Today in my Level 2 class we were doing timed exercises striving to get a gold star.   In a three minute period one student delivers a cue in English and the partner translates it into Spanish.  There are 40 cues and they all have to be translated in three minutes.  When I do this exercises, even though I know the answers perfectly, I find my mind starting to melt down after about 25 cues.  I have to stay focused and the three minutes seems like a half hour.  It is intense and requires a strong brain to get a gold star in this exercise.

What amazes me is the number of people that can do this successfully who are between 60 and 70 years old.  Who are these people?  They are my students, people who are engaged in life long learning, people who are reinventing themselves right before my eyes.

These folks have completely changed their paradigm of reality.  They have moved to a foreign country and are learning a new language.  They are actually building a better brain.

On page 67 in his book, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, Doidge says, “Learning a new language in old age is so good for improving memory generally. Because it requires intense focus. Studying a new language turns on the control system for plasticity and keeps it in good shape for laying down sharp memories of all kinds.“

The experience of learning a new language and creating new memories using is is one of the best ways to build a better brain and a more youthful life.

A language is a mind made up of patterns called sentences. The mind map of these patterns are what create the neuron connections in the brain.  Your mother language is a mind map and the longer you speak it, the more rigid it becomes. 

Doidge says that “unlearning” the mother tongue map we have in our brains is an important first step. The longer, more eloquently we speak our native language in old age the more stubbornly we cling to those maps.

Learning Spanish creates plasticity and stops rigidity by building new brain maps. The brain is plastic and the more plasticity the better the brain. 

The Warren Hardy Method was designed to build a better brain.  Over the 40 years of working with adult learners I have developed a method that takes into consideration the learning modalities of older brains. Here is why it works:

The “cross-training methodology” develops both an understanding of sentence structure and the ability to speak and understand at the same time.

It builds power of focus because you are engaged in a different activity almost every three minutes.

Repletion is spaced and there is plenty of it.

There are filling the blank/self grading workbooks with plenty of exercises and flashcards that develop visual links in the brain.  Finally, these materials are carefully integrated with audios that develop speaking and understanding skills.

I acknowledge my students and am inspired by their enthusiasm for continued growth.  Do you want to build a better brain?  Come join us at Warren Hardy Spanish.

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Mexico is less deadly than ten years ago

A study reveals tourists as well as locals are safer than many believe

Monday, February 8, 2010

BY ALEXANDRA OLSON

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY – The drug war-related violence in the country has obscured a significant fact: A falling homicide rate means people in Mexico are less likely to die violently now than they were more than a decade ago.

It also means tourists as well as locals may be safer than many believe.  Mexico City’s homicide rate today is about on par with Los Angeles and is less than a third of that for Washington, D.C.

Yet many Americans are leery of visiting Mexico at all. Drug violence and the swine flu outbreak contributed to a 12.5 percent decline in air travel to Mexico by U.S. citizens in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, a blow to Mexico’s third-largest source of foreign income.

Mexico, Colombia and Haiti are the only countries in the hemisphere subject to a U.S. government advisory warning travelers about violence, even though homicide rates in many Latin American countries are far higher.

“What we hear is, ’Oh the drug war! The dead people on the streets, and the policeman losing his head,’” said Tobias Schluter, 34, a civil engineer from Berlin having a beer at a cafe behind Mexico City’s 16th-century cathedral. “But we don’t see it. We haven’t heard a gunshot or anything.”

Mexico’s homicide rate has fallen steadily from a high in 1997 of 17 per 100,000 people to 14 per 100,000 in 2009, a year marked by an unprecedented spate of drug slayings concentrated in a few states and cities, Public Safety Secretary Genaro García Luna said. The national rate hit a low of 10 per 100,000 people in 2007, according to government figures compiled by the independent Citizens’ Institute for Crime Studies.

By comparison, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have homicide rates of between 40 and 60 per 100,000 people, according to recent government statistics. Colombia was close behind with a rate of 33 in 2008. Brazil’s was 24 in 2006, the last year when national figures were available.  Mexico City’s rate was about 9 per 100,000 in 2008, while Washington, D.C. was more than 30 that year.

“In terms of security, we are like those women who aren’t overweight but when they look in the mirror, they think they’re fat,” said Luis de la Barreda, director of the Citizens’ Institute. “We are an unsafe country, but we think we are much more unsafe that we really are.”

Of course, drug violence has turned some places in Mexico, including the U.S. border region and some parts of the Pacific coast, into near-war zones since President Felipe Calderón intensified the war against cartels with a massive troop deployment in 2006. That has made Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, among the most dangerous cities in the world.
“The violence, homicides and cruel and inhuman assassinations, which fill the pages of our media, make us feel that there has been much more violence since this war against drug trafficking,” said Bishop Miguel Alba Díaz of La Paz, a vacation city at the tip of the Baja California peninsula.

Mexico’s violence is often more shocking than elsewhere in Latin America because powerful cartels go to extremes to intimidate the government and rival smugglers.
Authorities say the vast majority of victims are drug suspects, but bystanders, including children, sometimes get caught in the crossfire.

Mexico has the same problems with corrupt police, gang violence and poverty as other Latin American countries with higher homicide rates. So why the decline in murders?
Experts say while drug violence is up, land disputes have eased. Many farmers have migrated to the cities or abroad and the government has pushed to resolve the land disputes, some centuries old.

De la Barreda attributes the downward trend to a general improvement in Mexico’s quality of life. More Mexicans have joined the ranks of the middle class in the past two decades, while education levels and life expectancy have also risen.

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Can an old brain learn, and then remember what it learns? Put another way, is this a brain that should be studying Spanish?

As it happens, yes. While it’s tempting to focus on the flaws in older brains, that inducement overlooks how capable they’ve become. Over the past several years, scientists have looked deeper into how brains age and confirmed that they continue to develop through and beyond middle age.

Many long held views, including the one that 40 percent of brain cells are lost, have been overturned. What is stuffed into your head may not have vanished but has simply been squirreled away in the folds of your neurons.

One explanation for how this occurs comes from Deborah M. Burke, a professor of psychology at Pomona College in California. Dr. Burke has done research on “tots,” those tip-of-the-tongue times when you know something but can’t quite call it to mind. Dr. Burke’s research shows that such incidents increase in part because neural connections, which receive, process and transmit information, can weaken with disuse or age.

Recently, researchers found some positive news. The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, learn Spanish much faster than a young person can.

The trick is finding ways to keep brain connections in good condition and to grow more of them.

“The brain is plastic and continues to change, not in getting bigger but allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding,” says Kathleen Taylor, a professor at St. Mary’s College of California, who has studied ways to teach adults effectively. “As adults we may not always learn quite as fast, but we are set up for this next developmental step.”

Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, says Dr. Taylor, who is 66.

Teaching new facts should not be the focus of adult education, she says. Instead, continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you “bump up against people and ideas” that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world.

“There’s a place for information,” Dr. Taylor says. “We need to know stuff. But we need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections.”

Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain. Move to Mexico, learn Spanish, or just take a different route to work.

Jack Mezirow, a professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, has proposed that adults learn best if presented with what he calls a “disorienting dilemma,” or something that “helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired.”  Moving to a Mexico and learning Spanish will challenge your assumptions!

No wonder we see people in San Miguel de Allende studying Spanish and running around town who are in their seventies and eighties.  These folks are jiggling their synapses!

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If you wonder where you are at in terms of your Spanish development, this blog will help you to understand.  Below are the descriptions used by Spanish teachers worldwide.  Take a look and decide where you are and where you would like to be. These descriptions are fairly academic but worth the time to look over.

Warren Hardy Spanish offers four levels of instruction designed to take you to a High Conversational Level.
This course will prepare you  to practice Spanish with native speakers, so you may develop Fluid speech.
By doing the coursework and practicing with native speakers, you will develop your skills through the
following stages. These guidelines are set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

FUNCTIONAL
-    You can manage straightforward social protocol.
-    You can communicate your needs and wants in short,
      often incomplete sentences in present time.    
-    Your vocabulary is limited to basic objects.
-    You have difficulty formulating questions.
HIGH FUNCTIONAL
-    You sometimes appear fluent with social protocol.
-    You can create short sentences with difficulty in present, past,
      and future time.
-    Your vocabulary is limited to basic information such as  time, numbers, months, home, directions    and immediate needs.
-    You still have difficulty formulating questions.
CONVERSATIONAL
-    You are fluent with social protocol.
-    You can handle predictable situations and personal needs in
     present, past, and future time.
-    Your conversation is reactive and there is a struggle to answer
    direct questions.
-    Your speech is filled with hesitancy and inaccuracies.
-     You can be understood in spite of frequent misunderstandings.
-    You are capable of asking a variety of questions to obtain
      information about basic needs.
-    You are able to self correct.
HIGH CONVERSATIONAL
-    You are fluid in straight-forward social situations.
-    You can discuss personal information, family relations, home,
      daily activities, interests, personal preferences, physical and
      social needs.
-    You usually communicate reactively responding to direct questions.
-    You are able to link ideas using the nine Spanish tenses.
-    Your speech contains pauses, reformations, and self corrections while searching for adequate     vocabulary     and appropriate
     language forms.
-    You are able to converse with ease and confidence when dealing with most routine tasks and social situations.
-    You are able to narrate and describe in all tenses using discourse of paragraph length.
-    You sometimes have hesitation going from tense to tense but you can self-correct.

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The basis of social protocol in the Hispanic culture is acknowledging the presence of another person when you enter or leave their space.  This is usually done with a:
1.   a greeting
2.   a farewell
3.   a request for space or attention
4.    a blessing on their meal
It is considered rude and reflects badly on your mother (who gave you a poor education) if you don’t use appropriate protocol.
1. The greetings are cheerfully said to everyone you pass, especially to all with whom you make eye contact. 

     BUENOS DÍAS = “Good morning,” used from daylight until noon.
     BUENAS TARDES = “Good afternoon,” used from noon until 7 P.M. or dark.
     BUENAS NOCHES = Good evening from 7 P.M. or dark. Sometimes it may get dark before 7 P.M.
     ADIÓS can be said to a person in passing. For example anytime you pass someone on the street and you make eye contact, it is good to say adiós.
    Adiós literally means “to God” and is considered a high greeting, not just good-bye.
     HOLA = “Hi.” It  is an informal greeting which can be used with children or good friends. Otherwise, it is usually combined with a formal greeting like this:
    HOLA, BUENOS DÍAS = “Hi, good morning.”

2. Farewells are usually said with:

   ADIÓS.  HASTA LUEGO. =
“Goodbye, until later.”
   or
ADIÓS. BUENAS NOCHES. =
“Goodbye, good night.”
It is common at a party to go around and
say good night to everyone present before one leaves. This is called a despedida.

3. Request for space or attention is very important.
In Mexico, people have a different level of spatial comfort than in the U.S. or Canada, where people may feel uncomfortable when someone is closer than arm’s length.
In Mexico people are comfortable at elbow’s length. As a result it is common for people to seem to be crowding, or to be “balled up.”

If you need space to pass by, simply say:

CON PERMISO, POR FAVOR = “With your permisson, please.”
This request will quickly be answered by people moving and sometimes saying:
PROPIO = “It’s yours.”
As you pass through, you can say:
GRACIAS, ADIÓS = “Thank you, goodbye.”

Con permiso is also used to request attention. In hispanic cultures the attendents in a retail store will usually not wait on you until you request help unless you are in a tourist area.
So in most cases they will linger back attentively until you ask for help. Raising your hand and saying con permiso, por favor  will get you service. And don’t forget to smile!
Waiters will not bring you the check at a restaurant until you ask for it. It is considered rude and is like asking you to leave if they bring you the check without your request. When you are ready for the check, simply call the waiter or waitress with a raising of the hand and say:

LA CUENTA, POR FAVOR. = “The check, please.”
Joven, senorita (to get the attention of a waiter/waitress … if the waiter is older, you can say señor or señora) – it’s considered rude to call a working person by their occupation, e.g. mesero or mesera.
When you leave don’t forget to say:
MUCHAS GRACIAS and smile!
    It is good to be generous with tips.

When you enter the space where someone is eating, it is courteous to say:

BUEN PROVECHO.
This translates as “I hope you get the most from your meal.” It is a blessing on their meal. People will always look up, smile, and say GRACIAS.
It is common in a restaurant to say buen provecho as you pass a table of people eating, whether you make eye-contact or not.  People really appreciate this gesture and it is a sign of good breeding.

Using these four areas of social protocol has many benefits.
1. It connects you with other people and helps you to overcome your psychological fears about using Spanish.  When you do this and people respond, there is a little voice in the back of your mind that say, “Yes, this language is real and it works!” This connection is very empowering.
2. It shows respect for the hispanic people and lets them know that you are indeed “educated” and know the social niceties of their culture.
This is important because hispanics usually perceive Americans as cold or even rude because we don’t commonly greet each other in our culture.
Use the social protocol every day, everywhere. It is important. Es muy importante.

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Spanish has two you’s, just like in English where we have the
“you” =  you formal
and
“thou” =  you informal.

In English the “thou” form has become obsolete in daily life. However, in Spanish, both formal and personal forms are used. It is important to use them appropriately.

You usually won’t offend people if you use the wrong “you.” Spanish-speakers are very forgiving and usually appreciate the fact that you are trying to speak their language. If you don’t know a person, it is usually better to use the “you formal”  to show respect.

Women should use caution not to use the personal you (tú), with a man until she develops confidence in him. A man may misinterpret the use of the personal you as an invitation to intimacy. If a man is using the personal you (tú) with a woman inappropriately, she can simply say, Usted, por favor, and he will get the idea.

You probably won’t be on first-name basis with most people, so the formal you will be more appropriate most of the time.

OK, HERE IS A BASIC LIST OF RULES;

YOU formal (Usted) vs. You personal (tú)
The formal you (USTED) is used with:
1.    people whom you don’t know or whom you don’t call by their first name.
2.    people who are in authority over you, or to whom you wish to show respect.
3.    people who are older than you.
4.    people with whom you have no level of intimacy or confidence.
The Personal You (TÚ) is used with:
1.    people with whom you are on a first-name basis.
2.    people with whom you are on equal terms.
3.    people who are younger than you.
4.    people with whom you have a level of intimacy or confidence.

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You will need these simple phrases to defend yourself. (As they say in Spanish):
    No Entiendo = I don’t understand.

    Repita por favor = Repeat please.

    Despacio por favor = Slowly please.

    No hablo español muy bién =
I don’t speak Spanish very well.

    Necesito practicar mi español =
I need to practice my Spanish.

Gracias por su paciencia =
Thank you for your patience.

Remember to smile and be kind, even though you might feel frustrated.  People want to help but sometimes patience is required.  Leave on a happy note, you never know if you will be standing in front of the same person asking for help again five minutes later.

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The Total Immersion Myth

You’ve heard it a hundred times: "If you really want to learn a foreign language, you have to start with a total immersion course in the target language’s country." And every time you heard it, it was wrong.

In a total immersion Spanish class, the only language spoken is Spanish. No other language is allowed. All teaching and explanations are in Spanish.

Now imagine the scene. You don’t speak a word of Spanish, but you’ve been told to start with a Total Immersion program in Mexico. By living in the culture, immersing yourself in the language all day, you’re sure you’ll go home in a few weeks speaking fluent Spanish.

At the school, they give you a placement test and tell you you’re a beginner. (Well, you knew that.) Your new teacher greets you. Or you assume that’s what it was but since it was in Spanish, you’re not sure. You smile back. Then he starts talking at you in Spanish and you have no idea what he’s saying. He talks louder, gestures, holds up objects and points, pouring this stream of foreign sounds over you.

It’s only the first day and already you’re lost.

If you’ve studied any foreign language in a classroom anywhere, you know how difficult it can be to grasp critical concepts even when the explanation is in your own language. Now imagine trying to do all that when it’s delivered in a language you don’t understand. When you think it through, it’s a crazy idea.

But there is a place for total immersion in language learning and I want to explain where it fits into the way adults learn.

What Comes First?

Research has taught us that adults are left-brain dominant learners. We like to know how to put sentences together structurally before we start speaking them. The problem with total immersion teaching for adults has always been the critical question: How do you clearly explain grammar and language constructs and develop fluent speaking skills at the same time.

My life’s work has been to develop a method that does just that. It’s based on the premise that you have to begin at the beginning and build in a logical pattern. My foundation course teaches the tenses and grammar of Spanish by using a paired learning method. Students work with partners in timed exercises called games while being facilitated by native Spanish speakers. They use flashcards and workbooks to interact in Spanish while learning correct sentence structure. This "cross-training" teaches language structure and develops speaking skills at the same time.

And it’s fun. You understand what you’re doing. Everyone has a chance to develop. And no one ever has to "perform" for the class.

After you’ve gone through all four levels of the Foundation Course (96 hours), you’ve learned all the tenses of Spanish and developed an ability to use them. And that’s when your speaking skills will advance at lightning speed by interacting with native speakers.

After each level of the Foundation Course there is a Skill Development Course using the structure you just learned. In Warren Hardy’s conversation classes you practice Spanish in specific contexts with native speakers in class and in the streets of San Miguel. Because you have a solid foundation in the language, you know how to self-correct and understand when corrected. Progress is smooth and fun. There are four levels of Intermediate Conversation Spanish at Warren Hardy which coincide with the Foundation Courses.

After this Intermediate Conversation level, you’re ready for advanced training. This is called total immersion! This experience takes you into Spanish mind. You move from Spanish Learner to Spanish Practitioner. You speak and hear Spanish only for days at a time. This is when you break through and become fluid in Spanish.

Many Warren Hardy students graduate to total immersion schools. When they report back they all say the same thing. “I am by far the oldest person in my class, but I’m the only one who knows what’s going on. Everyone comes to me for help.” 

You see, there is a place in adult language learning for total immersion. The myth is that immersion is the place to start.

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