El Boletín #4: Community and Calçotada
Reading, listening, culture and community for Spanish learners
A very warm welcome to the fourth edition of El Boletín, the weekly newsletter bringing together reading, listening and cultural highlights for our growing group of Spanish learners.
This week’s edition focusses on community and features two guest contributors. In our reading section, Veronica Llorca-Smith shares her top tips on ensuring her newsletter drives human connection and adds values for her readers, while in our community section, Jordan Thomas from La Liga and Beyond shares his Spanish learning journey.
We also explore the delightfully messy Catalan tradition of la calçotada, and your listening this week comes from beloved Spanish band La Oreja de Van Gogh. As always, free glossaries are here to guide you through.
¡Empecemos!
Gareth
Curated Reading: Todo cambió cuando pasé de una newsletter a una comunidad, Veronica Llorca-Smith
I’m keen for El Boletín to become a place not only to share a weekly newsletter with helpful resources for advanced Spanish learners, but a small community for us to share resources, advice and support amongst ourselves - and that includes promoting interesting Spanish-language content from right here on Substack.
I’m therefore delighted this week to have Veronica Llorca-Smith sharing her reflections, in Spanish, on how she stopped focussing on numbers and growth, and concentrated her newsletter on community and human connection. And if you’re also writing a substack - which most of us here are - she gives her five top tips on how you can do the same.
For us Spanish learners, there’s also some lovely colloquial vocabulary here too. As always, our glossary of key terms is here to help.
Curated Listening: Jueves, La Oreja de Van Gogh
Our curated listening this week comes from one of Spain’s most beloved bands in La Oreja de Van Gogh (LODVG). Formed in San Sebastián in the late 1990s, LODVG have built a reputation for melodic pop, clear vocal lines and emotionally resonant lyrics - which has also seen their popularity expand into South America. Be sure to check out the slower, poppy sound of Rosas, and the higher-tempo dance track Cometas por el Cielo.
But this week’s specific listening pick is Jueves, a track that holds a particular place in Spanish musical memory, reflecting on the terror attacks on four Madrid commuter trains in 11 March 2004. The attack, known in Spain as once de marzo or 11-M, killed 193 people and remains the deadliest terror attack in Spanish history. The song, released in 2008 as part of LODVG’s album A las cinco en el Astoria, tells the story of a romantic encounter on a commuter train, leading up to that shocking day.
Our glossary is below. I’m a particular fan of the word tartamudeando (stammering, stuttering), as the protagonist finally dares to say hello to their fellow commuter.
Curated Culture: La Calçotada Catalana
Of the many, many delights of living in Girona back in 2011-2013, the annual Catalan regional tradition of la calçotada was a particular highlight.
A ritual celebrated during late winter and early spring and built around calçots - a mild, tender variety of onion as seen in the photo above - the calçotada sees Catalans gather to grill the vegetables over open barbecues, before peeling off the charred outside leaves and dipping them in romesco (or salvitxada) sauce. It’s a delightfully messy affair - with the calçots eaten by hand.
Though the tradition has humble agricultural roots (often traced back to a farmer in Valls, Tarragona in the 19th century), nowadays restaurants, rural masías, and even organised “calçotada tours” open their doors during the season. The calçotada is not just about this tasty food, but about bringing friends, family and community together: everyone eats leaning over the fire, with their hands, sharing sauce and stories. If you ever get the chance to attend, I encourage you to do so. It’s messy, smoky, hilarious and unforgettable.
If you’d like to read more (and practise your Spanish), I recommend this piece from El País and this article from El País too.
Curated Community: Jordan Thomas, La Liga and Beyond
Continuing our new section of inviting members of our El Boletín community to share their Spanish learning tips, I’m delighted this week to introduce Jordan Thomas. His substack La Liga and Beyond takes us on a journey through the leagues of Spanish football, beyond the big two. His latest edition tells the story of Kirian Rodriguez, the captain of Las Palmas, who has just come back from cancer for a second time.
Do give Jordan a subscribe - and if you’d like to be a featured contributor and share your Spanish learning journey in a future edition, just hit reply to this email and we’ll find a slot to include you.
1. When and why did you start learning Spanish?
I moved to Spain in a bit of a whirlwind decision in 2019 - so my Spanish learning journey really began then, as I tried to organise getting an apartment, paying bills and more in a different language.
2. What advice would you give to other Spanish students?
My advice to anyone learning Spanish is simply consistency and determination. Lots of times you can feel like giving up - but preserve and you’ll see the benefits.
3. What’s your proudest or most memorable moment you’d had using the language?
My little boy was born in Spain. My Spanish is very basic but being able to understand everything the nurses and midwives were saying during my wife giving birth was a moment of pride for me.
Other smaller moments are simple things - like ordering a train ticket or having a conversation with a colleague in Spanish.
4. What have you found most difficult, and how do you deal with that?
Something I’ve found difficult in the past was when I would ask something in Spanish and the person would reply in English. I know they were trying to help or speed up the conversation, but it can be disheartening - and not help your learning journey.
5. What do you hope to achieve by subscribing to El Boletín?
I think El Boletín is a lovely addition to the growth we’re currently seeing in the Spanish community on Substack. I hope to use it to motivate me to continue my learning journey and improve my Spanish skills.
El Boletín se acabó for this week, everyone! Have you been to a calçotada or another Spanish festival? Do you have any particular Spanish music you enjoy? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below or in our subscriber chat.
And as always, if you’ve enjoyed this week’s edition, please do help spread the word by giving us a restack and sharing with others who’d like to join us on the path to fluency, together.
Have a great week,
Gareth
Love calcots . Sadly don't really have in Almería