Are you ready for your first meme challenge?
Well, I'm sure some of you may be wondering:
What is a "meme"?
In case you don't know, and quoting our friend Wikipedia, a "meme" is…
A meme (/ˈmiːm/ MEEM), a neologism coined by Richard Dawkins, is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture". A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.
Although it sounds complex, the use of "meme" on this website corresponds to the most widely known among Internet nerds like myself: these images with funny phrases. But we are not going to use any memes just for fun! We are going to use memes for fun and to learn Spanish in the process too!
To do this, I decided to take some memes that I use in an unrelated business of mine: Custom-Puppet productions for individuals as well as online marketing, corporate videos, educational videos, etc. I mostly use memes in that business as a promotional tool and to engage with my audience. If you want to see what I mean, you can find out more here:
PUPPETS ON FIRE
Website for articles on puppets and custom-Puppet Productions
Facebook Channel
Twitter
Youtube Channel
Instagram Channel
Yes, the users in those channels are not interested in learning Spanish, just in puppetry or puppet marketing videos (which are pretty funny by the way).
But the teacher in me can't see such funny materials and not use them with their students! No way José!
That's why I decided to hand-pick those that could be used in educational settings (well, let's say that some on those channels use more slang that I feel comfortable using in a class, unless the student wants to learn that in particular. So I won't impose! If you want that kind of stuff, visit those channels)
And I decided to create a simple vocabulary exercise. Just look at the meme in Spanish. Try to figure out the meaning. WARNING: they may be short, but most of them are very challenging to understand! If you don't know some words, chill out! I got your back, I added a quick section with KEY VOCABULARY to give you another chance of getting the message. And then, you can check by seeing the same meme in English.
This is a very quick activity to do, but boy! Do one of these a day and I can assure you in no time your conversational vocabulary will skyrocket! Don't take my word for it! Just do it for a month an see for yourself! Best of all, it won't take you more than 10 minutes a day!
Oh, and did I mention that it was free? 🙂 I know, you'll love me fore it! Just to say thank you, leave a comment below letting me know what you think, or ask me any questions about the meme, or ideas you may have, etc! I will be more than happy to help you out!
Welll, this is the first meme of its kind, so it required a bit of an explanation! Don't expect something like this every day! lol Just kidding!
Without further ado:
SPANISH MEME #1
How well did you do?
Tell us below! And if you have any questions about the vocabulary or phrases or grammar structures, don't hesitate to use the comment section below!
