December the 28th, what’s up with this date?

Well in Spain, Latin America and the Philippines, it’s the date of the Holy Innocents. It’s a day for the Christians because it was the date when all the newborns in Belen where sent to killed by King Herodes el Grande, because Jesus de Nazareth was born.

Well, to commemorate, Spain and Latin America celebrate el ‘Día de los Santos Inocentes’ and during this day all they do is pranks, the equivalent to April Fool’s Day in many countries.  On ‘innocent day’ they say you shouldn’t trust anybody or lend money, but the traditions vary depending on the country. For example in Mexico they call it ‘inocente palomita’! (remember this Simpsons episode? See how it was translated to spanish)

It is very big, specially in the Media. Newspapers make special editions mocking politicians, famous people, the News on TV shows all the bloopers of the year, and it’s a good way to disconnect a bit from all the stress of the year before the new year begins.

Nowdays with twitter and Facebook, pranks became better including pregnancy tests, airline tickets around the world, quitting jobs, firing employees etc, Scaring the shit out of friends and family!  So keep and eye on what you read Oyentes from Bueno, entonces….

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 We are used to the idea that Friday the 13 is a day of bad luck due to the Hollywood movie that goes by it’s name. But in Latin America its on Tuesdays! MARTES 13

Are you scared at your desk while you are reading this? Well you should be! Martes 13 it’s a very serious day and nobody leaves their houses unless they are wearing black! I am just playing with you guys it’s like any other tuesday, but the story behind this day, is very interesting.

Number 13 (número 13) around the world has been considered a bad luck number for several reasons, especially in religion:

• Paganism (Paganos): 13 is the age when people start learning witchcraft (magia negra).
• Christianity (Cristianismo): There were 13 attendees of the Last Supper and the 13th dinner guest, Judas, betrayed Jesus to the Romans. It was on Friday, the 13th of October, 1307 that King Philip IV sent out his guards to systematically massacre the Templar Knights.

• Sikhism (Sijismo): It is a lucky number in Sikhism, in which it means ‘yours.’ The holy word of Sikhs ‘Waheguru’ appears only 13 times in the Holy Sikh scripture. The Baisakhi festival is celebrated on April 13
• Judaism (Judaismo): God has 13 attributes of mercy. 13 years is the age of maturity. 13 circles, or “nodes” make up Metatron’s Cube in Kaballistic teachings.

Many of the buildings around the world don’t have a 13th floor, ( just went to check my elevator but it does have floor 13, I guess my building was built by an unsuperstitious architect) or they just skip the number 13 in the elevator. But that does not mean there is no 13th floor! They say that in government buildings 13th floors are not open to the public, and used for top secret activities.

Por qué un Martes? (Why a Tuesday?)

At the end of the  Medieval Age ,specifically, Tuesday 29 of 1453, the Christians lost control of one of the most important cities of their empire; Constantinopla. This was such a slap in the face for the Pope, Genoa and the Venetian States that they marked this day as a day of bad luck. Also, the name “Martes” is related to the planet Mars (Planeta Marte) that was seen as  the “small hex planet” (pequeño maleficio) in the middle ages. That is why it’s Martes the 13th not Viernes the 13th like the Hollywood movie says!

That is why in Spanish there is a saying : En un Martes 13 ni cases ni te embarques. (Tuesday the 13th neither get married nor start a journey (take a boat or a plane)).

What do you think about all this? Are you a Triskaidekaphobia (someone who has a phobia of the number 13?)

Now you know about Tuesday the 13th! There are a bunch of traditions and superstitions to learn about here in Latin America. We are more than welcome to be writing about them, this is what is all about sharing knowledge. Follow us on #Facebook! Facts, Lessons, and many other #spanish things! http://www.facebook.com/buenoentonces . You can also start learning Spanish with our program! Try it for free! http://bit.ly/BEFreeTrial

This is how we do it! 

BUENO ENTONCES – Video Presentation on Vimeo.

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Bibliography:

• Home of beliefs : http://www.homeofbeliefs.com/the-number-13-superstition/
• Wikipedia: Martes 13

Just to go with the trend of the number 11′

SEE! You are reading our post!

We could actually give you just 10 reasons or 12 reasons about why you should learn SPANISH but today we just feel like giving you 11, we just don’t know why yet. But here they are:

Once 11. It’s not romantic but sounds really cool.

Diez 10. There is more than one way to say I Love You.

Nueve 9. You can always wear a t-shirt that says: “watch what you say, this gringo is bilingual”

Ocho 8. It’s spoken by more than 320 million people around the globe.

Siete 7. It can increase your job opportunities.

Seis 6. It will transform your traveling experience.

Cinco 5. To be able to enjoy the warmest and richest culture on earth; the Latino culture. (clearly this latino is not biased!)

Cuatro 4. To develop your creativity – language stimulates the imagination.

Tres 3. To be able to sell your product or service to one or more of the 350 million Spanish speakers in this world.

Dos 2. To meet your Latino/a

Uno 1. Because learning Spanish is fun! 

Well, are you convinced? We don’t mind how you learned, we just want to assure you it’s the right thing to do because it will open the doors to a whole new world.

Here are some spanish courses that will probably teach you spanish but are not as fun or economical as Bueno, Entonces… We don’t know if they give you a free trial but here are the links to their websites:

Rosseta Stone

Rocket Language

Primsleur Approach

Bueno, Entonces…

There are 12.500.000 results for “Spanish Classes App” so you can continue searching or just try our app and see it yourself.

Feel like learning Spanish? Get Bueno, entonces… now and you’ll be speaking and understanding native Spanish in just five weeks! We also have clips of our Spanish classes on Youtube – go check ‘em out and get a taste of our teaching style.

Better yet – you can now get the first 40 minute class for free! Try it out here: http://www.generallinguistics.com

Here’s a Fibertel commercial to… well, not help you learn Spanish, but it’s still worth a watch.

All you really need to know is ‘Que bolu,’ which is what they sing over and over again in the song.  Bolu is short for boludo, which is Argentine slang for something like an idiot.  So the song is essentially saying ‘What an idiot, what an idiot,’ but with much more of a ring to it.

But don’t worry, if someone refers to you as a boludo, as in Che, boludo! don’t be offended.  Boludo can also mean ‘man,’ as in Hey, man!

And believe us when we say this song will be stuck in your head for the next few hours. Catchiest. Tune. Ever.

Want to get some real Spanish classes under your belt? Check out Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish I & II today and you’ll get the first 40 minute class for free! See how here: http://www.generallinguistics.com

Plenty of Tránsito, or Traffic, in Buenos Aires!

Buenos Aires is a big city, and in big cities, people rely a lot on public transportation. Hey, it’s the only way to get around without costing a fortune. Besides, driving in Buenos Aires is a total and complete nightmare.  It’s as if lanes don’t exist, and there is no right-of-way for anyone– it’s all fair game. Heck, crossing streets as a pedestrian feels like you’re putting your life at risk.

But that’s besides the point, the point being that all methods of public transportation (and some key Spanish phrases) are very, very important here.

However, Buenos Aires residents are all-too-familiar with having to find alternative transportation on a regular basis. Why is that? Because public transportation workers have a tendency to strike. A lot. If it’s not the trains, it’s the buses, if it’s not the buses, it’s the subway… What are these common disturbances called? Huelgas (strikes). Which leads us to our next item of business: transportation vocabulary!

So, like we mentioned, there are various ways to get around in the city. First, there are coches (cars–can also be called carros or autos), which can come in the form of personal coches, taxis (same in English), and remises (private cars for hire).

Next, you have the colectivos (buses).  A slang term for buses in Argentina is bondi, but you might hear someone refer to a bus as a micro, too.  A bondi and colectivo are for short-distance buses (inner-city) and micro is for long-distance buses (between cities).

We also have the trenes (trains). First, there is the actual tren, which can also be referred to as the ferrocarril (but this is an old-fashion term– you will see it written, but not often spoken, like railway). Then, there is the underground train, better knows as the subte (subway). Subte is short for subterráneo (underground).

To buy boletos (tickets) on the colectivo or bondi, you need monedas (coins), but on the other modes of transportation, you can use billetes (bills). On the subte or the tren, you wait in an estación (station), but on a bondi or colectivo, you wait at a parada (stop).

The vocabulary regarding transportation varies from country to country, but for the most part, auto, taxi, colectivo, tren, and subte will be understood everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world.  Lastly, if you are trying to find your way around in Buenos Aires, treat yourself to a five-peso Guí­a-T– this is the public transportation Bible.  Every zona (zone), every bondi, everything you need to know to get around the city.

Want to improve your Spanish even more?  Visit the Bueno, entonces… learn Spanish website, where you can find over 18 hours of fun, interesting Spanish classes on DVD or as downloads for your computer, iPod, or iPhone, all for as little as $147!

If you’re a Facebook Fan, you get $50 off our Learn Spanish Levels I & II. Are you a Bueno, entonces… fan yet?

Plus, if you go there now, for a limited time, you can get the first 40 minute class for free without having to buy! Check it out: http://www.generallinguistics.com

As always, trying to translate these yourself will help you learn Spanish much faster!

Here’s one from Fede

“They say that the companies are giving prizes to their users who are consuming less light.”
“And what is the prize?”
“A package of candles”

This one was taken from Arguelles

Manuel, now that science has evolved so much, I’m going to resort to surgery.
Are you going to correct your near-sightedness, Leonor?
No….breast implants!

And one more from Severi

You have your money and your documents, no?

Visit http://www.generallinguistics.com for more ways to have fun while learning!

Not everyone's type of garden

We all love piropos (pick-up lines), and, like insults, you can never have too many at your disposal, which is why we are posting yet another one to woo the crowds.

Here’s one for the romantics: La única flor que le falta a mi jardí­n es tu flor de poronga. Now practice saying it a few times. It sounds charming, doesn’t it?

Well, turns out that this pick-up line about flowers and a garden is pretty deceiving. The direction translation is:

The only flower missing from my garden is the flower of your penis

Ahem. We don’t know if this line has ever worked for anyone, but it’s probably not worth trying. Nonetheless, it is well worth a Spanish lesson, so let’s get on with it!

This phrase is interesting for a couple reasons:

1) Did you read the translation? That’s interesting enough.

2) The noun flor (flower) looks as though it should be masculine (doesn’t end in ‘a’), but in fact, it is actually feminine. And,

3) The term le falta might have thrown you off. Don’t worry, it isn’t an easy concept. In order to break down the meaning of le falta, we need to look at the phrase:

Faltar means to be lacking something, in this case, the garden is lacking the flower of your penis. Instead of saying ‘the only flower that my garden lacks,’ the word order changes a bit, and the word for ‘lacks’ comes before ‘garden’.

The ‘a‘ in falta a mi jardín is what connects the two parts of the phrase – first the action, and then who (or what) receives the action.

Lastly, the ‘le‘ in le falta refers to the garden – the garden is lacking something. It is an indirect pronoun that can mean him/her/it (or in this case, the garden). The ‘a mi jardín‘ is only there to specify, as there is no prior context to the phrase, but if there had been context, a simple ‘le falta‘ would’ve been just fine.

Whew, exhausted yet? Don’t worry, that was like Spanish Levels I, II, and III in about 5 minutes. With Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish, you’ll watch David (our protagonist) goes from “Hola” to picking up local girls (or at least, attempting to.)

Become a fan on our Facebook Page and learn cool Spanish phrases – and check out our Youtube Page for clips of our Spanish classes, too!

In Fact now for a limited time you can see the class for yourself. Go here today to get the first 40 minute class free: http://www.generallinguistics.com

These come from humor-argentina.com. See if you can figure out the translations yourself before scrolling down!

Pay attention to the wordplay in this one:

Marriage tends to evolve like technology:
1: The Cassette (Cinta) Stage; She gets pregnant
2:The CD (Cede) Stage; He gives up everything
3: The DVD (Dividi) Stage; Divide the house, divide the car, divide the savings

“To think that I knew her when she started!! The time passed and look…She changed her form, every time more stylish…today she is almost totally made of plastic…and every time faster!”
“I’m not sure if he is talking about the 20 years of the computer, or about Pamela Anderson.”

“Honey, what is worse? Ignorance or indifference?”
“I don’t know, nor do I care.”

If you want to be able to translate these yourself, check out Bueno, entonces… to learn Spanish fast and in the funnest way possible!

Go today and get the first class free and see if you like it! http://www.generallinguistics.com

For all those waiting for the next big Bueno, entonces… Sale- the time has come! You can now get the full 30 class, 5 week course for 45% OFF.

That includes 20 hours of hilarious classes with David and Jimena going through all the necessary grammar, vocabulary and phrases for Spanish Levels I & II.

You’ll see all the words in both English and Spanish, color coded with road signs so you can take in important grammar concepts such as Gender, Sentence Structure, Verb Tenses and Conjugation easily.

You will also get a lifetime of free support, study guides, quizzes, slang dictionary and all the new support materials coming out soon (such as flashcards!)

The best part? You can take the classes at home in your spare time, or wherever you go on your mobile devices. AND the classes are actually entertaining, so you don’t get bored like you do with other language courses.

So get Bueno, entonces… TODAY and save over $60!

That’s because with our Back To School Sale you can get the entire download for only $79.

Get it here, before this sale finishes on Monday: http://f.generallinguistics.com/back-to-school-sale/

No one likes hump day, it’s right in the middle of the week and friday night drinks are still a ways away. So here are a couple super cheesy Jokes to get you through the day.

Están tres náufragos solos en una isla desierta y se encuentran una lámpara maravillosa. El genio les dice que les va a conceder un deseo a cada uno.
El primero dice: Deseo irme con mi familia y amigos.
Y se lo concede.
El segundo dice: Deseo irme con mi familia y amigos.
Y se le concede.
El tercero, al ver que se había quedado solo dice: Deseo que mis amigos regresen.

There are three men shipwrecked on a deserted island and they find a magic lamp. A genie appears and tells them that he will grant one wish to each of them.
The first one says: I want to be with my family and friends
The genie grants it.
The second says: I want to be with my family and friends.
The genie grants it.
The third, on seeing that he had been left alone says: I want my friends to return.

En el consultorio el doctor le dice al marido:
Lo siento señor, pero a su esposa sólo le queda una hora de vida.
A lo que el señor responde:
No se preocupe doctor, ya la he aguantado ocho años…me puedo esperar otro ratito.

In the consultation room the doctor says to a husband:
I’m sorry Mr, but your wife only has one hour to live
The man replied:
Don’t worry doctor, I have been able to take her for 8 years…I can wait a little longer.

Like laughing while learning? Then Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish I & II is the perfect program for you. A witty, fast and comprehensive course that gets you conversational in Spanish in just five weeks.

Check us out today and you can get the first 40 minute class for free to see if its unique teaching style is right for you: http://www.generallinguistics.com

PLUS: Right now you can receive all the support materials free with the first trial class, including a 68 page study guide, online glossaries and phrases and a Spanish Slang Dictionary.

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