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June 2004 Online Newsletter...sent every other month
Tips and information about learning Spanish and the people who speak it.  Personal attention is what has made Language Link grow, and we value your contributions.  Please send an email to the address above to remove if you do not want to receive our news.  If you or a friend would like to be added to our list, email us at info@langlink.com.
What's in this edition
Online Lesson, Cocina Cooking, Culture Clips, Language Link's Latest, OJO (special deals), Rhythm & Book Blurbs, Been There, Loved That (reports from participants), Likeable Links
Online Lesson

When you’re polishing your Spanish and refining it, you need to pay special attention to the little things such as prepositions which follow certain verbs.  Here are examples of some of the most high frequency ones.  When you are trying to imprint something in your linguistic brain, read the example given here.  Then make up your own sentence using the same verb, but this time stating something which you frequently say.  Get those patterns stuck in your head, but make them your own patterns!  Make a game of seeing how often you can speak them or think them in a day.  When you’re learning a language you are laying tracks in your brain on which your Spanish cars can run, but you must keep those tracks well oiled by frequent repetitions.

asistir a = to attend    No quiero asistir a la reunión porque estoy muy cansada, y mi novio va a asistir a una fiesta en la casa de Guillermo. 

tratar de = to try in the sense of to make an effort (probar – to try out, on)  Voy a tratar de hacerlo bien.  Ellos van a tratar de no gastar mucho dinero en Acapulco.  Mi hijo está tratando de leer.

empezar (ie) a = to start   In a phrase such as ¿A qué hora empieza la fiesta?   The beginning A is the at in at what time, but when you have something following this verb, note:  Mi amiga empezó a estudiar el español la semana pasada.

olvidarse de = to forget   Siempre me olvido de la cantidad (how much) que necesito. 

acordarse (ue) de = to remember  Me acuerdo de la primera vez que fui a México.  ¿Te acuerdas de la primera vez?

salir de = to leave (from)   ¿A qué hora sale la profesora de la escuela? 

saber de = to know about    No sé nada de la historia de Costa Rica, pero sé mucho del café.

entrar a = to enter   No quiero entrar a la tienda sin mi bolsa. 

hablar de = to talk about    ¿De qué habla Tita? ¿ Habla del novio de Cristina o del novio de Alma?

enamorarse de = to fall in love with    Quiero enamorarme de un príncipe muy pronto.  Ella se enamoró de un español de San Sebastián.

soñar con = to dream about      Anoche soñé contigo.  ¿Soñaste conmigo?

alegrarse de = to be happy about   Me alegro mucho de la invitación a la boda. 

Cocina Cooking

What’s summer without a refreshing drink?  Also, many drinks such as this can pinch hit as an easy dessert.  You can imagine you’re drinking this one under a sheltering palm tree on one of the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica.  In fact, the name of the town in the recipe is an area of coffee plantations, and our program of Intercultura is also located in the same town.

Iced Café Heredia – serves three

6 oz. espresso coffee, 12 oz. cold milk, 2 T. sugar, 4 oz. coffee liqueur, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 4 ice cubes.

Mix coffee, sugar and cinnamon.  When mixed well add the liqueur, milk and ice cubes.  Serve to 3 friends dreaming of the tropics.

If you want to buy authentic Costa Rica coffee for this recipe, see www.cafebritt.com.

Culture Clips

The most developed country in Central America, Costa Rica has been described as a wilderness where green landscapes blue into turquoise horizons, red volcanic flames bleed into the black night, and rainbow-tinted birds streak across the sky.  Only the size of Switzerland and one of the most biologically varied places on the planet, it has four percent of the earth’s wildlife species and vast tropical forests.  This peaceful country, which abolished its army many years ago, has a newfound respect for its precious resources, with the most progressive reforestation program in the Americas.

  Costa Rica welcomes over one million visitors a year.  Compelled to match the warmth and friendliness of the ticos (native Costa Ricans), most of them join in the national saying pura vida.  (Difficult to translate, but it has the feeling of both a wish and a statement that “this is the life!”)   Split down the middle by two mountain ranges, Costa Rica includes more than 750 miles of coastline along the Caribbean and the Pacific, with twelve tropical life zones in between.  At its widest, it is only 100 miles.  Almost one third of the population lives in the central valley, and this is a good place from which to begin adventures of exploration.  From the capital of San José (home of an excellent school, ILISA), in one day you can visit a volcano (choose either a steaming one or a fire-spewing one!), hike in a cloud forest, or tackle the rapids of a challenging river (up to Class IV)..

The most typical dish is called casado, literally a married man.  It consists of gallo pinto (rice and beans), cabbage salad, fried plantains, fried eggs, and either fish, meat or chicken.  Satisfy your sweet tooth with some jugo de caña, freshly pressed sugarcane juice sold from the back of trucks near the cane fields or a cake called Tres Leches, saturated with condensed milk and topped with sugary meringue.

A favorite activity is a sky trek in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological reserve.  Get a natural buzz by being strapped into a harness and latched to a cable.  Then zip along 525 foot high lines on a canopy expedition to see the treetops.  Another adventure is to visit Arenal Volcano.  When the clouds pass, from the road you can see the lava sliding down the side of the volcano.  After dark the eruptions become very dramatic, as nature’s fireworks light the sky with the eruptions which can occur up to six times a day. 

The natural beauty, adventure opportunities, and a clear and well spoken Spanish, combined with the warmth and gentleness of the well educated Costa Rican people, make Costa Rica one of Language Link’s most popular destinations.  Come see why!

You can’t control the length of your life, but you can control the width and the depth of it.  - Anonymous

Language Link’s Latest

Transitions Abroad, May/June 2004, had a well written article about PLFM of Antigua, Spanish Study in Guatemala, Stay in One Place to Learn Language and Culture, by Alexa Majors, one of our students.  Alexa lives near Boston and works in fundraising for WGBH, the local public television station that produces many of the shows seen nationally on PBS.  Mil gracias, Alexa.

Announcing a winner for our Córdoba, Spain, trip…but also great news that we’ll be continuing the contest for even another free trip!  We’ll run the new contest for at least several months.  Keep entering through the contest box of our website; scroll down on the left of the opening page.  All we ask is a comment on our site.  But for now, congratulations to our winner of two glorious weeks in Spain.  Lindsay Wise, of Atlanta, Georgia, is a 24 year old working in the area of international training and sponsorship.  Her only study experience abroad was in London, so she is very excited to continue her study of Spanish with a trip to Spain.

Our website has a new look.  We have revised our navigation and format to make it even easier for you to access all the detailed information we have.  Take a glance at www.langlink.com.  It’s not as “pretty” as the former one, but we feel it’s infinitely more functional and user friendly.  All the better to serve you.

Full alert!  PLFM of Antigua, Guatemala, is completely booked until July 26.  We always hate to say no to you, but that’s the price of a very popular program.  Spaces at Becari of Oaxaca are also getting tight in July, also.  It is becoming difficult to get summer reservations for the Galapagos for students who want to combine this with studies in Ecuador.  We still have good availability in other locations, so don’t discard the idea of a last minute summer getaway.  We can handle your registration amazingly fast! 

Can we namedrop just a bit?  A reflection of the quality of CLIC in Seville is evidenced that some members of European royal families have studied there, and a recent US notable was the daughter of a recent US president who was doing graduate work at Oxford.  It was reported back to us that CC was a very good student! 

OJO (Special Deals).

           Keep an eye on the strengthening U.S. dollar against the euro.  It is predicted that it may reach its initial starting point of an even exchange.  Each point that the dollar moves closer to the euro will make your study prices in Spain that much cheaper. 

            Check out the Spanish Learning Tools on our website, as our students and site visitors can receive very special prices on the Pimsleur Audio Tape or CD series, as well as on the Rosetta Stone online learning program.

Rhythm & Book Blurbs
Book - The Shadow of the Wind  - by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated from Spanish into English and written with grace, sadness and bristling excitement.  The novel’s plot revolves around the remembrance of a childhood book choice in Barcelona.  It has been a huge best seller in Spain and is a story of tremendous scope and precise focus, capturing the magic of books as objects of love and as cultural icons

Album – Cuatro Caminos by Café Tacuba, a well known group coming straight out of Mexico City with a spicy blend of rock en español, with Jamaican ska/reggae and African-American hip-hop seasonings. This album shows that Café Tacuba is moving away from its alternative phase into a mature, Steely Dan type of mainstream sound.

Been There, Loved That

    PLFM, Antigua, Guatemala.  The school was great and exceeded my expectations.  The atmosphere was beautiful and learning friendly.  The professors are also excellent. Melissa Swan, Student, Wisconsin

    Becari of Oaxaca, Mexico. The school is very welcoming, classes are small; if you make your language needs known they seem more than happy to accommodate you. Theresa Michelson, Retired Librarian, Illinois

    Spanish Language Institute, Cuernavaca, Mexico. We loved the school in Cuernavaca and would highly recommend it.  Our host family was the best and we felt that we lucked out with the lovely house we were in.  Also, the excursions the school planned were inexpensive, well planned, and great. Renee Roberts, Travel Agent, Florida

    Academia Hispanica, Cordoba, Spain. Cordoba was the perfect choice for me…The history – and present day remains – of three cultures was fascinating.  The instructors put me in a group with those of similar ability, and tailored the lessons to include my goals.  Gail Mirza, Teacher, Connecticut

    Eureka, Madrid, Spain.  The grammar instructor, Andres, was incredible and helped me to tie together so many loose ends in speaking Spanish.  His devotion to teaching and passion for his language is passed onto the students.  He made learning fun!  He is an asset to the school and I recommend him highly.  The lessons I learned will always be remembered. Diane Teixeira, Artist, Florida.

    Intercultura, Heredia, Costa Rica.  Once again it was a great experience, everyone at the school works hard to make it a learning experience. D. Hayden Green, Educator, Illinois

    Academia de Español, Quito, Ecuador. The school was great; the one-on-one teaching was invaluable; the immersion experience was the best.  Joyce Walden, Student/Teacher, Colorado

    Lacunza, San Sebastian, Spain.  I had a wonderful 2 weeks at Lacunza (San Sebastián, Spain) last spring and am planning to send my 17 year old daughter for 4 weeks this July – through Language Link, of course!  (Linda decided to return with her daughter, and their trip is already in place.) Linda Khamsyvoravong

Likeable Links

1.  www.costarica.com     A website with general information on Costa Rica

2.  http://www.ticotimes.net/  The online edition of Central America’s leading newspaper

3.  http://www.geographia.com/costa-rica/history.htm  The history and culture of Costa Rica

4.  http://www.usembassy.or.cr/crinfo.html  Information on Costa Rica from the United States Embassy in San Jose

5.  http://samarabeach.com/about.htm A website on Samara Beach, one of the locations of Intercultura

 

We hope you enjoyed our news. Please visit us at www.langlink.com. Or if you like a real voice, call us at 800.552.2051. We're on Central Time with office hours 9:00 to 5:00.  
Kay G. Rafool, Exec. Director/Christina Henderson, Asst. Director, Language Link, P.O.B. 3006, Peoria, Illinois 61612 USA, Fax 309.692.2926 Worldwide 309.692.2961 Toll free 800.552.2051
info@langlink.com ¡Hasta luego!

Contact Language Link: Kay Godfrey, Director Latin American Office Meredith Butler, Director US Office 2008 W Kellogg Avenue West Peoria, IL 61604 USA

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