Gritty Spanish Offers Authenticity and Fun to the Language Learning Process
In the US, where English dominates, the ability to speak a second language is a significant advantage. As the world becomes more interconnected, the skill of communicating across cultural divides grows more important. Many Americans have access to language education, yet achieving fluency often requires more than what traditional classrooms offer. This is where Gritty Spanish comes […]
In the US, where English dominates, the ability to speak a second language is a significant advantage. As the world becomes more interconnected, the skill of communicating across cultural divides grows more important. Many Americans have access to language education, yet achieving fluency often requires more than what traditional classrooms offer. This is where Gritty Spanish comes into play, offering a unique approach to learning Spanish that’s both engaging and effective.
The Story Behind Gritty Spanish
Eldon Mirjah: Gritty Spanish Creator/Founder
Imagine Eldon Mirjah, in his Bronx apartment, hitting a plateau in his Spanish studies. He realized that to truly learn a language, one must go beyond conventional methods. The solution wasn’t found in textbooks but in creating a learning experience that was both enjoyable and immersive. Disappointed with the existing programs, Eldon decided to create his own, using Spanish music and stories voiced by native speakers.
This personal project evolved into Gritty Spanish, a program characterized by its authentic and emotional storytelling. Following the enthusiastic reception of his initial program back in 2014, Eldon expanded his offerings to include courses for intermediate and beginner levels, ensuring a comprehensive learning path for all.
Beginning Your Spanish Journey
Image source: https://www.shutterstock.com/
For those new to Spanish, starting with the basics is crucial. In the Beginner’s versions of the program, you’ll learn a lot of Basic Spanish words & phrases. This will provide essential vocabulary and phrases for everyday conversations or travel. As learners progress, they can explore further courses that feature engaging more audio dialogues and bilingual transcripts, catering to all learning stages.
Beyond the Basics
For those eager to explore more than the standard language lessons, Gritty Spanish provides a vibrant glimpse into the expressive facets of the language. Here, it’s not just about learning curse words in Spanish; it’s about diving deep into everyday jargon and phrases. This approach aims to acquaint learners with the vernacular speech, significantly broadening their grasp of the cultural nuances and contexts. By integrating these colloquial expressions into your vocabulary, you’ll find yourself not only speaking more naturally but also connecting more authentically with native speakers.
Your Path to Fluency
Learning Spanish is a journey that requires patience, practice, and the right resources. Gritty Spanish is designed to provide learners with an immersive experience, featuring a wide range of native speaker voices and engaging content. Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to refine your skills, Gritty Spanish offers a structured path to improving your Spanish fluency.
Ready to begin? Visit Gritty Spanish today and take the first step towards a bilingual future.
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AUGUST 10, 2026
The Secret to a Home That Feels Just Right
Behind every beautiful space is a thoughtful process, and ASID San Diego is helping homeowners understand the value of professional design.
A perfectly designed home rarely happens by accident. Those kitchens that feel effortless and rooms that seem to tell a story the second you walk in? They’re usually the work of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing.
It’s knowing which ideas will actually work, which materials will hold up over time, and how to turn a collection of choices into a space that feels intentional. That’s where a professional interior designer comes in.
For the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) California San Diego Chapter, the goal is to help people see interior design as more than just the finished look. Behind every well-designed space is a process built on technical expertise. Designers are educated in everything from professional software and construction details to building codes, space planning, materials, and functionality.
Courtesy of ASID
“People don’t always realize how much goes on behind the scenes,” Kirsten Recce , current president of the ASID California San Diego Chapter, says. “Our designers are not just doing furniture placement and color selection and picking out new fluffy pillows. That’s not what they’re trained for.”
ASID members bring formal education, continued learning, and industry knowledge to their projects, helping create spaces that are not only beautiful, but designed to work. A paint color that changes completely depending on the lighting. A material that looks beautiful in a showroom but doesn’t make sense for everyday life. A layout that photographs well but doesn’t function for the people living there. These are the details where professional guidance can make all the difference.
Still, one of the biggest misconceptions about hiring an interior designer is that it’s reserved for massive renovations, luxury homes, or people who already know exactly what they want. The process can feel intimidating. Where do you begin? Is a designer worth the investment? What if you only need help with one room?
ASID’s answer: start with one hour.
ASID’s Spruce Up events break down one of the biggest barriers between homeowners and professional design: knowing where to begin. Held twice a year, the community program gives homeowners the chance to work directly with an ASID designer through a one-hour, $125 consultation in their own home. Whether you’re looking for advice on furniture placement, window treatments, kitchen and bath updates, remodeling ideas, vacation rentals, color selections or something else entirely, the upcoming September 2026 event offers an approachable way to get expert guidance before committing to a full project. Signups are open through Sept. 7, with consultations taking place Sept. 21 through Oct. 31. Proceeds benefit ASID San Diego’s educational and community programs. Register here!
Courtesy of ASID
“It’s a great opportunity for people who are in that exploratory phase,” Recce says. “Maybe they’re not sure they want to hire an interior designer yet, or they think it sounds daunting or expensive. This gives them a chance to discover what working with a designer is actually like.”
Design is personal. A good designer isn’t just creating a beautiful room; they’re helping create a space that fits the way someone lives.
“We’re a resource to all of San Diego County,” Recce says. “It doesn’t cost anything to pick up the phone and call and ask. We’ll answer.”
Mai Vue was just 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered her baby. Her pregnancy had been complicated, and she’d had a recent second trimester pregnancy loss, which led to her receiving specialized care from Sean Daneshmand, MD, a Scripps Clinic perinatologist who oversees high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Daneshmand and his team took care of Mai during her pregnancy, through the birth of her healthy baby girl and beyond. Mai was part of a program Scripps launched to provide support to new moms in the weeks and months after delivery. The postpartum program, known as Scripps Health’s Fourth Trimester Continuum of Care, provides care for women with high-risk pregnancies to optimize their health after childbirth and reduce the risk of complications in future pregnancies. Click here to learn more.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
It’s estimated that one in five people in the U.S. will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. When you factor in living in a sun-soaked city like San Diego and the outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with it, that figure can jump to as high as one in three, which makes early detection and intervention all the more important. Dermatologists at Bighorn Mohs and Dermatology Center are using innovative imaging methods and advanced surgical techniques to diagnose and treat skin cancer. For certain cancers in sensitive spots, like the face, dermatologists perform Mohs surgery, removing skin tissue layer by layer until reaching healthy, cancer-free tissue. They also use a process called immunohistochemistry to view tissue samples taken during Mohs surgery in far greater detail than previous methods. Read more about how Scripps is advancing skin cancer care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
When endurance athlete Isaac Sanchez learned he had cancer, he felt blindsided. He was healthy, surfed often and was training for an Ironman triathlon. But he had to put that on hold to undergo treatment. His physicians at Scripps Cancer Center developed a plan to treat the cancer in his tonsil and lymph nodes that included six-and-a-half weeks of near-daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. He also worked with a Scripps Cancer Center dietitian to enhance his nutrition to promote strength and healing. Today, Isaac’s back to doing what he loves. Read more of his story here.
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While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
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Chemotherapy and radiation have long been considered gold standards of cancer treatment, but they can cause severe side effects. A promising new approach called theranostics—a combination of “therapeutics” and “diagnostics”—could offer patients with certain types of metastatic cancers new hope. It’s a two-step process that uses a drug that binds to specific receptors on cancer cells. Advanced imaging detects this radioisotope, allowing doctors to then use a second radioisotope that binds to the cancer cells and destroys them. Click here to learn more about how specialists at Scripps Cancer Center are using theranostics.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
