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Visual Link Spanish™ Course Testimonial --
Gracias en todo por la program de computadora Visual Link, es muy bueno.
[Spanish Version] Con Visual Link yo puedo aprender más espanol en una hora que la seis meses viajo en Chile Sud Americano. Visual link trabaja con enseñar a hacer oraciones y hablar, no hay mucha "grammar". Yo no aprendo a decir frances en ocho años de Canada escuela frances lecciones, pero en tres semana con Visual link yo puedo decirle a la gente espanol. Muchas gracias Visual link.
Thank you for developing the program Visual Link, it is excellent.
[English Translation] With Visual Link I was able to learn more spanish in one hour that in the six months I spent in Chile South America. Visual link works on teaching sentances and talking, without confusing things with a lot of grammer. I don't know how to speak any french at all with eight years of Canadian school system french (Which focuses more on grammer), but in three weeks with Visual Link I was able to have a simple conversation with spanish speaking people. Thank you very much Visual Link.
I have recomended to many people that they try your demo on the web site.
Thank you,
Bonnar Beach, Ontario, Canada
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The Official 'Ask Dave' Section ----
Question
Hi Dave
Can you give me a few tips on how to use the verb HABER.
Thanks.
D Tinnams
Answer
Hola D,
The word "haber" can be used in two ways. In the Complete Visual Link Spanish™ Course, it is used as "hay" ("there is/there are") or the past tense "había" ("there was/there were").
For more practice on using "haber" in this context, go to section "4. Grammar" of your Complete Course. If you don't have the Visual Link Spanish™ complete course, click here for our current Spring Sale Extravaganza!!
The verb "haber" is also used to trigger past tense and literally means "have". Not "have" as in "I have something" but "have" as in "I have gone", "She has eaten" or "You have walked" (things that "have" happened in the past).
For more on the use of "haber" as a past-tense trigger, go see the free demo lessons for our more advanced "Add-On Verb Module". Click Here to go to your free demo Verb Module lessons. Once you get to the page, be sure to click where it says "Click to watch Samples!" and go to "6. Have Verbs" (the green lessons are free).
Hopefully that helps to answer your questions.
Gracias,
Dave
If you don't have the Complete Visual Link Spanish™ Course, Don't waste any more money on other courses that don't work, click here to order it today!
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Words of the Week -----
Taken from our complete CD-ROM course. (Click for a discount)
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Weekly Spanish Lesson ----
For this week's lesson, click below to learn some basics in Spanish Locations. You'll hear María from Mexico and learn with a fun, interactive format. You'll learn some locations questions, the difference between the formal and the informal "you" and a few actual locations.
To check it out, click here: www.learnspanishtoday.com/learn/locations.htm
P.S. - If you don't have the Complete Visual Link Spanish™ Course, click below and get free shipping through the newsletter!
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Culture ----- The Spanish John and Jane Doe, Who are They?
In English, when we're writing a letter that will be used as an example in business or in a textbook, we usually address it with, "Dear John" or "Dear Jane". And, we usually sign it, "Sincerely, John Doe" or "Sincerely, Jane Doe".
John and Jane Doe, who are obviously married and model citizens, also have their names on government and employment forms as they show us, by their perfect examples, the correct way to fill out those difficult forms. Some of us tend to get frustrated as "John" and "Jane" seem to be the epitome of perfection in our society, and we are just the "average Joe" never able to reach their level of perfection.
By the way, "John and Jane Doe" have a less than perfect son named "The Average Joe". Joe hates filling out forms and got "b's" and "c's" in school. Like his parents, however, "The Average Joe" also seems to be everywhere. Whenever we give examples to people about things that happen in life, we refer to "the average Joe". We say things like "Let's consider 'the average Joe' in this situation", and so on. Like his parents "John" and "Jane", he is also very popular in our American culture.
Now we'll change our topic a little and talk about Latin America. When I was living in my first Latin American city, I always heard about a guy named "Fulano" [foo-lawn-oh]. Everyone seemed to know him, but I never had the opportunity to meet him. After a while, I learned that his full name was "Fulano de Tal" (Fulano of Such). As time went on, and I lived in a few more cities, everyone still talked this "Fulano" guy. After a while of being immersed in my new language, I finally realized that "Fulano de tal" was the long lost relative of "John and Jane Doe" and their son "The Average Joe". I think he was their second Latin American cousin twice removed whose parents fled from America in the late 1800s after the Gold Rush. He has since traveled throughout Central and South America and seems to have the genetic makeup of all three of his American counterparts.
I also found out that "Fulano" has two brothers named "Mengano" and "Zutano". They just happen to be first cousins with "Tom", "Dick", and "Harry" in the United States. So, when people refer to any "Tom, Dick, and Harry" in the U.S., they can also refer to their cousins "Fulano, Mengano, and Zutano" in Latin America.
It was fun for me to find out that "John and Jane Doe" and "The Average Joe", exist in Latin America in the form of "Fulano". Just out of curiosity, for international subscribers, is there a "Fulano" type character in your country?
Moral of the Story: Next time you are talking to someone in Spanish and they mention "Fulano", you'll know that they are talking about "The Average Joe", "John or Jane Doe", or just "so and so".
Sneak peek at next week: "Provecho / Servido - Manners While Someone is Eating"
¡Que tengan buena semana! (Have a Great Week!)
David S. Clark -- President / Director
Visual Link Spanish™
Fun, Interactive Spanish Courses
http://www.learnspanishtoday.com
dave@learnspanishtoday.com
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Subscribe to our Monthly Spanish Magazine with Audio CD!
"Practice makes perfect!"
Perfect your Spanish with THINK SPANISH! MAGAZINE - now available with Audio CD. Think Spanish! Magazine is the monthly publication designed to increase Spanish fluency, BUILD VOCABULARY and GRAMMAR and IMPROVE LISTENING COMPREHENSION while teaching you about life in Spanish-speaking countries.
Now available with a monthly Audio CD - Think Spanish! Magazine will keep your Spanish strong all year long. Each issue includes dynamic articles about culture, travel, art, people and more and contains useful lessons and tutorials.
Each month the dynamic articles in Think Spanish! Magazine are read by native Spanish speakers. Think Spanish Audio CDs increase listening comprehension and pronunciation skills. For more info - Click Here!
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Responses to Past Newsletters:
Note: Formatting on responses may have been changed to fit your screen.
Response #1
Dear David,
I always look forward to your newsletter and find your writeup on Latin culture very interesting. This issue you mentioned about rest homes. I come from Singapore. In my country and I believe in most asian countries too, our culture is similar to latin american. Sending our parents to rest homes can sometimes mean that they are "unwanted". Thus most people in rest homes may not feel happy living there. I'm a chinese and usually this responsibility of living with one's parents will lie with a son, especially the eldest or only son. There's a chinese saying that,"An old person in your house, is like a treasure you have". They bring to us their wisdom and knowledge. I have the good fortune of living with my grandmother and it makes me very proud of my father, who is the 2nd son among 6. But I believe in time to come, we will see more families leaning towards American style. Not because the children are no longer fillial but because parents themselves want to have
their own free time now!
Anna
Response #2
My mom is from Brazil and though she's been here for over 50 years, she has never ever caught on to sarcasm. Your newsletter made me understand now. I always just thought she didn't have much of a sense of humor. However, she does laugh at slapstick comedy. I do think something is lost, though, for those who don't get sarcasm. Thank you for helping me to better understand my own mom. Now, I'm going to try to learn the conjugation of "I like" in Spanish. Thank you.
Suzie
Response #3
Dear Dave,
What you observe in those Latin American countries is also true for our culture- in Turkey. It is very common that the newlyweds live with their parents&parents-in-law. However,this is a bit changing in urban region,as more and more couples would like to move out and set up their own houses. On the other hand, if they need assistance for raising up the kids, instead of hiring babysitters,they can still ask their parents for help. So,they both take care of the elderly and have their kids taken care of their 'elderly'.
Although there exists some resthomes,usually it is not socially tolerated that you take your mum or dad to a resthome and live your life while ,it is believed you can handle both. Besides, in Turkey, your parents can forever support you financially no matter if you are over 18, have a job, get married etc. Nobody pushes you out of the home, perhaps they can expect implicitly some financial help to the family budget if you have a job but not more.
regards
özlem
Response #4
Hello Dave,
Thank you for a wonderful newsletter, I love the culture part, since I am going to Honduras in September. There I am going to work with street children.
Here in Denmark we also use rest homes very often, but in the past it was just like in the Latin American countries. There are plejehjem - "care homes" in almost every village, and people can come and visit the elderly. We also have a "home help", where we visit the elderly in their own homes and e.g. wash them, help them with food, getting dressed, cleaning and so on. Actually, I am one of those "home helpers", which I find very interesting.
It would be very nice if you would write about the differences between the Latin American countries; since I know that there are big differences between e.g. Denmark and Sweden, although they are close to each other.
Also, I would really enjoy if you would write about street children.
That's all for now.
¡Hasta Luego!
Vibe
Response #5
There are a few factors in whether elders are cared for in their family's home or an institution. One is that in the United States, the cost of housing is so expensive that women are forced to work outside the home in order for the family to afford the purchase of a house. Consequently, there is no one at home to care for elderly parents so if they can't care for themselves, they have to be cared for professionally. In Mexico, few women work outside the home so they are available for elder care in the home.
Secondly, the medical care in the United States prolongs people's life particularly the time of their life when they might need assistance. In the part of Mexico where we live, medical care is rudimentary. If greater care is needed, the person has to travel 2-4 hours to get to a place where the level of care is about the same as a medium sized city in the US. Most families don't have the money to drive that far so the person just slips away.
An example of this is that our friend's mother has diabetes. She has to drive over an hour once a month just to get her blood tested and see a doctor. She does not have an in home testing device and the town where she lives does not have the facility to do the testing. I doubt that she will be able to keep her blood sugar level as low as if she were tested more often.
Many US families are very close to each other but circumstances make it impossible for them to care for their elderly at home.
Bonnie Reece
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©2007 U.S. Institute of Languages
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