October 12 – Spanish Language Day

Posted October 12, 2016

Today is one of the six language days established by the United Nations organization UNESCO. Each of the language days focuses on one of the U.N.'s six official languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.

But the idea behind the language days is to encourage multilingualism (the ability to speak more than one language).

Spanish is the second most-spoken language, if you go by NATIVE speakers, after Mandarin Chinese. (English is the most spoken SECOND language and the second most spoken language overall, counting native speaker and second-language speakers, again after Mandarin Chinese.)

These kids are in Costa Rica, one of the Central
American countries in which Spanish is the
official language.

It's the official or national language of 1 country in Europe (Spain), 1 country in Africa (Equatorial Guinea), and 19 countries in the Americas (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico). Spanish used to be an official language of the Philippines, from the mid-1500s all the way up to 1987. Since then it has had “voluntary” or “optional auxiliary” language status in the government – but it is used very little in everyday life in the Philippines, and fewer than one percent of the population speaks Spanish fluently!

Spanish is a commonly spoken language in a few nations that don't claim it as an official language: Andorra, Gibraltar, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Guyana, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. And there are Spanish-based creole languages spoken in the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, in the Philippines, and in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Spanish isn't called “Spanish” by Spanish speakers – instead, it is called either español or castellano – which translate to Spanish or Castilian. There are other languages spoken in Spain, such as Basque, Catalan, and Galician, so many people do not think it is proper to refer to the language of Castile as Spanish.

I live in Southern California, and here it can be helpful to know Spanish. 

Here and here are resources to learn Spanish free, online. 

And here and here are some games in Spanish. 

Check out this infographic on Spanish!

Also on this date:

Yom Kippur

National Bring Your Teddy Bear to School/Work Day 

Second Wednesday in October

Stop Bullying Day 

aka Unity Day

Second Wednesday in October

National Fossil Day 

Wednesday of the second full week of October

Laos Liberation Day

Free Thought Day

Columbus Day, aka Discovery Day

National Day of Mourning, aka

Indigenous People's Day, aka

Dia de la Raza

Native American Day in South Dakota

Fiesta Nacional in Spain

Birthday of claymation pioneer Art Clokey

Anniversary of the death of nurse and heroine Edith Cavell

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• October holidays
• October birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in October

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• November holidays
• November birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in November

April 30, 2013 - El Dia de los Ninos/ El Dia de los Libros

Many different nations celebrate Children's Day on various different dates. This holiday is supposed to bring attention to the importance of children's health and education. Mexico selected April 30.

So that explains El Dia de los Ninos (Children's Day) – but what about El Dia de los Libros (Book Day)?

Poet and author Pat Mora knew that the U.S. had no Children's Day. She wanted to start one, but she also wanted to link the celebration of children with literacy—the ability to read—and bilingualism—the ability to speak two languages. She got help from several organizations, including Reforma, the American Library Association, and Target stores; now many libraries and schools have joined the celebration. You can, too!

• Get inspiration and resources from the official website. There is also a map of Dia programs. 

• Read bilingual books, or books in both English and Spanish translations. Here is a resource that lists bilingual books.

• Make your own bilingual books. Enchanted Learning has lots of printable books, including some in Spanish.

• Pat Mora's website features a song about this day. 

Plan Ahead...

Check out my Pinterest boards of May holidays and May birthdays. 

Also on this date:

Bugs Bunny Day 

Queen's Day in the Netherlands

Walpurgis Night

January 18, 2013 - Lima Foundation Day

Francisco Pizarro founded Lima in what is now Peru on this day in 1535, calling it La Ciudad de los Reyes (City of Kings).

The name wasn't used by many, not for long. An older name for the the area was Limaq. This name was in the Incan language Quechua, and the Spanish version of the name was Lima. Even the very oldest Spanish maps of Peru names the city Lima as well as La Ciudad de los Reyes.

Lima is the capital of Peru. It is Peru's largest city; almost one-fourth of all Peruvians live in this city.

According to Nile Guide, it never rains in Lima. A bit of drizzle, yes, but not “real” rain.  (According to Wikipedia, there is only half an inch of precipitation per year.)  But because Lima lies on the Pacific Coast, the temperatures are mild, and there is morning fog in the summer and persistent low clouds in the winter. (Since Lima is in the Southern Hemisphere, June and July are winter months, and January is a midsummer month.) I was amazed to find out that there are only about 1284 hours of sunshine PER YEAR – which averages only 3.5 hours per day!

So it never rains but it's almost always cloudy. Lima's on the coast but in a desert.

Novandina

Apparently Peruvian, and especially Limean, food is famously great. The city boasts more than 20 cooking schools and Latin America's “most sophisticated cuisine.”  The blending of Indian and European cultures takes advantage of many varieties of peppers (some unique to this area), more than 2,000 kinds of potatoes, plentiful and varied seafood, a grainlike staple called quinoa, and a tropical fruit called lacuma.

By the Way...

Lima's founder, Francisco Pizarro, is partially responsible for one of the biggest upsets in military history. He and his contingent of 200 Spanish soldiers prevailed over perhaps 80,000 Incas!

How did that happen?

It's hard to know for sure what happened more than 400 years ago—especially because the history of the conquest was written by the Spanish victors, rather than by a fair-minded outsider. But smallpox had devastated the Incan population and killed the king...the Spaniards had guns, which were loud and scary...and the Spaniards perhaps surprised the Incas with their savagery. For example, Pizarro managed to take the new king hostage; this king promised to fill a room with gold and treasure in return for his release, and he made good on his promise. But Pizarro took the treasure and killed the king, anyway!

Also on this date:

Thesaurus Day 

Winnie the Pooh Day

December 23, 2009

Night of the Radishes – Oaxaca, Mexico

The people of Oaxaca carve radishes into figures and animals, to be displayed or sometimes sold.

You can borrow this tradition and do a little radish carving yourself (ask permission!), or you can add radishes to your salad in honor of the holiday.

Festivus – the Holiday for the Rest of Us

If you don't live in Oaxaca, Mexico, you can enjoy the all-new, modern-living “holiday” of Festivus. Created by writer Dan O'Keefe and made famous on episodes of the comedy television show Seinfeld, this holiday is characterized by putting up an aluminum Festivus Pole and having activities such as the “Airing of Grievances” and the “Feats of Strength.”

Yes, it's pretty much “just” silly fun, but Festivus functioned as a holiday in the O'Keefe family for about 30 years before it became part of a Seinfeld episode in 1997. The family originally held Festivus celebrations in February to commemorate Dan O'Keefe's first date with his wife.

Now that the holiday is celebrated by more than just one family, a company actually manufactures Festivus poles, and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle had one in the executive residence (it is now a part of his museum). Festivus poles have also been erected in several city halls and other governmental spaces, along with Hanukkah and Christmas decorations. Festivus was the name of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor in the early 2000s, and the name has been borrowed for several other items and events.

The Roots of Radishes
You probably know that radishes are edible roots. But, did you know that...?

Radishes are related to turnips and mustard plants.

Although red radishes are the most familiar to most of us, some kinds of radishes are purple, white, pink, yellow, or gray. Ummm, gray radishes! Sounds yummy!

Radishes were grown in the ancient Greek and Roman empires.

The leafy part of the radish plant can be eaten, too.

Some people make radish pies! Get a recipe here.

Oaxaca, Land of the Black Pottery

This Mexican state's name (and the capital city of the same name) is pronounced Wha-haw-kaw (with each syllable rhyming with the English word raw). It is famous for its beautiful, shiny black pottery (from the town San Bartolo Coyotepec), made with a local dark clay.
The state includes lovely beaches and lagoons, waterfalls and even some petrified waterfalls. It is considered the culinary capital of Mexico and is famous for its chocolate, its local cheese (now imported all over the world), and even its chapulines, or roasted grasshoppers (again, yummers!). Oaxaca has more than 4,000 archeological sites, and its forests boast around 30,000 different species of plant life!

Information about Oaxaca (including little mini-videos) can be found here.

Learn about Mexico with Zoom School.

Learn some Spanish!
Here is a great site for learning Spanish -- free!
Here is a website that has a game about the parts of the face (or, in Spanish, la cara).