Upgrade Your Reading Comprehension With These Books Studied By Spanish High Schoolers

by Brian Alcamo

What books do Spanish students read in high school?

Back to school season is upon us. That means that hoards of high school students are returning to their desks, still salty and sandy from the summer. With grades once again being a source of concern for most, they’re bound to get back to a familiar assignment: reading. Here in the US, most high school students are familiar with a few titles, such as The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Catcher In The Rye. These classics unify our often disparate education system (so does algebra, but we’re more keen on the ~written word~ here). But what do students in Spain read? And can you incorporate these works into your Spanish learning? Let’s find out with these Spanish high school classics.

Part One: Obligatory Historical Classics

According to Bea, one of our native Spanish instructors, “everyone in Spain knows these titles and studies some parts of them, but not everyone has fully read them.” Most of these books are… old. Bea says that the books in their most original formats aren’t recommended for Spanish learners. Because of their age, they’re difficult to read front to back, and even native Spanish speakers will often misunderstand the vocabulary and syntax (think about if you’ve ever had to read Beowulf, I bet your teacher was very forgiving about effort). If you want to experience the story, there are tons of learner versions available.

Don Quijote de la Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes (1605)

While Spanish students don’t always have to read this work all the way through, it is usually thought of as the most important book in the Spanish literary canon. Considered the first modern novel, students will study pieces of the book and learn its plot (which follows a noble-turned-knight-errant on a quest to revive chivalry), even without reading it all the way through. Its language is dastardly difficult, so students who do end up reading it all the way through will typically do so with an adaptation. Here’s an adaptation for Spanish learners at the A2 level!

Don Quijote de La Mancha

La Celestina - Fernando de Rojas (1499)

La Celestina follows a young man pursuing a young woman who employs the magical help of a local procuress, named Celestina, who has a reputation for convincing young women to accept the love of the men who crush on them. Raunchy and witchy for the era (we’re talking peak Spanish Inquisition), the book’s sexual bent remains subversive even to this day. While sometimes regarded as the first novel, though not as adamantly as El Quijote is, many believe it to be more of a piece of dramatic literature, since it is composed almost exclusively of scenes of dialogue. The work has been performed and staged all over the world.

 El Lazarillo de Tormes - Anonymous writer (1554)

La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades (The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities) is a Spanish novella that follows Lazarillo, who spends his youth as a blind beggar’s apprentice. Subsequent chapters follow him as he works for priests, squires, and friars. La vida’s claim to fame is being the first Picaresque literary work, a satirical genre that follows a picaro or “rogue” who gets by in a corrupt society by using their wit. Containing collections of mini episodes rather than one overarching narrative, picaresque novels attempt to expose social injustices in humorous ways. An English-language take on a picaresque novel is Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

El Lazarillo de Tormes

La vida es sueño - Calderón de la Barca (1635)

La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream) is a play emblematic of the Spanish Golden Age drama, which lasted from around 1590 until 1680. The play follows Segismundo, the (fictional) prince of Poland, who is locked up in a tower by his father, (fictional) King Basilio because of a prophecy saying that the prince would wreak havoc on Poland and cause the king’s demise (by demise we mean death). Segismundo is let out of the tower for a brief period before being locked up again, and he is convinced that this brief period of time extramuros was simply a dream (hence the title). The play is consistently studied as one of Calderón’s best works, and was recently listed by the Independent as one of the 40 best plays of all time.

Vocabulary To Help You In the Library

• Lectura obligatoria - Required reading

• Comprensión de lectura - Reading comprehension

• Pistas de contexto - Context clues

• Personaje principal - Main character

• Escritor - Writer

Part Two: Less Obligatory Popular Contemporary Titles

Spanish students aren’t relegated to titles that may feel a little bit antique, they also read more contemporary works as well. These books aren’t as obligatory across the entire country, but are very common. 

Works by Spanish Authors

La casa de Bernarda Alba - Federico García Lorca ()

La casa de Bernarda Alba, or The House of Bernarda Alba is a play by Federico García Lorca that follows a family of six women (five daughters and one mother) after the death of their father. Bernarda Alba, the matriarch of the family, imposes an eight-year mourning period on her daughters, and makes it her business to ensure that all five daughters are sad all the time mourning their father both in public and in private, black dresses and all. When the prospects of love and sex come up for the sisters, the play errupts into a debate on repression, passion, tradition, and conformity. Lauded for its exclusion of on-stage male characters, the play ups the ante when it comes to dissecting what it means to be a woman looking for the company of a man.

El camino - Miguel Delibes ()

El camino, or The Road, is author Miguel Delibes’ third novel. It follows a boy who moves from the Spanish countryside to the city. It deals with themes such a nature versus city life and deconstructs the social mores that come with urban existence.

Nada - Carmen Laforet (1945)

Considered one of the most important Spanish literary works of the twentieth century, Nada (Nothing) is an existentialist novella that examines Spanish economic stagnation and the poverty felt by Spaniards on a day to day basis after the end of the Spanish Civil War. The novella takes place in Barcelona, and follows eighteen year-old Andrea as she spends her first year at university living with her aunt and uncle.

Fun fact: the book is considered the Catcher in the Rye of Spanish literature!

Nada

Works by Latin American Authors

While Spain has its own distinct literary traditions, Spanish teachers understand that some of the greatest Spanish-language works come from Latin America. Here are four books that have crossed the Atlantic to teach Europeans a thing or two about what goes on in the Spanish-speaking parts of the Western Hemisphere.

Cien años de soledad (1967, Colombia)

Cien años de soledad (100 years of solitude) is a renowned novel from Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez that follows a family headed by patriarch José Arcadio Buendía, who founded the fictional town of Macondo. The book’s magical realist style positioned it as a classic work in the Latin American Boom literary canon, combining European modernism with the Cuban Avant-garde style.

El túnel - Ernesto Sabato (1948, Argentina)

El tunel is an existentialist novel that explores the twisted psyche of Juan Pablo Castel, a painter from Buenos Aires, as he tumbles into the pitfalls of romantic obsession. 

Sor Juana de Inés de la Cruz o Las trampas de la fe - Octavio Paz (1989, Mexico)

At the height of his career, Octavio Paz was the top poet and writer in all of Mexico. His work Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o Las trampas de la fé (Sister Juana of Inés de la Cruz or The Traps of Faith) explores the life of Sister Juana, a renowned poet and nun from a different century, back when Mexico was known as New Spain. Sor Juana begins her adult life (at the age of fifteen) as the virreina’s protegée. After spending five years at her court, she joins a convent for life, turning the cloistered abbey into a salon with intellectual reaches across the entire hispanophone world. His account of her fascinating life attempts to answer the question of why a woman with such intellectual gifts would become a nun, explorig the patriarchal traditions of New Spain and the annals of seeking feminine freedom behind the walls of the Catholic Church.  

A portrait of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

Pedro Páramo - Juan Rulfo (1955, Mexico)

Imagine returning to your hometown to visit your father after your mother’s death only to find that the town is inhabited exclusively by ghosts. That’s exactly what happens to this book’s eponymous protagonist, Pedro Páramo. Written by Juan Rulfo in 1955, the book’s reception was initially lackluster, selling only two-thousand copies in its first four years of being published. After some time, the book reached mega-popularity and acclaim. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (see above) credits the book for getting him out of his writer’s block and being the catalyst for his own obra maestra Cien años de soledad.

Thanks For Reading!

Thinking of reading even more? Reading in your target language is a fantastic way to improve your skills. Check out one of the books we mentioned in this post, and be sure to share this list with your friends!

The Words And History That Make Puerto Rican Spanish Unique

by Besanya Santiago

Within Latin America, each country has specific words in their dialect that can be completely foreign to other Spanish speakers. Puerto Rico is no different. Since we’ve already discussed the ins and outs of Puerto Rican slang, now lets move on to some common everyday vocabulary.

Puerto Rican Spanish is largely influenced by Andalusia and The Canary Islands in Spain. Many farmers and commoners from these regions came to Puerto Rico in hopes of establishing a better life in the Americas. After some time, Spaniards from other regions arrived as well as European settlers from France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. There was even a large number of Arabs and Chinese that migrated to the island. Puerto Rico has an incredibly diverse history. And when you add to this the languages of the African slaves, the language of the Taínos as well as the English imposed by the United States? That’s a pretty intense melting pot of language.

Although this history gives the dialect depth and originality, using certain words from other varieties of Spanish can result in misunderstandings and confusion. For the most part, they are fairly harmless and usually result in having a good laugh. But there are also words to watch out for in order to avoid offending the wrong person. This isn’t usually a concern, though, since Puerto Ricans tend to be incredibly awesome and easy going people (no bias here whatsoever). So, lets get into some of these variations and continue your journey to sounding like a Boricua.

Naranja vs. China

Commonly mistaken for the country, China actually refers to an Orange. The fruit originated thousands of years ago in Southern China, from where it spread throughout India and parts of Southeast Asia. Portuguese sailors eventually brought these sweet delicacies to Portugal and Spain, where they were called China Oranges (naranjas de la China) to distinguish them from the more tart oranges they were accustomed to. In fact, the word naranja comes from the sanskrit word for orange, naranga. Some of us kept naranja and some of us kept china. So no, jugo de china is not juice from China.

Guineo vs. Banana

Since bananas were originally thought to have originated from West Africa, this is where the word guineo comes in. European settlers used to refer to Africa as Guinea. When the Portuguese brought bananas to Latin America, the name came right along with it. Although it is now known that bananas came from Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, the name guineo stuck. Nothing wrong with being an OG.

Guagua vs. Autobus

Although it does sound like a baby crying (it actually is the word for ‘baby’ in Chile), the term guagua is, in fact, a public bus. This word hails specifically from the Canary Islands. It is believed to have come from the name of the US bus company Wa Wa and Co. that provided public transportation throughout the islands. The pronunciation can vary (wawa vs guagua) but what doesn’t vary are the crazed looks I get in other countries when I use this instead of autobus.

Zafacón vs. Basurero

Zafacón is a trash can in both Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. After the end of the Islamic Era in the Iberian Peninsula, many Arabs joined the Spaniards in their journey to conquer new territories. A zafaca, which is a clay container in Arabic, is what they used to collect the waste that fed pigs. The word later developed into zafacón. As it happens, Arabic is the second-largest language that influenced Spanish, after Latin.

Insectos vs. Bichos

If you don’t remember any of these terms, try to remember this: Do NOT use the term bichos in Puerto Rico. It is the only country in Latin America in which it does not mean insect. It’s very vulgar. Simply use insectos and you’ll be fine. As a Puerto Rican, the most insane thing I constantly hear is: Éste bicho no me quiere dejar quieta (this “insect” won’t leave me alone). I’ll leave it to your Google search to find out why.

Lechosa vs. Papaya

Both of these terms can be used to describe the same fruit. However, the word lechosa was initially used to describe an unripened papaya. In Puerto Rico, there is a popular dessert called dulce de lechosa (candied papaya). To make it, you need to use an unripened papaya. When this type of papaya is cut open, it releases a thick juice that’s milky in quality. Lechosa literally means milky, which is how the fruit got its name.

Sorbeto vs. Pajita

A drinking straw can be translated into tons of different ways in Latin America. From pitillo and popote (Colombia and México) to absorbente and bombilla (Cuba and Chile), things can get confusing very quickly. Here’s the Puerto Rico version: Sorbeto comes from the Spanish word sorber, which means ‘to sip’. That’s it. Yea…we prefer to keep things nice and easy. #islandlife

Bizcocho vs. Pastel

This word for ‘cake’ also came along with the Spaniards. Originating from the Latin word bis-coctus, it describes a type of bread cooked twice to prevent it from spoiling. FYI: Be mindful when using this word in other Latin American countries. Depending on where you go, it can have an entirely different meaning and may even be offensive. And yes, this is a recurring theme in the Spanish speaking world with many seemingly innocent words.

Embuste vs. Mentira

This is a term used very often but whose origins are relatively unknown. An embuste is a lie and an embustero is a liar. You’ll also hear the word paquetero to describe a person who lies all the time. The speculation is that it came from the Latin word impostorem, meaning impostor, and that it was brought over by the French. Interestingly enough, French immigration to Puerto Rico was one of the largest in number, second only to the Spanish.

Enfogonar vs. Enojar

A verb defined as ‘to anger,’ enfogonar came from the Spanish word enfogar, which literally means ‘kindle’ or ‘ignite’. And if you’ve ever angered a Puerto Rican, you should already understand why this is probably the best word choice to describe what you experienced afterwards.

Other Useful Vocabulary

Chiringa – Kite
Muerto – Speed Bump
Marquesina – Garage
Habichuelas – Beans
Mahones – Jeans
Balompié – Soccer
Carro – Car
Brincar – to jump
Pillo – thief

Jíncho (a) – Pale
Sato – Mixed breed dog
Averiguao (a) – Nosy
Gafas – Sunglasses
Espejuelos – Eye glasses
Aguantar – To hold
Abaníco – Fan
Molestar – to bother
Bruto (a) – dumb

Not so bad, right?

These are just some of the many Puerto Rican words you will come across. And of course, they all vary by region. It may be overwhelming to learn them, particularly if you’re more familiar with a contrasting dialect. But know that once you become accustomed to the sounds of the Puerto Rican accent, the words will make more sense. Words and sounds within a language or dialect always work hand-in-hand to create a complementary cultural harmony. So just sit back, relax and listen to the musical notes of each individual phrase. It’s just a matter of time before you’ll be able to compose your own song and easily dance to the intricate rhythms of the Puerto Rican dialect.

About the Author

Besanya Santiago (IG: @besanyasantiago) is is an actress and writer based in New York City. She is best known for her work on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. As a multi linguist, she enjoys helping others gain a deeper understanding of language and culture. Originally from Puerto Rico, her aim is to bring an authentic perspective about Caribbean life to people from all over the world. Check out her website, www.besanyasantiago.com.

(Thumbnail Photo by Amy Irizarry from Pixabay)

The Year of the Spanish Language

The Year of the Spanish Language

Earlier this year, Spain’s Minister of Culture, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, declared "The year 2019 will be declared the Year of the Spanish Language” as part of the Marca España initiative.

Marca España has stated that the Spanish language is “a global agent that produces wealth, identity, culture, and brand which still has great opportunities for expansion and development in the digital era. It is expected that in 30 years there will be over 700 million Spanish speakers.”

There will even be tax incentives (up to 90%) for activities which promote the initiative to help try to drive participation among the private sector. Among these initiatives will be a study grant to generate more university student exchanges, appointing celebrities as “Spanish language ambassadors,” and the designing of a digital platform in Spanish & Portuguese to offer free content in the fields of literature, film, music, art, and science. 

This plan has not been accepted across the country, however, as Spain’s all-encompassing attitude with the proposal has caused some hesitation in Latin American countries. De Vigo was specifically warned that the plan would not be welcomed outside Spain by the director of the Real Academia Española, Darío Villanueva, and of the Cervantes Institute, Juan Manuel Bonet, but has decided to go ahead with it anyway. 

Even in Spain, political groups, apart from the governing Popular Party, have also criticized the plan specifically Basque and Catalan citizens  as they see it as an attack on their own languages. Francisco Javier Pérez, the Venezuelan secretary general of ASALE stated that the desire by Spain to reign control over the common language was “at the very least worrisome.” 

Carmen Millán, director of the Caro y Cuervo Institute in Colombia has a bit of a more optimistic look by stating that “...this is not about rivalries, it is about a sense of belonging to a common language.”

While it remains to be seen whether the effort will succeed in a similar fashion as the cultural promotion efforts of the French, it is without a doubt starting a conversation within the Spanish-speaking community about the need to preserve and promote their beloved language. 

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We hope you've enjoyed learning about how Spain is working to make 2019 The Year of the Spanish Language! Do you think the Marca España initiative will be positive for the promotion of the Spanish language? Comment below!