Visual Link Spanish Newsletter (V:1; I:40)

Visual Link Spanish™ by Christmas!!-----

Time is running out, but you can still get our Complete Spanish Course by Christmas. Click here now to go to our web site for more information or to purchase. Remember, the complete Visual Link Spanish™ course contains 2 computer CD-ROM's with over 200 interactive lessons, 10 audio CD's to review in your car or CD player, a conversation manual, and a travel case for the CD's. Click here to learn Spanish.


Spanish Words of the Week -----
Words taken from Basic Needs, Section 1 of our Complete Course

	English	Spanish
Monday	Where are you? (formal - if you use a title for someone)	¿Dónde está usted?
Tuesday	Where are you? (informal - if you are on a first-name basis with someone)	¿Dónde estás tú?
Wednesday	Where are all of you?	¿Dónde están ustedes?
Thursday	How do I get to...?	¿Cómo llego a...?
Friday	How far is the...?	¿Qué tan lejos está el/la...?
Saturday	Christmas	Navidad
Sunday	New Years	Año nuevo
Spanish for Christmas?	You can still get Visual Link Spanish™ by Christmas for a couple more days. Click here for purchasing information.

Spanish Culture ----- Staying Alive in the Streets!

There is one major thing, for your safety, that you need to be aware of as you walk the streets in Latin America -- pedestrians do not have the right of way. In the U.S., if a pedestrian walks across the street at a cross walk (2 solid parallel white lines), all vehicles must slow down to let the pedestrian cross. Most cross walks are at intersections with stop signs or street lights, but every once in a while there are crosswalks in the middle of city blocks (far from intersections). When people start to cross there, vehicles still slow down to wait for them even without street lights to stop the cars. In Latin America, if pedestrians are in the streets, not only do cars not slow down but they almost seem to go faster. If there are cross-walk type lines, THEY ARE NOT CROSSWALKS, do not try to cross because cars will not slow down for you and you may not live to get to the other side, or worse yet, you won't be able to learn Spanish anymore!

The amazing thing to me is that even though the streets are a lot more dangerous in Latin America, there seem to be a lot more people who walk in the streets! Instead of just walking straight across the street like we do in the U.S., when people cross the street in Latin America, they usually walk diagonally until they are in the middle of the street. Then they'll continue to walk for a while as cars come whizzing by in both directions; finally when there's a break in the traffic, they cross to the other side.

In other words, you seem to be a lot safer in Latin America if you don't use cross walks. Now, I'm sure this may vary in some major cities in Latin America, but all of them that I have visited are just as I described. I am interested to know if any of you readers have had a different experience in a particular city.

Now for one more interesting note, about street etiquette, worth mentioning -- when women in Latin America cross the streets, many of them hold hands. Just so you know, this does not have the same connotation as two women holding hands in the U.S.

In summary, to be safer in Latin America, don't use cross walks and be sure to stay out of the path of oncoming cars; they won't slow down for you.

Sneak peek at next week: Holiday customs in Latin America.

 

Learn to speak Spanish now with free Spanish lessons.

¡Qué les vaya bien! (I hope everything goes well for all of you!)


David S. Clark -- President
U.S. Institute of Languages
dave@spanishprograms.com
http://www.spanishprograms.com

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