Free Spanish Lesson 47 – Christmas in Central and Latin America

Vocabulario semanal – Weekly Vocabulary

Because about noventa y cinco porciento of Latin America es Católico, Christmas is as widely or even more widely celebrated than in the U.S. Also, because una mayoría of Latin Americans live south of the equator, for them Christmas is actually durante el verano. As you will see más tarde, this influences some of their holiday traditions.

Primero vamos a hablar acerca de Navidad. In Latin America, on Noche Buena, there is a mass (religious worship service) at many Christian churches at 11:00 p.m. Tan pronto como the preacher or priest termina de hablar, the children run home to await Santa Claus who usually arrives at 12:00 (medianoche) with gifts (in many regions of Latin America)…

noventa y cinco porciento – 95%

es Católico – is Catholic

una mayoría – a majority

durante el verano – during the summer

más tarde – later

primero vamos a hablar – first let’s talk

acerca de – about

Navidad – Christmas

Noche Buena – Christmas Eve

tan pronto como – as soon as

termina de hablar – finishes speaking

medianoche – midnight

para la familia – for the family

ayudante – helper

ya que – since

la cena Navideña – the Christmas dinner

es un pavo tradicional – is a traditional turkey

el dinero suficiente – enough money

dinero – money

pollo – chicken

juegan con sus regalos – play with their gifts

generalmente duermen tarde – generally they sleep late/in

para la Nochevieja – for New Year’s Eve

y como la Navidad – and like Christmas

una muñeca grande – a large doll

ropa vieja – old clothes

muñecas grandes – large dolls

en las calles – in the streets

y las queman – and they burn them

para mucha gente – for many people

la persona vieja – the old person

una persona nueva – a new person

cualquier parte del mundo – any part of the world

familia a familia – family to family

región a región – region to region

como regalo de Navidad – as a Christmas gift

si ordenan antes de las 2:00 – if you order before 2:00

para nuestra oferta actual – for our current sale

He knocks on the door and brings them in para la familia. (For those of you under age 10 reading our newsletter: Since Santa can’t be at everyone’s home at the same time, he usually gets a neighbor to be his official ayudante.)

Ya que they live in a warmer climate, there are fireworks around medianoche. La cena Navideña is also after medianoche where the main course es un pavo tradicional. Families that customarily wouldn’t have el dinero suficiente to buy a turkey try to save their dinero beforehand to make it possible.

If they still don’t have el dinero suficiente for un pavo, they eat pollo. After dinner, children will usually juegan con sus regalos for a few hours and then go to bed around 3:00 a.m. Needless to say, generalmente duermen tarde on Christmas morning.

Para la Nochevieja they stay up at least until medianoche (like we do here in the U.S.) y como la Navidad, they again light fireworks. One thing they do in many regions that I found interesting is they build una muñeca grande out of ropa vieja — usually stuffed with straw.

On New Year’s Eve (Nochevieja) [no-chay bee-eh-hah] around medianoche they take their muñecas grandes out en las calles, light them on fire, y las queman. (Do not try this at home!) Para mucha gente, this represents the end of “la persona vieja” and the beginning of “una persona nueva”.

As with cualquier parte del mundo, traditions vary somewhat familia a familia and región a región.

¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)

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Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.