A DELICIOUS TRADITION. (UNIT 7)

Each country has its own culture, tradition and history. A very particular element is gastronomy, something that we all undoubtedly enjoy, especially, those who enjoy the great variety of flavors that each country offers us.

The Germans have the most famous sausage in the world "The Wurst", and it is one of the most appetizing attractions of the European continent besides its beer. Undoubtedly, tourists enjoy this dish at every opportunity. This sausage is prepared with one of the most delicious pork in the area or with the best beef, this depends on the taste of the person. On the other hand, the Dutch and the Swiss are famous for their cheeses, some people say that their cheeses have the best taste in the world. To prepare these cheeses requires a lot of dedication. It is a long process, but it's worth it for its flavor.

There are also the famous Argentine chorizos (sausages). If you have enjoyed a barbecue with your neighbors, friends or family, you know that you should not miss the Argentine chorizos. However, in El salvador, we have our delicious pupusas, something known around the world, but our culture and gastronomy not only focuses on pupusas, but also there is a great variety of delicious dishes and to the east of the country we find the most delicious TOTOPOSTES and TUSTACAS!

If you have ever heard about Totopostes and Tustacas or if you have eaten them, you know they are from Chinameca, located in the Department of San Miguel. These are considered the typical dishes of the city. These dishes have been maintained from generation to generation since 1950, among the residents of this city.

Totopostes are balls of corn dough with simple flavor and most people usually eat them with milk, coffee, atol or chocolate, according to the taste of the person. The pioneer or inventor of the Totopostes was the remembered one, Laura Pacheco de López, who experimented by making small balls of corn dough or totopostes until she managed to give it the point. However, at that time, due to the lack of an oven, the first tests were carried out in a family bakery in San Juan neighborhood.

The Tustacas are a kind of corn tortilla with a sweet flavor and the center of it, is bathed with a serving of the best "atado de dulce."

For its delicious and pleasant flavor to the palate, this dish is recognized in many countries around the world, although in some cases, the tustacas receive another name, for example, in Honduras, they are known as "Ojaldras." However, no matter what name they receive, their flavor is incomparable and unsurpassed.

As you can see, we haveone of the best dishes made from corn. If you still haven't had the opportunity to taste this typical dish, I suggest you visit Chinameca's City and taste the authentic totopostes and tustacas, You will not regret about that!

El Salvador offers a lot of culture and traditions. Let's enjoy our country!

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LINGUISTIC CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF “THE LITTLE PRINCE.” (UNIT 6)

Currently, we live in a huge world where we all connect with everyone. This is the reason why learning languages is a great tool for the progress as a student or as a professional. Learning other languages can enrich our knowledge in order to know new cultures, but in the stage of learning, you can find some differences in grammatical interpretation such as syntax, semantics, and morphology that infer in understanding the meaning of the words. Recent research shows that there are many difficulties in the process of learning a language completely different from the native.

At first, in “The Little Prince” there are a lot of syntactic differences between English and Spanish version. Syntactic determines the order of the words in a sentence. In English, adjectives are before the noun which modifies a good example is “on a very simple, yet majestic, throne”, and in Spanish is the opposite. In addition, in English the subject is at the beginning of the sentences “The little prince inquired timidly,” but in Spanish the subject is at the end of the sentences.

Secondly, there are semantic differences that give other meanings of the same word depending on the context of sentences, for example, in English, the sentence “The king sat” it takes the verb “sit” referring to the same sentence in Spanish “El rey estaba instalado” giving a different context because of the use of the verb in this case “instalar.”

Furthermore, you can find differences in grammatical rules. In English there are at least 3 commas, but there are not in Spanish, at the same time you can note a kind of subject because in Spanish there are not a subject in the sentence “No sabía que” in contrast in English, you have to use a subject “He did not know that…”

In conclusion, there are a lot of differences between both languages, and there are a lot of words which have the same meaning, but these are applied to different contexts. As we noticed that could be a factor that change the meaning of the text, and it shows us that there are many ways to report something. Moreover, each language has its own grammatical rules and it is important to know it in order to develop our knowledge. If you want to learn a new language, never give up, never get tired of trying, and never forget to practice. You will find it exciting. Despite, how difficult it can be because of its marked differences.

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A TASTE TO THE PALATE. (UNIT 5)

The Salvadoran gastronomy is very varied and delicious. It is not only food, it is the culture of a country, in exquisite cases, that you don't want to stop enjoying every time you have the opportunity. Below, I present 10 typical dishes that you can find in El Salvador:

 1. Pupusas.

They are made with a mass of corn or rice. It has the shape of an omelete, but inside it has a filling of different ingredients like quesillo, which is a variety of chewy cheese, ground pork rinds, beans, garlic, jalapeños, shrimp, chicken, spinach, blackberry, among other ingredients.

The most common are "revueltas" (cheese, pork rinds and beans), cheese with loroco and beans with cheese. They are accompanied by salsa prepared with natural tomatoes and a salad that is prepared with cabbage, carrot, grated onion and, occasionally, chili. Everything is submerged in vinegar. Some people who are accustomed to eating with a fork prefer not to get their hands dirty, while others prefer to feel the taste even in their fingers.

2.  Fried or parboiled cassava.

Cassava is an edible root that can be made boiled (cooked in salted water) or fried. It is accompanied with snack, which is a preparation based on pork, pork rinds or fished, a variety of small fish that becomes fried. People who love hot drinks prefer to enjoy cassava with a coffee or a corn atoll. However, others who love cold drinks prefer to enjoy it with a refreshing orchata.

3. Tamales

Tamales are another specialty you can find in El Salvador. There is a wide variety of chicken, corn, chipilín or pisques.

Its dough is prepared from corn and seasoned with spices that give it an exquisite flavor, then it is filled with natural tomato sauce and chicken meat, pork or duck; then they are wrapped in the leaves of the banana plants and cooked in water.

4. Breads with chicken

They are also known as Migueleño breads because they are characteristic of the department of San Miguel in the eastern part of the country. They are attractive for their flavor and size. It is a bread of elongated flour, which in the inside is placed tomato, cucumber, lettuce, watercress and, if the person prefers it, can be pickled. After that, a portion of chicken meat is placed and when it is served, in the end, natural tomato-based sauce is added. Some people are not as attracted by its name as they are by its taste.

5. Pastelitos.

The fried cakes are another dish very typical of El Salvador. It is prepared based on corn dough, which is seasoned with condiments and achiote, a natural dye. It has the shape of half-moons  and inside it is added a filling that can be meat, chicken or rice prepared with vegetables such as potatoes and carrot.

When they have been prepared, they are placed in a pan with enough oil to fry them. When they are golden brown, they cool down a little and are accompanied by a delicious sauce based on tomatoes and tanning.

Salvadorians people have a lot of ideas if we talk about food, as you can see, they are genuine ideas that you should eat in next time.

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