1.2.4 - Cultural Focus

Enfoque Cultural 

Cultural Focus 

The Cultural Focus lessons will be found throughout the different Modules in this course and will cover a variety of information that will be beneficial to know and understand as you learn the Spanish language. These lessons are designed to be fun and enjoyable.

When acquiring any foreign language, it is important to learn about the different places where the language is spoken as well as learn about the native people who speak the language. In addition, learning about the culture and lifestyle of those who speak the language is important. As an example, the image below shows a girl wearing the traditional attire commonly worn by Spanish speaking people who live in the Andean region around Peru and Bolivia. 

Once you conclude this lesson, you will know some general information about the Spanish language and you will be able to identify the Central America countries, where Spanish is spoken.

First, let's begin with some basic information about the Spanish language.

Did you know that Spanish, considered to be a Romance language, is the official language of over 20 different countries around the world? English and Spanish share many words of Latin origin. Therefore, as you are introduced to new vocabulary, do not be surprised if you are able to easily identify some Spanish vocabulary words and their meanings. Since Spanish is considered to be a phonetic language, if you know the correct spelling of a word as well as the pronunciation of each Spanish letter, you will almost always be able to pronounce the word correctly. This is one of the main reasons why it is important to learn the correct spelling of vocabulary words as well as learn how to properly pronounce each letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Below is a map of Central America. The map identifies the 6 countries, located in Central America, whose official language is Spanish. 

Those 6 countries include:

Guatemala

Honduras

El Salvador

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Panamá

*Spanish is spoken in Belize; however, English is the official language of the country.

 Please take some time now to memorize the 7 countries in Central America and where they are geographically located. 

Now, it is time to complete the quiz below. In preparation for this quiz, it is important that you study the information presented in this lesson, including the map of Central America.