Visual Link Learn Spanish Newsletter (V:2; I:17)

New Enhanced Learn Spanish Newsletter Started Today!-----

This is the Free-Basic Newsletter. The Enhanced-Paid Newsletter started today and contains 14 Learn Spanish Words of the Week from our course, a current Latin news paragraph in English that is also translated to Spanish, and our culture section with Spanish words sprinkled throughout. If you would like to order a 6 month's subscription today for only 9.95 click here . Or, go to: http://www.spanishprograms.com/store.htm . Remember, this is only costs .38 cents per issue!

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Learn Spanish Words of the Week -----
Taken from our complete CD-ROM course.

	English	Spanish
Monday	I need	Yo necesito
Tuesday	You need	Usted necesita
Wednesday	He needs	El necesita
Thursday	She needs	Ella necesita
Friday	to take a taxi	tomar un taxi
Saturday	to the bank	al banco
Sunday	to work	al trabajo

Learn Spanish Culture ----- Fun Spanish Words!

In Spanish there are many great words I really enjoy and get a kick out of. Today I'll share some of these with you as well as talk a little about the culture that goes along with them.

Some of my favorite words have to do with cars. These words may vary region to region; for example, the word for "horn" in one country is "cláxon", and in another country it is "bocina". Most core Spanish words are the same country to country but certain specialized words vary in different regions.

Now we'll move on to some of the fun words. The word for car "windshield" is "para brizas", which literally translated means "for breezes". The word for "bumper" is "para choques", which means "for crashes". And, the word for a heavy-duty grill in the front of a car is called "mataperros" which means "dog killer".

Now of course, for the record, we are a very animal-friendly website and newsletter, and I wouldn't have created the word "mataperros" for "grill" if I had invented Spanish. However, by way of information, that is simply the name for "grill" in some regions. I believe that Latin-Americans may have called it "mataperros" because there is an abundance of dogs in many Latin American countries -- especially in many poor pueblos where they seem to be everywhere. Some areas have a kind of dog that is especially strange. It is a gray dog that is almost bald with just a few hairs on its head. Where I am from, I had never seen a dog of that breed before going to Latin America, and especially not hundreds of them in the same city. We'll just say it is the kind of dog I would not choose to own myself.

Now, I must dispel a myth. In some parts of Asia people eat dogs but not in Latin America. Even though there are hundreds of dogs there, they still don't eat them -- at least in all the Latin countries I have ever lived in or visited. They do, however, eat guinea pigs which are pets in the U.S., but that is a different topic.

As we are talking about food, there is a fun word that I really like in Spanish that people use commonly. It is called "me ostiga" and it means "I've eaten so much of that type of food that I am really tired of it". There is a place to use and not to use this word. Remember, as I have mentioned in past newsletters, if someone in Latin America invites you to dinner, if you don't eat everything or are not very complimentary and thankful for the food, they can become offended. In other words, don't ever use the phrase "me ostiga" with the hostess that invited you over to eat. The proper place to use this phrase would be after the meal when you are talking to a friend after you are out of earshot of the hostess.

Moral of the Story: 1. Spanish words can be fun to learn as log as you use them in the right setting. 2. Don't plan on eating dog in Latin America, but, be prepared to meet lots of dogs if you visit smaller pueblos. 3. Remember to eat all of your food when eating dinner with the native speakers and compliment the hostess. 4. You may eat guinea pig in some countries but it isn't very common so I wouldn't worry too much.

Sneak peek at next week: "How to instantly learn hundreds of Spanish words."

¡Hasta luego! (Until later!)


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

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