Beginning a new year

Every year at this time many people want a new beginning or to finish the incomplete things on their to do list. So how many things are in the air????

I love mountain and I love the people who love her.

I love the mountain and  the risk you can feel when you are there. When "she" is cold,  and when "she" is hot....I like how she makes me feel..the feeling that you are not going to arrive, and the feeling you have when you finally arrive. 

The Use of Spanish Language Around the World (I) - Israel

- - - - This is an attempt to sum up and translate a Spanish article talking about the use of the Spanish language in Israel - - - -

The Spanish language has had a visible presence in Israel since the 16th century, when the Jews were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula. They brought the Ladino, otherwise known as Judeo-Spanish, the spoken and written language of Jews of Spanish origin.

Despite the passage of time, Spanish is today a considerably active language in Israel. According to the Jewish Agency, 2.7% of the population speak Spanish,  and around 100.000 Israelis speak ladino. It is quite usual to find someone who speaks Spanish at stores or restaurants. Many people can speak some “broken” Spanish and almost everyone is able to name Real Madrid’s or Barcelona’s football lineups. The English and Russian language have obviously a notorious presence in Israel too even though Spanish has some unique features that allow us to understand why Spanish has become an up-and-coming language.

Spanish has emerged in the Middle East since the establishment of the state of Israel. Before that, a great community of Spanish speakers from South America (mainly from Argentina) and to a lesser extent from Spain (mainly from the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco) had a visible presence.

The Spanish language was introduced as an optional language in high schools in 1983. Today, Hebrew and English are compulsory. Students have to choose a third language and the demand of Spanish keeps growing steadily. Between 1998 and 2006, the number of schools where Spanish is offered has quadrupled, and the language is currently taught in all universities in Israel. The number of Spanish teachers have consequently tripled according to data.

Spanish is also in good shape in cultural and artistic spheres in Israel. There is a significant number of Spanish newspapers (founded in 1963) and online publications. Spanish has also an important presence in radio and television (soap operas for instance) whereas some magazines promote the use of Ladino and Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish) culture. Yasmine Levy, a famous singer from Israel, fuses traditional Spanish flamenco and Ladino for instance. Spanish literature and music is very popular among Israeli population and Spanish speakers in Israel have crammed into Maccabi Tel Aviv stadium over the years to attend Spanish singers and groups concerts.