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A brief history of Spanish - Ilan Stavans

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TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

Beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans conquered the Iberian peninsula. This period gave rise to several regional languages in the area that’s now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. One of these would become Spanish— but not for another 1,500 years. Those years tell the origin story of what’s become a global modern language. Ilan Stavans traces the evolution of Spanish.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Ilan Stavans
  • Director Hernando Bahamon
  • Narrator Ilan Stavans
  • Composer Manuel Borda
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
  • Producer Anna Bechtol
  • Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
  • Associate Producer Abdallah Ewis

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