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Visual Link Spanish™ Course Testimonial --

Dave,

After trying out many different Spanish courses, I really do think that you have the best course. Good logical learning approach but also due to your dedicated support. I think you fully believe in your course as demonstrated by your personal involvement and your newsletters - much of which is based on your personal experiences. That is good for us 'gringos' coming from a fellow 'gringo'. We get a translated look at a culture we are unfamiliar with. I look forward to your newsletters with excitement.

Mike

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The Official "Ask Dave" Section ----- Question Como se dice [How do you say] "turn right" y "turn left"? He oido tambien [I have heard also] "doble a la derecha" and "doble a la izquierda". Es aceptable? [Is that acceptable] Es regional? [Is it regional] Gracias, -Barbara Abramowitz Lesson/Explanation Hola Barbara, You can either say "doble a la derecha" or "dé vuelta a la derecha" ("turn right") as well as the same thing for "left" ("izquierda"). They are interchangeable. It's similar to the difference between the English "Turn right" and "Take a right". Just like English has many ways to say the same thing, in Spanish there are also many ways to say the same thing. Some people learn how to say certain things in Spanish at school and think that's the only way to say it. Sometimes there can even be more than two ways to say the same thing - for example, in telling time. To me, that's when a foreign language becomes fun - when you can use variation in what you want to say. For more in-depth information on locations and directions, take a look at section “7. Locations” in your complete Visual Link Spanish™ course. It covers locations and directions in-depth and gives you a full idea of how they work. Hopefully that answers your question. ¡Hasta luego! Dave Remember, if you want to be successful in Spanish and don't have the Complete Visual Link Spanish™ Course yet, click here to order it. Culture -- ¡El Sarcasmo! In all of the Latin American countries I've either lived in or visited, the people react to "el sarcasmo" (sarcasm) very differently than they do here in the U.S. Here in the U.S., sarcasm is very widespread and is used as a common, daily form of communication. For example, if a friend or family member purchased a new shirt that was obviously a little strange, you could tease them by saying "Nice shirt!" Of course, when you say "Nice shirt!" what you really mean is, "Wow, that shirt is a little wild or strange." In Latin America, people usually aren't accustomed to hearing or using sarcasm with each other. For example, I was working with a native speaker who was wearing a very interesting sweater. It was definitely out of the ordinary and a little strange. I said, "Nice sweater!" He looked at me with a thoughtful look and said "Thanks". He didn't get the fact that I was using sarcasm with him. He thought I was serious and was giving him a nice compliment about his sweater. As I lived in Latin America for two consecutive years in different countries, I began to get accustomed to this new attitude of not using sarcasm. It took quite a while, but soon I didn't use sarcasm at all. Because of the lack of sarcasm in Latin America, it seemed to me that there was generally more respect among people. Then, after two years of living among the natives and adopting this new mentality, I met up with an American. We were put on a project where we would have to work together every day for a month or so. He had just arrived in Latin America and wasn't used to the language or culture (without sarcasm). Quite a few times, I found myself getting offended when he used sarcasm with me. I had become so immersed into the Latin culture that I found his sarcasm offensive. It took me a few weeks to get back into the swing of things and realize that he wasn't actually trying to be rude or mean. He was just using a similar type of sarcasm that I had used previously when living in the U.S. Now, some of you may be saying, "I know some Latin people in the U.S. who are sarcastic". If you do, it's probably because they have already begun to adopt some of our cultural behaviors. Just remember that most native speakers living in Latin America usually aren't sarcastic. I would love to hear from you (newsletter subscribers) in different countries to find out if you use sarcasm in your countries. Moral of the Story: When visiting Latin America, for business or pleasure, it's important to know about their mentality on sarcasm. On the other hand, even though many Latin people living in the U.S. may have adopted sarcasm and use it frequently, be careful when talking to them, sarcasm still may offend them. Although a world without sarcasm was very different to live in and get used to, I grew to love it and found the people to be very respectful towards each other. Sneak peek at next week: "Rest Homes in Latin America?" ¡Que tengan un buen día! (I hope you all have a good day!) ¡Hasta luego! ("Until later") David S. Clark -- President / Director Visual Link Spanish™ Fun, Interactive Spanish Courses http://www.spanishprograms.com dave_c@spanishprograms.com [Back to Top]

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Build your Spanish Vocabulary - Monthly Spanish Magazine! "Practice makes perfect!" Perfect your Spanish with THINK SPANISH! MAGAZINE - now available with Audio CD. Think Spanish! Magazine is the monthly publication designed to increase Spanish fluency, BUILD VOCABULARY and GRAMMAR and IMPROVE LISTENING COMPREHENSION while teaching you about life in Spanish-speaking countries. Now available with a monthly Audio CD - Think Spanish! Magazine will keep your Spanish strong all year long. Each issue includes dynamic articles about culture, travel, art, people and more and contains useful lessons and tutorials. Each month the dynamic articles in Think Spanish! Magazine are read by native Spanish speakers. Think Spanish Audio CDs increase listening comprehension and pr onunciation skills. For more info - Click Here! [Back to Top] Responses to Past Newsletters: Note: Any links recommended by newsletter subscribers are not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Institute of Languages™ - use at your own risk. Formatting on responses may have been changed to fit your screen. None

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