February 14 has arrived and with it Valentine's Day, do you already have your gifts prepared? The candy stores and flower shops begin to fill up, the streets are full of hearts, people walk with a different shine in their eyes but... Who was this famous Valentine? To know its history we have
February 14 has arrived and with it Valentine's Day, do you already have your gifts prepared?
The candy stores and florists begin to fill up, the streets are full of hearts, people walk with a different shine in their eyes but...
To know its history we have to travel to the great city of Rome during the 3rd century, when the emperor Claudius Aurelius Marcus Gothicus, known as Claudius II, prohibited young people from marrying because single people made better soldiers. But a priest, named Valentin, considered this law to be unfair, so he secretly married young lovers. The emperor discovered him and ordered him to be imprisoned and tortured. In a vain attempt to ridicule him, one of the officers challenged Valentín to restore sight to his daughter Julia, who had been born blind. The priest accepted the challenge and managed to enable Julia to see, producing a great miracle. Frightened, Emperor Claudius II ordered Valentine's execution on February 14, 270.
Nowadays, 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 dinner by candlelight, a boat ride through the Albufera of Valencia to see the beautiful sunset...
Also, if like me, you are also 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 of them? Well, come with me to discover true love in Spanish.
Some wonderful students taught me which word they thought was the most beautiful in Spanish. What is yours?
With another group of students I became very romantic and we enjoyed some of the most beautiful verses of Spanish poetry. Many students are afraid to work with poetry because they believe that they will not be able to understand it well, but they quickly discover that, in reality, poetry talks about feelings and ideas that we all share and that we all feel when a special person touches our hearts strongly. Do you dare to immerse yourself in these verses with me?
Come let me tell you!
All of these verses belong to different poems by some of the members of the so-called Generation of '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 uncontrollable desire for purity and lyrical renewal that makes them come closer and walk together.” The truth is that I have to confess to you that it is my favorite poetic group. I hope that his verses touch your heart like they do me and you need to know much more about them.
I love you pure, free → Pedro Salinas
I searched, to give you,
for my chest
the ivory letters that say
“always, always, always”
→ Federico García Lorca
All my soul for you → Pedro Salinas
You are teaching me to love.
I did not know.
To love is not to ask, it is to give,
night after day
→ Gerardo Diego
This kiss on your lips
like a slow thorn
→ Vicente Aleixandre
But this is not all! The truth is that I am always lucky to teach wonderful students, who surprise me every day. Look what a beautiful and fun poem they wrote to me at the end of class: 
And as the icing on the cake, a contest to discover who is most in love with Spanish. The students, divided into teams, had to answer questions about grammar, vocabulary, culture and some other surprises 🙂 Every time they won, they received a heart as a point. Look how many hearts they got:
And you? How many hearts could you get? Come to Hispania, Spanish school and find out!
Article written by Rita Rodríguez Varela for Hispania, Spanish school.