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Spanish

Pittsburgh Region

Comprehensive Sites and Indexes

  • Colorín Colorado
    http://www.colorincolorado.org/
    Colorín Colorado (este cuento se ha acabado) is a web-based service that provides information, activities, and advice for Spanish-speaking parents and educators of English language learners (ELLs).
  • Google.es
    http://www.google.es/
    Run your searches for Spanish language resources on Spain's Google.
  • Quia! Spanish
    http://www.quia.com/shared/spanish/
    Online activities and games for learning Spanish.
  • Terra
    http://www.terra.com/
    This Spanish owned portal company offers portals for Spain and most Latin American countries. They are created in conjunction with the major local newspapers and so are full of content. Lycos is now part of Terra.
  • Yahoo! España
    http://es.yahoo.com/
    Try out your Spanish on this site from the Yahoo! folks. It links primarily to web sites in Spain. Naturally most are in Spanish.

Dictionaries / Vocabulary

  • Diccionarios.com
    http://www.diccionarios.com/
    This is a great site from Vox (publishers of Spanish language dictionaries) that will look up words in Spanish or give you synonyms/antonyms for Spanish words but will also translate from Spanish to English, French, and Catalan and vice versa. Unfortunately it is a subscription service after two free lookups.
  • Chilean Spanish Guide
    So you think you know Spanish? This guide is to help you learn the idiosyncracies of Chilean Spanish so you don't use the wrong word when in Chile.
  • Foreign Word
    http://www.foreignword.com/
    Access 265+ online dictionaries for 73 languages, including Spanish.
  • Real Academia Española
    http://www.rae.es/
    The Royal Spanish Academy of the Spanish language which dictates usage. If you click on their "Diccionario de la lengua española", there is a search form at the top of the page that searches their Spanish to Spanish dictionary.
  • Word Reference
    http://www.wordreference.com/
    Online French, Italian and Spanish Dictionary. From the Diccionario Espasa Concise © 2000 Espasa Calpe.
  • Yahoo! Education: Spanish Dictionary
    http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dict_en_es/
    The American Heritage® Spanish Dictionary: Spanish/English, Inglés/Español
  • Yahoo! España: Diccionarios
    http://es.dir.yahoo.com/Materiales_de_consulta/Diccionarios/
    Spanish dictionaries. In Spanish.

Spanish Grammar

  • BBC Languages: Spanish
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/
    Includes a variety of courses of different levels, including "Talk Spanish", a language course for absolute beginners based on the BBC television series that can be used as a complement to the programmes or as a stand-alone resource. Requires Real Video and includes video clips with sound of native speakers using common phrases.
  • don Quijote: Lessons
    http://www.donquijote.org/lessons/
    After free registrations you can view their online lessons. Also sign up for their weekly newsletter with vocabulary and lessons.
  • Learn Spanish: A Free Online Tutorial
    http://www.studyspanish.com/
    Good basic lessons in Spanish plus recommended books and audio, useful links.

  • Trabalenguas (Tongue Twisters)
    http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/es.htm
    Spanish speakers love tongue twisters, sayings, proverbs and all sorts of word games.

Audio: Listen to Spanish

News and TV

  • HTV
    http://www.htv.com/
    This is the Latin version of MTV, presenting music videos of the Latin world. Their website includes video clips of the current popular performers.
  • El Mundo
    http://www.elmundo.es/
    from Madrid, Spain. An online version of Madrid's daily newspaper.

  • Online Newspapers
    http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
    Links to newspapers around the world, including Central and South America
  • Telemundo
    http://www.telemundo.com/
    One of major Spanish language television networks in the US. Available via cable in many locations and via satellite dish in the rest. Watching the "noticias" and "telenovelas" is a good way to practice your Spanish.
  • Univision
    http://www.univision.com/
    Another of the major Spanish language television networks in the US. Check to see if your local cable or dish network offers it.

Books and Literature

Here is a selection of books and literary sites so that you can practice reading Spanish.
  • Cervantes Project
    http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/english/
    A digital library project at Texas A&M University provides a comprehensive reference and research site dedicated to the study of Cervantes' works and life.
  • Criticas Magazine
    http://www.criticasmagazine.com/
    An English speaker's guide to the latest Spanish-language titles. This website is from Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc., publishers of Library Journal.
  • Don Quijote: Spanish Literature
    http://www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/literature/
    Don Quijote offers Spanish language schools in various countries. In this section of its website, you can read about the history of Spanish literature in Spanish. They also have an extensive Spanish literature library.
  • Golden Age Sonnets (Sonetos del Siglo de Oro)
    http://sonnets.spanish.sbc.edu/
    Practice your Spanish with these 101 sonnets from 18 Spanish poets (check it with the translations). By Alix Ingber, Professor of Spanish, Sweet Briar College
  • Instituto Cervantes
    http://www.cervantes.es/
    This is a global organization that promotes the study and learning of the Spanish Language.
  • Library of Congress: Hispanic Reading Room
    http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/
    Includes online collections, the Handbook of Latin American Studies, and various bibliographies.
  • Literatura Argentina Contemporánea
    http://www.literatura.org/
    In Spanish. Learn about contemporary Argentinian writers
  • Proyecto Sherezade
    http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~fernand4/
    short stories each month from the Spanish-speaking world. You can even listen to some in MP3 format.

Culture & History

  • Accordion Dreams
    http://www.pbs.org/accordiondreams/
    This companion website is for the PBS documentary, Accordion Dreams, which is a musical journey into the heart and soul of conjunto, a unique musical tradition (Conjunto) born in 19th century Texas that continues to thrive today.
  • Don Quijote
    http://www.donquijote.org/
    Don Quijote offers Spanish language programs in Spain but their website also has cultural information on Spain, including fiestas and bullfights.
  • LIBRO: The Library of Iberian Resources Online
    http://libro.uca.edu/
    LIBRO is a joint project of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain and the University of Central Arkansas. Its task is to make available to users the best scholarship about the peoples and nations of the Iberian peninsula with a book list principally drawn from recent, but out-of-print university press monographs.
  • Mexico para Ninos/ Mexico for Kids
    http://www.elbalero.gob.mx/
    This site from the Mexican government is in English, Spanish, Italian, and French.
  • The Visual Front: Posters of the Spanish Civil War
    http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/visfront/
    These are from the collection at the University of California at San Diego. Each poster is accompanied by a fairly detailed and lengthy annotation so that helps one understand the situation.

Famous Hispanics

  • Hispanos Famosos (Famous Hispanics)
    http://www.coloquio.com/famosos/
    Biographies in English
  • Isabel Allende
    http://www.isabelallende.com/
    Official website for the author with information on her books
  • Garcia Marquez, Gabriel
    http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/
    A website dedicated to this Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author
  • Las Mujeres
    http://www.lasmujeres.com/
    Las Mujeres provides various resources of notable Latin women who contributed to our culture in diverse ways. Here you will find information about the lives of politicians, entrepreneurs, writers, singers, painters, actresses, educators, and others.
  • Retablo de Literatura Chilena
    http://www.uchile.cl/retablo/
    A site in Spanish from the Universidad de Chile covering famous Chilean writers.
  • Virtual Diego Rivera Museum
    http://www.diegorivera.com/
    Information on the Mexican muralist.