Visual Link Spanish™ Newsletter
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Words of the Week
Words are taken from the Locations section of our Visual Link Spanish™ course -----

	English	Spanish
Monday	I am	(Yo) Estoy
Tuesday	It is	Está
Wednesday	in front of (across from)	frente a
Thursday	around the corner	a la vuelta
Friday	towards	hacia
Saturday	straight ahead	derecho
Sunday	a mile away	a una milla
Bonus	5 kilometers away	a cinco kilómetros
New Year's Resolutions - Final Call	No, it's not too late to set New Year's Resolutions if you haven't yet. If you don't set any other goals, learning Spanish is a great one. Click here for more information about our Visual Link Spanish™ course.

Culture ----- Hand Gestures II - The "Thief Sign"

(Responses to last week's newsletter are found at the bottom.)

This week we'll continue our topic on hand gestures. The Latin hand gesture we'll learn today is very useful on city busses and in public places in Latin America. I like to call it the "thief Sign".

If you visit Latin America, you should use public transportation system so you can more fully experience the culture (like we talked about in a previous newsletter.) Being on any bus it is important to know the "thief Sign". Since seating on city busses is usually limited, you'll most likely have to stand in the aisle holding onto a rail. Be sure to look down at the mothers and grandmothers sitting on the seats; watch their hands carefully to see if they make the "thief Sign". If anyone does, hold onto your things more carefully than normal because a "thief" or "pickpocket" is around.

The "thief Sign" is made by putting the hand with the palm sideways and all four fingers extended. Then, one at a time, all four fingers are bent to touch the palm until a fist is formed. In other words, first the "pinky" or small finger is brought in to touch the palm, then the ring finger, then the middle finger, and finally the index finger. This gesture takes less than a second to make. (Please take a short break to practice it a few times.)

In Latin America, even if you don't see the "thief Sign" it is important to watch your belongings carefully. If you see the "thief Sign", you need to watch them even more carefully. During the two years I lived in Latin America, I took hundreds of busses and walked through thousands of city streets and was never robbed or pickpocketed. Here are a few of my recommended safety precautions for Latin American travel:

• Don't wear expensive jewelry including rings and watches. An $8 Casio watch worked great for me and was not a tempting item to steal.
• Don't take expensive cameras that could be stolen.
• Put money and wallets inside a money belt under the clothes.
• If you have to put money in a pocket, put it in your front pants pocket then turn the pocket lining around if possible.
• If you carry bags, don't drape them over your shoulder or put them on the ground. Instead, carry them in front of you with one or both arms around them if possible.

Moral of the Story: These precautions will not guarantee that you won't be robbed but will definitely help to prevent it. Remember to watch for the "thief Sign" on busses and in public places and if you see it, be sure to take extra precautions.

Sneak peek at next week: The conclusion of our hand gesture series including our final gesture.

¡Hasta la próxima semana! (Until Next Week!)

David S. Clark -- President / Director
U.S. Institute of Languages
dave@spanishprograms.com
http://www.spanishprograms.com
866-9SPANISH

P.S. - If you have enjoyed our newsletters, please forward them to friends or relatives -- that is one of the main ways our business grows.

Responses to Previous newsletters (This week, the Australians were the most active in responding.)

Response #1
Hi Dave

Thanks for a great newsletter.

In Australia we also use the palm up - move index finger back and forth gesture to ask a person to "come here".

I associate with a lot of people who originate from South America, so many thanks for pointing out their interpretation of that gesture as it may save them and me from some embarrassment.

Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to the new Level II CD Rom.

Que le vaya bien

Peter Gillespie
Carnegie
Australia

Response #2

In response to a newsletter a few weeks ago, another Australian e-mailed back and mentioned that they do put ice in drinks at night in Australia.

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