JAVIER: Are we ready? ELENA: Yes. In what direction are we going? JAVIER: Well, we are going to walk down that street, to the left, towards Main Street. ELENA: That’s the street where the public library is, right? JAVIER: That’s it. The public library is 2 streets down. Shall we? ELENA: Yes.
ELENA: Look, this is my bank. And now? JAVIER: Well, I’m not sure if it’s to the left or to the right. I’m going to look it up on the iPhone. ELENA: OK. JAVIER: OK. We have to go on towards the right. We cross the street, and the restaurant is 2 blocks further. ELENA: Is it much longer? JAVIER: No, about a 5-minute walk. ELENA: Okay, let’s go.
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Comprensión de la escena
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Temas de estudio
Notas culturales
Place names in Spanish-speaking cities
Avenida 9 de Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina By José María Pérez Núñez, http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpznz/481712080/
In Hispanic cities large and small, plazas (squares) are important to the town’s life and history, and there is always a central plaza. Names like Plaza Mayor, Plaza Grande, Plaza de Armas are common for these major squares. In Mexico they are often called zócalos.
Plaza de Armas, Santiago, Chile By Oscaroyarzo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Names related to their country’s process of independence from Spain are commonly found in major streets and avenues in Spanish-speaking Latin American cities. It can be the name Independencia or the actual date of the declaration of independence, like la Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires or la Avenida 10 de Agosto in Quito. Other ubiquitous names are those of the heroes of the Independence movement, particularly Simón Bolívar and General San Martín.