Foreign Native

The good thing about the rain in Mexico’s capital is that it usually falls in the afternoon or early evening, so if you forget your umbrella and get soaked, your next stop is most probably home. Of course in these days of climate change – actually, geography teachers were saying back in the 1970s that [...]

One thing that makes Spanish quite easy for the beginner is that there are basically only five vowel sounds. Even when two vowels together join to make a single sound, that sound is essentially a combination of the two vowels’ individual pronunciations. Amainar – to wane or diminish – has the regular ‘a’ sound, (a [...]

“There is” or “there are” in Spanish is expressed with the simple word hay. Derived from the verb haber – nominally, “to have” – hay can be applied without modification to singular and plural, masculine or feminine. Hay lugar para tres personas. There is room for three people. Hay tres personas en el elevador. There [...]

National football team manager Javier Aguirre resigned swiftly after Mexico’s disappointing performance in the 2010 World Cup. The decision is hardly surprising given the expectations that had been built up going into the tournament, what with Mexico’s record number of players currently in European club sides. With a draw, a win (against what turned out [...]

Mexico’s World Cup hopes came to an abrupt end when the national team lost 3-1 to Argentina in the round of 16. The first goal was a disgraceful decision by the referee and linesman to allow the goal to stand when it was clearly offside. The two consulted following protests from the Mexican players who [...]

Mexican fans weren’t too happy about the way their team made it through to the round of 16 in the World Cup. The 1-0 loss to Uruguay in the third match of Group A leaves the Tricolor facing Argentina in Sunday’s second-round showdown. For a few minutes, with South Africa up 2-0 against a disastrous [...]

Mexico’s World Cup team stepped up the level a couple of notches and beat a sluggish French side 2-0 with goals by Javier Hernandez and veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco, moving into second place of Group A behind Uruguay on goal difference. The victory, which wasn’t quite as surprising as some may think, makes it difficult but [...]

Before the World Cup euphoria turns to disappointment – as it inevitably will for 31 of the 32 countries taking part – here is a primer on the terms and expressions used in Spanish for the different players – particularly as they are used by the Mexican commentators. Goalkeeper. Portero is the most common word. [...]

Group A of the World Cup ended all square after the first two games, with Mexico tying host South Africa 1-1, and France battling Uruguay to a goalless draw. After dominating the first half, the Mexicans found themselves a goal down on a break by the home team, which ended with Siphiwe Tshabalala firing smartly [...]

For the third time in its history, Mexico will be playing the inaugural match of the World Cup. Mexico hosted the tournament in 1970 and in 1986, and in 2010 was drawn against the host team South Africa. With just hours to go before the kick-off, the millions of Mexican would-be “coaches” are mostly wondering [...]