Thursday, December 10, 2009

El Cerro de la Popa



View of the Santa Cruz de Manga Islands, Boca Grande and Castillo Grande and Tierra Bomba seen from Cerro de la Popa. Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

In the neighborhood of Manga, where I use to pass my childhood is located the Fort of Pastelillo, named that way for its shape of a Cake. From the Cerro of la Popa, you can appreciate a impressive view of The Walled Centro of the city, and the Islands of Manga and Tierra Bomba with the walls under the water to avoid the entry of enemies by boats or ships.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Spanish Sentence

Spanish Grammar: The Spanish Sentence
The Spanish Sentence — Defined
Basics
A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought. It has two parts: the subject (noun or pronoun) and its modifiers, and the predicate (verb) and its modifiers.

The subject is that part about which something is said, and the predicate tells that which is said about the subject. The subject is broken up into the subject word and its modifiers, and the predicate is broken up into the predicate word and its modifiers.

The black horse / runs a beautiful race. "The black horse" is the complete subject, "horse" being the subject word modified by the adjectives "the" and "black." "Runs a beautiful race" is the complete predicate, "runs" being the predicate word modified by the phrase "a beautiful race."

Types of Sentences
In both English and Spanish, sentences are classified, according to use, as declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory.

A DECLARATIVE SENTENCE makes a statement.

John is a good student.

An INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE asks a question.

Has the mailman arrived yet?

An IMPERATIVE SENTENCE states a request or command.

Come back in about an hour.

An EXCLAMATORY SENTENCE expresses strong feeling or emotion.

How pretty she is!

En Español la oración esta compuesta básicamente por el Sujeto y el Predicado.
El sujeto es de quien se habla en la oración, y el Predicado es lo que se dice o explica del sujeto.

Si usted tiene más preguntas o dudas con gusto le puedo responder.
If you have questions or doubts I will be pleased to answer.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Top 7 Things to Do and See in Cartagena, Colombia







Top 7 Things to Do and See in Cartagena, Colombia

Plan to spend several days in Cartagena, also known as Cartagena de Indias, Colombia's fascinating Caribbean resort and most popular attraction. History and nightlife, beaches and churches, a walled city and colonial architecture make it a living museum, perfect for honeymoons, family vacations and adult adventures.

1. Centro Amurallado - Old Town

This is the heart of Cartagena, the old walled city protected by the fortress intended to protect the city from pirates and storms. Within the walls, there are colonial buildings, plazas, churches and convents. Accommodations and restaurants within this area, called El Centro, highlight their colonial origins. Also within the walled area, the section of Getsemani is less expensive, but worth a daytime stroll..

Decameron Cartagena
I pass my honeymoon in this wonderful resort.
Hoteles, tarifas, información Críticas y más en TripAdvisor
www.TripAdvisor.es


2. Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

This is the huge fortress dominating the town. Begun in 1533, the strategic location called for a fortress, and the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas was started in 1639. Visitors now can walk the battlements, stroll through underground passages and wonder at the labor that slaves and natives made to protect the city .

3. Bocagrande and El Laguito

These two areas are located on an L-shaped peninsula facing the Caribbean. Here, upscale restaurants, hotels, clubs and bars offer just about everything the visitor can wish for..

4. Playa Blanca

"Playa Blanca,definitely is the best beach close to Cartagena - you can reach it overland or by boat.With its white sand & crystal water Playa Blanca is probably one of the best “playas” in Colombia! It is definitly worth to stay there for some days. There are several places where you can rent hammocks, get food & drinks."

5. Nightlife

Plenty of choices in Bocagrande, in the center of town, El Centro, and Getsemani for tabernas, discos and bars. Use caution in Getsamani, but all the nightlife is lively, with Caribbean and Colombian music. Take a nap before you go nightclubbing

6. Islas del Rosario.

White sand, bleu water, surfing, accuarium, bird idland, beautiful tropical houses soubrounded by nature and more much more then you can expected.

7. La Popa

Agustinian Monastery in the high hill in from of the San Felipe Castle, you can see the panoramic of the city including the old and new Cartagena. Inside the walls you will find a refinated Capell, wich altar made in wood is plaqued in gold by artisans coming in during the colony time from Pasto.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Un once de Noviembre de 1811




Un día como hoy, hace 198 años, Cartagena de Indias una ciudad determinante en la historia de Colombia y América. Cuando desde sus inicios en tiempos precolombinos habitada por los Kalamarí, indios guerrreros del grupo Caribe, a quienes pertenece nuestra gloriosa india Catalina y quienes se distinguieron por combatir ferozmente a más de una expedición que desembarcara en sus costas.

Como he dicho en mis anteriores publicaciones fué fundada por Don Pedro de Heredia,el 1 de Junio de 1533, con el nombre de" Cartagena del Poniente", para distinguirla de " Cartagena del Levante" en España, ambas importantes puertos con bahías similares. Objeto de la codicia de invasores foráneos. (Leer mis anteriores publicaciones sobre Cartagena).

El 11 de noviembre de 1811 se firmaría el Acta de Independencia Absoluta de España, comenzando con esto 10 largos años para lograr la emancipación definitiva. De los muchos bloqueos y sitios que sufrió la Villa de Heredia, cabe destacar el impuesto por Pablo Morillo, El Pacificador, en 1815, quien tenía el objetivo de recuperar esta importante plaza para la Corona Española. "Cartagena de Indias, Ciudad Heroica", fue el título que se ganaría luego de soportar más de tres meses de intenso cerco.

Actualmente es la quinta ciudad en importancia en Colombia, luego de ser la primera en tiempos de la Colonia y cuando fué cede del Virreinato con Sebastian de Eslaba, asi mismo fué la ciudad desde donde gobernó nuestro tres veces Presidente Rafael Nuñez en época de la República, es un importante Puerto, ciudad Turistica e Industrial que esta orgullosa de su pasado y que mira de frente al futuro.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Cartagena de Indias



http://adunoyer.net/cartagenapics1.html

With a lot of pleasure I invite you to know more about the city where I was born.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Amor y Amistad





AMOR Y AMISTAD. Gonzalo Gallo G

Un sabio dijo: “Cuida a tus amigos como a tus mejores cuadros, ubícalos donde les dé la mejor luz". Un buen amigo es un tesoro sin precio y, por eso, ganas mucho cuando cultivas la amistad. Un buen amigo admira todo lo bueno que hay en ti y te corrige sin juzgarte, es leal, entiende tus caídas y no se escabulle cuando estás mal. La amistad sólo nace y crece si la cuidas, por tanto, para tener amigos debes ser generoso, sincero, respetuoso y altruista. Si eres buen amigo nunca envidias, comprendes sin juzgar y siempre estás abierto al perdón y la tolerancia. Comparte con tus amigos todo lo que puedas porque ellos conjuran los males y te reconcilian con lo mejor de la existencia. Si además sientes y tratas a Dios como Amigo, Él será un sol que brillará incluso en los días grises.
Cuando amas y te amas eres un regalo para los demás, un ser de luz que irradia paz, El amor te conecta con el maravilloso mundo del espíritu. Donde brilla el amor se desvanecen las suspicacias y hay terreno abonado para el entusiasmo y la esperanza. Amando eres un arco iris, una primavera, un sembrador de fe, alguien que ayuda a conquistar sueños. Haz todo con amor y exprésalo en los detalles, la ternura, el respeto y el don de dar sin esperar recibir. Que tu amor se haga patente en los hechos y sea un amor incondicional. Únicamente das amor y amistad, cuando aceptas, admiras, eres íntegro y no fantaseas con relaciones perfectas. El amor convierte tu casa en un hogar, tu trabajo en oración, tus palabras en poesía y tus actos en las flores de un jardín. Tu misión es vivir conectado con Dios y dejar que su amor te posea. El amor es la única respuesta a los interrogantes de la vida.
Neruda dijo: “es tan corto el amor y tan largo el olvido”, pero conviene cambiar las palabras: De tu actitud depende que sea cierto afirmar: “es tan corto el olvido y tan largo el amor”. Lo que llamas amor y que a veces no lo es, pide cuidados, entrega y mucha dedicación. Lo mismo que ponen los artistas en sus obras y sólo así dejan como herencia sus obras maestras. Por eso tuvo razón el siquiatra Erich Fromm cuando le puso este título a una de sus mejores obras: El Arte de amar. Sí, amar es un arte y todo arte pide esos valores que citamos antes y otros más. No es entonces raro ver muchos enamorados y pocos artistas en el amor; muchos que quieren y pocos que aman. Acaso el amor no sea para siempre, pero vale la pena intentarlo y aprender a darse sin apegos, sin dependencias, y con libertad. Lo logras con buena autoestima, una vida espiritual intensa y sin el virus de la posesividad. Corta cualquier relación sufriente, busca ayuda y no dependas de otros para ser feliz. En la sociedad de lo desechable tu reto es tener amores y amistades perdurables para resolver los acertijos de la vida.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Gramática en Español

¿Habían o había?
El verbo haber es uno de los más damnificados en su mal uso, y pensar que tiene unas reglas muy sencillas de aplicar. Veamos. Siempre va en singular cuando antecede a sustantivo o adjetivo plural: Había cuatro personas en la fila. Había muchos voluntarios. Es mejor que no haya disputas. Hubo serios problemas. Había unos cuantos responsables. De no ser por tu ayuda, no habría tantos inscritos.
Sólo se conjuga en plural cuando es auxiliar de otro verbo: Habían dicho muchas sandeces. Hubieron de retractarse. Me pregunto si habrían escogido esta opción.
No debe emplearse la forma, habemos muchas personas; en su lugar, utilicemos somos o estamos. Sólo es correcta cuando significa habérselas con una persona o una cosa, es decir, enfrentarse a ella: Nos las habemos con un verdadero profesional. Cuando en un juicio el juez niega una petición, dice No ha lugar; si la aprueba, dice Ha lugar.
En la expresión Tiene mucho en su haber, ya haber no funciona como verbo sino como sustantivo, refiriéndose a los méritos o puntos a favor de una persona. Se utiliza más en plural cuando se refiere a bienes y derechos de una persona: Entre sus haberes se contaba una finca. La expresión haberes pasivos significa pensiones de los empleados públicos.

Expresiones que confunden

A veces se confunde el infinitivo haber con la expresión homófona a ver: *Haber si nos entendemos. *Haber si te preparas mejor. Mejor utilizarla: A ver qué es lo que sucede. A ver con quién debemos jugar en la siguiente ronda. En caso de duda, remplácela por veamos: Veamos qué es lo que sucede. Tampoco debe confundirse Hay con la interjección Ay, que expresa dolor o sorpresa: ¡Ay, doctor, cómo me duele la cabeza! ¡Ay de mí! También expresa advertencia o amenaza: ¡Ay del que no llegue a tiempo! Lo mismo sucede con Hay y Ahí: *Hay te dejo el libro. Ahí es un adverbio de lugar; entonces digamos Ahí te dejo el libro. Ahí nos encontramos.
Ahí se utiliza metafóricamente en expresiones como la inmortal frase que nos dejó Shakespeare, en Hamlet: “Ser o no ser, he ahí el dilema”. También en expresiones como Andan diciendo por ahí que te casaste. Divagaré por ahí un rato. De ahí se deduce que el proyecto es viable. Ahí está el detalle. Cuando llegó el director, ahí fue Troya.
Se suele utilizar la expresión habrase visto para hacer énfasis en alguna indignación: ¡Habrase visto tamaña infamia! También se utiliza Todo lo habido y por haber, dando a entender “Todo lo imaginable”. Cuando los cardenales eligen Papa, luego de estar a puerta cerrada en el cónclave, exclaman triunfantes: ¡Habemus Papam! En este caso, Habemus significa tenemos, y no habemos.
Bueno, hasta la próxima semana en que habremos de leernos.

Máxima de la semana
Aquel que duda y no investiga, se torna no sólo infeliz, sino también injusto.
Blas Pascal, matemático y filósofo francés
Autor: José Humberto Beltrán Nova

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Visita a Cozumel



Hoy les hablare de mi visita a Cozumel acompañada de mi pequeña familia y guíados por un oríundo de estos lares con ancestros Mayas de nombre cristiano Francisco, quien nos mostro palmo a palmo las ruinas Mayas y un resumen de su interesante historia, nos introdujo tambien con una pequeña india Maya, de ojos muy razgados y cabellos profundamente oscuros de un negro muy brillante, esto para ellos es sinónimo de belleza y por eso ancestralmente solian entablillar las cabezas de sus recien nacidos para moldear el cráneo y estirar aún más los ojos de sus niños.

Habia cientos de iguanas que se camuflaban con la piedra de las construcciones en ruinas, con la tierra o el pasto. Ahora creo entender como para sus ancestros gran parte de los reptíles eran sus Dioses a quienes atribuían poderes mágicos. No eran grandes agricultores, pero sí grandes astronómos y astrológos, tal vez esto les fué de gran ayuda para la agricultura y lograr subsistir en áreas tropicales de intensas lluvias y huracanes que bien podian destruir todas sus plantaciones. Alcanzaron la escritura y de hecho fueron el único pueblo en América, con un sistema depurado de escritura.

Lo más impresionante para mi de esta cultura es no solo su legado del Calendario Maya, diferente del Gregoriano que rige la cultura occidental en que este se rige por las fases de la Luna y tiene un sistema de ciclos de 5125 años, dentro del que se alterna destrucción y generación y prevee acertadamente eclipses y tragedias naturales, hasta llegan a predecir la llegada de los Españoles y las consecuencias malas y buenas que esto traeria para los nativos de las tierras Americanas.

Una hermosa y variada vegetación con flores de variados colores, trabajaron la ceramica y su arquitectura ceremonial y politica en sus ciudades-estados es realmente impresionante. Se puede decir que llegaron a ser un Imperio que conquisto con violencia e hicieron sacrificios a sus Dioses sobre aquellos pueblos dominados.

Cultura Maya


La civilización maya habitó una vasta región ubicada geográficamente en el territorio del sur-sureste de México, específicamente en los cinco estados de Campeche, Chiapas (lugar donde se ubica la ciudad principal), Quintana Roo, Tabasco y Yucatán; y en los territorios de América Central de los actuales Belice, Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador, con una historia de aproximadamente 3.000 años.

Durante ese largo tiempo, en ese territorio se hablaron cientos de dialectos que generan hoy cerca de 44 lenguas mayas diferentes. Hablar de los "antiguos mayas" es referirse a la historia de una de las culturas mesoamericanas precolombinas más importantes, pues su legado científico y astronómico es mundial. Contrariamente a la creencia popular, la civilización maya nunca "desapareció". Por lo menos, no por completo, pues sus descendientes aún viven en la región y muchos de ellos hablan alguno de los idiomas de la familia mayense.

La riquísima literatura maya ilustra la vida de esta cultura. Obras como el Rabinal Achí, el Popol Vuh, El Chilam Balam son muestra de ello. Lo que sí fue destruido con la conquista es el modelo de civilización que hasta la llegada de los primeros españoles, había generado milenios de historia. La Conquista española de los pueblos mayas se consumó hasta 1697, con la toma de Tayasal, capital de los mayas Itzá y Zacpetén, capital de los mayas Ko'woj en el Petén (actual Guatemala). El último estado maya desapareció cuando el gobierno mexicano de Porfirio Díaz ocupó en 1901 su capital, Chan Santa Cruz, dando así fin a la Guerra de Castas.

Los mayas hicieron grandes e impresionantes construcciones desde el Preclásico medio y grandes ciudades como Nakbé, El Mirador, San Bartolo, Cival, localizadas en la Cuenca del Mirador, en el norte del Petén, y durante el Clásico, las conocidas ciudades de Tikal, Quiriguá, (ambas las primeras en ser declaradas Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco, en 1979 y 1981 respectivamente) Palenque, Copán, Río Azul, Calakmul, así como Ceibal, Cancuén, Machaquilá, Dos Pilas, Uaxactún, Altún Ha, Piedras Negras, y muchos otros sitios en el área. Se puede clasificar como un imperio, pero no se sabe si al momento de colonizar impusieron su cultura o si fue un fruto de su organización en ciudades-estado independientes cuya base eran la agricultura y el comercio. Los monumentos más notables son las pirámides que construyeron en sus centros religiosos, junto a los palacios de sus gobernantes y los palacios, lugares de gobierno y residencia de los nobles, siendo el mayor encontrado hasta ahora el de Cancuén, en el sur del Petén, muchas de cuyas estructuras estaban decoradas con pinturas murales y adornos de estuco. Otros restos arqueológicos importantes incluyen las losas de piedra tallada usualmente llamadas estelas (los mayas las llamaban Tetún, o “tres piedras”), que describen a los gobernantes junto a textos logográficos que describen sus genealogías, victorias militares, y otros logros. La cerámica maya está catalogada como de las más variadas, finas y elaboradas del mundo antiguo.

Los mayas participaban en el comercio a larga distancia en Mesoamérica, y posiblemente más allá. Entre los bienes de comercio estaban el jade, el cacao, el maíz, la sal y la obsidiana.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

" Todos somos Mestizos"

Ospina: "Todos somos mestizos"
Por Efe
10:37 | 08/03/09


El escritor colombiano William Ospina recibió el premio "Rómulo Gallegos" por su novela "El país de la canela",.

El colombiano William Ospina afirmó que "todos somos mestizos" al recibir el domingo el Premio "Rómulo Gallegos" por su novela "El país de la canela", en la que recrea los primeros viajes de los europeos al Amazonas vistos por un indio mestizo.

"Ya es tarde para decirle a Colón que no desembarque", manifestó el escritor en su discursos en el acto celebrado el domingo en Caracas donde se le entregó el prestigioso Premio Internacional de Novela, que le fue concedido el pasado mes de junio.

"Me basta viajar a una comunidad indígena para darme cuenta de que no soy un nativo, pero igualmente me basta con ir a Europa para saber que no soy un europeo. Somos todos mestizos", dijo en su conferencia de agradecimiento que llevaba el título de "Elogio de las causas".

Ospina, de 55 años, recibió el premio dotado con 100.000 euros y una medalla, en la Fundación de Estudios Latinoamericanos "Rómulo Gallegos" (Celarg), organizadora del certamen, de manos de su director Roberto Hernández Montaya en una ceremonia que contó con la presencia del ministro de Cultura venezolano, Héctor Soto.

La novela "El país de la canela", la segunda de una trilogía que comienza por "Ursúa" (Editorial. Alfaguara) y que concluirá con "La serpiente sin ojos", relata la conquista del Amazonas por los primeros viajeros europeos vista a través de la mirada de un narrador mestizo.

El escritor, poeta y ensayista colombiano es considerado uno de los más brillantes autores del "post-boom"" de la literatura latinoamericana de las décadas de 1960 y 1970, con más de una docena de títulos publicados.

Según algunos críticos, su andadura literaria le ha convertido en el digno sucesor de su amigo Gabriel García Márquez, quien dijo en el 2005 de su novela "Ursúa", que fue "el mejor libro del año".

En su discurso hoy, entre aplausos del público, Ospina destacó a los autores que relataron por vez primera los viajes a América de los españoles y le llevaron a escribir su novela, como Juan de Castellanos o Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo.

Manifestó que la conquista supone "nuestra gran tragedia continental, el gran dolor que gana para nosotros un gran sentido", y destacó la paradoja de que "nos ha tocado el curioso destino de deplorar la conquista en la lengua que ésta nos dejó", si bien matizó "tampoco es ya la lengua que trajeron los conquistadores".

En el acto, el ministro venezolano Soto celebró la lectura de "El país de la canela" de la que, dijo, es una "obra que nuestro pueblo debe conocer".

El titular de Cultura comparó el libro de Ospina con "Cien años de soledad", de García Márquez, y señaló que iba a pedir al presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, incluir la novela en una colección de lectura obligatoria para los estudiantes de las misiones que promueve el Gobierno de Venezuela.

"Cuando no se sabe donde se va, conviene darse la vuelta y mirar de dónde se viene", manifestó el ministro.

En una entrevista con Efe tres días antes de recibir el premio,Ospina subrayó que el mestizaje "es el nombre de la modernidad" ya que "si a algo le hemos dicho adiós, es a la pureza de sangre".

"Nos hace falta cobrar conciencia plena de que así como hemos perdido siglos negando nuestro pasado indígena y africano, podríamos perder siglos negando nuestra composición europea", comentó.

"Estamos en un proceso de redefinición. Hoy América Latina vuelve a preguntarse quién es, y es natural porque el mundo no deja de cambiar", dijo asimismo el autor de "El país de la canela".

La ceremonia de entrega concluyó con un concierto de canciones de estilo criollo a cargo de la cantante venezolana Cecilia Todd, quien dedicó el repertorio al galardonado.

Ospina es el cuarto escritor colombiano que recibe el "Rómulo Gallegos" después de Gabriel García Márquez, Manuel Mejía y Fernando Vallejo.

El premio literario, de carácter bienal, fue creado en 1964 en honor del escritor y presidente venezolano Rómulo Gallegos, y entre los galardonados están el peruano Mario Vargas Llosa, el español Javier Marías, el chileno Roberto Bolaño o la mexicana Elena Poniatowska, que obtuvo el premio en la última edición del 2007.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Las Cataratas de Iguazú



Hoy les contaré acerca de mi viaje a las cataratas de Iguazu, una maravillosa experiencia vivida junto a mi esposo y a mis hijos, quienes aprendieron mucho de este viaje. Dejenme decirles que estas cataratas del Río Iguazú, ubicadas en el borde de Brasil en el estado de Paraná, y en el borde de Argentina en la provincia de Misiones, y una pequeña parte en el Paraguay.


Las cataratas dividen al río entre la parte alta y baja del Iguazú.


La naturaleza es exuberante y bien conservada, algo sorprendente en nuestro tiempo, sus gentes son amables y siempre sonrientes, los animales silvestres parecen no desconfiar del hombre, depronto esto no sea benéfico para ellos, parecen convivir en armonía con su entorno.


Cientos de mariposas amarillas juguetean al pasar, dejando una suave brisa que parece transportarlo a uno a lo irreal, pero maravilloso.


El nombre Iguazú proviene del Guaraní, que traduce "aguas grandes".


La leyenda Guaraní dice que Dios planeaba casarse con una bella indígena llamada Naipí, quien loca de amor huyo con su amante, el mortal Tarobá en una canoa. En venganza Dios, dividio el río, creando las grandes caidas de agua, condenando a los amantes a una caída eterna.


El prímer conquistador en encontrar estas grandes cataratas fue el Español Alvaro Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca en 1541, por quien una de las cataratas Argentinas ha sido denominada.


Las cataratas fueron redescubiertas por Baselli al final del siglo XIX, y otra de las cataratas Argentinas es llamada así por él.


Las Cataratas de Iguazú han sido propuestas como una de las 7 maravillas naturales por la Fundación Las Siete Nuevas Maravillas del Mundo. En febrero del 2009 estaba como la quinta en el grupo F, que es la categoria para lagos, ríos y cataratas.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Recomendación para Leer"



Les recomiendo para leer este gran libro,"La Quinta Montaña" de Paulo Coelho quien ha vendido más de 35 millones de libros en el mundo. Este autor es uno de los más leidos y no sólo eso, uno de los autores con mayor influencia hoy en día. No importa cual sea su credo ni cultura, usted se sentirá identificado con lo actual de su temática. Para mí es uno de los autores de referencia de nuestro tiempo.

Les sugiero fuertemente este libro que cuenta la historia del profeta Elías, quien ha recibido de Dios la orden de abandonar Israel. En un mundo regido por problemas económicos, conflictos religiosos, racismo, supersticiones. Determinando que nuestro jovén profeta se enfrente a una avalancha de acontecimientos que le conducen a un definitivo encuentro con Dios.

Una magnifica lección de esperanza para el hombre actual, en la que terminamos por plantear hasta que punto podemos determinar nuestro destino.

Leanlo y ya me comentarán.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Bilingual Children

Unraveling how children become bilingual so easily
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks .Print ..By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer – Tue Jul 21, 3:08 am ET
WASHINGTON – The best time to learn a foreign language: Between birth and age 7. Missed that window?

New research is showing just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, findings that scientists hope eventually could help the rest of us learn a new language a bit easier.

"We think the magic that kids apply to this learning situation, some of the principles, can be imported into learning programs for adults," says Dr. Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, who is part of an international team now trying to turn those lessons into more teachable technology.

Each language uses a unique set of sounds. Scientists now know babies are born with the ability to distinguish all of them, but that ability starts weakening even before they start talking, by the first birthday.

Kuhl offers an example: Japanese doesn't distinguish between the "L" and "R" sounds of English — "rake" and "lake" would sound the same. Her team proved that a 7-month-old in Tokyo and a 7-month-old in Seattle respond equally well to those different sounds. But by 11 months, the Japanese infant had lost a lot of that ability.

Time out — how do you test a baby? By tracking eye gaze. Make a fun toy appear on one side or the other whenever there's a particular sound. The baby quickly learns to look on that side whenever he or she hears a brand-new but similar sound. Noninvasive brain scans document how the brain is processing and imprinting language.

Mastering your dominant language gets in the way of learning a second, less familiar one, Kuhl's research suggests. The brain tunes out sounds that don't fit.

"You're building a brain architecture that's a perfect fit for Japanese or English or French," whatever is native, Kuhl explains — or, if you're a lucky baby, a brain with two sets of neural circuits dedicated to two languages.

It's remarkable that babies being raised bilingual — by simply speaking to them in two languages — can learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. On average, monolingual and bilingual babies start talking around age 1 and can say about 50 words by 18 months.

Italian researchers wondered why there wasn't a delay, and reported this month in the journal Science that being bilingual seems to make the brain more flexible.

The researchers tested 44 12-month-olds to see how they recognized three-syllable patterns — nonsense words, just to test sound learning. Sure enough, gaze-tracking showed the bilingual babies learned two kinds of patterns at the same time — like lo-ba-lo or lo-lo-ba — while the one-language babies learned only one, concluded Agnes Melinda Kovacs of Italy's International School for Advanced Studies.

While new language learning is easiest by age 7, the ability markedly declines after puberty.

"We're seeing the brain as more plastic and ready to create new circuits before than after puberty," Kuhl says. As an adult, "it's a totally different process. You won't learn it in the same way. You won't become (as good as) a native speaker."

Yet a soon-to-be-released survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics, a nonprofit organization that researches language issues, shows U.S. elementary schools cut back on foreign language instruction over the last decade. About a quarter of public elementary schools were teaching foreign languages in 1997, but just 15 percent last year, say preliminary results posted on the center's Web site.

What might help people who missed their childhood window? Baby brains need personal interaction to soak in a new language — TV or CDs alone don't work. So researchers are improving the technology that adults tend to use for language learning, to make it more social and possibly tap brain circuitry that tots would use.

Recall that Japanese "L" and "R" difficulty? Kuhl and scientists at Tokyo Denki University and the University of Minnesota helped develop a computer language program that pictures people speaking in "motherese," the slow exaggeration of sounds that parents use with babies.

Japanese college students who'd had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated "Ls" and "Rs" while watching the computerized instructor's face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — that measure millisecond-by-millisecond activity showed the students could better distinguish between those alien English sounds. And they pronounced them better, too, the team reported in the journal NeuroImage.

"It's our very first, preliminary crude attempt but the gains were phenomenal," says Kuhl.

But she'd rather see parents follow biology and expose youngsters early. If you speak a second language, speak it at home. Or find a play group or caregiver where your child can hear another language regularly.

"You'll be surprised," Kuhl says. "They do seem to pick it up like sponges."

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

"Gift from the Sea"


What a circus act we women perform
every day of our lives. It puts the trapeze artist
to shame. Look at us. We run a tigh rope daily,
balancing a pile of book on the head.
Baby-carriage, parasol,kitchen chair,still under control.
Steady now!


Anne Morrow Lindbergh. B.1906.

Que acto de circo nosotras las mujeres hacemos
cada día de nuestras vidas. Ponemos el trapecio de artistas
desgraciadas. Miradnos. Corremos diariamente la cuerda floja,
balanceando una pila de libros en la cabeza.
Coche de bebé, sombrilla, silla de la cocina, todo bajo control.
Seamos constantes ahora!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Cartagena de Indias





Cartagena de Indias (Cartagena of Indies or Cartagena of West Indies, in Spanish) (Spanish pronunciation: [kaɾtaˈhena ð̞e ˈin̪d̪jas], English: /ˌkɑrtəˈheɪnə deɪ ˈɪndiəs/), is a city on the northern coast of Colombia and capital of Bolívar Department. The metropolitan area has a population of 1,240,000, and the city proper 1,090,000 (2005 census). It is the fifth largest urban area in Colombia.

Today the city is a centre of economic activity in the Caribbean region and a popular tourist destination.

Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

History

Precolombian era: 7000 BC - 1500 AD
The Caribbean region, particularly in the area from the Sinú River delta to the Cartagena de Indias bay, appears to be the first documented human community in today's Colombia: the Puerto Hormiga Culture.

Until the Spanish colonization many cultures derived from the Karib, Malibu and Arawak language families lived along the Caribbean Colombian coast. In the late pre-Columbian era, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, was home to the Tayrona people, closely related with the Chibcha family language.


According to the chronists descriptions the huts of the prehistoric inhabitants of the actual city may looked very similar to these Taino culture huts in CubaArchaeologists estimate that around 7000 BC, the settlement of the formative Puerto Hormiga Culture, located near the limits between the departments of Bolívar and Sucre was established. In this area archaeologists have found the most ancient ceramic objects in the Americas, dating from around 4000 BC. The primary reason for the proliferation of primitive societies in this area is the relative mildness of climate and the abundance of wildlife which through continuous hunting allowed the inhabitants a comfortable life.

In today's villages of Maria La Baja, Sincerín, El Viso and Mahates and Rotinet, there have also been discoveries of the remains of culturally organized societies through the excavation of maloka type buildings, which are directly related to the early Puerto Hormiga settlements.


Archaeological investigations date the decline of the Puerto Hormiga culture and its related settlements to around 3000 BC. The rise of a much more developed culture, the Monsú, who lived at the end of the Dique Canal, near today's Cartagena neighborhoods Pasacaballos and Ciénaga Honda at the northernmost part of Barú Island. The Monsú culture inherited the Puerto Hormiga culture´s use of the art of pottery but also developed a mixed economy of agriculture and basic manufacture. the Monsú people's diet was based mostly on seashells, sweet- and salt-water fish.

The ethnologists who discovered Monsú, Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff and his wife Alicia Dussan, found an interesting artificial mound created by them consisting in vases and rests of skeletons. After the first excavations, the Monsú mound was found to be a communal hut that had strong wood logs around it and was built on different levels, each one from a different period of time. The most ancient of these is the Turbana Period, from 3350 BC. This archaeological zone, less than 6 miles from Cartagena de Indias' downtown boasts the most complete collection of ceramic instruments in Colombia and the American continent. The ceramic patterns found in Monsú, are a tour de force for students of archeology of the Caribbean sea basin and northern South America.

The Reichel-Dolmatoffs later found other artificial mounds, dating from 3200 to 1000 BC, thus making the suburbs of modern Cartagena the seat of the first organized society in Colombia, and one of the most ancient in the Americas.

The development of the Sinú society in today's department of Cordoba and Sucre, eclipsed these first developments around the Cartagena Bay area. Around 1500 the area was inhabited by different tribes of the Karib language family, more precisely the Mocanae sub-family. These were:

In the downtown island: Kalamarí Tribe
In the Tierrabomba island: Carex Tribe
In the Barú island, then peninsula: Bahaire Tribe
In the eastern coast of the exterior bay: Cospique Tribe
In the suburban area of Turbaco: Yurbaco Tribe
Some subsidiary tribes of the Kalamari lived in today's neighborhood of Pie de la Popa, and other subsidiaries from the Cospique lived in the Membrillal and Pasacaballos areas. Among these, according to the first chronicles the Kalamari Tribe had preeminence.

These tribes, though physically and administratively separated, shared common architecture, such as hut structures consisting of circular rooms with tall roofs inside wooden palisades.

Alonso de Ojeda passed through the bay in 1505 but decided to continue to Uraba.
[edit] First sightings: 1500-1533
Since the failed foundation of Antigua del Darién in 1506 by Alonso de Ojeda, and the subsequent failed city of San Sebastian de Urabá in 1517 by Diego de Nicuesa, the southern Caribbean coast became a bit unattractive to colonizers, which preferred the more known Hispaniola and Cuba.


Pedro de Heredia founder of the city and explorer of its hinterlandThough, the Casa de Contratación gave permission to Rodrigo de Bastidas to again, conduct an expedition as adelantado to this areas. Bastidas, explored the coast and discovered the Magdalena River delta in his first journey from Guajira to the south in 1527, trip that ended in the Urabá gulf, seat of the failed first settlements. De Nicuesa and De Ojeda noted the existence of a big bay on the way from Santo Domingo to Urabá and Panama isthmus, encouraging De Bastidas to investigate.


Rodrigo de Bastidas, discovered the bay in 1527 but never settled.In this first trip, he died Cartagena de Indias's bay but noted that in future voyages he will investigate this "immense bay, perfect for ships." This second trip was made in 1530 and the calculations were true: it was an enormous bay with profound waters. After the discovery, De Bastidas returned to Santa Marta, recently founded by him in 1528. Colonial era: 1533-1717

Juan de la Cosa, traveled with De Heredia to the area, and died in the near town of Turbaco in a battle, his office was to make the maps of the expedition due to his expertise after being the first cartographer of America.Cartagena de Indias was founded on 1 June 1533 by Spanish commander Pedro de Heredia, in the former seat of the indigenous Caribbean Calamarí village.


Ximenez de Quezada was the Founder of Bogotá and Governor of the City after the death of Pedro de Heredia. Initially, life in the city was bucolic, with fewer than 2000 inhabitants and only one church. A few months after the disaster of the invasion of Cote (see below), a fire destroyed the city and forced the creation of a Firefighting Squad, the first in the Americas.

The dramatically increasing fame and wealth of the prosperous city turned it an attractive plunder site for pirates and corsairs (French privateers, licensed by their king). Just 30 years after its founding, the city was pillaged by a French nobleman Jean-François Roberval known as "Robert Baal". The city then set about strengthening its defences and surrounding itself with walled compounds and castles. Martin Cote attacked years later.


Many pirates intended the same on Cartagena who was more and more notorious in the thieves' guilds in Europe:

Sir John Hawkins (England): Tried to trick Gov. Martín de las Alas in 1568 to open (against the Spanish Law) a foreign fair in the city to sell its goods for then ravaging the port. The Governor declined and Hawkins tried to siege but failed.

Sir Francis Drake (England): Nephew of Hawkins, the famed pirate came with a strong fleet and quickly took the city. The Governor Pedro Fernández de Bustos and the Archbishop fled to the neighbouring town of Turbaco and from there negotiated the costly ransom for the city: 107,000 Spanish dollars of the time (Around 200 mill. of today's USD), in any case, the future "Sir" destroyed 1/4 of the city, the developing Palace of the Township and the recently finished Cathedral. After this disaster Spain poured millions every year to the city for its protection, beginning with Gov. Francisco de Murga's planning of the walls and forts; this practice was called "Situado". The magnitude of this subsidy is shown by comparison: between 1751 and 1810, the city received the sum of 20,912,677 Spanish dollars, the equivalent of some 2 trillion dollars today.

Sir Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis, Jean du Casse 1697. Raid on Cartagena (1697) The city recovered quickly from the horrible takeover of Drake and kept growing. The port now seat of the Inquisition in the Caribbean (with Lima's and Mexico's the only 3 seats in America), many public buildings and servants, its importance was confirmed. Desjean's plans were far more than pillage: it was an invasion by all means. The muscles of King Louis XIV were decided to take over the decaying Spain of the Austria dynasty and Cartagena de Indias was his entry. The altruistic purpose of the invasion, not pirate entry was shadowed by the governor of Saint-Domingue (today's Haiti) Jean Baptiste Ducasse who brought his soldiers just to steal and finally the original plan ended as pirates and thieves again destroying the city. In any case, the entry wasn't easy, because of the recently finished first stage of walls and forts which slowed and made costly the victory. While Desjean only asked for 250,000 Spanish dollars in ransom, Jean du Casse stayed a few months later and dishonoured the promise of the Baron of respecting the churches and holy places and left them with nothing. The city again, lost everything. The XVIII century begins.
Other important events in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were:

Sixteenth century:

The brother of the founder, Pedro de Heredia, Alonso de Heredia founded Mompox, with the name Santa Cruz de Mompox to honour the actual governor of the province, José de Santacruz who was about to make another unjust Residencia to his brother, planned by his enemies in the city. Residencia successfully overcame by Heredia who later Residenced Santacruz for his greed in the expedition made by him to Urabá in late 1537.
In its typical decentralised and autonomistic state policy, Spain put in Cartagena de Indias many offices that are normally in the Capital of the area in question (in this case, not in Bogota). This are:
1. The Royal Houses of Customs: Technically the Main directorate for Customs policy in New Granada and its dependencies. Today's Cartagena de Indias's mayors office is there.

2. The Royal Houses of Accountance: Most of its competence was in the State Finance area, making it analogous to a Ministry of Finance or a Secretary of the Treasury. This office was in today's Mapfre House (La Inquisicion Street)

3. The Royal Mail House: More developed in the eighteenth century, began in 1540 and stayed permanently in the City until 1821 when renamed, delivered most of the post in New Granada and to Europe. Today's SUDEB house occupies its original place.

4. The Royal Consulate of Commerce of Cartagena de Indias: A privately-run institution with public charter, the Consulates of Commerce were express courts for trading quarrels and to promote trade and development in its area. Until 1790 was the only in the area, then succeeded by Caracas (1790), Mompox (1793), Panamá (1798), Santafé (1805) and others.


Jean Baptiste du Casse and his brigands damaged the military invasion of New Granada of Louis XIV under the Baron of Pointis by ravaging the city and turning into pirates.5. The Hospital of the Navies: First and Only military hospital in the area, and until the foundation of the San Juan De Dios Hospital in Bogota the only in New Granada, in its first floor a Poor People's Hospital worked until was developed the San Carlos Hospital in 1730 and the Poor people's was opened up in the Santa Clara convent. The Hospital worked in today's Naval Museum, the poor's Hospital in its first floor and the later ones in Gastelbondo Street (San Carlos), and today's Sofitel Santa Clara Hotel (Poor People's Hospital of Santa Clara of Assisi).

6. Royal Headquarters of the Regular Armies of Cartagena de Indias: In New Granada, like in most Spanish America, military presence was at least nule and when present was quite concentrated in the important hubs: Havana, Mexico City, Lima, Panama and Cartagena de Indias. The only regular (always present) army in New Granada has its headquarters in today's Judges Offices in Cuartel Street. This made Cartagena de Indias also the seat to something similar to a Ministry of Defense in a modern country.



During the governorship of Rafael Cápsir an interesting event occurred in the city: the "Cessatio a Divinis". The nuns of the Santa Clara convent, who grew richer than the Franciscan friars from donations and more intelligent investments of those wanted to become independent of them in the financial area. The Archbishop agreed with the petition of the nuns but the Franciscans protested and made party with the Governor and he decided to storm the Convent, while the Archbishop forbade the head of the Franciscans to say mass (Cessatio a Divinis). The nuns wanted to reverse their petition but the Archbishop was already exalted and persuaded them to continue. The city was terribly distressed by the conflict which saw daily fights in the streets between the partidaries of each faction (Something similar to Menéndez's "Spain in the XVI-XVII century was a friarish democracy."). The conflict ended finally with the tutelage of the Franciscans over the nuns ending, but the archbishop was banned from the city.

The Portuguese Company of Cacheu, dedicated to slave trading is closed down by the Crown because of accounting fraud and tax evasion. The famed slave company was stationed on front of today's Marquis de Valdehoyos house (Calle de la Factoría).
The monk Pedro Claver began his ministry of the enslaved in Cartagena, work that gained for his name the Sanctity in the late nineteenth century.
The Township Palace and Governors House was finished.

Francis Drake entered in the city after the failure of his uncle Hawkins and destroyed the cathedral. The fame of this prosperous city turned it into the plunder site for pirates and thieves; the legions for the country’s defence soon became insufficient, which is why the kings of Spain decided to approve the construction of castles, forts, and walls that surrounded the city.

In order to resist these attacks, during the 17th century the Spanish Crown hired the services of prominent European military engineers to carry out the construction of fortresses, which are nowadays one of Cartagena's clearest signs of identity. This construction took 208 years, and ended with some eleven kilometres of walls surrounding the city, the San Felipe de Barajas Castle, named in honor of Spain's King Philip IV and its most decided public servant in the construction: Gov. Pedro Zapata de Mendoza, Marquis of Barajas, constructed to repel land attacks, equipped with sentry boxes, buildings for food and weapons storage, underground tunnels;

The complex was completed with: 1. The San Sebastián del Pastelillo Fort: in today's neighborhood of Manga, called del Pastelillo (the cupcake) because of its low altitude to avoid being affected by the Castle of San Felipe whose cannons may have destroyed it if made taller. The fort replaced the first defense of the city: The Tower of Boquerón, a medievalesque tower that dominated the bay and city, similar to Torre del Homenaje in Santo Domingo, but round.

2. The Santa Cruz de Castillogrande Fort: in today's neighborhood of Castillogrande, specifically in the Naval Club, a cross shaped fort which controlled the entry in the inner bay.

3. The San Juan de Manzanillo Fort: smaller than its brother in Castillogrande, in order to not crossfiring it, but in the opposite side of the strait.

4. The San Luis de Bocachica fort: Beautifully finished cross shaped fort, an exponent of the renaissance military architecture, dominated alone the Bocachica strait which lead to the ocean but was destroyed by Vernon in the XVIII century, only some remains are over some places of Bocachica, near its successor, the San Fernando fort.


John Hawkins intended to invade the city in 1568. The San Fernando de Bocachica fort: Built nearer to the sea than its older brother, the San Luis, it was more modern and state-of-the-art, being more roundly shaped, with space for more musketeers rather than massive cannons, and fare more neoclassical and delicate in its outer layers, revealing the tendency in military architecture in the eighteenth century.

6. The San José de Bocachica batteries: Built with the new plan of the San Fernando Fort, was designed to point to the line of flotation of the ships, and that's why its almost under sea level.

7. The Angel San Rafael Battery: A masterpiece of the history of military architecture, its the only exponent in the world of "inside defense" The battery has few cannons to the outside, only the necessary to support the defense of San Fernando but its use was to attract the sieging forces to enter in a tunnel that appear as accidentally opened 500 meters away from the fort, so they are attracted to take it easily to siege the castle of San Fernando. When the tunnel ends, it enters to a dry moat inside the battery and where if fully equipped more than 400 muskets are pointing just at the first entrance, the design of the "devil holes" where the muskets are, avoid to the invader to see them and death is automatic. No one ever intended catch the trap but to prove it tests were done with cattle in the late eighteenth century and the theory was confirmed. Recently the battery, a jewel of the crown in the military architecture history, was rebuilt after years of abandon.

8. The Santa Barbara Battery: Designed near the tunnel entrance to Angel San Rafael was a small battery used as a decoy and to support fire to the Bocachica system, its most important object was to attract the siegers to the mainland so they can see the tunnel entrance and die at the Angel San Rafael death moat. The Santa Barbara battery disappeared with the years, only its founding stones remain over the seas.

9. The Batteries of Chamba and Santiago: Mainly designed as support batteries for San Luis fort, but after the destruction of it by a resented Vernon he brutalized ever more these forts that had the unfortunate luck of being in a very deep sea area which made easy to destroy from a small distance. Ruins remain of both in the oceanic shore of the Tierrabomba Island, no plans exist to rebuild them.

10. The Batteries of Mas, Crespo and the Revellín of El Cabrero.: Destroyed by erosion and the desperate efforts of the nineteenth century administrations to dynamize the city's building industry were support forts for the massive San Lucas and Santa Catalina fortresses in the city walls.


Crates and crates of these Spanish dollars dwelled in Cartagena de Indias to be distributed throughout the empire.11. The walls of the old city. 11 km of walls, more than 20 mini forts within it, 4 auxiliary doors, only one bridge-fort to connect the city to the mainland.

Explanations are unnecessary: when the defenses were finished in 1756, the city was simply impossible to take over. There is a legend, that when reviewing the costs of the defenses of Spain in Havana and Cartagena de Indias, in an effort to reform the chronic spending of his predecessors, Charles III of Spain, in his famed ironical style said while taking his spyglass: "This is outrageous! For this price those castles should be seen from here! (Peninsular Spain)."


Louis XIV dreamt with taking over the city and invade New Granada but failed.Cartagena was a major trading port, specially for precious metals. Gold and silver from the mines in New Granada and Peru were loaded in Cartagena on the galleons bound for Spain via Havana. Cartagena was also a slave port; Cartagena and Veracruz (Mexico) were the only cities authorized to trade with black people. The first slaves arrived with Pedro de Heredia and they worked as cane cutters to open roads, in the desecration of tombs of the aboriginal population of Sinú, and in the construction of buildings and fortresses. The agents of the Portuguese company Cacheu distributed human 'cargos' from Cartagena for mine exploitation in Venezuela, the West Indies, the Nuevo Reino de Granada and the Viceroyalty of Perú.

On 5 February 1610, the Catholic Monarchs established from Spain the Inquisition Holy Office Court in Cartagena de Indias by a Royal Decree issued by King Philip II. The Inquisition Palace, finished in 1770, is still there with its original features of colonial times. When Cartagena declared its complete independence from Spain on November 11, 1811, the inquisitors were urged to leave the city. The Inquisition operated again after the Reconquest in 1815, but it disappeared definitely when Spain surrendered six years later before the patriotic troops led by Simón Bolívar.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Spanish Grammar

Spanish grammar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Spanish language

Don Quixote is a recognized work in Spanish literature.
Names for the language · HistoryPronunciation · Dialects · Orthography
Grammar
Conjugation · Irregular verbs
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Spanish (español, castellano) is a language originating in North-Central Spain which is spoken throughout Spain, most countries in the Americas, the Philippines and Equatorial Guinea.
It is an inflected language, with a two-gender system and about fifty conjugated forms per verb, but without noun declension and simplified pronominal declension.
Spanish was the first of the Romance languages to have a grammar, written in 1492 by the Andalusian linguist Antonio de Nebrija.
The Real Academia Española (RAE) traditionally dictates the rules of the Spanish language.
This article first describes the most formal and standard rules of modern Spanish, and then goes on to detail idioms and colloquialisms.
Formal differences between Peninsular and American Spanish are remarkably few, and someone who has learned the dialect of one area will have no difficulties using reasonably formal speech in the other, however, pronunciation does vary.
Contents[hide]
1 Verbs
2 Adjectives
3 Determiners
3.1 Articles
3.2 Demonstratives
3.3 Possessive
3.4 Other determiners
4 Pronouns
5 Prepositions
6 Miscellaneous
6.1 Conjunctions
6.2 Cleft sentences
7 Dialectal variations
7.1 Forms of address
7.1.1 Voseo
7.1.2 Vosotros imperative: -ar for -ad
7.1.3 Superfluous -s on tú form
7.2 The imperfect subjunctive
7.3 Pronouns
7.3.1 Laísmo
7.3.2 Loísmo
7.3.3 Leísmo
7.4 Queísmo
7.5 Dequeísmo
8 External links
9 References
//

Monday, June 22, 2009

Colombiano escogido para edición de la Nueva gramática de la lengua española

Juan Carlos Villamizar, colombiano escogido para edición de la Nueva gramática de la lengua española

Juan Carlos Villamizar, representante de Colombia. Allí, su papel principal consistió en ayudar a la Academia a establecer los modismos del idioma que usan a diario los colombianos. Entrar a un supermercado en España y pedir una libra de alverjas es exponerse a no ser entendido. Aunque a principios del siglo XX aún se usaban los dos términos, hoy nadie los conoce. Para los españoles, lo correcto es decir 'medio kilo de guisantes'. Esa es apenas una de las experiencias sobre las diferencias del habla en España, que ha vivido el bogotano Juan Carlos Villamizar, elegido como el representante de nuestro país para la edición de la Nueva gramática de la lengua española, de la Real Academia Española (RAE) que se publicará a comienzos del año entrante en los países de habla hispana.

Selection of a Colombian men for the new edition of the Spanish grammar language.
Juan Carlos Villamizar, selected Colombian for the new edition of the Spanish grammar language.
Juan carlos Villamizar, representant of Colombia.
There, his principal part consist in help the Academy to set up the diary Colombian idioms.
Enter in a supermarket in Spain and ask for one pound of peas it would not be understood.
Although early the 20th century still used both terms, today nobody knows. For Spaniards, the right is to said “medio kilo de guisantes”.
That is only one of the experience about differences of Spain language, of Bogotan Juan Carlos Villamizar, selected as a Colombian representant for the New edition of Spanish Grammar Language, of the Royal Spanish Academy.

Useful Links to learn Spanish

USEFUL links
Instituto Cervantes
www.cervantes.es
Asociación de escuelas de español de Madrid (Association of Spanish Schools of Madrid)
www.aeeem.com
Federación Española de Asociaciones de Escuelas de Español (Spanish Federation of Associations of Spanish Schools for Foreigners)
www.fedele.org
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
www.ucm.es/info/cextran/Index.htm
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
www.uam.es/cultura/extranjeros
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
www.urjc.es
Universidad Carlos III
www.uc3m.es
Universidad de Alcalá
www.uah.es
RELATED CONTENTS
The National Library
Madrid's Oldest Bookshops
Learn Spanish
Language Tourism in Madrid (leaflet)

Saturday, June 20, 2009

MariCarmen: Poesia a mi Padre

MariCarmen: Poesia a mi Padre

Spanish Translator

About my Job:

I can provide you with accurate, precise and professional translations and writings taking care of all details; most important, taking the ideas of the original language in full context and meaning to the target language.

You will recieve a high quality job at a competitive and fair price in a reasonable time; also and no least, you will get personalized attention and service at all times during your projects.

Being a native Spanish speaker, and having over 12 years of work and study experience in trilingual enviroments, provides me with a solid background for your translations and writings needs.

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Importance of Speaking Spanish

Spanish population is rising-up in a high rate lately in the US. The growing integration of economies and societies around the world, has been one of the most hotly-debated topics in international economies over the past few years. Rapid growth and poverty reduction in China, India, and other countries in South America, like Chile and Colombia, which most of them were considered poor 20 years ago, has been a positive aspect of Globalization. But has also generated significant international opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality distribution of wealth.



How to improve that?, with readiness for competition, named "Education", the more languages you speak the better!. The second largest language around the world "Spanish", the emerging economies, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Colombia, without talking about Venezuela and their oil.



A survey of Tampa Area Business identified as; Important work place skills: Team work, honesty, client-centeredness, ability to organize, interpret and communicate information, good writing, listening and speaking skills in both English and Spanish.

Objectives:

1-Be able to describe several skills they will need in order to be productive workers.


2-Students will understand the importance of education in preparing them for the workplace and for the Global Economy.


3-Students will be able to describe how the concept of culture relates to their own experience.


4-Students will understand the importance of learning other languages and be aware of their own culture.

Purpose:

I want make students aware of the "Importance of education", to the changing needs of the workplace, and to identify and understand differences from each other aspects, culture, personality, age, gender, level of education, abilities, and any other personal features that make each individual a unique human being.
Cultural groups do have certain characteristics in common. But within each group, there is always abroad range of individual differences. Students might ask why people from United States would need to have their culture revealed to them-isn't their own culture pretty obvious?
But people within a culture are in many ways the least able to see it. Cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors are so ingrained that we are often unaware of our own.

Importance of Education

Introduction:



I was born in Cartagena-Colombia, the only South American country with both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. The fourthlargest country in South America, it has a total area of 1.138.910 sq. Km.

Comparatively, the area occupied by Colombia is slightly less than three time the state of Montana.

Bordered on the N.,by the Caribbean Sea, on the NE., by venezuela, on the SE., by Brazil, on the SW., by Peru and Ecuador, on the W., by the Pacific Ocean, and on the NW., by Panama, the Colombian mainland is located entirely within the tropics. It's total boundarie lenght is 6.004 Km.

Colombia also holds the uninhabited Caribbean islands of Quita Sueño, Bank, Roncador Cay, and Serrana Bank, to wich the US renounced all rights under the treaty of Quita Sueño, ratified by the US Senate in July 1981. Colombia has a dispute with Venezuela over maritime rights in the Gulf of Venezuela.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

About me.

My name is Maria del Carmen Moreno, born in Cartagena-Colombia from a lovely family, I went to a University, namely Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, in Bogotá. Graduated with a Law degree in August, 1990. I get my Certification in Commercial and maritime arbitration from de same University in 1992. I went to University of Quebec in Montreal, to get my Certification in writtten French in 1996. I went to University of South Florida, to get my Certification in Business writing in August,2003.
I can provide you with accurate, precise and professional translations and writings taking care of all details; most important, taking the ideas of the original language in full context and meaning to the target language.

You will recieve a high quality job at a competitive and fair price in a reasonable time; also and no least, you will get a personalized attention and service at all times during your projects.
Being a native Spanish speaker, and having 15 years of work and study experience in bilingual enviroments, provides me with a solid background for your translations and writings needs.
Currently I'm tutoring Spanish Grammar to High School students.

Samuel y Michel

                                                                         Samuel y Michel Verlos sonreír es un gran placer, inocente uno y ex...