Gallo pinto - Typical breakfast in Costa Rica

Though many variations exist, the dish at its most basic is composed of pre-cooked rice and beans fried together with spices such as cilantro, onion and peppers. When the beans and rice are combined, the rice gets colored by the beans, and the mix results in a multi-colored, or specked appearance. Probably the name has something to do with the fact that the rice is colored, although.... where is the rooster in this story?

Gallo pinto is most commonly served at breakfast, with eggs, fried plantains, "natilla" (sour cream) or fresh, white, costarrican cheese. Corn tortillas are served so the consumer can roll the gallo pinto in the tortillas and don't need utensils ... something is probably very handy for the workers in the fields...

The combination of rice and beans apparently forms a good source of protein, making it an inexpensive protein alternative for animal meat like beef, chicken and also fish. This probably causes gallo pinto to still be a popular breakfast dish in Costa Rica.

On the other hand, in former times, when the largest part of the costarrican population worked very hard in the agricultural sector (among others the coffee- and sugarcane plantations), gallo pinto was a very useful, hearthy breakfast whereas now, for many people that no longer work in the fields, but in places like offices, schools, etc. , gallo pinto might seem a bit heavy on the stomach sometimes...

Nonetheless, when you go to Costa Rica you can't leave without have tried a real gallo pinto,

¡Buen provecho! (enjoy your meal)

Nonetheless, the official numbers now are around the 350 million speakers, which means that Spanish of Spain only counts for 10% of this total . The rest of the speakers live in countries where Spanish is the official or semi-official language and all other territories where lots of immigrants live that have Spanish as their first language.

With its 93 million speakers, who use Spanish either as a first or as a second language, Mexico is the country with the most numerous Hispanic population in the world.

Spanish is the official language in 21 countries.
The countries with the highest numbers of speakers are: Spain (39 million), Colombia (36 million) and Argentina (35,5 million).

The importance of a language in the world is not only measured by the number of speakers, but also on its importance on an international level.
For example, the number of literary works that have been translated to other languages, the amount of people that study the language not as a first language and international organizations that have the language included among their official languages.

Spanish is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world (after English, Chinese and Hindustani).

Numbers alone are not a reason to start studying a language. Next month I will publish an article about the "Why study Spanish".

I hope to have informed you with this information and ....

We look forward teaching you Spanish!

Spanish music

Listening to Spanish music is a great way to improve your pronunciation and learn more vocabulary and facts about Latin American and Spanish culture.

A rich variety of musical traditions and styles fall under the broad topic "Spanish music" and the lines between genres are often blurred. Here you will find brief genre descriptions and a variety of Spanish-speaking bands and singers, both contemporary and traditional, listed by musical genre

Note that many artists belong to more than one genre.

Bolero: Buena Vista Social Club, Pedro Infante, Tania Libertad, Omara Portuondo, Mercedes Sosa, Charlie Zaa.
Cumbia: Bacilos, Juanes, Los Ángeles Azules, Lisandro Meza, Banda Ráfaga, Carlos Vives.
Nueva Trova: Mercedes Sosa, Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara
Flamenco: Armik, Gipsy Kings, Ottmar Liebert, Paco de Lucía, Jorge Pardo, Paco Peña.
Latin Jazz: Gato Barbieri, Ray Barretto, Lila Downs, Dizzy Gillespie, Rubén González, Irakere, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Lalo Schifrin, Bebo Valdés, Chucho Valdés.
Latin Pop: Marc Anthony, Christina Aguilera, David Bisbal, Chayanne, Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez, Maná, Ricky Martin, Paulina Rubio, Alejandro Sanz, Shakira.
Latin Rap/ Hip hop: Control Machete, Cypress Hill, Delinquent Habits, Tha Mexikinz, Molotov, Ozomatli, South Park Mexican, Vico C.
Mambo: Desi Arnaz, Lou Bega, Cacho, Celia Cruz, Xavier Cugat, Beny Moré, Peréz Prado, Tito Rodriguez.
Mariachi: Antonio Aguilar, Paquita la del Barrio, Mariachi Cobre, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Javier Solís.
Merengue: Elvis Crespo, Gisselle, Juan Luis Guerra, Ilegales, Ednita Nazario, Olga Tañon.
Ranchera: Lola Beltrán, Alejandro Fernández, Vicente Fernández, Juan Gabriel, Pedro Infante, José Alfredo Jiménez, Jorge Negrete, Lucha Villa.
Reggae en Espanol: Cultura profética, los Cafres, Gondwana.
Rock en Español: Café Tacuba, Caifanes, Gustavo Cerati, El Tri, Heroes del Silencio, Hombres G, Juaguares, Los Aterciopelados, La Ley, Maná, Puya, Joaquín Sabina, Shakira, Soda Stereo.
Rumba: Don Barreto, Rubén González, Bio Ritmo, Los Munequitos de Matanzas, more ...
Salsa: Marc Anthony, Ray Barretto, Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Celia Cruz, Oscar D'Leon, Gloria Estefan, Tito Nieves.
Tango: Hugo del Carril, Enrique Chia, Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla.
Tejano /TexMex: Graciela Beltrán, Alejandro Fernández, Intocable, Los Tigres del Norte, Lucero, Mazz, Luis Miguel, Selena, Thalía.

From the genre "Reggae en Español" I want to highlight the group "Gondwana": very friendly music that lots of people/students will enjoy and with great lyrics!

Gondwana is a music group from around Santiago de Chili. They have 10 members and they play a kind of reggae mixed with new wave. They started in 1987 and they have made lots of cd's since than. The band is most famous in South America and played for example in Argentina, Peru, Colombia. Even outside Europe the music of Gondwana is famous in Finland and Switzerland.
With lots of prices and more then 1000 concerts over the world, Gondwana is one of the most international groups from Chili.

For more information about Gondwana: www.gondwana.cl

!Disfrúte la música!