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The big-picture explainers — broad slang roundups, the beginner guide, and how to read Mexican media.

Guides

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Guides Who Is La Catrina? The Elegant Skeleton Behind Día de Muertos

Learn who La Catrina is, her Posada/Rivera history, and why the elegant skeleton became a Día de Muertos icon. Oct 14, 2026

Living in CDMX How Much Spanish You Actually Need in Mexico City, Room by Room

The answer is not a level. It is a list of rooms, and they demand wildly different things. What each one costs you, what the law requires in Spanish, and how much English is really out there. Oct 13, 2026

Guides What Sugar Skulls Really Mean, and Why They Have Names on Them

Learn what sugar skulls mean for Día de Muertos, why names appear on calaveras, and how to talk about them without Halloween confusion. Oct 12, 2026

Guides Nine Mexican Shows and Films, Ranked by How Much Spanish They Demand

A ladder from the ones you can follow at month three to the ones that will humble you at year three, with what makes each one hard and how to set the subtitles. Oct 11, 2026

Guides Día de los Muertos or Día de Muertos: Which One Do Mexicans Actually Say?

Learn Día de Muertos vs Día de los Muertos, why both appear, which one sounds more Mexican, and how to use the phrase respectfully. Oct 10, 2026

Guides Día de la Raza: What October 12 Is Called in Mexico Now

Learn what Día de la Raza means, why October 12 is complicated, and the modern Mexican Spanish around Indigenous resistance and history. Oct 9, 2026

Food & drink Pan de Muerto, Explained: Why the Bones, the Sugar, and How to Order It

Learn what pan de muerto means, why the bread has bone shapes, regional variations, and the Spanish to order it in Mexico. Oct 8, 2026

Guides Does Duolingo Teach Mexican Spanish? What the Owl Never Gets Around To

Duolingo teaches a Spanish designed to work everywhere, which makes it nobody's in particular. What the course covers, how its graduates actually test, and the half it leaves you. Oct 7, 2026

Living in CDMX Mexico City, Oaxaca or Mérida: Which Spanish You Actually End Up With

The three cities do not hand you the same Spanish, and the difference runs deeper than an accent. What each one sounds like, who it suits, and why Guadalajara is not on the list. Oct 5, 2026

Guides What Breed Is Dante in Coco? Meet the Xoloitzcuintle Without Mangling the Name

Learn what a Xoloitzcuintle is, why Dante from Coco is a Mexican hairless dog, and the Spanish around this ancient breed. Oct 4, 2026

Guides Why Are They Called Chivas? The Insults Behind Liga MX Nicknames

Chivas began as an insult, La Máquina came from a commentator, and Tuzos came from mining. Where Liga MX team nicknames actually came from. Oct 3, 2026

Living in CDMX Spanish School, Online Tutor, or Just Moving to Mexico: Which One Actually Works

The three options are usually compared on price, which hides the fact that they do different jobs. What the research says, what each costs, and which to pick at your level. Oct 2, 2026

Guides What Is an Alebrije? The Bright Creature Behind the Souvenir Shelf

Learn what an alebrije is, where the tradition comes from, how Oaxaca wood carvings fit in, and how to talk about them without flattening the craft. Oct 1, 2026

Guides Cempasúchil: The Marigold Meant to Guide the Dead Home

Learn what cempasúchil means, why marigolds matter for Día de Muertos, and how to talk about the flower respectfully in Mexico. Sep 30, 2026

Living in CDMX Roma, Coyoacán or Centro: Where to Base Yourself if You Want to Speak Spanish

The neighborhood decides how much Spanish you actually use, and the obvious pick is not the obvious answer. What each part of Mexico City does to a learner. Sep 29, 2026

Guides What Goes on a Day of the Dead Altar: 9 Objects and What They Mean

Learn the Spanish for Day of the Dead altar objects: ofrenda, cempasúchil, velas, pan de muerto, calaveras, papel picado, and more. Sep 28, 2026

Manners Señora, Señorita, Joven: What a Stranger Just Guessed About Your Age

Señora, señorita and joven work as an age readout, and Mexico City data shows how the guess gets made. Plus what mijo from a stranger is actually doing. Sep 26, 2026

Guides Técnico vs Rudo: The Lucha Libre Spanish That Explains the Whole Show

Learn técnico vs rudo in lucha libre, plus the Spanish for masks, falls, holds, cheating, crowd roles, and choosing who to cheer. Sep 24, 2026

About Guides

This is where the long ones live. Not a word or a phrase but a whole area mapped out at once — the broad slang roundups, the beginner guide, how to read Mexican media without subtitles doing all the work.

Guides are the pages to read before you go, or on the flight, or during the first week when everything is arriving faster than you can process it. They're the wide view. The rest of the blog is the close-up.