This week’s Spanish culture lesson, we will discuss ancient some of the ancient cultures of Latin America.  In ancient Latin American there are many cultures, people and legends. Three of the most famous groups of people are the Aztec, the Maya, and the Inca. The Maya are from a more ancient time period in Mexican history. The Aztecs are from a more recent era; they were found when Hernan Cortez, one of the “conquistadores,” came to Mexico in 1519. The Incas were a people in ancient South America who lived specifically around the areas of Peru and Ecuador.

In Mexico there are numerous majestic and mysterious ruins that leave the legacy of a vanished people. In Peru, there are also several incredible ruins. I had the opportunity to live in Peru for an extended period of time and was to see some fascinating ruins in northern Peru. However, there are many incredible ruins in Southern Peru that I never had a chance to visit. Many of my native friends told me all about these mysterious ruins. As soon as my children become teenagers, I plan to take them and my wife to visit the remarkable ruins of southern Peru. (more…)

To learn more Spanish words, click here

para empezar – to start out
respuestas – responses, answers
boletín – newsletter
respuestas recibidas – responses received
he incluido – I have included
al pie – at the bottom
puesto que – since
durante las pasadas semanas – during the last few weeks
hoy – today
vamos a hablar – we are going to talk about
acerca de – about
vamos a empezar – we’re going to start
con – with
dice – says
diccionarios de inglés – English dictionaries
que despierta al mundo – that wakes up the world
ni está en el diccionario – it isn’t even in the dictionary
sur de la frontera – south of the border
dicen – (they) sa y
otros animales importantes – some other important animals
en inglés – in English
en español – in Spanish
los mismos sonidos – the same sounds
la frontera – the border
han nadado – (they) have swum
básicamente – basically
animales – animals
en el mundo – in the world
nuestra percepción – our perception
que hablamos – that we speak
en los sonidos que hacen – in the sounds they make
parecen tener – they seem to have
en este tema tan importante – on this very important topic
parte del mundo – part of the world
como en español – as in Spanish
sonidos muy diferentes – very different sounds
personalmente, yo pienso que – personally, I think that
sonidos de animales – animal sounds
de esa manera – that way
España – Spain
página web – website

To learn more Spanish vocabulary words, click here!

For this week’s Spanish language topic, since we’ve covered some serious topics during the last few weeks, I thought we’d cover a fun, lighter topic today. We’re going to talk about Spanish-speaking animals and what they say.

We will start off with the rooster. A U.S., U.K. or Australian rooster says “cock-a-doodle-doo.” If you look in most major English dictionaries, you won’t find this wonderful, useful rooster word that wakes up the world. I think our major dictionary publishers have missed the point. Since it isn’t even in the dictionary, I’m not sure if I spelled the last part correctly: “do” or “doo?” Anyway, if you go south of the border, (into Latin America,) all of a sudden roosters speak Spanish! It’s amazing, if you’ve ever heard them, they say “kikiriki” [key-key-ree-key.]

Now we’ll take a look at what some other important animals say in Spanish:

 To learn more Spanish words, click here!

This week’s topic on Spanish Culture can be a sensitive issue for many people in the U.S. There are people that have very strong feelings on both sides of the issue. I am going to touch on this topic and share insights from my own perspective.

As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, I lived in Latin America for two years. Here in the U.S. I have also worked extensively with many Latino people. I have 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. (more…)

 To learn more about speaking Spanish, click here!

es uno muy interesante para mí – is a very interesting one for me
para que podamos ver – so that we can see
mientras aprendía español – as (while) I was learning Spanish
un desafío – a challenge
después de dos o tres meses – after two or three months
decidí que – I decided that
iba a tratar de pensar – I was going to try to think
en español – in Spanish
como palabras de vocabulario diferentes – as different vocabulary words
en otras palabras – in other words
en un idioma diferente – in a different language
mucho más fácil – a lot easier
en inglés – in English
encontré que – I found that
cambió – (it) changed
con más emoción – with more emotion
sin embargo – however
(había) ciertas cosas – (there were) certain things
otras cosas – other things
me encanta hablar con – I love to talk with
(la) gente Latina – Latin people (in general)
mi teoría es que – my theory is that
también empezamos – also we start
para apoyar mi teoría – to support my theory
que su personalidad cambia – that their personality changes
he hablado con – I have talked with
el contrario – the contrary (opposite)
que vino aquí – that came here
serio – serious
en inglés – in English
lo ven como – (they) see him as
más serio – more serious
otro idioma – anothe r language
me encantaría coleccionar – I would love to collect
“qué” cambia – “what” changes
gracias – thanks
para mí – to (for) me
experiencia – experience
un nuevo mundo – a new world
y también – and also
hace un tiempo – a while ago
tenía problemas – had problems
los problemas – the problems
soluciones diferentes – different solutions

This week’s newsletter topic is a very interesting one for me; it is one that I will request your feedback and participation on so we can see more data on the subject.

As I was learning to speak Spanish, I went to a two-month intensive training course, then went straight to Latin America and lived among native speakers. It was quite a challenge to immediately communicate only in Spanish after arriving, but it definitely helped my language progression. After about two or three months of living in the country, I found I was able to understand about 75-85% of what was being said. Around that time, as I was becoming more fluent, I decided I was going to try to think in Spanish. If any of you want to get to that point, it can very intimidating unless you think of Spanish as just different vocabulary words used to express the same ideas. (more…)