Kia ora and ¡Hola!
Here at Wellington City Libraries we are celebrating Aotearoa Spanish Language Week.
Hablas espanol? Do you speak Spanish?
Hablo un poco de Español (Eh-span-yole). I speak a little Spanish
¿Dónde estás? Where are you?
Estoy en le biblioteca. I am at the library.
¿Sabías? Did you know?
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There are over 500 million speakers of Spanish worldwide.
This is mainly because the Spanish colonised many different parts of the world. Countries with Spanish as an official language are called Hispanic. Most of them are in the Americas, which make up Latin America.
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The first Spanish-speaking immigrants to New Zealand.
The first Spanish-speaking immigrants to New Zealand arrived in the late 19th century so they could work in the gold mines. Most of them were men from the Spanish-speaking countries of South America.
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First Chileans arrived in New Zealand in 1977
When the military took over the government in Chile, families like the Guerreros, pictured opposite, were forced to leave their country as refugees. If you would like to learn more about our first Chilean immigrants, click on the photo or visit the link below to read about them and other immigrants from Latin America on Te Ara Encylopaedia of New Zealand.
Cool and interesting words in Spanish Español
One really interesting thing about learning another language is that there are lots of words that don’t have an exact translation into English. Here are some words in Spanish we think are extra cool.
- empalagar: When you dislike something because the flavour is too sweet.
- sobremesa: When you finish a meal and stay at the table sharing a conversation, after everyone has eaten.
- pena ajena: To feel embarrassed on behalf of someone else.
Here are some English words that come from Spanish Español:
- overol: overalls
- suéter: sweater
- bulevar: boulevard
- fútbol: football
Storytime Tiempo de cuentos at Karori Library
Join Karori Library in celebrating Aotearoa Spanish Language week with fun and interactive bilingual stories, games and language resources for pre schoolers. Nau mai rā tātou katoa. Everybody is welcome.
Tuesday 21 May, 10:30am – 11:30am
Te Māhanga Karori Library
Karori Library also have a new programme called Cuentacuentos – story time sessions entirely in Spanish! Every first Saturday of the month at 11 AM.
Toitoi Magazine App Toitoi Revista aplicación
Check out the Toitoi Magazine Latin America Special Issue app — it has stories, poems and art by kids about the vibrant cultures of Latin America. You can read in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to the Latin America Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence.
Readers can listen to the stories and poems in translation, tap to hear individual words and spellings and even record their own narration.
A fun quiz Una prueba divertida
Visit the Aotearoa Spanish Language Week website for the answers, and for more fun activities for the whole whānau!
Spanish Books Libros de Español
Mi perro solo habla español / Cáceres, Andrea
“Cuando Aurora llegó a los Estados Unidos, aprendió a hablar inglés, pero Nena, su spaniel, no. Por eso, cuando pasea a Nena, Aurora les explica a sus nuevos amigos que su mascota solo habla español. Ella les dice: Nena no entiende la palabra “sit” pero sí entiende “siéntate”. […] ¡Pero ella sí que puede oler un “postre”! Con dulzura y encanto, la autora e ilustradora Andrea Cáceres cuenta una tierna e incomparable historia sobre una niña, su mascota y un amor que transciende cualquier idioma.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Leo Messi / Sánchez Vegara, Ma Isabel
“In this book from the highly acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Leo Messi, one of the worlds most skilled and celebrated footballers. Leo Messi tells the inspiring story of a young boy from Argentina who became one of the worlds greatest footballers.” (Catalogue)
Cucú-tras by Francesca Ferri
This book invites you to play a fun game: the “Cucú-tras”. This book has great illustrations with cheerful colours and you will have fun lifting the flaps to find different farm animals.
Los tipos malos en el peor día del mundo / Blabey, Aaron
“¡Salve al príncipe heredero Mermelada! ¡Pliégate a su malvada magnificencia! ¡Arrodíllate ante su gloria de manos de traseros! O…si quieres…¡NO! Puede que los Tipos Malos y las Chicas Aún Peores hayan sido derribados, pero ¿significa eso que se quedarán en el suelo? ¡De ninguna manera, muchachos! Ponte los pantalones de fiesta: ¡se acerca la batalla definitiva entre malo y MAAAAAALO!” (Catalogue)
La lección de August by R. J. Palacio
Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.
If you’d like to read more books in Spanish, check out some of our favourites on this blog post, or view the full list on our catalogue.