Another sport that we don't follow much in the US but which is very popular in other parts of the world is cycling. July is the month of the biggest cycling competition in the world--the Tour de France--this year celebrating its one hundredth anniversary. This is a grueling 3-week course, twenty-one days of sprinting, climbing, teamwork, and dangerous crashes, with riders out on the road from four to six hours a day through all kinds of weather, on flat roads, high mountains, and ancient cobblestone streets. It is the world's most challenging sport. Many Hispanic cyclists participate and do well, like the legendary Spanish rider Miguel Indurain and the formidable Argentinean Juan Antonio Flecha. But this year the cyclist that everyone is talking about is the Colombian Nairo Quintana (in front in this photo from Colombia.com). This young rider has finished his first Tour de France in second place behind the British rider Chris Froome. Quintana has earned the white jersey for the Best Young Rider and the polka dot jersey for King of the Mountains (best climber). Colombians are understandably thrilled to see this young rider from a modest family do so well on the international stage. Colombia's cycling program had suffered and fizzled from the violence and chaos that occurred as a result of the drug war and the civil war. Now that the political situation in Colombia is more stable, they are investing once again in sports--and having great success! Read about Quintana and watch an interview with this humble rider. 

     While many sports are played throughout the Spanish-speaking world, the most popular by far is soccer (fútbol), the Beautiful Game. The US is only just beginning to learn about football (that's what the rest of the English-speaking world calls it), and is developing clubs, players, and a fan base. Every country has club teams. In the US and Canada we have the MLS (Major League Soccer), with teams like D.C. United, the L.A. Galaxy, or Toronto F.C. Many people around the world watch European soccer, where the English Premier League and the Bundesliga enjoy prestige and draw some of the best players in the world. However, the best players play for their clubs only part of the time, and for their national teams the rest of the time. Currently the US is participating in the Gold Cup, a tournament that includes the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football) teams, and has moved on to the quarter finals. In South America there is CONMEBOL (Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol), which is a viciously competitive league. And every four years (next time is 2014 in Brazil) we have the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup. In fact, national teams spend the majority of those four years between World Cups trying to qualify for the next one, and things are heating up now because there is not much time left for teams that are unsure if they will qualify. It's getting exciting, so watch some fútbol!
     It's fun to watch in Spanish, not only because you learn terminology and hear the commentators speak at a hundred miles per hour, but also because when a goal is scored, you get to hear ¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL! ¡GOL! ¡GOL! ¡GOLAZOOOOOOO! Below are some terms that might help you follow along, if you decide to watch in Spanish. And here is a link to a great National Geographic article about the Beautiful Game.
the ball..........la pelota/ el balón
the net..........la red
the goal..........el arco
the pitch..........la cancha
a goal..........un gol
to kick..........patear/ dar una patada
a header..........un cabezazo
to head the ball..........dar un cabezazo
to run..........correr
to win..........ganar
to lose..........perder
to tie..........empatar
a tie...........un empate
to beat..........derrotar/vencer
the player..........el jugador/ la jugadora
the goalie/ the keeper..........el arquero/ el portero
the forward..........el delantero
midfielder..........el centrocampista
the defense..........la defensa
the team..........el equipo
the coach..........el entrenador
the referee..........el árbitro/la árbitra
to pass..........pasar
the pass..........el pase
to block..........bloquear
the first half/ second half..........el primer tiempo/ segundo tiempo
a foul..........una falta
a free kick...........un tiro libre
the penalty box..........el área de meta
a penalty kick...........un tiro penal
a yellow card...........una tarjeta amarilla
a red card..........una tarjeta roja

Click here for a longer list of football terms.
Click here for a fun list of useful soccer terms (not always polite, but fun).

Love is something we express in every language, and Spanish is a particularly romantic language (after all, it's a Romance language, i.e. it's derived from Latin). There are so many words to express love, but you need to know which ones are appropriate when. It's important to avoid misunderstandings! There are several ways to express love in Spanish, just as there are in English.

1. "Te quiero": This can be literally translated to "I want you," but it does not have the sexual meaning that this phrase would have in English. A more accurate translation would be "I love you," and it's the most commonly used phrase to express this emotion. You can apply it to a lover, a family member, or a close friend. When you use the word "querer" in reference to an object, then the meaning changes from love to want. "I want a glass of water"/"Quiero un vaso con agua."
2. "Te amo": This also means "I love you,"  but it's used more with a lover or a spouse. "Te amo" generally refers to romantic love, and it's used less frequently than "te quiero." In many Spanish-speaking societies, this term is considered more literary or even overly dramatic, and many people would generally avoid it and stick with "te quiero," or "te quiero mucho," although some still use it.
3. "Me gusta"/"Me gustas": This means "I like her/him" or "I like you," but it has a romantic or sexual connotation, so you would generally want to avoid it unless that's what you mean. It's what a teenage boy might say about a girl he has his eye on.
4. "Me cae bien"/"Me caes bien": "I like him/her," or "I like you,"  but in a non-romantic way. For instance, your friend introduces you to another friend, and you say, "I like her--she seems nice"/"Me cae bien--parece simpática." You can express the opposite emotion with "Me cae mal"/ "I don't like him/her."
5. "Me encanta": This doesn't actually express love. It expresses a strong liking for something non-human, for instance chocolate. In English we say "I love chocolate," but we don't really mean that we have romantic feelings for it, or that we love it as we do our mother. In Spanish, we would never use the same word to express love for our mom as we would for our love of a candy bar.
6. "Me fascina": This is another expression of strong liking, or of fascination or great interest. It's not generally an expression of love, and it's rarely used to refer to people. However, when used about a person, it's an expression of passion, so be careful how you use it!
7. "Desear": This means to want, and it's used in different ways. Many times a host will use the verb "desear" instead of "querer" because it's seen as more polite: "¿Desea una bebida?"/"Would you like a drink?" However, when it's used to refer to people, it's unambiguous--it refers to sexual desire. "Te deseo" means exactly the same as "I want you" in English.

There are several other expression of love in Spanish,  some more literary, some obscure or more vulgar, some are more slang or colloquial. However, the above are the most commonly used phrases, and they are generally used throughout the Spanish-speaking world in the way I've described above.
It's a good idea to review the verb "gustar" and its uses, as well as verbs that are conjugated similarly to "gustar," since many English speakers have trouble with this. Take a look at this previous blog entry to help you  review: http://ferrumspanish.weebly.com/1/category/gustar/1.html.

     Time to do a little research! Spanish is a living language, spoken in a very diverse group of countries. What we call "Spanish" in English is officially called "castellano" in Spanish. Although many people now use the term "español" because of the influence of other language speakers, that is not a very specific term. "Español" technically refers to anything from Spain, and Spain has six officially recognized languages and several unofficial ones--many of which do not share a common root and have little to nothing in common. Castellano comes from the region of Castilla, and is the language that is primarily used for official business in Spain. It is also the language that Spain exported to America and Africa. Also remember that in Spanish the names of languages are not capitalized. In other Spanish-speaking countries, just like in Spain, "castellano" is not the only language spoken and for many people in those countries it is a second or third language. In Mexico there are sixty-eight indigenous languages, among which the top ones are Nahuatl, Maya, and Mixtec. In several countries of Central America the Garifuna people, descendents of African slaves, keep alive their language and culture with great pride. In the Andes, Quechua is spoken by almost ten million people, Aymara by more than two million, and Mapuche by a fewer than 800,000. The majority of the people of Paraguay are bilingual, speaking Spanish and Guaraní, while the indigenous language of the Caribbean, Taíno, has almost entirely disappeared. In Equatorial Guinea, where Spanish is the official language, they also speak the languages of two other colonizers--France and Portugal. 
      The diversity in the Spanish-speaking world is tremendous. This is beautifully illustrated by the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera in the mural shown, which I photographed in the Palacio de Gobierno in Mexico City. The painting shows the beautiful city of Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City, just before the arrival of the Spanish. The noun "Spanish" refers to the language "castellano," frequently and incorrectly called "español," and the adjective "Spanish" refers to people and things from Spain. So be careful when you ask someone "Are you Spanish?" The question can only be answered in the affirmative by people from Spain, and could be offensive or at the very least rude to Spanish speakers from other countries. So...educate yourself! Learn which ones are the countries in which Spanish is spoken, what other languages are spoken there, what the origin of those countries might be. Learning verbs and vocabulary is not enough--to be a proficient speaker of a language you must also understand the culture, and in the case of Spanish the most important element is diversity.