The Canaval of Barranquilla in Colombia is the second biggest after the Carnival in Rio. Pack your bags because its going to blow!

(18-22  February 2012)

This Carnival began over 100 years ago and it’s precedence is from Europe, more specifically Spain. It was the party where slaves, spaniards and portuguese came toghether, and with the years it shapped until what it’s today: the second biggest carnival in the world! The Carnival was honored by UNESCO as World Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It lasts four days but it takes a whole year to organize it. It’s all about dancing, drinking, partying, music, smiles, and RUMBA!

Marimondas

The carnival begins in the 18th of february with La batalla de las flores (Battle of the Flowers). That is a parade with live music, costumes, and beauty queens, all of which go around barranquilla. During the Carnival there are 3 main icons: El Rey Momo, The Queen of the Carnival, and Joselito Carnaval.

The Rey Momo: It’s the icon you can find in almost all the carnivals around South America. When he appears, the party begins. The elected king is given the “keys” of the city and he is usually a really big guy.

The Queen: She is the one in charge of encouraging the people from Barranquilla to follow the only rule of the carnival : “bailar y gozar hasta que el cuerpo aguante.” (Dance and enjoy until you drop)

Joselito Carnaval: He symbolizes the end of the carnival. Locals reinact the myth of a carriage driver who partied so much during the carnival that the last day he died.

When Joselito Carnaval is ''buried'', the Carnival of Barranquilla ends

Feel like learning Spanish to travel all over South America? Get Bueno, entonces… now and you’ll be speaking and understanding conversational 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

With the Reelection of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, people from Argentina are ready to get into the Protesta Mood! The prices are going up, the government is not offering many solutions, and  inflation is growing by two digit numbers (Even though the ‘official stats’ were less than 10% in 2011). 

What is Argentina’s true inflation rate? The Washington Post

First of all we have to say Argentina is an amazing country with lots of potential, and that we enjoy living here. However, there are some things people should know, because history is repeating itself, yet again. One of the aspects of Argentina that you just have to get used to, is the frequent occurrence of manifestaciones (demonstrations), huelgas (strikes), and the like.  We’ve mentioned public transportation strikes before in our Medios del Transporte post, and we’ve talked about the pasión, but now we are going to combine it all into one post about all things passionately ‘anti’!

Mocking a SUBE Card (All the prices going up!!)

There is always some kind of controversy going on in this country, whether it is something that the government did to piss off the citizens (100% increase on the subway ticket in one year will do the job), the unionized workers (increase in salaries of about 25% due to a similar inflation rate), the farmers, etc…  Somebody is always unhappy about something.  And we appreciate the fact that they are willing to voice their opinions about anything and everything.  Still, it gets a little frustrating when it interferes with your everyday schedule (subtes (subways) are down, roads are blocked, certain foods aren’t available…)

Piquete

Now, the importance of this aspect of Argentina life is so major that we didn’t only want to inform you about it, but also we wanted to provide you with a list of necessary vocabulary that you will undoubtedly find the need to use at one point or another (‘sorry I was late, there was a protest that blocked the main avenue’).  Here it goes!

Manifestación = Demonstration

Huelga = Strike

Marcha = March

Bloqueo = Blocking (of a road, etc…)

Cacerolazo = Casserole-ing?  When they hit pots and pans together as a sign of protest/obnoxiousness

Piquetes = Picketing or Riot

Piquetero = Picketer or Rioter

Protesta = Protest

Carteles = Signs held at any sort of manifestación

Paro = A hold/stop (as in the stopping of the Subtes = un paro de los Subtes)

There you have it– all the necessary vocabulary to get by in the day-to-day manifestaciones of Argentina & South America!  Can you think of any other words or Spanish phrases that might be useful?  Add them in the comments section here or on our Facebook page – and check our more clips of our Spanish lessons on our Youtube Page. If you want to really learn Spanish, then head on over to our language learning software page get your hands on Bueno, entonces…- you’ll be speaking conversational Spanish in just five weeks!

There is one city in South America where the celebrities around the world migrate to warm up!

In the begining of every year, Punta del Este, Uruguay is the hot spot for celebrities! From Gerard Butler, Naomi Campbell and Eric Clapton to George Clooney and Bob Dylan, these starlets come to the sunny beaches of Uruguay, running from the cold but definetly not from the paparazzis.

Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in Maldonado, Uruguay. It is located about 140 kilometres east of Montevideo.  The real Population of Punta del Este is about 7,000 to 8,000 but with the summer tourist boom, it often boosts the population an extra 150,000 people!

The city has colonial architecture all around combined with boutique hotels and hostels, but its main attractions are its two main beaches, Brava and Mansa, that are packed with people during summer time. But there is one place where the locals go, and that is playa La Barra del Maldonado. A must see landmark is the Dedos (fingers) in the sand at Playa Brava. During the season, Punta comes alive with concerts, festivals, and parties. It also offers water sports, fishing, whale- or sea lion –watching, and horseback riding on the beach.

So if you guys want to travel to Punta del Este, make sure to do your bookings early on the year. Is an expensive city but it’s worth visiting if you have the time and money!

Feel like learning Spanish to travel all over South America? 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

Hola Oyentes! Ready to tune in to this music MONDAY?

Today we are listening to the Spanish Musician Miguel Bose, was born in Panama City in 1956. He is son of an actress and a Bullfighter, and you can definitely see that spicy mix in his music. He began as an actor, but decided to jump into the music scene in 1978 with his debut CD “Linda”. Since then he has been really big in Spain and Europe, but in the last 12 years he started touring in South America with great success, even becoming a Colombian citizen after falling in love with the country. His latest tour Papito, was a complete success around the world.

Here are the lyrics to MIGUEL BOSE ft JULIETA VENEGAS – MORENA MIA so you can sing along!

Morena mía
Voy a contarte hasta diez
uno es el sol que te alumbra
dos tus piernas que mandan
somos tres en tu cama, tres
Morena mía
el cuarto viene después
cinco tus continentes
seis las medias faenas
de mis medios calientes.
Sigo contando ahorita
Bien, bien, bien, bien, bien

Morena mía
siete son los pecados cometidos
suman ocho conmigo
nueve los que te cobro
más de diez he sentido…

Y por mi parte sobra el arte
lo que me das, dámelo, dámelo bien
un poco aquí y un poco ¿a quién?

CHORUS:
Cuando tu boca, me toca, me pone y me provoca
me muerde y me destroza
toda siempre es poca y muévete bién
que nadie como tú me sabe hacer café.

Morena agata, ay me mata, me mata y me remata
vamos pal infierno, aúnque no sea eterno
suave y bien, bien
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/morena-mia-w-julieta-venegas-lyrics-miguel-bose.html ]
que nadie como tú me sabe hacer café

Pero cuando tu boca, me toca, me pone, me provoca
me muerde y me destroza
toda siempre es poca y muévete bien, bien, bien
que nadie como tú me sabe hacer….uff café.
Bien, bien, bien, bien, bien, bien…

Morena mía
si esto no es felicidad
que baje Dios y lo vea
y aunque no se lo crea
esto es gloria…
Y por mi parte pongo el arte, lo que me das,
dámelo y dalo bien
un poco así y un poco ¿a quién?

Pero cuando tu boca, me toca, me pone y me provoca,
me muerde y me destroza
toda siempre es poca y muévete bien
que nadie como tú me sabe hacer café.

Morena agata, ay me mata, me mata y me remata
vamos pal infierno, aúnque no sea eterno
Suave bien bien, que nadie como tú me sabe hacer café

Y es que cuando tu boca, me toca, me pone, me provoca
me muerde y me destroza
toda siempre es poca y muévete bien, bien, bien
que nadie como tú me sabe hacer..uff café.

Bien, bien, bien, bien, bien, bien…

Another good song from him is “Como un Lobo” which he sings with his sister Bimba Bosé.

How’d you do? It’s really important to practice your Spanish listening with how people really sound, accent and all! In fact, training your ear is one of the most important steps to learning a language, because once you can understand people, you will start getting new words, grammar, and sentence structure.

That’s what so special about Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish I & II- a program unique in its format and structure. It teaches you Spanish at REAL speed, and gets your ears ready for talking folks on the street.

PLUS: You’ll hear Spanish while seeing both the Spanish and English written below, color coded and with road signs so you can pick up grammar and vocabulary easily.

Best thing of all? You can take it ANYWHERE – on your laptop, iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Check out the first Bueno, entonces… class for free & get a discount!:http://www.generallinguistics.com

Shopping in Spanish? This is what you need!

Plaza Serrano - Buenos Aires

Most of us like going shopping, or just buying little souvenirs to reminds us of our travels. But most of the time in South America you’ll get the Gringo price, it even happens to us in Bueno, Entonces… when we are trying to get projects done.

We can’t teach you directly how to know if you are getting a gringo price or the real price … that involves common sense and intuition. Most of the street stores/ people are willing to negotiate the price, and sometimes offering cash (efectivo) in stores may get you a discount.

(Note: When trying to buy things on the street from artisans or people that do their own crafts, don’t negotiate with them! Pay them what they ask for, because for most of them it’s their only income.)

So here in Bueno, entonces… we found a list of words that you should know while you go shopping!  We hope its useful for your travelling!

Want to know more Spanish vocabulary? Start your Bueno, entonces.. Spanish classes! You can get the first 40 minute class for free and see what you think.

Grab it here: http://www.generallinguistics.com

We will be very honest with you! It’s a pain in the arse! And we understand if you guys are upset! Our programmers are working 24/7 to fix our App and make it fully functional and user friendly as possible ASAP.

Delete, Reinstall and Restore= Solving the problem

Most people have been able to view their classes by deleting the app from the device and from iTunes. Then re-installing it from the app store. You will not lose any of the classes you purchased (go to settings -> restore purchased classes), but this allows you to re-download it cleanly, which fixes more than 90% of the problems. If that doesn’t work, let us know and we will try to replicate the problem on our end. Please email us at support@generallinguistics.com and we will respond within 24 hours.

YOU WON’T LOSE YOUR CLASSES OR YOUR MONEY

We are really sorry for the inconvenience, our programmers are currently working on fixing the problem to ensure this doesn’t happen again or inconvenience our oyentes! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING.

If you have any problems don’t hesitate to write us at our support service, your opinion is very important to us!

support@generallinguistics

Here is some vocab in Spanish:

Fix: Arreglar

Sufriendo

Lose: Perderas

Restore: Restaurar

Allows: Permite

Replicate: Replicar

Inconvenience: Inconveniente

Comprehension: Comprensión

———————————–  WHAT THE USERS ARE SAYING ——————————-

Facebook Comments!

Itunes Comment! After Fixing it

Interesting Fact: Not all authorities agree on which letters make up the Spanish alphabet. Crazy, right? This here is the closest thing to an official Spanish alphabet (from the Real Academia Español. )

A: a
B: be
C: ce
CH: che
D: de
E: e
F: efe
G: ge
H: hache
I: i
J: jota
K: ka
L: ele
LL: elle
M: eme
N: ene
í‘: eñe
O: o
P: pe
Q: cu
R: ere
S: ese
T: te
U: u
V: ve
W: uve doble
X: equis
Y: i griega (E griega)
Z: zeta

Want to hear the words? Check out this great site that has the Spanish alphabet audio clips. Yup, they don’t include the ‘ch’ or ‘ll’ on that site. Because sometimes they take those ones out. Or they add ‘rr’. And sometimes the ‘w’ is called ‘doble v’ or ‘doble u’ or ‘w’ is not included at all. Oh yeah, and the ‘v’ (as in Victor) is sometimes ‘uve’.

Come on Spanish, get your act together.

To find out more about Spanish grammar, check out Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish and speak and understand native Spanish in five weeks! (You can also check out clips from our Spanish classes on Youtube!)

There is only one reason for today’s Blog. There are only 24 hours left. Of what, is the question. Let’s see what can we do in 24 hours.

“24hrs left” is such a cliche, it even became a tv show! But is 24hrs hours a lot of time?  What can you get done in a day? Time magazine always has a section of what you can do in 24hrs in different cities around the world. It’s interesting but we all know it’s just impossible to do it all. And honestly, I think that when you are traveling it’s better to take your time, it’s quality not quantity.

At Bueno Entonces we really focus on making your lessons as useful as possible, that’s why Jimena and David (the Main Characters of the classes) go through everyday situations, which real travelers face, including SEX<DRUGS<ROCK & ROLL. Because this is Spanish for real world situations. Books and Spanish schools usually don’t teach you the real thing, they probably teach you the ‘right’ thing, but you will sound like a robot. Plus! Most people don’t actually say the ‘right’ thing, and you want to understand them!

SLANG & EXPRESSIONS make Spanish fun, interesting and RICH! So this is why we think in 18hrs (NOT 24HRS) we can give you what is needed.

The total class footage is 18hrs. We know you won’t sit in front of your TV or PC for 18 straight hours and learn it all! Language practice must be involved, but we assure you that if you take them regularly you will learn spanish! AND you only have 24hours left to get it all at HALF PRICE ! So what does this deal include?

• 6 DVDs with all 30 classes for learning Spanish Levels I & II which you can watch on your TV or PC.

• Over 18 hours of David and Jimena hi-jicks that’ll keep you entertained and learning.

• All the backup files so you can save, store and view the classes on your laptop, as well as most mobile devices (like iPhones, iPod, and iPads).

• The BE Unique style of teaching, which replicates the immersion process while you learn grammar, gender, vocabulary and sentence structure subtextually.

• Free Lifetime support in addition to an electronic Study Guide and Slang Dictionary.

• A US$197 product, which for the next five days only, will be on sale for US$99. 

• Did we mention Free shipping and handling???

So get yours now! If you don’t like them, we have a 100% return policy, no questions asked- we like making people happy! This is the link to buy the DVD’s http://bit.ly/HalfOffDvds 

 24hrs left of half price + 18hrs of Spanish = Learning Spanish in a fun way!

No matter where you are in the world you can immerse yourself in learning Spanish. Designed for students, travelers, and people on the move, Bueno, entonces… allows you to learn Spanish on your laptop, netbook, or any portable media device; wherever, whenever you have time.

Created by linguists, teachers and students from a half-dozen countries, General Linguistics developed Bueno, entonces… to incorporate all the best elements of the software and audiobook language learning methods like Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone that have been around for decades.

We mixed the comprehensive learning material of the audiobook courses with the addictive, fun and universally beloved format of a television show to create the Bueno, entonces… series. Each of the 30classes is 30-40 minutes long, proven as the perfect length for a language course – long enough to cover vocabulary and grammar topics but short enough to keep you interested the whole time. The challenging fast pace and edgy, entertaining style of Bueno, entonces… will keep you coming back for more.

Learning Spanish doesn’t have to be boring and monotonous. Bueno, entonces… infuses a witty, engaging storyline into the learning process – and by following along you absorb more Spanish, morequickly than you ever thought possible. By the end of the 5-week, 30-class series, you
will be speaking and understanding native conversational Spanish!

Bueno, entonces… incorporates the following 5 principles to make learning Spanish fun, painless and effective:

1. Make The Classes Interesting & Engaging With Wit and Charm.

If you are not engaged, you are not going to learn or remember anything. Learning doesn’t have to be boring — remember your favorite teachers? Well, wait until you meet David & Jimena…

2. See The Words On The Screen.

Some people are audio learners, some people are video learners – most people are both, and learn different things in one way or the other. With Bueno, entonces… every word in Spanish is written on the screen so you can see how it is spelled while you hear it being pronounced. Old-fashioned audiobooks only get your half-way there.

3. Color-Coding.

Everything on the screen is color-coded in Spanish and English to help you understand word usage and sentence structure. You’ll start to quickly see and understand which words in Spanish correspond with similar words in English, and how those words are used in a sentence.

4. Symbols & Illustrations.

The symbols will help you learn and remember verb tenses and grammar concepts. The illustrations will burn iconic images into your brain so you remember vocabulary easily and instantly.

5. REPETITION Is The Key To Learning Languages.

Any teacher will tell you that, and it’s one of the big problems with traditional audiobooks and software programs – they are mind-numbingly boring. Bueno, entonces… is engaging and fast-paced and fun. You can use these classes over and over and get something new every time.

So here are a few jokes(chistes) just to end the week with some humor.

Un hombre cae a un rí­o y es salvado por un habitante del lugar.
- Gracias por salvarme la vida. Le darí­a cincuenta dólares en agradecimiento, pero sólo tengo un billete de cien.
- Bueno, en ese caso, tí­rese al agua y lo rescato de nuevo.

A man fell into a river and was saved by someone who lived there
-Thanks for saving my life. I would give you $50 dollars in gratitude, but I only have a $100 bill.
-Well, in that case, throw yourself in the water and I’ll rescue you again

Un átomo viendo la cara de preocupado del otro le pregunta:
- ¿Por qué llevas esa cara?
- Es que perdí­ un electrón
- ¿Estás seguro?
- Sí­, estoy totalmente positivo

One atom, looking at the worried face of another, asks
“Why do you have that look on your face?”
-”It’s because I lost an electron”
“Are you sure?”
-”Yes, I am completely positive”

_______________________________

See how quick and painless that was? Bueno, entonces… is the most effective, entertaining Spanish learning software on the market–and our user community is growing rapidly because of it. Join us on our Learn Spanish Facebook Page!

Want to watch the first Bueno, entonces… class for Free? Check us out here: http://www.generallinguistics.com

Click here to order the 6-DVD set or Instant Download and learn Spanish today!