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Recently, I've been attempting to improve my Spanish by reading Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal[Image], the Spanish version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone[Image]. It's definitely improving my vocabulary, as there are many words I've needed to look up. I've listed many of them below, in the hopes this list may be helpful to others as well. To make this slightly more relevant to my usual topic of programming languages, I've added Javascript that will show or hide the English translations, which will also show up if you hover over a link. (See the end for explanation of the Javascript.) Show/Hide English añadir - to add abovedado - vaulted acabar - to end acarrear - to carry acebo - holly tree actual - real agachar - to lower agitar - to shake agudo - acute agujero - hole alacena - cupboard alcance - range alfiler - pin alfombra - carpet allanamiento - forceful entry alrededor - around alzar - to lift amabilidad - kindness amargura - sorrow amplio - spacious andén - platform anguila - eel antojo - whim apenas - hardly aplastar - to crush apoderado - agent apoyar - to support araña - spider arder - to burn arrancar - to tear out arrastrar - to drag arrojado - bold arrojar - to throw asombro - amazement aspereza - roughness asunto - matter atropellado - hasty atropellar - to run over ayuntamiento - town hall azotar - to smack baúl - trunk bahia - bay banquito - stool baston - walking stick bazo - spleen billete - ticket bolsillo - picket bondadosa - kind bostezo - yawn broma - joke bufar - to snort burlar - to evade buzón - mailbox caer - to fall calcetín - sock callado - silent callejon - alley calvo - bald cara - face carmesí - crimson carrera - race ceja - eyebrow cerdo - pig chaparrón - downpour chiflado - crazy chimenea - chimney chiste - joke chorrear - to drip chupando - to suck cinturon - belt clavo - nail codicia - greed cojín - cushion colegio - high school colgar - to hang colmillo - eye-tooth compartir - to share comprobar - to check conmocion - shock conseguir - to get consejo - advice considerar - to regard copo - flake coro - choir corretear - to run about costilla - rib costumbre - custom cucharada - tablespoon cuello - neck cuenta - account curso - course dasvencijado - rickety deprimente - depressing desde - from despertar - to awaken despido - dismissal dispuesta - fit dorado - golden dudar - to doubt duende - goblin echar - to throw eme - M encima - above enderezar - to straighten enfadado - angry enmarañado - tangled ensordecedor - deafening entrenamiento - training escaparate - display window escarabajo - beetle escoba - broom espesar - to thicken esquivar - to dodge estallido - explosion estante - shelf estanteria - shelving estirar - to stretch estremecer - to shudder estruendo - roar estrujar - to squeeze evitar - to avoid exigir - to require fijamente - firmly fijeza - firmness fijo - fixed fingido - feigned flaco - skinny fofo - flabby fogón - stove frac - dress-coat frasco - bottle fuera - outside fuga - escape gárgola - gargoyle garra - claw gastar - to spend gemela - twin gemir - to groan golpear - to strike grueso - thick hígado - liver hallar - to find out hebillar - to buckle hechicera - wizard herramienta - tool hierbajo - weed hilera - row hoguera - bonfire hoja - sheet holgar - to be idle hombro - shoulder hondonada - hollow hongo - fungus humeda - humid ilusionar - to get excited inodoro - toilet invernadero - greenhouse jadear - to pant jaula - cage jerez - sherry juego - game jugueton - playful jurar - to pledge ladrillo - brick lagarto - lizard larguirucha - lanky latón - brass lata - tin lecheria - dairy lechuza - owl libra - pound liron - dormouse llama - flames loro - parrot majadero - idiot manchar - to stain manojo - bunch manta - blanket marear - to make sick mármol - marble mermelada - jam meter - to put in mezclar - to mix miedo - fear mito - myth moño - bun modo - way mono - lovely montón - a lot of morada - purple mostrador - shop counter muleta - crutch murciélago - bat negar - to deny nivel - level nuca - nape of the neck nudo - knot odiar - to hate olor - smell onza - ounce orgullo - pride oro - gold paja - straw pared - wall parpadeo - blinking pasear - to walk pasillo - corridor patada - kick peñasco - large rock pecado - sin pedazo - piece pegar - to stick pelo - hair peltre - pewter peluca - wig peluda - hairy pergamino - parchment permanecer - to remain pesado - heavy pesar - to weigh pestañear - to blink pie - foot piel - skin pinchar - to puncture plateado - silver plegable - collapsible poblado - inhabited polvoriento - dusty poquito - little principiante - novice prisa - hurry probar - to test propio - own pulido - polished ráfaga - gust rabia - rage rana - frog recibidor - entrance hall recogido - quiet recordar - to remember regazo - lap regordeta - chubby remolacha - beetroot repollo - cabbage riel - rail rodear - to circle roncar - to snore rostro - face ruborizar - to blush sacar - to take out sacudida - shake salpicar - to splash sapo - toad señalar - to indicate sello - seal sencillamente - simply sentar - to sit servir - to serve seguir - follow (seguir) silbó - whistle sillón - armchair sollozo - sob soslayo - slant suave - smooth succionar - to suck sucio - dirty suelo - floor sujetar - to hold in place suspirar - to sigh suyo - yours tapete - small carpet teñir - to dye techo - ceiling tejón - badger tieso - stiff tirar - to throw tonto - stupid torcer - to twist torpe - clumsy torva - fierce transeúnte - passer-by trapo - cloth trasero - back trayectoria - trajectory trigo - wheat trozo - piece truco - trick trueno - thunder ultraje - insult ulular - to howl vacia - empty valer - worth varita - wand ventanilla - small window verruga - wart vigilar - to guard vitorear - to cheer vuelta - turn yacimientos - reservoir zumbando - buzz How the Javascript works I'm including some programming content for my regular blog readers, since this is a bit off topic. If you're interested in the Spanish, you can stop reading here :-) I have two CSS classes, one for the enabled text, and one for the disabled text. I simply change the color to show and hide the text. The #f6f6f6 color is to match the background of my blog page, which isn't quite white. <style TYPE="text/css"> .enabled {color: black} .disabled {color: #f6f6f6} </style> Next, each word entry has a span tag around the English text that I want to show or hide: <a href="http://..." title="to add">añadir</a> <span class="enabled"> - to add</span> Then, I have a Javscript function that will toggle the class for each span tag. It simply loops through all the span tags switching ones with the enabled class to the disabled class and vice versa. Other span tags are left alone. <script language="JavaScript"> function toggle() { elts = document.getElementsByTagName("span"); for (var i = 0; i < elts.length; i++) { if (elts[i].className == "enabled") { elts[i].className = "disabled"; } else if (elts[i].className == "disabled") { elts[i].className = "enabled"; } } } </script> Finally, the button calls the Javascript toggle routine to toggle the visibility. <button onclick="toggle();">Show/Hide English</button>