Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend even thought it’s Monday! But guess what we have some great music to cheer you up.

Today we are listening to an Argentinean band: Los Pericos. This band was founded in the late 80’s, by a group of friends that loved reggae music. In 1987 they became famous when they opened a concert for UB40 at River Plates Stadium in front of 50,000. Since then they haven’t stop releasing cds. “Me late” (It beats) was one of the most successful hits from the 90’s in all of South America, making them so big that Jamaica officially designated them as the official reggae ambassadors in Argentina. In their almost 21 years of carrer they have sold over 2,000,000 records  and 1,500 live performances around the world.

So listen to them, and sing along, to this successful single “Me Late”.

Anoche salí (soñé) con una mujer
de esas que nunca se olvidan, no, no.

Wha, wha, y no pude dormir.
Wha, wha, y no pude dormir.

Yo creía que todo,
que todo era el final;
que ya nadie podría,
hacerme sentir igual, no, no.

Por suerte amigos,
yo me equivoqué,
todavía me queda,
mucho por recorrer.

Me late, me late,
me late el corazón,
tengo taquicardia,
ay si Señor.
Me late, me late,
me late el corazón,
tengo taquicardia,
ay si Señor, no, no.

Hay pulso, hay pulso,
oh no, no,no,no,no.
Hay pulso, hay pulso.

Anoche salí con esa mujer,
que me hizo ver las estrellas,
anoche salí con esa mujer,
que me sacó del planeta.

Wha, wha,
y no pude dormir.

Que linda minina que tengo en Panamá.
Que linda minina que tengo en Panamá.

___________________________________

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

Prior to moving to Argentina, I spent several years working at an investment firm in Los Angeles. After the financial market collapse, I decided that it was time for me to try something different and accepted a consulting job in Buenos Aires. I set off for this new experience knowing only basic Spanish.

The first few weeks were very frustrating. This was the first time that I was living and working in a city where I did not speak the native language. I was not prepared for how difficult it was going to be to learn Spanish! My biggest hindrance in learning the language was finding the time. With a full work week and the time required to adjust to a new city, I just didn’t have the time to take classes.

I found out about “Bueno, entonces” through a friend who heard they were organizing a focus group to test the product. I joined so that I could try the program in exchange for writing a review.

I was very pleasantly surprised with how great the program was and how quickly my Spanish improved. While some of the beginning classes were below my skill level, I still found it helpful to have them reinforce basic grammar and conversational vocabulary. As the classes continued, I found myself getting pulled into the story line of David and his teacher Jimena, and also learning more and more Spanish.

For me, the best thing about the program was its portability. I was able to put all the episodes on my iPod and watch a different one each day on my commute to work. Because I could take it with me anywhere, it was easier for me to stay motivated and keep up with the program.

I’m already feeling more confident with my Spanish and am excited to keep improving my skills!

- Mary, Los Angeles, CA

I’m a South-African thirty year old, who just moved to Buenos Aires to live here, having absolute no, zero, nada Spanish to my name. The one thing I noticed about Argentina, they meant it when they said it’s a Spanish speaking country. Not like in Spain, where every second person has perfect English, and you can get away with being complete rubbish at Spanish.

So, I really wanted to improve my Spanish. I’d been taking lessons with a tutor, but the progress felt too slow. I needed something to move things along, and quickly. The biggest problem being a beginner at a foreign language, is that you have ZERO personality. It’s “gracias”-this, “por favor”-that, grinning like a confused idiot all day. Who is going to teach me how to express myself properly? Not just asking for directions, or ordering at a restaurant. But actually using language to express sense of humour and personality? Or more importantly, who is going to teach me how to call someone an *sshole if I need to?

The answer is Bueno Entonces. A well produced, fun and funny set of language lessons. It’s actually very clever the way they produced it. There are two central characters, an English guy and his hot Spanish teacher. The teacher only speaks Spanish (at full speed), but this is accompanied by subtitles. In the beginning it seems fast, too fast, but then you start getting the hang of it, as the lessons progress. Even though this is challenging, it’s genius. Because the Spanish spoken in the real world is FAST. It doesn’t help you to have some DVD box set of spanish lessons, spoon-feeding you words – and then you get out into the street, and you still can’t catch a word that anybody is saying.

Bueno Entonces also uses colour-coding on all their text – to indicate verbs, masculine, feminine, etc. After a while, it all kind of starts falling together, and I found the more I watched, the less I needed the subtitles. It’s all very smart.

So in a nutshell – I’d definitely recommend it as a good, fun way to increase your vocabulary, learn to speak like the locals speak, and very importantly, how to pick up chicks/dudes. You can download it to your iPod, and watch them on the go….handy for those long Argentine bus journeys.

-Priscilla, South Africa

Note from Bueno, entonces…: Check it out for yourself and see what you think! You can see the first full 40 minute class for free here: http://www.generallinguistics.com

Then tell us what you think below!

I downloaded this app because I need to learn some basic Spanish because I travel to alot of Latin American countries for work. This app rocks! So easy to use and fun because you feel like you are watching a show and learning at the same time. I have Rosetta Stone and although it is also good, this application makes you want to watch the next one like a TV show. The graphic art is great and very visual for people like me that like this format for learning.

If you are trying to learn Spanish, get this app! You will not regret it and the entertainment values alone will be worth the price. I bought one of the apps and will be dowloading the whole series.

Nos vemos mí¡s tarde en la clase Bueno Entonces español!

-VinLane

I’ve only taken 8 weeks worth of Spanish lessons while in my life. At that is was mostly because the teacher was hot and my pubescent mind hadn’t figured out that hot 30something Spanish teachers are never gonna fall in love with a pimply teenagers. It’s kind of ironic that Bueno Entonces offered a bunch of expats a free ride on their series of Spanish learning videos in return for a review. I say ironic because they have cunningly figured out that the horny teenager in us all never really goes away and using sex to distract you from the fact you are learning a language is a winning strategy.

The series comes in a variety of formats but I went through the lessons on my ipod. This was pretty easy to do – I just dragged them into my iTunes and low and behold 30 odd innuendo filled episodes were ready to roll. I had in my mind that I’d zip through them over a spare weekend but as it turns out they are fairly hard work. Thankfully, the protagonists, an English bloke and his hot Argentine professor manage to keep your interest with a selection of vaguely titillating topics while still covering the basics. You could in fact be excused for thinking it was a primer on how to deploy pigeon-Spanish chat up lines to the fine art of getting you leg over.