The Spanish Conquest of Peru

About five hundred years ago, small groups of Spanish people came into North (Mexico) and South America (Peru) carrying guns and swords. The Spanish conquered two empires (the Aztecs and the Incas): this changed our world forever. Jared Diamond has studied how this was possible. Be sure to turn on the captions (CC) to read the English dialogue while you watch this video.

Tourist Spanish-2

Saying "Thank you!" and "You're welcome" is essential when you travel to another country.

Tourist Spanish-1

When learning a new language, it is very important to relax: don't worry about grammar. Just practice listening to words, short phrases and dialogues many times to see if you can recognize all the sounds. Try to write them down, but don't feel bad if you make mistakes. Ear training takes time.

After you can identify most of the sounds, imagine saying them (Where do you put your tongue, your lips etc.) but don't actually speak until you feel ready. A realxed silent period is very, very helpful.

One of the first things you should learn in Spanish is how to introduce yourself.

Taiwan vs Five European Microstates ( Microcountries)

There are five microstates in Western Europe. These tiny countries have extremely small populations. All but one would fit within Taipei City (or even one of its districts):

Sweden-1 (Soft Drinks and Things That Go Boom!)

What's this? 1-Coffee_cream_TetraPak--CC Wikimedia

Sweden is covered with thick forests. Find out what Sweden does with them on my language learning blog.

High Street, Boston, Massachusetts 1988, CC-By NC-SA Paul-W, 1988-pwl-sheet02-142390666673_51e19e851a_z

This building collapsed in 1988. What does this have to do with Sweden? Click below to find out!

France-5 (French Food)

Two years ago, I talked about French food on my language learning blog

Eating French – A Linguistic Introduction for EFL Students

When you travel in France, you can save a lot of money AND enjoy yourself by visiting five different food shops (or food sections in a supermarket). Have a picnic! Buy some fresh food in these shops:

1-charcuterie (A store that sells prepared, ready-to-eat meat products, such as cooked ham)

Charcuterie in Paris, CC BY-NC-SA,  cbertel, www DOT flickr DOT com SLASH photos SLASH 29323477 AT N04 SLASH 5418483692 SLASH 

2-fromagerie (A cheese shop or a cheese factory)

Interrogation surprise, CC BY-NC-SA  dadavidov, www DOT flickr DOT com SLASH photos SLASH 56362165 AT N00 SLASH 5273444555 SLASH 

Cheese Factory, CC BY-SA  Vinicius Pinheiro, www DOT flickr DOT com SLASH photos SLASH 14322520 AT N00 SLASH 4320256917 SLASH 

3-boulangerie (a bread store; some also make pastry, but this is not their specialty). Notice the different types of bread. This is also a good place to buy croissants for breakfast.

Du pain, CC BY-NC-SA Julia Jansen, www DOT flickr DOT com SLASH photos SLASH 40646435 AT N00 SLASH 35924874 SLASH 

France-4 (What to See, Do and Eat in France)

Here are from suggestions from Owl & Mouse

Go to their website and click on each spot (each fleur de Lys, a symbol of French kings) for more information.

Notice the three main rivers (fleuves in French): the Seine (which crosses Paris and goes to the English Channel), the Loire (which crosses the middle of the country and goes to the Atlantic Ocean), and the Rhone (which goes to the Mediterranean Sea). There are also many smaller rivers (rivières in French) and canals.

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/online-atlas/france-food-tourist.htm