Visual Link Spanish(TM) Newsletter - Volume 6 Issue 8

Current # of Subscribers: 155,827

This issue:
1. Testimonial
2. Weekly Spanish Lesson - “Daily Objects”
3. Words of the Week
4. Ask Dave Section - “Turn Left and Turn Right”
5. Culture Lesson - “¡El Sarcasmo!”
6. Responses to Past Newsletters

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Visual Link Spanish(TM) Testimonial –
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Dave,

After trying out many different Spanish courses, I really do think
that you have the best course. Good logical learning approach but
also due to your dedicated support. I think you fully believe in your
course as demonstrated by your personal involvement and your
newsletters - much of which is based on your personal experiences.
That is good for us ‘gringos’ coming from a fellow ‘gringo’. We get a
translated look at a culture we are unfamiliar with. I look forward
to your newsletters with excitement.

Mike

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Weekly Spanish Lesson—Daily Objects
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This week’s lesson comes from the complete Visual Link Spanish™
course. Click below for a fun, interactive lesson on Daily Objects.

To check it out, click here:
http://www.learnspanishtoday.com/learn/daily_objects.htm

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

Monday / I have to / Yo) Tengo que
Tuesday / You (formal) have to / (Usted) Tiene que
Wednesday / He has to / (Él) Tiene que
Thursday / She has to / (Ella) Tiene que
Friday / to run / correr
Saturday / to the post office / al correo
Sunday / to the bank / al banco

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

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The Official “Ask Dave” Section —–
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Question

Como se dice [How do you say] “turn right” y “turn left”? He oido
tambien [I have heard also] “doble a la derecha” and “doble a la
izquierda”. Es aceptable? [Is that acceptable] Es regional? [Is it
regional]

Gracias,

-Barbara Abramowitz

Lesson/Explanation

Hola Barbara,

You can either say “doble a la derecha” or “dé vuelta a la derecha”
(”turn right”) as well as the same thing for “left” (”izquierda”).
They are interchangeable. It’s similar to the difference between the
English “Turn right” and “Take a right”. Just like English has many
ways to say the same thing, in Spanish there are also many ways to
say the same thing.

Some people learn how to say certain things in Spanish at school and
think that’s the only way to say it. Sometimes there can even be more
than two ways to say the same thing - for example, in telling time.
To me, that’s when a foreign language becomes fun - when you can use
variation in what you want to say.

For more in-depth information on locations and directions, take a
look at section “7. Locations” in your complete Visual Link Spanish™
course. It covers locations and directions in-depth and gives you a
full idea of how they work.

Hopefully that answers your question.

¡Hasta luego!

Dave

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Culture —– ¡El Sarcasmo!
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In all of the Latin American countries I’ve either lived in or
visited, the people react to “el sarcasmo” (sarcasm) very differently
than they do here in the U.S.

Here in the U.S., sarcasm is very widespread and is used as a common,
daily form of communication. For example, if a friend or family
member purchased a new shirt that was obviously a little strange, you
could tease them by saying “Nice shirt!” Of course, when you say
“Nice shirt!” what you really mean is, “Wow, that shirt is a little
wild or strange.”

In Latin America, people usually aren’t accustomed to hearing or
using sarcasm with each other. For example, I was working with a
native speaker who was wearing a very interesting sweater. It was
definitely out of the ordinary and a little strange. I said, “Nice
sweater!” He looked at me with a thoughtful look and said “Thanks”.
He didn’t get the fact that I was using sarcasm with him. He thought
I was serious and was giving him a nice compliment about his sweater.

As I lived in Latin America for two consecutive years in different
countries, I began to get accustomed to this new attitude of not
using sarcasm. It took quite a while, but soon I didn’t use sarcasm
at all. Because of the lack of sarcasm in Latin America, it seemed to
me that there was generally more respect among people.

Then, after two years of living among the natives and adopting this
new mentality, I met up with an American. We were put on a project
where we would have to work together every day for a month or so. He
had just arrived in Latin America and wasn’t used to the language or
culture (without sarcasm). Quite a few times, I found myself getting
offended when he used sarcasm with me. I had become so immersed into
the Latin culture that I found his sarcasm offensive. It took me a
few weeks to get back into the swing of things and realize that he
wasn’t actually trying to be rude or mean. He was just using a
similar type of sarcasm that I had used previously when living in the
U.S.

Now, some of you may be saying, “I know some Latin people in the U.S.
who are sarcastic”. If you do, it’s probably because they have
already begun to adopt some of our cultural behaviors. Just remember
that most native speakers living in Latin America usually aren’t
sarcastic.

I would love to hear from you (newsletter subscribers) in different
countries to find out if you use sarcasm in your countries.

Moral of the Story: When visiting Latin America, for business or
pleasure, it’s important to know about their mentality on sarcasm. On
the other hand, even though many Latin people living in the U.S. may
have adopted sarcasm and use it frequently, be careful when talking
to them, sarcasm still may offend them. Although a world without
sarcasm was very different to live in and get used to, I grew to love
it and found the people to be very respectful towards each other.

Sneak peek at next week: “Rest Homes in Latin America?”

¡Hasta luego! (”Until later”)

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

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Responses to Past Newsletters
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None

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