El amor es lo único que crece cuando se reparte.
- Antoine Saint-Exupery

¡Te quiero! – Spanish love phrases

I (Ben) remember how odd it was to walk around the streets of Madrid in my first months in Spain many years ago, hearing young couples say to each other ‘Te quiero’… literally meaning ‘I want you!’ This sounded a little strange to be saying to each other in the street all day long, until I discoved that in Spain it simply means, ‘I love you’, and is used (here, at least) much more frequently than ‘te amo’.

Here are a few more Spanish love phrases we like:

Amor a primera vista – Love at first sight

… or more commonly used:

“Lo nuestro fue un flechazo” – For us it was love at first sight

Encontrar pareja – To find a partner

Or much more poetic and romantic:

Encontrar tu media naranja – To find your perfect other half.

Our Love Audios

This is a great week to listen to our love-related audios again!

Notes in Spanish Gold Season 1 – Ep.12 – Amor y La Galaxia – Ben’s sister finds love, despite it being more likely to find aliens in our galaxy, and online dating flourishes in Spain.

Advanced Spanish Podcast 65 – San Valentin – ¿Cuál es la manera más común de celebrar el dí­a de los enamorados en tu paí­s?

Intermediate Spanish Podcast 20 – Amor – ¿Que es lo que hace la gente de tu pais la primera vez que queda con alguien?

Once Again, Our Favourite Spanish Love Song

Here’s Y Sin Embargo – from the most Madrileño Joaquin Sabina – with the stunning intro from Olga Roman – with such classic, love filled stanzas as:

Te quiero más que a mis ojos,
te quiero más que a mi vida,
más que al aire que respiro
y más que a la madre mía.

Here’s the video:

(Lyrics for the main song with Sabina, here, and the opening section here.)

Happy Spanish Learning! Ben y Marina

Find the worksheets, with full conversation transcripts, for the above Notes in Spanish audios in our store.

Ben and Marina talk about how superstitious the Spanish are, and some of Spain’s favourite superstitions.

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina look at the reading habits of the Spanish, and what it tells us about the Spanish today.

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina try to live a no-impact week, and discover that rubbish is one of the biggest problems in their lives!

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina discuss the reasons for, and attitudes towards, the new speed reduction on Spanish highways, and how it doesn’t fit in with the speed increase on Madrid’s pavements!

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina discuss the life of Cristóbal Colón (Columbus), and look at whether the tyrannical side of him portrayed in the film ‘Tambien la lluvia’ is really accurate or not.

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

The following phrases can all be used in Spain (there may be variations in South/Latin America) to say that you, or someone else, are really happy:

Más feliz que un regaliz (literally, happier than liquorice)

Más feliz que una perdiz (literally, happier than a partridge)

Más contento que un niño con zapatos nuevos (happier than a child with new shoes)

e.g. ¿Cómo estás? … ¡Estoy más feliz que un regaliz!

Another favourite of ours:

Está como un pez en el agua – She’s really having a great time, she’s in her element, (literally ‘like a fish in water’. It’s strange that in English we say ‘like a fish out of water’ to mean the exact opposite!)

And if you just want to keep things simple, there’s no easier phrase in the world than:

Estoy super contento/a

Great Happiness Article – Happiness At Google!

My sister gave me a really interesting book for Christmas called Search Inside Yourself, written by an engineer at Google, about a program he’s introduced at the company that teaches employees mindfulness and emotional intelligence. Here’s an interesting Spanish article about the program, and the launch of the Spanish version of the book:

En Google la felicidad se logra con meditación

And finally…

Ben and Marina are passionate about happiness! Marina works part time as a doula and yoga teacher for pregnant women and mothers and babies, and Ben writes about happiness at beinghappiness.com (The posts are in English, but some contain hints of Spanish too, plus see this related post in Spanish by a friend of ours.)

¡Que seáis muy felices! - May you all be very happy!

- Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina discuss life after Peak Oil, and the fascinating Transition Town initiative that is sweeping through the UK and beyond, promising to help us thrive in an oil-reduced future.

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina discuss Guernica – the fascinating story of Picasso’s involvement in the Spanish civil war, and the birth of his great symbolic painting.

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina

Ben and Marina discuss the Moorish reign in Spain, and the clear influences we can see in Spanish life and culture today.

Get More Out Of Gold Two:

- 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.

Click here to get the Gold Season Two Pack now

Getting the podcast in iTunes

- Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes And do leave us a review in iTunes if you can!

Saludos desde Madrid!
Ben y Marina