sephardic – Fake Flamenco

bilingual, En español, history, Life as a Woman, Spanish Culture and Language

Paloma is Delighted to be Offered a Chair

This autumn the twelfth woman in over four hundred years will be part of the Spanish academy that decides how Spanish is spoken. Dr. Paloma Díaz-Mas is an accomplished professor who has taught in Spain and the United States, published sixteen books and created a website for Sephardic language and culture (Spanish Jewish diaspora). Despite […]

history, Spanish Culture and Language

Where is Spain’s Oldest Synagogue?

Not surprisingly, it lies in the ancient capital of Spain, Toledo. Although it was built around 1180, and improved in 1260 to make it the central synagogue, Jewish worship only filled the space for 211 of the 839 years it’s existed. The temple was one of ten in that city before the 1400s. Currently only […]

Spanish Culture and Language

What Does Sephardic Espanyol Sound Like?

To follow up on my post about Sephardic Spanish, I’ll give you the name of a film with Tom Hanks as the co-star. Every Time We Say Goodbye was a movie made by an Israeli director in 1986 where a good deal of the dialogue is in Espanyol! That film was the first time I’d […]

history, Immigration, Spanish Culture and Language

200,000 People Still Speak Medieval Spanish?

When I wrote this article in 2018, I mistakenly thought so. Since then I’ve read more about Ladino, language of the Jewish diaspora from Spain. Many aspects of Medieval Spanish grammar, pronunciation, and even some spelling have been preserved by the Jewish communities that were founded in Turkey and Morocco. New words from the host […]