Here's a simple question...
How many continents are there? DUH, seven.
I can hear you now...where are you going with this Rodney, and what does it have to do with Spanish? And why you are asking such a silly question?
Well, in the good old US of A we count 7 continents - Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Apparently not everybody in the world shares this theory, including our Spanish speaking friends.
There's the 5 continent theory- África, Antártida, América, Eurasia, and Oceanía.
And then there's the 6 continent theory - Asia, África, Europa, América, Oceanía y la Antártida.
So what's different? América includes both North and South America, and depending on whether you subscribe to the 5 or 6 continent theory, Europe and Asia are counted as one continent, or two.
When I heard this, I think my jaw, pants and socks dropped all at the same time.
If you want to read more about this, check out this wikipedia link (it's in Spanish) , or click here for the English version of the page.
You can also go here for a nice color map of the 6 continents theory.
Amazing huh? Not only am I learning a new language, I'm learning geography all over again too! I'm beginning to get the picture that my adventures in Spanish are far from over.
Yes, it is interesting! Personally, I'll go with the 6-continent system, with Eurasia being a single continent, and North and South America being separate continents. That makes most sense to me as a geologist.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did not know is that my Spanish-speaking ESL students were likely taught that North and South America make up a single continent. That explains some very puzzled looks I got one time in class. Hmm... I feel a new lesson plan developing. Heh.
Love the blog! which I just discovered. Keep up the interesting posts!
Karen
This is interesting! but what about Panama, El Salvador, Honduras and the ones in the middle? another continent? the center american one? XD
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