Learn Spanish / Spanish Bank Account

Tips on Learning Spanish

Of course you can always take a community course on learning Spanish but there are lots of other ways you can learn, or improve your Spanish speaking skills.

If you have some grasp of the language put it to use by subscribing to Spanish newspapers of magazines. Most publications are written at the level of sixth grade reading so it shouldn’t be too hard to grasp at least some of the meaning. If you have a English – Spanish dictionary by your side so much the better. Major news stands often have a variety of Spanish language publications. You can buy an assortment and then decide which are the most interesting to you.

Listen to Spanish radio. Just about every major city in the U.S. has at least one Spanish station. Listening, even if you don’t understand everything that is being said, will get you used to the cadence and rhythm of the Spanish language. After awhile you may be surprised to find that you understand more and more every time you tune in.

Make it a point to speak Spanish at least once every day. Have a conversation with yourself if there isn’t anybody else around. Discuss the weather, your lunch, or where you plan on going in the evening. Make sure you say the words out loud and not just in your head. You can also tape record your conversations so you can hear how you really sound, not just how you think you sound. Because we hear our own words vibrating through our head and our chest we don’t hear ourselves as others do. If you have a learn Spanish language tape you can compare how you sound to how the instructor sounds.

Find a buddy who is also learning Spanish and practice with him or her on a daily basis. If you’re not next door neighbors use the phone or use email. Try to keep the focus on expanding your language skills, not just repeating to each other what you already know.

Join a Spanish speaking discussion group on Yahoo or Google. You’ll get lots of practice reading Spanish in a real life – well almost real life – setting. Start a learn-to- speak-Spanish, or practice-your-Spanish group yourself. Even if you have only a handful of members you’ll probably find yourself posting away.

Rent Spanish language movies, some come with English subtitles. Or watch a movie that you already know on a Spanish language TV station. You can find books you’re familiar with in English translated into Spanish. You can also find Audio books in Spanish.
Go on amazon.com and order some Spanish comic books or graphic novels. The drawings will help your understanding of the language.

Vacationing in a Spanish speaking country.

The trip itself will motivate you to practice your Spanish and you’ll get a chance to hear natives speaking and to talk with them. Don’t let the fact that you’re learning Spanish deter you from speaking with the residents. Most people are friendly and will appreciate the fact that you’re at least trying to communicate with them in their language. You may be surprised that many of them will help you with your Spanish.

Pablo Conway has learnt his Spanish through some of the above ideas. Do not be afraid of making mistakes, it is through making these mistakes that we remember the correct way to speak Spanish. Get your hands on a learn basic spanih vocabulary course today.

http://www.spanishbankaccount.com/basicspanvocab  

Spanish Language: A Brief Overview

Spanish or Castilian is of course, the national language of Spain. However it’s not the only language spoken or recognized. About one quarter of the population in Spain speaks a language other than Spanish. Catalan is spoken in sections of Andorra and Sardinia, located in Italy and France. Some say the language is a cross between Italian and French. It is considered a major language on its own, and is thought to be more similar to Italian than it is to Spanish. About 4 million people speak Catalan as their native language.

Galician is very similar to Portuguese, in fact a native Galician can understand around 85% of someone speaking Portuguese. About 3 million people in Spain speak Galician and another 1 million outside of Spain.
Euskara, also known as Basque, is the language of an ethnic group that can be found in both France and Spain. It has a separate identity and intends to remain that way. Basque or Euskara is not legally recognized in France, while it is in Spain. Only about 600,000 speak Basque as their first language. Oddly Basque has no connection to the Romance languages or even the greater group known as the Indo-European languages.

Spanish is spoken outside of Spain in South America. The language traveled as a result of Spanish exploration and some would say exploitation, of the New World. These countries include in alphabetical order: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Other countries that have a substantial Spanish speaking population include: Andorra, Belize, Gibraltar, Philippines and the United States. In total about 400 to 500 million people around the world speak Spanish as their native language making it the fourth most common language in the world.
Mandarin Chinese is number one with nearly 900 million speakers, followed by Hindi, and in third place, English. Spanish is the most widely spread and spoken of the Romance languages as a first language.

Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is the second most widely spoken language in the United States and probably the most studied.

The author of this article Pablo Conway has been learning Spanish on and off for the past 3 years. He has used a mixture of private lessons and CD’s. He has also taken to reading the Spanish newspaper “El Pais” English translation is “The Country”. Why not start to learn this wonderful language today, with some F.ree lessons.

http://www.spanishbankaccount.com/basicspanvocab 

Changes to Spanish Capital Gains Tax Part 2

The new tax system will do away with the system regulating asset holding companies and replace it with much higher taxes. These holding companies are usually owned by more than one person which means that the assets are no affected by “economic activities”.

Property letting has until now not been considered an economic activity unless the company had an employee and premises dedicated to the absolute running of that particular business. Under the old legislation a non-resident owner/owners of real estate in this type of company would have benefited from the same GCT rate 15 per cent as individual resident if assets were disposed of by the company after only 1 year.

The new legislation now means that all companies with a turnover of less than 8 millions euros will now be taxed at 25 per cent up to 120,000 euros profit and 30 per cent above that figure. Tax fraud is now being looked at, with the buying and selling of property being put under the microscope.

Fiscal numbers ( NIFs or NIEs for non-residents ) must always be included on the property title deeds and on the local reference documents of a property (referencia catastral) so that you can obtain services from utility companies.

A massive change is that all offshore companies will now be considered resident in Spain for tax purposes, if their main assets consist of real estate on Spanish soil. This will mean that any transactions involving offshore companies will result in their tax assigned using the market value of their real estate as opposed to the declared value. This will definitely increase their tax liability.

It is anticipated that with the reduction of GCT to 18 per cent most property purchasers will now buy the property in their own name rather than through an offshore company. This will give the tax authorities a better overall picture of actually owns what and who is paying what in terms of taxes.

Pablo Conway has owned a property in Spain for the past 3 years and has viewed the changes to GCT. www.spanishbankaccount.com

Changes to Spanish Capital Gains Tax Part 1

It would appear that the Spanish authorities may have to change their thinking regarding capital gains tax. The European Union it would appear have forced them to make sweeping changes to the percentage amount that they charge property sellers. Like all things political, despite the possibility that they will lose a large amount of income, it would seem that they are aiming to make a gain from another source.

It has come about due to the number of complaints from EU citizens that the rate paid by non-residents was excessive, the European Union has taken up the mantle with Spain and forced through the change. The old rate was a staggering 35 per cent; this has now been reduced to 18 per cent.

Of course this now means that the standard rate is 18 per cent, which in turn has the downside that all foreign residents and Spanish Nations will see a rise of 3 per cent to bring them in line with the new legislation.

The main focus of attention is of course the business euro, as many people have bought properties under the umbrella using an offshore company type structure. Look out for part 2 in the near future.

Pablo Conway has been visiting Spain on a regular basis since purchasing his home on the Costa de la Luz. www.spanishbankaccount.com

Buying a House in Spain

There seems to be a rumour that the house market in Spain is dead, that rumour is bogus. The general consensus amongst “The Experts” is that houses are still selling. In recent years property values were leaping around the 25 to 30 per cent a year figure. It now appears that this trend has cooled at least for the next 12 months to 8 to 10 per cent. This is still a good return for your initial investment. Hence the schadenfreude and visible fear among the nervous investors who feel their property portfolios may have to be shelved.

Let us not forget that there is no way you would get that sort of return from the banks over the same period. An annual growth rate of around 10 per cent is excellent, so there is really no need to push the panic button just yet.

These growth rate figures and projections are for the whole of Spain, whilst most property, particularly those aimed at the foreign market, is situated on the costas.

It is true that the market around Marbella has suffered severely due to the problems with the reported corruption scandals the Costa del Sol market is no longer the force that is was! Supply has definitely outstripped demand so this will have a negative effect on the housing market. The lower growth around this area on Spain’s long east coast have definitely dragged down the overall market figure.

It is now time to look further a field, particularly on the west coast of Spain, around the area of the Costa de la Luz. Why not visit this area and look at the many properties for sale whilst staying in a self catering apartment to give you more flexibility in your house hunting.

www.casa-hibisca.com/jerez.html

Bird Watching in Europe

When you think about bird watching it may conjure up images of when you where a young boy/girl. As the season’s changed you saw different types of birds as they came and went with the changing season. In the winter we had the Robin red breast, in the summer we could look forward to seeing Swifts and Swallows.

As you travel around the world it becomes clear that each country has its own type of birds which come and go throughout the year. If we went bird watching in Europe we would see a certain type of bird, maybe the lovely Kingfishers swooping down in the water to feed. The Kingfisher must eat its own weight in fish each day just to survive. Lets not forget about the grey wagtails these lovely birds are plentiful and a joy to watch on the wing!

Bird watching in Spain has become the next thing to do for many “twitchers”. Bird life is plentiful and with luck you may spot a dipper flying past you or if you are very lucky you can watch as it dives under the flowing water searching for water insects. They have the ability to stay under water for more than 90 seconds, a great feat.

On the steep mountain slops of the Parque Natural de la Sierra de Grazalema on the Costa de la Luz you will be able to blue rock thrushes as they are perched on the rocks or chasing their next meal. A native bird to the area the Black Wheatears can be seen flying above the small white villages or houses situated in the mountains. These lovely birds are resident to this area, which goes to prove that there is plenty of food for them as well as other species.

Dashing sparrowhaws, soaring Bonelli’s eagles and gliding griffon vultures can be seen soaring high above using the thermals to stay aloft. Why not join a bird watching tour and get to visit the best locations. Bird watching for the beginner is made more pleasurable when you have an expert guide with you.

Pablo Conway has spent a number of years in Europe. Visit his website to get further information on Spain and particularly the Costa de la Luz. www.casa-hibisca.com

Self Catering in Spain’s Costa de la Luz

The province of Cadiz has lately seen a decline in the population to 130,561. This is a fall of 0.95 per cent on last year, but a big drop of 10.33 per cent over the past decade. It would seem that people are moving out of the capital to other parts of the province. These figures have come from the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE). However Cadiz is forward thinking in its approach to pollution, in that it is testing buses that are being run on bio-diesel fuel, with the ultimate aim to switch all their public transport vehicles on the more environmentally friendly fuels.
It would be a great idea if you stayed outside of Cadiz in a self catering apartment within easy reach of the capital. For a start the price would be much cheaper and you could also be more central to other parts of the province. If you stayed in the town of Medina Sidonia you could visit a number of surrounding areas of natural beauty. Self catering in Spain gives you the flexibility of being able to live on a tight budget whilst still being able to cherry pick your places to visit.
Medina Sidonia is no more than 30 minutes from Jerez airport thus giving you a good base for your holiday activities. Let us not forget that there is a Spanish language school situated in the town, which would help you in your quest to explore the interior of Spain where English is not widely spoken. It is therefore a win win situation for you, so get out that map and plan your visit to Spain today! Remember a self catering apartment is Spain does give you the maximum holiday for your euro.

www.casa-hibisca.com/medina sidonia.html