Visual Link Spanish Newsletter (V:1; I:14)

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Spanish Words of the Week -----
Words taken from "Greetings", Section 2 of our Level I Course

	English	Spanish
Monday	Hello	Hola
Tuesday	Good morning	Buenos días
Wednesday	Good afternoon	Buenas tardes
Thursday	Good evening	Buenas noches
Friday	What is your name?	¿Cómo se llama usted?
Saturday	My name is ______.	Me llamo ______.
Sunday	Good bye	Adiós
Note	The Level I Spanish Course contains audio for all the words in the newsletter as well as interactive lessons and games that teach you around a 1,000 words, how to create thousands of sentences, and how to truly converse with others in Spanish.

Spanish Lessons - Culture ----- Gringo

As promised last week, today I'm going to talk about the term "Gringo". Some Americans (and people from other countries) get offended when a Spanish speaker calls them "Gringo." This is only because they don't understand what the term "Gringo" really means. Those of you learning Spanish who haven't heard it should also continue reading because you never know!

According to my upper division Spanish professors, back when I was in college, there was a war years ago in which the United States and Mexico were involved; there were many American soldiers in Mexico. The soldiers were dressed in their military-green uniforms and the Mexicans didn't want them in Mexico anymore. In an effort to get the soldiers to leave, some of the Mexicans knew enough English to create a verbal message for the Americans. They said "Green, Go!!" talking to the soldiers in the "green" uniforms. The phrase caught on quickly and within a few years any foreigner, especially with lighter hair, became known as a "Gringo."

When you travel to a Spanish-speaking country and they call you "Gringo", don't get upset or offended. They are just saying that you are a foreigner. When I was living in Latin America, I can't tell you how many times people called me "Gringo". I became accostumed to hearing it and now consider it a privelege to be a "Gringo". Even though I may not sound like a "Gringo" when I talk, with dark blond hair, I definitely look like a "Gringo".

¡Hasta luego! (I hope everything goes well for you!)

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

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