logo spanish programs

More Spanish, More Effective, Less Money

Become Conversational in Spanish

1. Watch Demo

level 1 spanish course demo

2. Try

trial download
Free 7-Day Trial
Instant Download
start download

3. Get Started

level 1 spanish course buy now
List Price: $199.99
Hard Copy: $149.99
Download: $99.99
order free trial

Archive for the ‘Spanish Culture’ Category

by Brandi

calendar image

June 15th, 2009

Finally, the last hand gesture in our series. This is probably my favorite gesture of all the Latin American hand gestures. Being an American and not from Latin America, it took me some time to perfect it, but it’s fun and very expressive. As you can tell by the title, I like to call this gesture the “Someone’s in Trouble” gesture, however, it can also be used when you are in a hurry. Click here to learn Spanish. (more…)

by Brandi

calendar image

June 8th, 2009

comment image

Bienvenidos (welcome) to this week’s cultural tidbit. Before we jump into the culture topic for this week, I wanted to remind you to look into this week’s special offer on the Visual Link Spanish™ Level I course if you have not purchased it yet.

This week we will continue on with Latin American hand gestures. The Latin hand gesture we’ll learn today is useful on city buses and at public places in Latin America. I like to call it the “Thief Sign”. (more…)

by Brandi

calendar image

June 1st, 2009

Today we are going to cover a particular Latin hand gesture that is important to know. Some of you may be disappointed if you wanted to learn how to do a gesture involving a particular “middle” finger to show anger. Sorry—remember, this is a family-friendly blog. (By the way, that middle finger sign means nothing to native Spanish speakers unless they have lived in the United States.) (more…)

by Brandi

calendar image

May 26th, 2009

If are planning to travel to or stay in Latin America, do not drink the water out of the tap! The water usually isn’t potable because they don’t use the same type of water treatment plants as they do in the United States. If you accidentally drink the water out of the tap, you may get what many people, over the ages, have affectionately called “Montezuma’s revenge”. Along with other symptoms, this condition will usually include many unwanted trips to the restroom. (more…)

by Brandi

calendar image

May 18th, 2009

For your own safety, in the streets of Latin America there is one major piece of information you need to be aware of—pedestrians do not have the right of way. If a pedestrian walks across the street at a cross walk (2 solid parallel white lines) in the United States, all vehicles are required to slow down to let the pedestrian cross. Most cross walks in the United States are at are at street lights or intersections with stop signs, but once in a while there are crosswalks in the middle of city blocks (far from an intersection). When people start to cross the street at the crosswalks, vehicles will slow down to wait for them even without street lights to stop the cars. If pedestrians are in the streets in Latin America, not only do cars not slow down, they seem to speed up. (more…)

by Brandi

calendar image

May 5th, 2009

The text for “Cinco de mayo” below is taken, with permission, from Mexonline.com
Copyright © 1993-2003, Mexico Online ® Visit their web site at Mexonline.com

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The Fifth Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, but is also celebrated in other parts of the country and in U.S.cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico’s Independance Day, which is actually September 16.

Setting The Stage
The battle at Puebla in 1862 happened at a violent and chaotic time in Mexico’s history. Mexico had finally gained independence from Spain in 1810, and a number of internal political takeovers and wars, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the Mexican Civil War of 1858, had mostly wiped out the national economy.
(more…)

by Dave Clark

calendar image

March 20th, 2009

Welcome to your new best-friend. The Visual Link Spanish™ blog.

This is where you will find all sorts of great information to help you in your language learning endeavours.  From cultural tips to help you fit in while visiting a foreign country, to learning tips, and even sneak-peeks on the next latest and greatest products from Visual Link Spanish ™. Also, from time to time, there will be opportunities for you to give feedback on new things we are doing here. Anytime though, you can have your say in the comments; tell us what you love, what you hate (but please be nice, we are people too!),  and anything else that might help all of us in our journey to Spanish Mastery.

So bookmark this page, add it to your favorite RSS reader, sit back and enjoy.

Click here to learn Spanish.


home icon button home text button