Reading aloud and uninterruptedly the universal novel El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha was our initiative to pay tribute to Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra on the anniversary of his death.
He was a fourth-year student at the time, and all boarders, depending on their shift, wore a ruff, a typical 17th-century clothing accessory, to alternate reading day, night, and early morning.
We couldn’t fall asleep, but the masterpiece of the Spanish language deserved the sacrifice.
The idea came from Doctor of Science Freddy León, professor of linguistics specializing in Spanish literature, of whom I have a special and precious memory; One of his legacies was teaching me to love and respect our language and extending his teaching to the youngest.
And on April 23rd precisely, there is a significant advocacy for the cultivation of Spanish, an international language that already has more than 450 million speakers in the world.
The event has its origins in 100926, when the Valencian writer Vicente Clavel proposed the idea of a special day in homage to literature. The commemoration was organized by the Cervantes Institute to celebrate the importance of this language code.
Since 1964, the festival has been embraced by all Spanish-speaking countries, which felt identified with an event that touched them deeply, since spoken language is our main means of communication.
The date acquires greater connotation because on this day William Shakespeare died according to the Julian calendar, and in different years died the Inca Garcilazo de La Vega and Vladimir Nabokov, all in a masterly manner and, corresponding to the time in which they lived, made great contributions to language and literature.
The respect and correct use of the Spanish language is today our main commitment and we make sure that our children imitate us to keep our culture and identity intact.
