There is no such thing as too early for learning a second language

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

For monolingual parents who can’t offer their child a bilingual upbringing, it would be money well invested to enroll their children in a foreign language course as early as kindergarten.
I, for example, was raised bilingually - my mom spoke my native Bulgarian and German to me, and I started learning English at a pre-school age. [...]

Read the full article

Tags: america, children, english, german, kindergarten, learning, parents, school, second language, spanish

How to say ‘Happy New Year’ in 20 languages

Posted by simonager under English, French, German, Italian, Learning a language, Spanish

New Year is celebrated around the world, though not necessarily on the same day everywhere. In some cases, such as in Chinese and Vietnamese communities, there are celebrations for both solar New Year on 1st January according to the Gregorian, and Lunar New Year, the date of which changes every year. In the Eastern Orthodox [...]

Read the full article

Tags: arabic, catalan, french, german, italian, mandarin, new year, spanish, voc

Por and para – how to use these semingly similar Spanish words

Posted by simonager under Learning a language, Spanish

One aspect of Spanish that frustrates learners is knowing when to use por and when to use para. Both can be translated as ‘for’, but are not used in quite the same way as that English word, and have other meanings as well.
Usage of para
Para can be used to indicate purpose (for/in order to); a [...]

Read the full article

Tags: examples, for, learning, spanish, translate

How the Spanish celebrate Christmas

Posted by simonager under Cactus Languages Abroad

The Christmas season in Spain starts at the beginning of December, when towns and cities all over the country are decorated with Christmas trees, lights and nativity displays (naciemento/belen). Some of the nativity displays are very elaborate and a few even feature live actors and animals. Christmas markets selling fruit, flowers, sweets, candles, decorations and [...]

Read the full article

Tags: christmas, christmas market, december, events, new year, spain, spanish

The allure of Granada

Posted by simonager under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language

Granada is a city located near the Sierra Nevada mountains in Andalusia in southern Spain. Between 711 and 1492 it was ruled by Moors and their influence can still be seen, especially in the architecture.
The number one draw for visitors to Granada is the Alhambra or Calat-Al-Hama (The Red Castle). This is a beautiful series [...]

Read the full article

Tags: alhambra, city, flamenco, granada, location, spain, spanish

10 Spanish Words That Defy The Gender Rule

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language, Spanish

Don’t get caught out by these common ‘trip-up’ words…
In Spanish, as in other Romance languages, words are classified as either masculine or feminine. And it’s usually the case that a masculine word will end in ‘-o‘ while a feminine word will end in ‘-a‘. But, as is always the case when learning a language, there [...]

Read the full article

Tags: gender rules, spanish

Cactus Opinion: Learning Spanish in Cuba

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

Sarah Wilson, Cactus TEFL Advisor, tells us how she learnt Spanish in Cuba…

Havana, Cuba, September 2002. I‘m met by strangers at José Martí airport and I’m driven, in what looks like a wreck of a 1950s vehicle, to the Cuban equivalent of the Royal Academy of Music and Art, ISA, el Instituto Superior de Artes. [...]

Read the full article

Tags: cuba, havana, spanish

Top 5 City Breaks this Autumn

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, English, French, Italian, Learning a language, Spanish

Put some brightness in your diary this autumn…
August has just been pronounced the worst on record, we’re almost in autumn without even seeing a summer, and the evenings are starting to draw in. Anyone living in the UK has ample reason to be jumping on a plane right now - and it seems that, despite [...]

Read the full article

Tags: barcelona, berlin, cava week, city break, english, french, italian, new york, nice, rome, spanish, thanksgiving

Cactus Opinion: Learning Spanish in the Dominican Republic

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language, Spanish

Managing Director of Cactus in the US, Rich Ambler, tells us about his Spanish course in Sosua

It’s late Sunday morning and I am sitting at what passes for a bus station in Sosua, in the north of the Dominican Republic, waiting for the next bus to the capital Santo Domingo. My Spanish language holiday is [...]

Read the full article

Tags: dominican republic, santo domingo, sosua, spanish, spanish course, spanish language course

Where’s the best place to learn Spanish in Latin America?

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language, Spanish

Alex Wolfson, Latin America specialist at Cactus, ponders an inherently difficult question

Every day the Cactus Language Team receives many phone calls from our clients and potential clients. Most already know where they would like to take a language course because of a particular affection for a city, the desire to visit a specific place and [...]

Read the full article

Tags: argentina, bolivia, chile, colombia, costa rica, cuba, dominican republic, latin america, mexico, panama, peru, spanish, spanish language course