Without some knowledge of Spanish you will become very frustrated and feel helpless in many situations. English, or any other language, is absolutely useless off the beaten track (except in Belize). A pocket dictionary and phrase book together with some initial study or a beginner’s Spanish course before you leave to get you up to a basic vocabulary of 500 words or so are most strongly recommended: your pleasure will be doubled if you can talk to the locals. Not all the locals speak Spanish, of course;you will find that some Indians in the more remote areas - the highlands of Guatemala for example - speak only their indigenous languages, although there will usually be at least one person in a village who can speak Spanish.
Language classes are available at a number of centres in Mexico and Central America for instance Cuernavaca, Antigua, Quetzaltenango, San Jose, and others. For details, see Language Schools/Courses in the directories of individual towns.
Language programmes are offered in Costa Rica (San Jose, Escazu, Alajuela, Heredia, Manuel Antonio, Monteverde), El Salvador, Guatemala (Antigua, Quetzaltenango), Honduras (Copan), Mexico (Cancun, Cuernavaca, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Merida, Morelia, San Miguel de Allende), Panama City as well as throughout South America, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The AmeriSpan Tourist Resource Center in Antigua, Guatemala, offers local services as well: 6a Avenida Norte 40, Antigua, Guatemala, T502-832-0164, F502-832-1896. In Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica they offer a discount card for use in hotels, restaurants and shops.
Origin of the city's name
Through the years, historians have investigated where the origins of the name of the city of Tijuana came to be.
One legend says that it was the name of a ranch in the area, property of "TÃa Juana" – Aunt Jane. In actuality, it is recognized that name comes from the Yuman Indian language from the early inhabitants. In other documents there are mentions of "La Tia Juana", "Tiguana", "Tiuana", "Teguana", "Tiwana", "Tijuan", "Ticuan", "Tijuana". Based on the Yuman language, historians have come to recognize Tijuana originating from "Tiwan", meaning close to the sea.
Mayor: Recount Not A Threat to Mexico
Opposition assertions that presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is putting Mexicos stability at risk are absurd, Alejandro Encinas, head of the Federal District government, affirmed Thursday.
• Lopez Obrador for Mexican Democracy
• Mexico Politics on Hot Seat
Encinas denied that the candidate of the Por el bien de todos coalition used overly aggressive language when demanding the recount of the over 41 million disputed votes cast on July 2.
By making such malicious remarks, PAN (National Action party) and the business sector are trying to create confusion, Encinas told local press.
Cuernavaca is the capital city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is also the municipal seat of the municipality of Cuernavaca.
Cuernavaca is known as "the city of eternal spring" because of its consistent 27°C year-round weather. This city has always been a popular vacation destination for people from the Mexico City valley, from the Aztec kings, to the Spaniards and now the rich and famous.
This condition has added historical value to the city. Here you can find examples of ancient Aztec and Teotihuacano cultures and of colonial buildings such as the Palacio de Cortés. Cuernavaca has historical
Living in Mexico: Survival Tip #2 - Spanish
Let me begin this next column in the series with a generalized statement:
The Spanish you learn in a classroom in the United States, Mexico, or in your own study from some impossibly expensive Spanish language tapes WILL NOT be the Spanish you hear in the streets of Mexico!
I do not care who will try to convince you otherwise! I do not care who may convince you that this method or that method will give you fluency if only you would dish out the bucks to take it. What you learn in a
Language, laws, Mexico factors in immigration debate
It seems to me President Bush has forgotten how this great land became America in the first place.
Long before the war for independence, we acquired this land by stealing it. Bush should remember that unless one is a full blooded American Indian, he or she comes from a family of immigrants.
The nation was founded by immigrants. Perhaps Bush should re-read that little message on the Statue of Liberty. Has he ever read it?
Being a person of so many mixed nationalities, I try never to forget it.
My own mixed heritage includes: English, Irish, Scottish, German,
Mexico: newspapers simultaneously publish probes into missing journalists
Dozens of Mexican newspapers have been trying to uncover information concerning slain and missing journalists but have had no luck. Now they have simultaneously published the first in a series of reports on the cases.
The first article printed by the new collective effort of Mexican and US-based Spanish-language newspapers focused on the April 2005 disappearance of Alfredo Jimenez Mota, 26, who covered drug trafficking for El Imparcial, a daily newspaper in Hermosillo, Sonora, which borders Arizona. The report suggested that area police in the investigation, some of whom were Jimenez's sources, may be
History to be made in Mexico City
For the first time in the 86-year history of the National Football League, a regular-season game will be played outside the United States when the Arizona Cardinals face the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday night in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca.
The game, which coincides with the nation's annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, will be televised nationally in the United States by ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and by Televisa in Mexico. Westwood One Radio will broadcast the game in English and Spanish. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. ET and a sold-out crowd of 85,000
Maya hieroglyphics
The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphics from a vague superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing, to which it is not related) was a combination of phonetic symbols and logograms. It is the only known writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World which can completely represent spoken language to the same degree as the written language of the old world.
The decipherment of the Maya writings has been a long laborous process. Bits of it were first deciphered in the late 19th and early 20th century (mostly the parts having to do with numbers, the calendar, and astronomy), but
Mexico Lacks 5 Million Jobs
Lack of employments in Vicente Fox administration increased to more than 5,5 million jobs, while 2/3 of the population do not have social secures.
Researches made in Labor University of Mexico (UOM), shows that policies used during Fox administration generated economical and social lateness.
According to information provided from (UOM), Minimum wages, which in 1976 obtained its greatest level with 53,5 pesos daily (six dollars), decreased to the point of 11,1 pesos, meaning a lost of 79 percent.
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Mexico-Cuba Boost Parliament Diplomacy
Monterrey, Mexico, Nov 19 (Prensa Latina) The 8th Meeting of Legislators of Cuba and Mexico agreed to beef up parliamentary diplomacy here in this industrial city.
The Chamber of Deputies VP, Francisco Arroyo, said it must go further that governments and reach levels of "friendship and solidarity," with strong currents of non-intervention and self-determination.
After more than 100 years of diplomatic relations,chief of the Cuban delegation Ramón Pez Ferro said his group is moved by a spirit of cooperation and respect of sovereignty and the right of people to select the political, economic and social system they wish.
The Cuban
