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NEW! - Cultural Spanish Recipes

We are excited to implement a cultural Spanish recipe section to our newsletter.  We welcome your tasty Spanish recipes including the originating countries (if available), accompanying pictures where possible without copyrights and any interesting notes or comments about the recipe.

We appreciate this important cultural connection around the globe celebrating the all-important food traditions of the Spanish-speaking people.  

Please email recipes and pictures to:  mercedes@learnspanishtoday.com

Salsa Recipe

This is a simple recipe a mexican friend taught me.

8 or 9 roma tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers (use one if you don't like it spicy, you can also use serrano peppers
salt to taste
1 clove of garlic (chopped) optional

In a frying pan place the tomatoes on their tops (where they were once connected to the vine) cook on medium heat until they are nice and black (about 5-6 min), then turn them on their sides and blacken the sides. Add the pepper(s) (I add them when I turn the tomatoes on their sides.) Turn tomatoes and peppers until all sides are blackened. Put tomatoes and peppers in a blender or food processor. If you want to use the garlic add it now. Blend really well. (You may have to turn the blender off a couple times and shake the contents until a few of the tomatoes get chopped and the juice comes out. Add a little salt, taste the salsa, add more salt until it suits your taste.

Use on tostados, tacos . . . well just about anything.

Buen provecho

Sara Castellano 

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Visual Link Spanish™ Course Testimonial --

Muchas gracias!!!!

The case arrived today in perfect condition!!! Hooray!!!!

You cannot imagine how thrilled I am with this verb module.

Currently am watching Que Dice La Gente and Vida Salvaje on the Spanish channels.

Am finally starting to understand some of the spoken words. Hope to enlarge my vocabulary greatly by the end of this verb module.

Again, muchisimas gracias!!!!!!!

P.S. I tell a lot of people about this program.

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The Official "Ask Dave" Section ----- Question Hey Dave, Could you please explain the use of the word eres, as in "Tu eres." I understand that it means you (familiar) are, but is this the SER or ESTAR form? And if it's the SER form, what is the ESTAR form? (Or vice-versa.) I'm puzzled on this one! Thanks! Drew Answer Hola Drew, Good question. The phrase “tú eres” means “you are” if you are talking about permanent characteristics (see examples below):      You are tall – (Tú) eres alto/a      You are smart – (Tú) eres inteligente      You are strong – (Tú) eres fuerte       (The “tú” is optional). "Eres” is a conjugation of the verb “ser”. The “tú” form of “estar” is “estás”. This means “you are” when talking about temporary characteristics. Just remember, the “t” in “estás” stands for “temporary”. Here are a few examples using “estás”.     &nb sp;You are happy – (Tú) estás feliz      Are you ready? – ¿Estás (tú) listo/a?      You are sick – (Tú) estás enfermo/a For more in-depth information on “ser” and “estar” and all of their conjugations, take a look at section “9. Characteristics” in your complete Visual Link Spanish™ course. It covers each in-depth and gives you a full idea of how they work. It also helps you to understand the difference between “temporary” and “permanent” characteristics. If you don't have the complete Visual Link Spanish™ course, click here for your current sale price!! Hopefully this answers your question. Gracias, 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 -- The Truth about Latinos Learning English This week's topic is a sensitive issue for many people in the U.S. There are people that have strong feelings on both sides of the issue. I'm going to touch on this topic and share insights from my own perspective. As I've mentioned in past newsletters, I lived in Latin America for two years. Here in the U.S. I've also worked extensively with the Latino people. I've provided business training seminars for them, become friends with them, and my business has taught hundreds of Latinos to speak English. There is an overwhelming sentiment in the U.S. that when Latino people come here to the U.S. they ought to learn English--end of discussion. People argue that when many of our European ancestors came to the U.S., they had to learn English and so should the Latino people. I agree with this to a point, and I believe that most Latino people in the U.S. also agree and truly want to learn English. The challenge is, while some Latino people that come to the U.S. are professionals, many of them have had only a few years of elementary school; as a result it is very difficult for them to learn English. I saw this over and over again first hand as my company taught them English. Some of them wanted to learn English desperately, but it just didn't seem to stick. One of the challenges is that many Latino people move to sectors of cities where there are Mexican restaurants and stores and many other Latino people. They feel comfortable only speaking Spanish. This fact frustrates a lot of Americans who think everyone should know English, and they themselves don't want to expend any effort to learn Spanish. Now here's the other side of the story; the part that most people don't realize. When Latino families come to the U.S. a high percentage of them want their children to learn English to such a degree that they only permit their children to speak English in the home so they won't have the "stereotyped stigma" of knowing Spanish. The sad part is that many second-generation Latinos here in the U.S. don't speak Spanish because their parents made them speak English in the home. If they would have learned both languages fluently, they would have been that much farther ahead in life. Of course there are exceptions to this and some become truly bilingual, actually translating and interpreting for their parents. However, I have personally known hundreds of Latinos where this is the case--they became fluent only in English as they grow up and lose any Spanish skills they had. Many of us have one point of view on certain issues; we think that people should learn our language and we shouldn't have to learn theirs since we are perfectly fine just knowing English. I believe the fact that someone knows two languages should inspire respect for their achievement instead of thinking of them as "not as smart" because they have a foreign accent. I hope this newsletter has inspired some thought and cultural understanding. I realize there are many views on this topic, and I would appreciate your thoughts on both sides of this issue. Please e-mail them to: dave@spanishprograms.com Sneak peek at next week: "Do Animals Speak Different in Spanish?" ¡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. Response #1 Hello Dave, I am writing to you in regards to how personalities change while learning a new language. Well, I started learning spanish almost 3 years ago in a chatroom. I have since met and fell in love with a Peruvian. He and I mostly speak in english on the telephone and in messenger. His english is broken so I have become accustomed to speaking broken english so he can understand me. lol. It is getting so bad that when I speak with my best friend here. She gets angry at me for speaking to her like she doesn't understand english. lol So my personality has changed in a few ways. I am now engaged to a Peruano. His documents have been submitted to INS and we are waiting. And I speak broken english sometimes to english speaking persons. lol I also find myself thinking in some spanish words when I am writing english. And sometimes when I read spanish, I understand some words so well they seem like english to me. Have a great day.

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