These Spanish facts are sure to impress the language enthusiast in you and may just be the sign you were waiting for to take the leap and start your journey into learning Spanish and discovering the amazing Español culture.
18 million people are learning spanish
An astonishing amount of people can speak Spanish all over the globe. It’s the official language in 20 different countries on multiple continents! On top of the 480 million who already speak it, there’s an additional 18 million learning Spanish.
Spanish is influenced by arabic
The Moorish Invasions changed more than just the architect and culture. It also changed the language. Many Spanish words have Arabic roots such as azúcar, fideo, and almohada. Some scholars suggest that there are over 4000 Spanish words that have Arabic roots!
Their punctuation is different
To express either a question or exclamation, they invert their punctuation!
- Si no te gusta la comida, ¿por qué la comes?
- If you don’t like the food, why are you eating it?
The same goes for exclamation points! In English we often will put “?!” to express an urgent question;
- ¡Qué lástima, estás bien?
- What a pity, are you all right?
Some words just can’t be translated
Every language has words that are untranslatable. In Spanish, two of the most common words to them we don’t have literal translations for.
Spanish has sobremesa and empalagar.
Sobremesa is the period after a meal when people are still enjoying each other’s company around the table.
Empalagarse is becoming disgusted with something because it’s too sweet. Test your Spanish vocab skills at Test Your Language!
The first Spanish grammar was written in 1498
Elio Antonio de Nebrija wrote the first example of grammar in Spanish.
Nebrija actually went on to write the Spanish dictionary, says Nadeau Barlow.
Spanish has two names
Español is used in Spain and Central America, while in South America they actually refer to Spanish as Castellano.
Las Glosas Emilianenses
Translates to the Glosses of Saint Emilianus.
This dates back to 964 and is the first written record of Spanish available. It’s a set of notes in Spanish and Basque in the margins of a religious manuscript that was written in Latin.
There have been 11 literature Nobel prizes in Spanish
These Nobel prizes range from 1904 to 2010. The authors also come from many different countries, making for a more diverse literal look at the different dialects of Spanish.
If these Spanish facts made you interested in learning more about the Spanish language – check out this course on Cudoo!
Andrie Steliou
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