Visual Link Spanish(TM) Newsletter - Volume 6 Issue 7

Current # of Subscribers: 154,599

This issue:
1. Testimonial
2. Weekly Spanish Lesson - “Becoming Acquainted”
3. Words of the Week
4. Ask Dave Section - “Vos”
5. Culture Lesson - “¡Con Permiso!”
6. Responses to Past Newsletters

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Visual Link Spanish(TM) Testimonial –
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Hola Dave,

I’m taking it slow but have already learned enough to speak a bit and
catch on a little when people are speaking. It’s a great program and
my husband and I are very happy with it.

Thanks so much to you and everyone at Visual Link!!!

Melissa

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Weekly Spanish Lesson—Becoming Acquainted
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For this week’s lesson, click below to learn some basics to becoming
acquainted. You’ll hear María and watch a fun, interactive lesson.

To check it out, click here:
http://www.spanishprograms.com/learn/becoming_acquainted.htm

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Words of the Week
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Taken from our complete CD-ROM course —–

Monday / He knows (how) / (El) Sabe
Tuesday / You know (how) / (Usted) Sabe
Wednesday / to win / ganar
Thursday / to kick / patear
Friday / to throw / tirar
Saturday / to hit / pegar
Sunday / the ball / la pelota

Click Here to login and access your free membership and lessons.
http://www.spanishprograms.com/login.phtml

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The Official “Ask Dave” Section —–
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Question

Dear Dave:

I have been in many countries in “América Latina”, especially in El
Salvador, Costa Rica, Argentina and Colombia. I have noticed that
most of the people in these countries speak with “vos” especially in
El Salvador and Argentina (e.g. “vos sos un muchacho muy inteligente;
vos sos una gran amiga”, etc.) Would you please explain what is this?
is this an abreviation of “vosotros”, if it is not so, is this
another way to say “tú”? Is this castillian?

Many thanks

Answer

Hola,

The word “vos” means “you” and is sort of a slang form of “tú”. It
has been adopted in many regions of Latin America. Some countries
have even put it into their grammar books with instructions on how to
conjugate it. It is basically conjugated like “tú” with a few
alterations. My understanding is that it is sort of a knock-off from
“vosotros”, however, “vosotros” means “you” plural and “vos” is used
when only talking to one person. Since it’s more of a slang type of
word, “vos” is used in more casual settings. It’s used in the
countries you mentioned as well as Uruguay, Paraguay, and Guatemala
among others. When you visit those countries, you don’t have to use
“vos”, you can simply use “tú” and they will understand you just
fine. However, if you want to sound a little more native, when in
those regions, you might want to try using “vos” in informal
settings.

If there are any native speakers that have more information on the
history of “vos” please write in and let us know.

Hopefully that answers your question.

Hasta luego,

Dave

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Culture —– ¡Con Permiso!
============================

The Spanish (Latin) culture is generally very polite and more formal
than the cultura in the U.S. — which has a tendency to be a little
more casual. As I have mentioned in the past, when Latin friends or
relatives greet each other (women greet women or women greet men),
they usually kiss each other on the cheek. When men greet men, if
they are friends or relatives, they will often shake hands and/or
they hug each other. They usually shake hands when greeting each
other and again before leaving a social situation.

I got so used to shaking hands when both greeting and leaving people
that I still do it sometimes here in the U.S. out of habit. I get
some pretty strange looks a sometimes from people when I extend my
hand to shake theirs much more than they’re used to.

Now on to our phrase of the day. In a lot of regiones of Latin
America, when a group of people are in a conversation and one person
needs to leave, they say “con permiso” [con pear-mee-so] which means
“excuse me”. People do the same thing here in the U.S. but it is not
as common in casual situations. In Latin America however, people
almost always say “con permiso” when leaving a group in both formal
and casual situations. It adds a nice touch to social situations and
is something that grew on me enough that I decided to bring it back
with me. I today often say “excuse me” — the English version of “con
permiso” — now that I am back in the U.S. when I need to leave a
group of people.

The words “con permiso” are also used if there are people blocking
your pathway and you need to pass. It is a nice and short way to say
“I need to get by, would you mind moving?” As you can see, the phrase
“con permiso” is very useful and good to know. Maybe you can even
memorize it and start using it now!

Because of phrases like “con permiso” and ohters, I found the people
in Latin America to be very amable, respectful, and polite. Children
are usually very polite to their parents and other adults, and people
in general were usually very polite with each other. In some ways, I
wish I was still living in the Spanish (Latin) culture with native
Spanish speakers! It is a great culture.

Moral of the Story: Learning about different cultures is fun, expands
our vision, and helps improve our outlook of the world. The next time
you need to leave a group of Latin people, be sure to say “con
permiso”.

Sneak peek at next week: Fun Spanish Words

¡Hasta luego! (”Until later”)

David S. Clark — President / Director
Visual Link Spanish(TM)
Fun, Interactive Spanish Courses
http://www.spanishprograms.com
dave_c@spanishprograms.com

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Responses to Past Newsletters
=============================

Response #1

Dave,

We live in México. In many ways life is hard in México, but I really
think the Saludaa tumamiis a “corazon connection”. My 90 year old
father in law who lives here in Guadalajara still asks about my son
who lives in the U.S. and whom he hasn’t seen for over 13 years. My
brother and his wife were here nearly 2 years ago and my father in
law still asks about them. Too, I never will forget when my father in
law spoke on the phone with my mother for less than a minute from
here to the U.S. several years ago. His voice when he said, “Sí
Señora, sounded full of warmth and respect. Often, he asks about her.

I’m enjoying, and learning a lot from your Spanish Lessons.

Sincerely,

John

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