English/Spanish Exchange

University of Texas Liberal Arts web sites

The University of Texas has developed a number of Liberal Arts web sites of interest to those keen on Hispanic culture and the Spanish language.

Spanish Proficiency Exercises
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/index.html

This site hosts an excellent collection of short video interviews with a variety of native Spanish speakers from Latin America and Spain. There are a total of 85 tasks divided into Beginning, Intermediate (A & B), Advanced (A & B) and Superior levels. In each task there are half a dozen QuickTime video clips that you can watch online, with or without transcripts in Spanish or English visible. Alternatively, you can download the clips in m4v format to view on an iPod. The page for each task also provides access to short notes on related vocabulary, phrases and grammar.

Spanish Civilization
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spn328/

This is a fascinating cultural compendium containing the following categories: Arquitectura, Pintura, Mapas, Música, and Antigüedad. In the Pintura section, for example, there are then separate pages for nine different artists, including Velázquez, Goya and Picsasso. A selection of works is given for each, and details of the work are provided in a question-and-popup-answer format. Goya’s El dos de mayo de 1808, for instance, has the following Q & A:

Q: ¿Qué representa este cuadro? ¿Qué características de la pintura romántica se pueden ver en él?

A: El cuadro, pintado por comisión de Fernando VII después de la Guerra de Independencia, en 1814, muestra la resistencia del pueblo madrileño contra las tropas francesas que habían ocupado la ciudad. También es conocido como “La carga de los mamelucos”. Es un buen ejemplo de pintura romántica porque muestra mucha acción violenta, emociones fuertes y personajes exóticos (como los mamelucos, soldados egipcios del ejército francés, con sus uniformes orientales), así como por su patriotismo y glorificación del pueblo español en su lucha por la independencia.

Cantar de mio Cid
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/cid/

This interactive Flash website provides a number of different ways of experiencing the epic poem. You can, for example, see images of the individual pages of the fourteenth century manuscript whilst listening to it being read in Old Spanish (all 5 hours 9 minutes and 28 seconds) and reading along at the same time. The transcriptions are shown in both ‘paleographic’ and ‘normative’ form. The former is taken directly from the manuscript and the latter serves as a link between the original form and modern editions of the poem. There is also an English translation visible at the same time.

Spanish Grammar Exercises
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spex/siteindex.php

Aimed primarily at University of Texas first-year Spanish students, this site provides 22 sets of interactive, fill-in-the-blank exercises.

LANIC – The Latin American Network Information Center
http://lanic.utexas.edu/indexesp.html

This portal site is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish and has pointers to a wealth of information on a wide variety of topics related to Latin America. The subject categories covered include: Economy, Education, Geography & Environment, Government, Humanities, Internet & Computing, Libraries & Reference, Media & Communication, Recreation, Science, Social Sciences, and Society & Culture.