Subject Spotlight: Spanish

For our Spanish studies, we have begun to read the poetry of Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990.  I stumbled upon his poetry while studying Spanish in college, and really enjoy the simplicity of his shorter pieces.  These poems are perfect for translating with students, as they use some familiar vocabulary and themes that are easy to understand. 

When we work with these poems, I first introduce the students to the vocabulary in the poem.  We speak the Spanish words aloud, focusing on pronunciation.  Next, I read the poem aloud in its entirety in Spanish.  We then work together to translate the poem from the vocabulary list.  Sometimes, we'll then move on to the next poem, other times I erase the vocabulary and the translation, and we work through it again from memory.  It's so rewarding for the kids to work with real Spanish literature in context.

Below is a segment of a poem by Paz that we translated yesterday:

Poema Decir, Hacer

Entre lo que veo y digo,  :  Between what I see and I say
Entre lo que digo y callo, :  Between what I say and I keep quiet
Entre lo que callo y sueño,  :  Between what I keep quiet and I dream
Entre lo que sueño y olvido  : Between what I dream and I forget:
La poesía.                                   :  Poetry
Se desliza entre el sí y el no:  :  It slips itself between the yes and the no:
dice                                              :  It says
lo que callo,                                : what I keep quiet
calla                                             : it keeps quiet
lo que digo,                                : what I say,
sueña                                          : it dreams
lo que olvido.                            : what I forget.
No es un decir:                         :  It is not a speech:
es un hacer.                              :  it is an act.
Es un hacer                               : It is an act
que es un decir.                       :  that is a speech.
La poesía                                   : Poetry
se dice y se oye:                       : it speaks and it listens:
es real.                                       :  it is real.