cirer les pompes.

Hacer la vista gorda – Fermer les yeux sur quelque chose.

Hacer ojitos – Faire les yeux doux.

Hacer piña – Ne faire qu’un.

Hincar los codos / Quemarse las pestañas – Travailler d’arrache-pieds.

Hoy me he levantado con el pie izquierdo – Se lever du mauvais pied.

Hoy por ti, mañana por mí – Un prêté pour un rendu.

Irse volando – Être pressé.

Spanish Expressions

Jugar con fuego – Jouer avec le feu.

Le falta un tornillo – Il lui manque un boulon.

Llamar al pan “pan” y al vino “vino – Appeler un boeuf “un boeuf”.

Llevarse a alguien al huerto – Rouler dans la farine.

Llevarse el gato al agua – Remporter le morceau.

¡Madre del amor hermoso! – Doux Jésus !

Más claro que el agua – Clair comme de l’eau de roche.

Meter la pata – Mettre le pied devant l’autre.

Meterse en un berenjenal – Se mettre dans de beaux draps.

Mirar por encima del hombro – Regarder quelqu’un de haut.

Montarse una película – Faire une scène / En faire tout un plat.

Ni me va ni me viene – Ca ne me regarde pas.

No dar pie con bola – Faire tout de travers.

No hay mal que por bien no venga – A quelque chose malheur est bon.

No pegar ojo – Ne pas fermer l’oeil.

No tener nada que ver con… – N’avoir rien à voir avec.

No tener pelos en la lengua – Ne pas mâcher ses mots.
Spanish Expressions

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Pasarlo bomba – S’éclater.

Pasar página – Tourner la page.

Pasarse de la raya – Dépasser les bornes.

Ponerse como un tomate – Rougir comme une tomate.

Quedarse frito – S’endormir.

Quien tiene boca, se equivoca – L’erreur est humaine.

Romper el hielo – Briser la glace.

Sacarle chispas a algo – Faire voler des étincelles.

Ser más bueno que el pan – Avoir un coeur en or.

Ser más feo que un susto – Être laid comme un pou.

Ser pan comido – Être un jeu d’enfant.

Ser un cabezota – Être un entêté.

Ser un muermo – Être soporifique

Ser un rollo – Être gonflant.

Ser un sol – Être rayonnant.

Ser uña y carne – Être comme les deux doigts de la main.

Ser pan comido – Être un jeu d’enfants.

Tener buena pinta – Avoir une bonne tronche.

Tener los pies en el suelo – Avoir les pieds sur terre.

Tener tableta de chocolate – Avoir des tablettes de chocolat.

Tirar la casa por la ventana – Jeter l’argent par les fenêtres.

Tomar el pelo – S’arracher les cheveux.

Venir en son de paz – Venir en paix.

N’oubliez pas de jetez un coup d’oeil à la liste chaque semaine puisque nous l’actualisons quotidiennement !

Avez-vous un expression à partager ? Où y-a-t-il une expression dans ta langue dont tu souhaites connaître la traduction ? Laissez nous un commentaire ci-dessous !

Pour les traductions de l’espagnol à l’anglais, cliquez ici.

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