Offers a non-intimidating approach to learning Spanish language basics. This book brings together 75 illustrated readings and articles about the life and cultures of Spanish-speaking countries organized around topics such as famous people, festivals, traditions, food, history, geography, art, sports, and music.

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Spanish I
1. Some Basic Phrases
2. Pronunciation
3. Alphabet
4. Articles and Demonstratives
5. Subject Pronouns
6. To Be and to Have
7. Question Words
8. Numbers / Ordinals
9. Days of the Week
10. Months of the Year
11. Seasons
12. Directions
13. Color
14. Time
15. Weather
16. Prepositions
17. Family and Animals
18. To Know People and Facts
19. Formation of Plural Nouns
20. Possessive Adjectives
21. To Do or Make
22. Work and Scho

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About this LEARN SPANISH Book:

Spanish Language Book – LEARN SPANISH in 12 DAYS – Speed Learning Course

The Spanish Language Speed Learning Course Book for the Kindle will help you learn conversational Spanish in a very short amount of time. Are You Getting ready to travel overseas, Mexico, or Spain? Want to pick up Spanish as quickly as possible? This Book will get you on the fast track to speaking the Spanish language confidently and proudly in 12 days or less!
Learning a

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This title deals with everyday situations in which children may find themselves while abroad. Spanish grammar is clearly explained, and puzzles provide plenty of practice. This title is part of a series providing a thorough grounding in useful, basic language skills.

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About this Revised LEARN SPANISH Book:

Spanish Language Book – LEARN SPANISH in 12 DAYS – Speed Learning Course

This is the Revised Kindle Edition Version of one of the most popular and best selling Spanish Language Learning Books on Amazon. An Easier Hyperlinked Navigational Table of Contents has been added by Request.

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The Spanish Language Speed Learning Course Book for the Kindle will help you learn conversational Spanish in a very short amount of

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Spanish cultural institutes and personalities yesterday hailed the Nobel awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa, the first Spanish-language author to win the prize in 20 years.

Spanish Royal Academy president Victor Garcia de la Concha described the Nobel as a ´great joy´ which the academy – the official custodian of the Spanish language – had awaited ´anxiously´ for years.

Garcia de la Concha described Vargas Llosa as ´one of the great innovators of Spanish-language fiction.´

Carmen Caffarel, director of the Cervantes Institute which seeks to propagate Spanish culture, said the Nobel awarded to the Peruvian author was ´the fairest in the recent years.´

Spanish author Javier Marias described Vargas Llosa as ´one of the greatest novelists of the 20th and 21st century, with a work capacity comparable to those of (19th-century French authors) Victor Hugo and Gustave Flaubert, whom he admires.´

Vargas Llosa was the first Spanish-language writer to win the Nobel since Mexico´s Octavio Paz in 1990.

via Spain hails Nobel win for first Spanish-language author in 20 years – Monsters and Critics.

One of the cool things about Android is that Google is always innovating and looking to add new features/functions to the OS. Yahoo Tech reports that Google was showing off new software at Mobile World Congress in Spain this week that translates foreign text when the user takes a picture with their Android device´s camera.

At the MWC demo, a Google engineer took a picture of a German restaurant menu with an Android smartphone. The translation software takes the photo, uploads it to Google servers, and translates the text automatically. The translation is then sent back to the user.

In the demo, the image had an item with the German description “Fruhlingssalat mit Wildkrautern” which the Google software was able to accurately translate to “spring salad with wild herbs.” The difference in this Google offering and similar apps already available is that the translation is done on the Google servers.

The reason for that is to allow more processing power to be applied to the translation than the mobile device can muster on its own. The result is supposed to be faster translations. That is assuming that the mobile network in the area is fast enough to send a photo quickly to Google´s servers.

Google offered no indication of when the software would be offered for Android devices.

via DailyTech – Google Shows Off Translation Software for Android at MWC 2010.

After the English-speaking director yells “Cut” through 189 takes, Mr. Torres rips the letter “P” from a Pepsi sign behind him and boldly tells the director that in his neighborhood, it´s called “Pesi.”

This approach was a big hit, although somewhat controversial, in Argentina last year when Pepsi humorously renamed the brand “Pecsi” in keeping with Argentine accents. Now Pepsi is parsing different Spanish accents, adopting the “Pesi” spelling in Spain without the Argentine “C.”

In Argentina, the challenge for the brand´s agency, BBDO, was to do a price comparison with Coca-Cola to emphasize Pepsi´s lower price during the depths of the global economic crisis last year. The message was that in a tough economy, Pepsi costs one peso less than Coke, so you can either save money by drinking Pepsi, or save by drinking Pecsi.

“Changing Pepsi to Pecsi was a way of gaining closeness [to the consumer] and transcending a mere value message,” said Ramiro Rodriguez Cohen, a BBDO Argentina creative director.

Pepsi also created a Pecsipedia for Argentine slang that more than 1,500 people contributed to.

“This campaign is based on a universal insight: Pepsi is pronounced in many different ways, as was reflected in the BBDO Argentina campaign,” said a spokewoman for Pepsi´s agency in Spain, Contrapunto BBDO.

In Spain, the execution is different. In addition to the TV spot with Mr. Torres, Contrapunto BBDO also created a “making of” version that tells the whole narrative: Mr. Torres, a famous player who used to play for the Atletico Madrid soccer team, was hired to make a blockbuster Pepsi commercial, set in a space ship that´s surrounded by monsters and princesses. But the story changes dramatically when he takes his linguistic stand and becomes a true hero, defending his neighborhood and the way people speak there.

Both videos are on the website lodigascomolodigas.com (Spanish for “You say it like you say it”), which was created by Spanish agency La Despensa and attracted more than 200,000 visitors in the first two weeks.

Another video on the site introduces the Comando Pesi, a team charged with going first to Mr. Torres´ neighborhood and then to other parts of Spain to see how they pronounce the soft drink´s name and what other local expressions they use. Their local words and idioms will be added to the Real Pesipedia Española, which sounds like a spoof of the Real Academia Española, Spain´s conservative body responsible for establishing the rules governing the usage of the Spanish language.

As in Argentina, the overall message in Spain is, “Do you say ´Pepsi´ or ´Pesi´? If you say ´Pepsi,´ it´s correct. If you say ´Pesi,´ it´s even better. It doesn´t matter how you say it, you are saving either way.”

With all the buzz in Latin America about the Pecsi campaign, BBDO Argentina´s Mr. Cohen said he´s heard consumers in other Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Venezuela also have trouble with the standard pronunciation of Pepsi. “We are very proud that the success of the campaign in Argentina allows the concept to be applied in other parts of the world,” he said.

A Pepsi spokesman at the company´s New York headquarters said that other than Argentina and Spain, “There currently are no plans to use similar advertising in other Spanish-speaking markets.”

via Marketing: In Spain, Pepsi Becomes ‘Pesi’ – Global News – Advertising Age.

Learn how to speak Spanish by knowing how to greet someone in Spanish in this free language video on learning how to speak Spanish. Expert: Mixitxu Etxeberria Bio: Mixitxu Etxeberria speaks fluent Spanish, holds a BA in Linguistics from Reed College, lived in Spain for one year, taught Spanish for six months. Filmmaker: EV studios

The region, which includes Barcelona, Spain´s second largest city, accounts for about one-fifth of the country´s box office but just two percent of movies from the United States or other nations were dubbed into Catalan in 2008.

Camillo Tarrazon, the president of the Catalan Association of Cinemas, said the dubbing law which was approved by the regional Catalan parliament earlier this month would be an “apocalypse” for cinemas in the region.

“This is a law which will close theatres, which will lead to a reduction in the number of copies of films and a drop in the number of spectators,” he said in comments published Wednesday in Spanish newspapers.

Tarrazon said 74 cinemas, representing 81 percent of the total in Catalonia, are expected to remain shut on Monday as part of the strike.

The last time the Catalan government tried to introduce similar regulations, in 1998, it was forced to back down after studios threatened to withdraw distribution in the region.

Dictator Francisco Franco banned dubbing into Catalan as well as into Spain´s other regional languages, Galician and Basque, shortly after he came to power in 1939 in a bid to promote national unity but since his death in 1975 use of the three languages has flourished.

Public education in Catalonia, Spain´s wealthiest region, is now carried out primarily in Catalan, while a 1998 law obliges businesses to serve clients in Catalan and have signs and information in the language.

Last month more than 160 Catalan towns held symbolic referendums on independence from Spain.

Catalonia, like other Spanish regions, already controls most aspects of government, including health and education.

Under a regional statute approved in 2006, Catalonia´s regional parliament was granted enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters as well as more control over airports, ports and immigration.

Spain´s constitutional court is considering a submission by the right-wing opposition Popular Party to reject the definition of Catalonia as a “nation” used in the 2006 statute.

Press reports have said the court will bar the term, setting the stage for a major political crisis.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

via AFP: Cinemas in Spain’s Catalonia to strike over dubbing law.