Ben and Marina look at the strange world of coincidences and discuss whether it is all down to probability and statistics, or whether there is something else going on…
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Ben and Marina discuss ways of saving ourselves from information overload on the internet, and in life in general.
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Check out this video, then see below for links to our own Special Notes in Spanish Christmas podcasts!
The video a montage that someone on youtube put together of a very typical Spansih Christmas carol… Lyrics and notes below… When we sent this out last year it caused a lot of debate – is it tacky or not?!
About the Carol: For a long time I did think this Christmas carol, or villancico as they are called in Spanish, was rather hortera – tacky. But then I started to like it, and now it’s just a great part of Spanish Christmas! Here below are the lyrics (with key vocab translations in brackets) if you are interested. One key word is of course ‘Belén’ – which as well as being a common girls name, also means Bethlehem (as in this carol), or Nativity Scene.
The Lyrics: Campanas Sobre Campanas
Campana sobre campana, [campana = Bell]
y sobre campana una,
asómate a la ventana, [asomarse = look out/lean out... of the window]
verás al Niño en la cuna. [cuna = babies cot/crib]
Belén, campanas de Belén,
que los ángeles tocan
¿qué nueva me traéis?
Recogido tu rebaño [rebaño = flock]
¿a dónde vas pastorcillo? [pastorcillo = little shephard]
Voy a llevar al portal
requesón, manteca y vino. [requesón = cottage cheese/curd, manteca = lard/butter]
Belén, campanas de Belén,
que los ángeles tocan
¿qué nueva me traéis?
Campana sobre campana,
y sobre campana dos,
asómate a esa ventana,
porque está naciendo Dios.
Belén, campanas de Belén,
que los ángeles tocan
¿qué nueva me traéis?
Campana sobre campana,
y sobre campana tres,
en una Cruz a esta hora,
el Niño va a padecer. [padecer = suffer]
Belén, campanas de Belén,
que los ángeles tocan
¿qué nueva me traéis?
Christmas Specials Here On Notes In Spanish
If you would like to know more about Christmas in Spain, and learn some Spanish Christmas vocab and phrases, then we have special Christmas audio for every level:
Do take 10 minutes to listen to the audio for your level with the appropriate worksheet (available in our store), and make this a very Spanish Christmas as well!
Ben and Marina discuss the little-known Spanish painter Joaquin Sorrolla, his wonderful museum-house in Madrid, and his luminous life and work.
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Ben and Marina talk about cooking, the typical Spanish dish Cocido (made with garbanzos – chickpeas), and its historical origins.
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Thank you so much! As promised all total sales in our special ‘ciber lunes’ 4 day promotion, from this past November 23rd to November 26th, are going to unoentrecienmil.org‘s Proyecto Corre, a project set up by a dad in our son’s class to raise funds into investigation of Infant Leukaemia, an illness his son is now recovering wonderfully from.
The grand total of sales for this special promotional period is: 9,673.89 Euros!
130 of you, our wonderful listeners, made the most of this promotion to improve your Spanish and help this special cause at the same time.
As there are one or two people that had trouble with the coupon or payment but still aim to contribute with a pending sale, we’ve decided to round the figure up to:
Total Donation: 10,000 Euros
So, this week, Notes in Spanish will be transfering 10,000 euros to unoentrecienmil.org and their ‘Proyecto Corre‘ to help save every child that suffers from Infant Leukaemia – not just 8 out of 10 (the current survival rate), but 10 out of 10 children with this illness.
If you missed out on the promotion but still want to donate to this cause, you can do so directly by donating whatever sum you see fit via the Proyecto Corre donation page here (You’ll get a Proyecto Corre running badge emailed to you too to help spread the word as you run round the park – or for the bus!)
UPDATE: The sale is now over! To read how much we made for this great cause during this special promotion, read the next blog post here.
All the money made from every product purchased in our store for four days, up until Midnight Monday 26th 2012, will go to the Spanish NGO unoentrecienmil.org and its ‘Proyecto Corre’.
We’ll let you know on Tuesday 27th how much we’ve raised from all of your purchases. Your Spanish improves, and unoentrecienmil.org receives a valuable donation.
Why? What is unoentrecienmil.org?
We recently discovered that a boy in our son’s class, Guzmán, was just about to finish 2 years of treatment for Leukaemia (leucemia linfoblástica aguda). And it looks like he’s going to be OK – He’s now one of the healthiest looking children I know!
When his father, Jose, first discovered his son’s illness he was overcome with the idea that this was an opportunity to do something powerful in the world. Today, 8 out of 10 children survive this kind of Leukaemia, and Jose decided to start a foundation to raise money for research that can eventually save the other two children too, so that 10 out of 10 survive.
To read the moving story of how it all happened, of how the idea came to him and the foundation was born, read Jose’s blog post here.
Last month, The Foundation Uno Entre Cien Mil was officially launched, along with Proyecto Corre – an innovative idea to help raise money for this great cause. Proyecto Corre aims to get 100,000 people to download a badge (un dorsal) to wear when they run, whether you are a confirmed jogger or just run for the bus! You make a donation from 1 euro, and the badge is sent to you by email to print out.
Every year Marina and I like to use some funds from Notes in Spanish to help good causes, especially causes that are close to home and close to our hearts. As soon as we heard about Guzmán and his dad’s project, we knew we wanted to help. I’ve got my running badge (for bus-stop dashes only, me and jogging don’t mix!) but we wanted to do something bigger from here at Notes in Spanish too.
So every euro and centimo from our store for four days, from Friday 23rd November until the very end of Monday November 26th all over the world, will go to unoentrecienmil.org and Proyecto Corre.
Your Spanish wins, and investigation into childhood Leukeamia wins.
Thanks so much for helping us with this,
Ben y Marina – 23.11.2012
UPDATE: The sale is now over! To read how much we made for this great cause during this special promotion, read the next blog post here.
[Note: When it appears, click the 'x' on the right of the ad at the bottom of the video to get rid of it (we didn't put it there, or the red banner at the start about no rude/political comments!) and you can see the subtitles. The subtitles change to Portuguese after the song ends and she begins to speak Spanish.]
So… Gracias. Thank you. Thank you for helping us share this beautiful language all over the world. Thank you for your kind comments, your lovely emails, for telling your friends about us.
We think this is the most beautiful ‘Thank You’ song on the planet and we share it every year on this day.
So once again, Happy Thanksgiving – Feliz día de Acción de Gracias. Muchas Gracias por tu dedicación y por aprender español con nosotros.
Saludos desde Madrid,
Ben y Marina
P.S. Tomorrow we’ll be launching a very special charity sale to raise money for a cause that is close to our hearts. We’ll send details out to our newsletter subscribers and post here on the site about it tomorrow, Friday 23rd.
Ben and Marina look at why Unesco is choosing to bring Flamenco and Catalonia’s human castles under its umbrella, as well as other Spanish cultural treasures such as Mallorca’s El Canto de la Sibila.
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- Get instant access to all 24 Season Two worksheets (with full transcript of the Spanish conversation, useful notes and exercises) in the Gold Season Two Pack in our Store now. You’ll also get 6 Bonus Spanish-boosting Q and A audios, useful links for each episode and more members-only bonuses.
Ben and Marina discuss the changes brought about by the 2011 full smoking ban in Spanish bars, restaurants, and other public places, and what it means for Spanish culture and respect for authority!
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- Get instant access to all 24 Season Two worksheets (with full transcript of the Spanish conversation, useful notes and exercises) in the Gold Season Two Pack in our Store now. You’ll also get 6 Bonus Spanish-boosting Q and A audios, useful links for each episode and more members-only bonuses.
Saludos desde Madrid!
