Visual Link Spanish(TM) Newsletter - Volume 6 Issue 47

Current # of Subscribers: 284,558

This issue:
1. NEW - Cultural Spanish Recipes
2. Testimonial
3. Weekly Spanish Lesson - “Becoming Aquainted “
4. Words of the Week
5. Ask Dave Section - “Qué vs. Cuál “
6. Culture Lesson - “Spain or Mexico”

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> Have Confidence When Speaking with a Native Speakers <
Learn all the phrases you need to carry on a complete conversation
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the language with Visual Link Spanish™.

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-http://www.learnspanishtoday.com/complete_newsletter.htm

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Guarantee - you’ll learn Spanish Guaranteed or your money back!

* With 30-60 minutes a day, five times a week, you will become
conversational in 30 days or less guaranteed - or your money back.

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NEW! - Cultural Spanish Recipes
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We are excited to implement a cultural Spanish recipe section to our
newsletter. We welcome your tasty Spanish recipes including the
originating countries (if available), accompanying pictures where
possible without copyrights and any interesting notes or comments
about the recipe.

We appreciate this important cultural connection around the globe
celebrating the all-important food traditions of the Spanish-speaking
people.

Please email recipes and pictures to: elise@learnspanishtoday.com

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Visual Link Spanish(TM) Testimonial –
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Hello David,

I’ve had your Spanish “Visual Link” course for a couple of weeks now.
I am very impressed to date. I’ve always known quite a few words in
Spanish, but never had the ability to, as they say “put it all
together”. Your course has really allowed me to do that. I find
myself thinking in Spanish quite a bit with a lot of things I’m
trying to say in English, day to day.

I’m really taking my time, as I’ve just finished the 5 sections
associated with “basic needs”. Your approach to grouping words in
“basic needs” is brilliant. I feel really confident and don’t require
the manual as the instruction is so good. “Maria” has an excellent
voice for learning !!

I took a chance buying your product, as there are so many Spanish
courses available. I believe I chose well and will recommend it to
others.

Gracias,

Don McLeod

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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.visuallinkspanish.com/membership/becomingaquainted.htm

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

Monday / to a restaurant/ a un restaurante
Tuesday / to the hotel / al hotel
Wednesday / to the pool / a la piscina
Thursday / to the office / a la oficina
Friday / today / hoy
Saturday / tomorrow / mañana
Sunday / tonight / esta noche

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

Hola Dave

When do we use ¿Cuál? y ¿Qué? in a question?

Can I use ¿Cuál día vas al teatro? or is it ¿Qué día vas al teatro?

Gracias

Ramona

Answer

Hola Ramona,

There is a set specific rule and way to do it, however people from
some regions - especially Mexicans tend to break the rules.

Basically, the official rule is:

Qué

If you are talking about a noun and the noun comes directly after
“what/which”, you should use “Qué.” Here are some examples:
“What/Which book?” would be “¿Qué libro?”, “What/Which car?” would be
“¿Qué carro?”, and “What/Which experience?” would be “¿Qué
experiencia?”

Cuál

You use “Cuál” when the noun doesn’t come right after. Here are some
examples: if you were to simply ask “Which?” it would be “¿Cuál”,
“Which is it?” would be “¿Cuál es?” and “Which (one) do you think…?”
would be “¿Cuál piensas?” In contrast, the phrase “¿Qué piensas?”
means “What do you think?”

Sometimes native speakers, especially those from Mexico tend to use
“Cuál” when they should used “Qué”. Here are some examples:
“What/Which book?” is said “¿Cuál libro?”, “What/Which car?” would be
“¿Cuál carro?”, and “What/Which experience?” would be “¿Cuál
experiencia”.

To answer your original question, since “día” is a noun, the phrase
“¿Qué día vas al teatro?” is tecnically correct, however, many
Mexicans and some people from other regions may say “¿Cuál día vas al
teatro?”

Dave

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Culture —– Spain or Mexico
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Many people have the mistaken idea that the Spanish language that is
used in Spain is completely different from that spoken in Mexico.
They also believe that if you speak in Mexican Spanish, they won’t be
able to understand you in Spain. I’m not sure where people get this
idea from but it is simply not true. As I mentioned in the newsletter
last week, some words may vary region to region (especially slang or
swear words) but the core Spanish language spoken in each country is
still the same.

In fact, there is a very close correlation between English from the
United States, England, and Australia and Spanish spoken in Spain,
Mexico and Latin America in general. For example, if someone from
England or Australia talks, I, as an American, can understand them
just fine and they can understand me. Sure we have different accents,
some of their swear words are different, and I may not understand
many of their slang words but we can understand each other. It is the
same with Spanish in Spain, Mexico and Latin America. They have
different accents and their regional uses of some words may vary but
they can understand each other just fine.

Briefly, some differences in accent between Latin America and Spain
are that in Spain, when they say their “S’s”, they make more of a
hissing “s” sound. Also, in Spain, the “z” and “c” (followed by “e”
or “i”) make a “th” sound instead of the Latin American “s” sound.
And finally, in Latin America, the “ll” can sound like an English “j”
or “y” depending on the region, however in Spain, it is generally
pronounced like a “y”.

(Just a little side note: Mexico is considered part of Latin America;
I have distinguished them since around 70% of Spanish speakers in the
U.S. come from Mexico and the rest from Latin America in general.
Source: census.gov)

All of these accent and vocabulary differences were considered as we
created our Visual Link Spanish™ course. As part of our creation
process, we had it reviewed by individuals from South America, as
well as corporate executives, a lawyer, and a linguist from Mexico in
addition to one from Spain. Although our course favors Latin American
Spanish and is recorded by a Mexican woman’s voice, we have ensured
that almost every word in the course can be understood in whatever
country Spanish is spoken.

During the creation process, we took things a step further and were
very picky about using the most contemporary words and phrases in the
course. There are many phrases that are currently found in textbooks
that are no longer commonly used in Latin America. The reviewers
helped us use the most common phrases in use today for subjects like
telling time, greetings and many others.

Now you know the scoop on the difference between Spanish from Spain
and Latin America.

Sneak peek at next week: “Now or Right Now? (Important Cultural Time
Differences)”

¡Qué le vaya bien! (May everything go well for you!)

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

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Ogden, UT 84403
1-866-977-2647

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