February 14 has arrived and with it Valentine's Day, do you already have your gifts ready?
Chocolate shops and florists start atlenago, the streets are full of hearts, people walk with a different sparkle in their eyes but ...
Who was this famous Valentine?
To know its history we have to travel to the great city of Rome during the 14rd century, when Emperor Claudius Aurelius Marcus Gothicus, known as Claudius II, forbade young people to marry because single men were better soldiers. But a priest, named Valentine, considered this law to be unfair, so he secretly married young lovers. The emperor discovered him and had him imprisoned and tortured. In a vain attempt to ridicule him, one of the officers challenged Valentin to restore sight to his daughter Julia, who was born blind. The priest accepted the challenge and got Julia to see, producing a great miracle. Frightened, Emperor Claudius II ordered Valentine to be executed on February 270, XNUMX.
At present, Valentine's Day is known as Valentine's Day and it is customary for couples to give each other gifts and prepare a special plan such as a romantic candlelight dinner, a boat trip through the Albufera de Valencia to see the beautiful sunset ...
Also, if like me, you are too IN LOVE WITH SPANISH, this day is a perfect occasion to learn new words about love. I have done many different activities with my students, do you want to know some? Well, come with me to discover true love in Spanish.
Some wonderful students taught me which was the most beautiful word in Spanish. Which is yours?
With another group of students I became very romantic and we enjoyed some of the most beautiful verses of Spanish poetry. To many studyianThey are afraid to work with poetry because they believe that they will not be able to understand it well, but they soon discover that, in reality, poetry speaks of feelings and ideas that we all share and that we all feel when a special person touches our hearts. Do you dare to immerse yourself in these verses with me?
Do you know who wrote each verse?
Come let me tell you!
All these verses belong to different poems by some of the members of the so-called Generación del 27. This is a brilliant group of writers who, although they had many differences between them, were united by the same concerns and aesthetic tastes. Some authors such as Antonio Blanch have said of them that they were “driven by the same incoercible desire for purity and lyrical renewal that makes them come closer and walk together”. The truth is that I have to confess that it is my favorite poetic group. I hope that his verses touch your heart like me and you need to know much more about them.
I love you pure, free → Pedro Salinas
I looked for, to give you,
for my chest
the ivory letters that say
"always always always"
→ Federico Garcia Lorca
All my soul for you → Pedro Salinas
You are teaching me to love.
I did not know.
To love is not to ask, is to give,
night after day
→ Gerardo Diego
This kiss on your lips
like a slow thorn
→ Vincent Alexander
But this is not all! The truth is that I am always lucky enough to teach to studyianwonderful teas, that surprise me every day. Look what a beautiful and funny poem they wrote me at the end of the class: 
And as icing on the cake, a contest to find out who is most in love with Spanish. I study themianThe tes, divided into teams, had to answer questions about grammar, vocabulary, culture and the odd surprise 🙂 Each time they won, they received a heart as a point. See how many hearts they got:
And you? How many hearts could you get? Come to Hispania, escuela de español and find out!
Article written by Rita Rodríguez Varela for Hispania, escuela de español.