El 31 de octubre/October 31st

 ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mateo Arias (1995-    )! 

image from @OfficialMatteo (Twitter)

An American actor with Colombian roots born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Arias became well-known when he played Jerry on the Disney Series Kickin' It (see him promote Hispanic Heritage Month by talking about his Colombian heritage in this 2013 Disney video and see his moments speaking Spanish on the show in this 2013 compilation put together by a fan). Arias' older brother, Moisés, also got his start as an actor (Disney's Hannah Montana), and the two now produce films and videos together. In this 2020 The Face article, Mateo talks about being raised bilingual and says, "We really are fully Colombian, [despite] being born in the States. We grew up in a pseudo-Colombian culture in Georgia. Moisés taught me English, but I didn't speak it until I was three or four." The brothers appear in the 2020 film Blast Beat, which also stars Wilmer Valderrama and Colombian-American singer (now actress) Kali Uchis and tells the story of a Colombian family in the United States so that the older brother (played by Mateo) can pursue his dreams of becoming a NASA scientist. In this interview with Variety, the cast talks about the importance of having actors authentically represents the places they are from in movies (i.e. not have a character who is supposedly from Mexico sound like they are from Puerto Rico). "These are all details that matter," says Uchis, "They matter to us. They matter to the community. They matter to the story." The brothers, talking about their evolving acting and directing careers, says, "We're kind of just creating our own content and telling the stories that we want to tell." 

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.