In a previous lesson, we learned about how the verb volver can be used figuratively to express the idea of becoming:
 

Después se volvió más profesional

Afterwards, it became more professional

y me encantó más aún todavía, ¿no?

and I loved it even more still, right?

Caption 10, Los Juegos Olímpicos - Adrián Gavira

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But other Spanish verbs also translate as "to become," for example the verbs transformarse and convertirse (to become, to turn into). These verbs are just as common as volverse but they work differently. That's why you can't just substitute se volvió with se transformó or se convirtió in the example above. When using these verbs you need to be more specific and always remember to use the preposition en (into) to introduce a complement that gives more information about the transformation in question. For example:

...pronto se convierte en una carrera de obstáculos.

...quickly becomes a highway of obstacles.

Caption 41, Animales en familia - La operación de Yaki

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El pergamino se transforma en "cisco" y en almendra.

The parchment is transformed into the leftover "cisco" and the bean.

Caption 41, Una Historia de Café - La Bodega

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You can switch convertirse and transformarse in the examples above and obtain correct expressions:
 

...pronto se transforma en una carrera de obstáculos.
...quickly becomes a highway of obstacles.
 
El pergamino se convierte en "cisco" y en almendra.
The parchment is transformed into the leftover "cisco" and the bean.
 
But with the verb volverse you don’t need the preposition en (into), so you say:
 
...pronto se vuelve una carrera de obstáculos.
...quickly becomes a highway of obstacles.
 
El pergamino se vuelve "cisco" y almendra.
The parchment is transformed into the leftover "cisco" and the bean.

However, to use transformarse or convertirse instead of volverse in the first example you'll have to do more than that, because you can't just say that something or someone se transformó en más profesional (transformed into more professional), right? The expression is incomplete. “Transformed into a more professional what?” people would ask. So you have to say something like:
 

Después se transformó en una actividad más profesional...
Después se convirtió en una actividad más profesional...
Afterwards, it became a more professional activity...

Finally, an interesting tidbit: You can use both transformarse and convertirse alone as reflexive verbs to express the idea that a person transforms herself or himself, without the need of any complement or preposition, but you can't do the same with volverse:

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Me transformo (I transform myself).
Me convierto (I transform myself).
Me vuelvo (This is incomplete; you have to state what you are turning into, for example: me vuelvo un vampiro, which means "I become a vampire").

Did you know that Spanish can sometimes use the subjunctive mood to state facts? For example:

Ahora, qué raro que lo haya atacado un puma.

But, it's strange that a puma attacked him.

Caption 66, Yago - 1 La llegada

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You may wonder, if the person was indeed attacked by a puma, why do we use the subjunctive here? The reason is the phrase que raro (it's strange). The subjunctive is caused by the person's judgment about the incident. The same applies to similar phrases used to express a judgment in Spanish: es raro (it's strange), es triste (it's sad), etc.

¿Sabés que éste es un lindo departamento?

Do you know that this is a nice apartment?

Es una pena que lo dejes. ¿Por qué?

It's a shame for you to leave it. Why?

Captions 5-6, Muñeca Brava - 36 La pesquisa

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Here's another example that states a fact with the subjunctive:

¿No te pone contenta que quiera vivir con vos aquí?

Doesn't it make you happy that I want to live here with you?

Caption 15, Yago - 4 El secreto

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It's a fact that the person speaking wants to live with her interlocutor, so why is she then using the subjunctive? Well, because using the subjunctive stresses the fact that she is not imposing her wishes, making for a more polite and refined expression. In this case, however, you could use the indicative as well. It's still correct, and could be used to subtly express a firmer determination: ¿no te pone contenta que quiero vivir con vos?
 
However, there are cases in which you can't use the indicative. For example:
 
No es malo que Lucía fume.
It's not bad that Lucía smokes.
 
Again, it's a fact that Lucía smokes, but the subjunctive is triggered by the judgment that the person speaking is making. To say no es malo que Lucía fuma is incorrect, and the same happens with other similar expressions. So you can be sure that any phrase similar to no es malo (it's not bad), no es un delito (it's not a crime), es un pecado (it's a sin), etc., will trigger the use of the subjunctive.
 
An even more confusing example of using the subjunctive to state a fact is:

Me revienta que me digas "te lo dije."

I hate it when you say "I told you so."

Caption 35, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto

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This is a very common use of the subjunctive but one that many learners might miss. The person speaking is not doubting or questioning what his interlocutor is saying, or the fact that he is saying it. The subjunctive is caused by the emotion of me revienta (I hate it) + another verb with a change of subject.

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If you were to say, for example, me revienta escucharte (I hate listening to you), there is no change of subject in the verbs me revienta (I hate) and escucharte (to listen to you): both actions are performed by the same person, so you can use the indicative. But if there's a change of subject as in the example above, meaning that the action of the verbs me revienta (I hate) and digas (you say) belongs to different subjects, it's better to use the subjunctive for the second verb.

Some expressions of gratitude that use the verb agradecer (to thank) are classic examples of this construction: te agradezco que me ayudes (I thank you for helping me), te agradezco que me digas (I thank you for telling me), etc.
 
Compare the following examples, all of which use the subjunctive to state a fact:

Y me encanta que la gente disfrute con el deporte que practico.

And I love that people enjoy the sport that I do.

Caption 14, Los Juegos Olímpicos - Adrián Gavira

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bonitas o feas,

[whether] beautiful or ugly...

no soporto que las golpeen.

I can't tolerate for them to be beaten.

Captions 47-48, El Ausente - Acto 4

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¿Por qué no? -No me gusta que vivas sola, por eso.

Why? -I don't like it that you live alone, that's why.

Caption 89, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza

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The word lo can either be used as a neuter article, or as a pronoun. In this lesson we will focus on its use as an article.

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Neuter articles are used to express abstract ideas or give extra emphasis to a certain adjective. As a neuter article, lo is the easiest of all the articles as there is only one form: lo. It can be placed in front of just about any adjective that expresses an abstraction or a quality (or extreme degree of quantity), something that's not a concrete object or person.

Here are some phrases that take lo before different types of adjectives:

lo bueno = "the good part, what's good"
lo fácil = "the easy part, what's easy"
lo mío = "(that which is) mine"
lo nuestro = "(that which is) ours"

Lo + adjective can be translated in English as "the" + adjective + the word "thing" or "part":
 

Y pues, es lo malo de vivir en un país así.

And well, it's the bad thing about living in a country like this.

Caption 68, Amigos D.F. - El secuestrar

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Eso es lo bonito de la gastronomía.

That is the nice thing about gastronomy.

Caption 29, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli

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In fact, lo + adjective generates the syntactic equivalent of a noun phrase. That's why it's also common to translate it as "what is + adjective." In the previous examples, we would have:

Y pues, es lo malo de vivir en un país así / And well, it's what is bad about living in a country like this.
Eso es lo bonito de la gastronomía / That's what is nice about gastronomy.

The use of lo before a relative clause has a similar effect: 
 

Hay gente que rectifica lo que dice

There are people who correct what they say

Caption 39, Calle 13 - No hay nadie como tú

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Lucio, tengo que contarte que por lo que me adelantó Morena...

Lucio, I have to tell you that from what Morena told me in advance...

Caption 57, Yago - 7 Encuentros - Part 14

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In fact, lo can often be taken to mean roughly la cosa or las cosas: 

Hay gente que rectifica lo que dice. →  There are people who correct what they say.
Hay gente que rectifica (las cosas) que dice. → There are people who correct (the things) they say.
...por lo que me adelantó Morena. → ...from what Morena told me.
...por (las cosas) que me adelantó Morena. → ...from (the things) that Morena told me.

By the way, lo can be used before a series of adjetives too:
 

Pero encontrar lo bueno, bonito y barato

But finding the good, [the] nice and [the] cheap

a veces es muy complicado.

is sometimes very complicated.

Captions 2-3, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos

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Of course, in order to help our subscribers with their learning process, we have made the translation here as parallel as possible. But you already know what would make a more natural translation, right?

→ But finding what's good, nice, and cheap is sometimes complicated.
→ But finding the good, nice, and cheap things is sometimes complicated.

There is yet one more use of lo as a neuter article and it's rather interesting. Lo is used to express the extreme degree or nature of a given concept or idea. Here it's best to review some examples: 
 

¿Es que no eres todo lo feliz que desearías?

Is it that you are not as happy as you would like?

Caption 26, De consumidor a persona - Short Film

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Sometimes this lo equates to using the word “how”:
 

Si supieras lo mucho que te amo

If you knew how much I love you

Caption 15, Ozomatli - Jardinero

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Porque ves las gradas llenas, eh,

Because you see the packed bleachers, um,

la gente lo bien que se lo pasa con la música.

how much fun the people have with the music.

Captions 11-12, Los Juegos Olímpicos - Adrián Gavira

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¿Pero cómo voy a perder mis maletas de vista

But how am I going to lose sight of my suitcases

con lo grandes que son?

with how big they are?

Captions 29-30, Raquel - Avisos de Megafonía

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Read more about the use of the neuter gender here.