SpanishPod - salairedelapeur Conversations http://spanishpod.com Learn Spanish on Your Terms en-us <![CDATA[Re: Latest Changes -- no more new lessons?!]]> It can't possibly be a marketing dept. decision. Lili didn't write that. It's an executive decision which the poor marketing dept. will have to deal with. If the New York Times stopped publishing new stories (because there are a lot of stories out already), it would be a horrible job for their marketing dept. to try to market the old stories. 

My guess is that the whole business model didn't work. FrenchPod and ItalianPod never went very far. SpanishPod is the best of all - but it's probably not making the $$s that ChinesePod makes via its private lessons offer. 

I wonder if ChinesePod is next. They have just hired new hosts, which is encouraging. 

My #1 worry is for Lili and Yenny. They are probably already laid off. I hope they will find something great very soon. They sure can count on our recommendations!

]]> It can't possibly be a marketing dept. decision. Lili didn't write that. It's an executive decision which the poor marketing dept. will have to deal with. If the New York Times stopped publishing new stories (because there are a lot of stories out already), it would be a horrible job for their marketing dept. to try to market the old stories. 

My guess is that the whole business model didn't work. FrenchPod and ItalianPod never went very far. SpanishPod is the best of all - but it's probably not making the $$s that ChinesePod makes via its private lessons offer. 

I wonder if ChinesePod is next. They have just hired new hosts, which is encouraging. 

My #1 worry is for Lili and Yenny. They are probably already laid off. I hope they will find something great very soon. They sure can count on our recommendations!

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Latest Changes -- no more new lessons?!]]> I'm sad and a little angry too. Sad because Lili and Yenny are like my friends. And angry because the reason given by Praxis is specious. Of course there is a truckload of lessons, but many of us have listened to them all. It's a business decision, not a "job completed, well done" decision. I wonder if ChinesePod will follow?

]]> I'm sad and a little angry too. Sad because Lili and Yenny are like my friends. And angry because the reason given by Praxis is specious. Of course there is a truckload of lessons, but many of us have listened to them all. It's a business decision, not a "job completed, well done" decision. I wonder if ChinesePod will follow?

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Documentary]]> Baraka is on Youtube, for those of us who don't have access to Marco's Blu Ray. I just watched some of it. It reminds me of another "tone poem" kind of documentary, Koyaanisqatsi. 

]]> Baraka is on Youtube, for those of us who don't have access to Marco's Blu Ray. I just watched some of it. It reminds me of another "tone poem" kind of documentary, Koyaanisqatsi. 

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Getting sick]]> I listened to this lesson at the drugstore, waiting for my antibiotic to be ready...

]]> I listened to this lesson at the drugstore, waiting for my antibiotic to be ready...

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Wrong region]]> Yes, Lucie Manette is right. I use one computer in my house to watch French DVDs. You can also buy a region-free DVD player. 

]]> Yes, Lucie Manette is right. I use one computer in my house to watch French DVDs. You can also buy a region-free DVD player. 

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Visiting Colombia]]> Colombia is always at the top of my list, but the two places I want to see are not easy to reach. One is Santa Cruz de Mompox, and the other one is Leticia. The two are far from each other: Mompox is in the middle of nowhere in the North, and Leticia is way down South at the Peru and Brasil border. I should make it my 2011 project for sure...

]]> Colombia is always at the top of my list, but the two places I want to see are not easy to reach. One is Santa Cruz de Mompox, and the other one is Leticia. The two are far from each other: Mompox is in the middle of nowhere in the North, and Leticia is way down South at the Peru and Brasil border. I should make it my 2011 project for sure...

]]> <![CDATA[Re: At the pharmacy]]> When I was in Ecuador, I spent one night in a Hacienda, cowboy style (Habitación Machai), right under the thatched roof following a nice evening next to a smoking fireplace. My nose just shut off. Muy constipado!

The following day, I went to a pharmacy in Pujilí, and I was happy to be able to buy a prescription strength anti-histamine without a prescription! They just asked me how many pills I wanted. It was comparatively expensive. Look on the picture at the cashier: those eyes didn't miss a thing!

Pharmacy in Pujilí

]]> When I was in Ecuador, I spent one night in a Hacienda, cowboy style (Habitación Machai), right under the thatched roof following a nice evening next to a smoking fireplace. My nose just shut off. Muy constipado!

The following day, I went to a pharmacy in Pujilí, and I was happy to be able to buy a prescription strength anti-histamine without a prescription! They just asked me how many pills I wanted. It was comparatively expensive. Look on the picture at the cashier: those eyes didn't miss a thing!

Pharmacy in Pujilí

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Love this music]]> Speaking of "Love this Music," I always liked the theme from De Pelicula on SpanishPod, so I searched the web for "Eres color, eres calor." And I found the song! Reflejo de Luna by Alacran. Now it's on my iPod, and I am all day at the office singing "Eres color, eres calor" like a crazy person!

]]> Speaking of "Love this Music," I always liked the theme from De Pelicula on SpanishPod, so I searched the web for "Eres color, eres calor." And I found the song! Reflejo de Luna by Alacran. Now it's on my iPod, and I am all day at the office singing "Eres color, eres calor" like a crazy person!

]]> <![CDATA[Re: El Secreto de sus Ojos]]> I just went to see the movie, and it is even better than I expected. I love movies that belong to a certain tradition (in this case, police + justice procedural), but which also contain several good surprises, and changes in tone. Ricardo Darin is my favorite actor (after 9 Queens). Una sugerencia ecceptional. Muchas gracias.

]]> I just went to see the movie, and it is even better than I expected. I love movies that belong to a certain tradition (in this case, police + justice procedural), but which also contain several good surprises, and changes in tone. Ricardo Darin is my favorite actor (after 9 Queens). Una sugerencia ecceptional. Muchas gracias.

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Las Vegas]]> I'm not a specialist, but I believe that the kind of party Marco describes as a "clean" bachelorette party is called, instead, a bridal shower. It's a girl-only party with girl-food, where the bride receives household gifts. It is a very old tradition. Bachelor parties are more recent (maybe 1940s, 1950s...) and traditionally involve drinks and strippers. Bachelorette parties (an answer to bachelor parties) are a modern phenomenon. Writing this, I see what's missing: the groom party, a clean party with nice boy-food, where a groom receives tools and electronic gadgets from his friends!

]]> I'm not a specialist, but I believe that the kind of party Marco describes as a "clean" bachelorette party is called, instead, a bridal shower. It's a girl-only party with girl-food, where the bride receives household gifts. It is a very old tradition. Bachelor parties are more recent (maybe 1940s, 1950s...) and traditionally involve drinks and strippers. Bachelorette parties (an answer to bachelor parties) are a modern phenomenon. Writing this, I see what's missing: the groom party, a clean party with nice boy-food, where a groom receives tools and electronic gadgets from his friends!

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Expat]]> Una semana de vacaciones en Francia es suficiente para mí. You live in China, Lili, so you will understand when I say that France is too rich for me, too clean, too formal. Mejor en la selva que en los Champs Élysées.

]]> Una semana de vacaciones en Francia es suficiente para mí. You live in China, Lili, so you will understand when I say that France is too rich for me, too clean, too formal. Mejor en la selva que en los Champs Élysées.

]]> <![CDATA[Re: What is a torta? Estoy flipando!]]> The reason André asked is that, in French, you never say "my molar hurts." You never talk about your molars, your incisors, your canines... You say my tooth hurts (actually you say I have a teeth ache - j'ai mal aux dents - plural no matter how many teeth ache).

Dentist sign in Cuzco

Why there are so many dentists in Cuzco!

]]> The reason André asked is that, in French, you never say "my molar hurts." You never talk about your molars, your incisors, your canines... You say my tooth hurts (actually you say I have a teeth ache - j'ai mal aux dents - plural no matter how many teeth ache).

Dentist sign in Cuzco

Why there are so many dentists in Cuzco!

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Expat]]> I have been an expat for 30 years (French born, but US citizen now). I can't wait to do it again, and that is why I subscribe to Spanishpod. The minute the last college bill for my youngest is paid, I'm packing and moving to Iquitos! I am SO ready for Chapter 3. I never want to see snow again.

]]> I have been an expat for 30 years (French born, but US citizen now). I can't wait to do it again, and that is why I subscribe to Spanishpod. The minute the last college bill for my youngest is paid, I'm packing and moving to Iquitos! I am SO ready for Chapter 3. I never want to see snow again.

]]> <![CDATA[Re: La propuesta]]> The Proposal is cute, but to me it was like a pale copy of Meet The Parents. Movies I would like to discuss include:

El Norte

Conversaciones con Mamá

Cría cuervos

La historia official

Nueve reinas

El Orfanato

El ángel exterminador

]]> The Proposal is cute, but to me it was like a pale copy of Meet The Parents. Movies I would like to discuss include:

El Norte

Conversaciones con Mamá

Cría cuervos

La historia official

Nueve reinas

El Orfanato

El ángel exterminador

]]> <![CDATA[Re: La cultura del café]]>

Finca Santa Margarita, in Cobán - Guatemala. The best beans are the pale ones. The ones with some dark skin attached will be used for instant coffee. 

]]>

Finca Santa Margarita, in Cobán - Guatemala. The best beans are the pale ones. The ones with some dark skin attached will be used for instant coffee. 

]]> <![CDATA[Re: At the bus stop]]>

Guatemala

Ecuador

Honduras

]]>

Guatemala

Ecuador

Honduras

]]> <![CDATA[Re: The Blind Side]]> Jack Nicholson + Candice Bergen in Carnal Knowledge.

Sandra Bullock + Candice Bergen in Miss Congeniality. 

]]> Jack Nicholson + Candice Bergen in Carnal Knowledge.

Sandra Bullock + Candice Bergen in Miss Congeniality. 

]]> <![CDATA[Re: La Guerra Sucia]]> Evita (Eva Duarte) was the second wife of Juan Peron, in the fifties. (Peron's first wife didn't make history.) Evita died young, long before the dirty war. She was a populist, you could say.

Peron went into exile after Evita's death, and came back with a third wife, Isabel Martinez de Peron, in 1973. Peron was elected in 1973, but died shortly thereafter. Isabel was the first female president in the Americas. Isabel was much more to the right than her husband, who, himself, was more to the right in the 70s than he had been in the 50s. Isabel was a key figure in the dirty war.

Isabel Peron was deposed in 1976, and spent 5 years under house arrest before being exiled to Spain. In 2008, Spain refused to extradite Isabel to face justice in Argentina.

And you are right to recommend the movie La Historia Oficial. It is a stirring movie, and a good way to learn about that period, and about the incomplete healing which followed.

]]> Evita (Eva Duarte) was the second wife of Juan Peron, in the fifties. (Peron's first wife didn't make history.) Evita died young, long before the dirty war. She was a populist, you could say.

Peron went into exile after Evita's death, and came back with a third wife, Isabel Martinez de Peron, in 1973. Peron was elected in 1973, but died shortly thereafter. Isabel was the first female president in the Americas. Isabel was much more to the right than her husband, who, himself, was more to the right in the 70s than he had been in the 50s. Isabel was a key figure in the dirty war.

Isabel Peron was deposed in 1976, and spent 5 years under house arrest before being exiled to Spain. In 2008, Spain refused to extradite Isabel to face justice in Argentina.

And you are right to recommend the movie La Historia Oficial. It is a stirring movie, and a good way to learn about that period, and about the incomplete healing which followed.

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Realize,imperfect and more]]> I suppose that what you said about concierto, meaning concert, applies to concierto meaning concerto - for classical music lovers:

For instance, if my friend says he likes symphonies in general, I can say "a mi me gustan conciertos."

But if my friend says that he loves the symphonies of Rachmaninov, I could say "a mi me gustan los conciertos," meaning the 4 piano concertos by Rachmaninov, right?

]]> I suppose that what you said about concierto, meaning concert, applies to concierto meaning concerto - for classical music lovers:

For instance, if my friend says he likes symphonies in general, I can say "a mi me gustan conciertos."

But if my friend says that he loves the symphonies of Rachmaninov, I could say "a mi me gustan los conciertos," meaning the 4 piano concertos by Rachmaninov, right?

]]> <![CDATA[Re: Frida]]> Sorry for the above. The second movie I posted was CONVERSACIONES CON MAMÁ. 

]]> Sorry for the above. The second movie I posted was CONVERSACIONES CON MAMÁ. 

]]>