A wedding of any sort is not complete without someone giving wedding blessings, and with the diversity of people around the world, you can find a number of wedding blessings from different cultures coming to the fore. One such favored type of wedding blessing is that of an Irish wedding blessing.

Maybe it is the humor, or may be it is the sentimentality, it could even be the beautiful language in which these blessings are spoken, but more and more you can find at least one Irish wedding blessing being spoken at a wedding. And you can be guaranteed that it doesn’t become old and repetitious. These sayings are long lived already, and they seem set to become immortalized in the annals of human history.

The reason for this is of course, that a traditional Irish wedding blessing is so elegant, and so evocative, that it has become timeless. Many are the times that you will hear an Irish wedding blessing at a wedding and many are the times when you can look around and find a tear or two in the eyes of someone when such a blessing is given.

A good example of an Irish wedding blessing is “May you both live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.” Another good example is, “May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies and quick to make friends.”

And this is only the beginning. There are yet other great examples of a good Irish wedding blessing to be found, and if you look in the right places, you will find many of these sayings amassed in one place, such as in an Irish wedding blessing book, which contains numerous of these sayings. Or you can even find them on the internet.

There are many Irish communities living outside their beloved homeland who get together, and the internet is one good way to find not only these people, but also to find a few hundred different Irish wedding blessings.

The two mentioned above are very short, and sweet. They are used often, as are other blessings, but this has to be an all time favorite Irish wedding blessing. It goes something along the lines of, “On this special day, our wish to you, The goodness of the old, the best of the new. God bless you both who drink this mead, may it always fill your every need. – Sláinte!”

If you would like to learn Irish Gaelic, then be sure to check out our Talk Now Irish Course from our store.

Also be sure to check out our post on Learning Irish Resources.

Being disciplined and practicing frequently are two very critical attributes to have when learning a new language. So how to learn Spanish fast will be a combination of all these personal attributes along with the right materials for the task.

Language, Memory And Learning

One can learn to speak Spanish fast because learning the language is fairly easy compared to other languages like say Russian, Cantonese and even French. To know how to learn Spanish fast takes the correct tools and resources for the task. There are various resources at bookshops, on the internet, and in language schools that are good tutoring material on how to learn Spanish fast. Learning 200 words per day is a realistic goal according to some experts when learning a new language.

Though if one wants to get to know how to learn Spanish fast, there is a need to know how then to use these numerous words otherwise they will be forgotten. This is where memory comes in, and learning a foreign language is a very good memory exerciser.

Many sites dedicated to teaching Spanish will offer an added coaching that will show their students how to learn Spanish fast. The majority of these techniques are designed to strengthen the memory overall and not just for how to learn to speak Spanish fast.

Learning a new language is a matter of making associations of meaningless collective syllables with a word you are familiar with in your language. Mnemonics for word association is an effective way to learn Spanish fast. This involves likening the foreign word to a word or words in your own language with images or mental movies.

Another way to learn Spanish fast would be to associate words with different places in a town, for example bread to a bakery, or associating verbs (doing words) to sport activities adjectives to foods and people. There is also the fact that in any language there are the common 100 words that make up 50% of conversation, learn these words and the rest will be easy to master.

See Also: Learn Spanish Audio CDs

Montanita is a small village northwest of Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador, on a 180 kilometer ride. It is known by both tourist and locales for its surfing beach. Because of its recognition as the best surfing place in Ecuador, it draws lots of crowds from different places. It is in this reason, that Montanita Spanish School is right in the beach itself as Ecuador Spanish School. The location of the school is suitable for learning with practical experience and fun. There are various courses that make you learn Spanish Ecuador in an exciting and practical way.

You have a variety of choices in enrolling in this Ecuador Spanish School in Montanita. You can learn Spanish Ecuador in Montanita Spanish School by either groups, one on one, survival Spanish, Spanish and surf, Spanish and kite surf, Spanish and dive, Spanish and volunteer, and explore Ecuador. Although these are different ways to learn Spanish Ecuador in this school, one thing is common: the teachers and staffs in Montanita Spanish School are all professionals and has passion to teach Spanish language and culture in a dynamic way. At the end, you not only learn Spanish Ecuador but also gain memorable experiences, develop group of friends, and learn a lot on Ecuador and Spanish cultures. This is what makes the Ecuador Spanish School in Montanita different with ordinary schools.

The course for Spanish in group offers 3 to 5 member group to learn Spanish Ecuador based on grammar for 2 hour duration. After which, there would be additional 2 hours conservational and activity based learning to put into practical use what you learned. This will take 20 lessons per week. The Spanish one on one course is available for more attention needed by students who either choose this for specialized Spanish lesson or as preferred. The teachers still follow certain syllabus but can adjust to what is most needed by the student. Survival Spanish is another course in the said Ecuador Spanish School with only ten hours a week, suitable for a traveler who has limited time in Ecuador but wants to understand and be understood in Spanish. This course is meant to survive in a Spanish speaking culture. Spanish and surf is another practical way to learn Spanish Ecuador by learning how to speak Spanish at the same time learns surfing. As Montanita is the best place for surfing, you can take advantage of the great waves while learning Spanish. This course can be offered both to a surfing beginner and to experienced surfer. Spanish and dive is much like Spanish and surf but this time students get to dive into the deep sea waters of Ecuador. Spanish can also be taught even while kite surfing in Montanita Spanish School. This Ecuador Spanish School can teach you Spanish and kite surfing at the same time with Spanish and kite surf course. Spanish and volunteer is another course that exposes you to volunteering public works in Ecuador. You can learn Spanish at the same time choose a volunteer work either for ecological development in Ecuador or for involvement with poor children in local school. Finally, Montanita Spanish School offers Explore Ecuador, a course that gives you privilege in touring four locations in Ecuador while learning how to speak Spanish.

Be sure to check out our post on Using Spanish CDs.

The Romanian language, like Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian is a Romance language. Among the Romance languages, Romanian is closest to its Italian cousin.

It is spoken by around 24 to 28 million people. The majority of these speakers reside primarily in Romania as well as in neighboring Moldova, where it is referred to as Moldovan.

It also spoken in the autonomous regions of Vojvodina in Serbia.

The origin of the Romanian people has been a source of dispute and two primary theories exist. The first theory sees a Romanian continuity with the inhabitants of Dacia and the adjacent regions. The second theory holds that present day Romanians are in fact the descendants of Romanic peoples that migrated from former Roman provinces south of the Danube in the Balkans regions.

Economic and political changes have spread Romanian speakers throughout various countries including, Italy, Spain, Israel, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other regions of Europe.

The history of Romania, which among the various reaches of ancient Roman rule, alone bears the name of Rome, is fascinating. Present day Romania was inhabited in ancient times by the Dacians. Defeated by the Roman army in 106 CE, Dacia became a Roman province.

Heavy Roman colonization, brought the Latin language into the realm of administration and commerce in the region. Roman rule ended in 271 CE with the increasing pressure brought upon by migrating Gothic tribes.

The geographical isolation of Dacia may have been the impetus in Romanian likely being the first Latin based language to evolve.

Romanian however has been influenced by Slavic, Greek, Turkish, and Hungarian languages due to various political changes. Romanian speaking minorities are to be found in a various places in Europe including in Serbia, the Ukraine, Hungary, and Bulgarian in addition the large immigrant communities already mentioned.

Of special note is the immigration of Romanian Jews to Israel which has created a proprotionally significant number of Romanian speakers.

Approximately ten percent of Romanian speakers reside in Moldovan territory where Romanian (albeit under the name Moldovan) is the official language. It is used in all spheres of life including schools, the media, and educational institutions.

Interestingly the term “Romanian language” is used for several largely mutually unintelligible dialects which are termed independent languages.

In most cases, the changes are very subtle. Under German Spelling Reform, there is a greatly reduced usage of uniquely German characters such as “ß”. You may also see that some verbs with nouns built into them (such as “eislaufen,” or ice-skating) have been separated into two words, as they are in English. Informal pronouns such as “du” and “dir” are not capitalized (as they inconsistently were in the past), while formal pronouns such as “Sie” and “Ihnen” always begin with a capital letter. And words such as Katostrophe (catastrophe) have be changed to something that looks more distinctly German (Katostrofe).

In German, Spelling Reform is called Rechtschreibreform, and there’s no doubt it was intended to change the language forever. Its designers’ goal was to straighten out many centuries-old spelling and grammar inconsistencies that had arisen between one German-speaking country and another. Many of these inconsistencies amounted to a sort of border dispute; Switzerland’s spelling is a bit different from Austria’s, tending to replace the scharfes S or Eszett (ß) with a double S. Austria, on the other hand, clung to the traditional use of the distinctively German character.

The differences of opinion raised by the German Spelling Reform movement were not easily resolved. As often happens in such situations, the resulting compromise wasn’t completely satisfactory to either traditionalists or reformers. Reformers had hoped to simplify the rules governing the use of the Eszett, but unfortunately that didn’t happen; the new rules were no more consistent than the old ones had been. Early reformers wanted to eliminate the capitalization of nouns, but that did not pass in the end. Yet in 1996, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, and several other countries signed the agreement. By the 2004-2005 school year, all schools would be teaching the new spelling, and government agencies would adopt German Spelling Reform for all official documentation.

Unfortunately, even though it’s possible to change the way spelling is taught, it’s much more difficult to change the way adults actually spell. German spelling reform has been slow to take hold outside of government offices and schools. Only time will tell the ultimate fate of German spelling reform; in the meantime, German speakers and students of German should be aware of the discrepancies between the new spelling and the old, and understand that for now, German spelling is very much in a state of flux.

If you are looking for a fun and interactive way to learn spoken German then the Pimsleur German is what you need. Rocket German is another interactive German course that will help you to speak and understand German fast. Join them today!

At first glance learning to speak the Greek language looks an awful lot harder than learning Spanish or French, and if your going to live in Greece then no problem because all Greeks speak English anyway. Or do they?

Well according to a recent survey only just over a third of the population of Greece speak English. So forget all the excuses about Greek being a difficult language to learn, it’s no more or less difficult than any other language.

Learning Greek can be very rewarding and even help you understand your own language as Greek is one of the Indo-European root languages. This simply means that the Greek language has influenced most European and many Middle Eastern languages.

As with any country you are traveling in, or settling in, if you at least make an attempt to speak the language then the local people will be most appreciative and welcome you with open arms. In my own case I could not imagine living in Greece without speaking Greek, it has opened up so much, both culturally and socially and generated myself and my wife many new Greek friends.

It has also been shown in recent studies that learning a new language keeps the brain agile in old age, that for me is a good a reason as any to keep learning.

Please don’t think that Greek is a minority language. Obviously, it is the official language of Greece and is spoken by about 99.5% of the population. It is also one of the two official languages of Cyprus, the other one being Turkish. As well as being one of the 23 official languages of the European Union it is also recognized as a minority language in parts of Turkey, Italy and Albania.

There are also traditional Greek speaking communities in the neighboring countries of Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Other countries with sizable Greek speaking population are Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Whilst back to the Mediterranean the Greek language can also be heard in Israel and Egypt.

Because of the harsh economic climate in past years many emigrated from their Greek homeland all over the world to countries as diverse as Australia, South Africa, Argentina, North America and many others. Estimate vary as to how many people actually speak the Greek language and is anywhere from 15 to 21 million people. It is a well known fact that there are more Greek people speaking their native language living outside Greece than there are in the country itself. So you can go to just about any major city in the world and here Greek conversation.

So if you are at all interested in learning to speak Greek I strongly urge you to make a start now. You will find it fascinating and nowhere near as difficult as you thought it would be.

If you’re serious about learning Greek quickly and inexpensively, then consider Talk Now Greek Software from our store. It provides 450 basic words and phrases for an excellent starting point.

Also, be sure to check out our post on Greek Learning Resources.

Good at English? It helps in learning Spanish! Both Spanish and English have Latin roots. Thus if you pay attention to similarities between some Spanish and some English words (ones that are close), you have just made a great take-off towards learning Spanish in mumbai. In our various Spanish classes in mumbai, this technique has been used with great success. With a major percentage of fluent English speakers in mumbai, it is not a surprise to find many successes in Spanish learning in mumbai.

Be a Spaniard? –Take time to know the culture of the source – Spain. Listening to Spanish music, watching Spanish movies, listening to Spanish radio or music, reading Spanish books or magazines – these will remind you constantly of your goal (“Master Spanish!”) and build up basics. As you do so, you will learn Spanish quickly – learning new words and delving deeper in formation of sentences. The city of Mumbai offers many such avenues for learning Spanish the fun way. At our multiple Spanish class locations in mumbai (Dadar, Borivli, Thane, navi mumbai and Dombivli), it has been observed that this comfort with Spanish culture works very effectively towards mastering Spanish language. Spanish movie views, books and magazines are possible and highly encouraged at all our Spanish language courses/classes in mumbai.

Smart Vocabulary building – It has been observed that learning the “high frequency” words in Spanish is a smart way to learn. Our linguistics research, corroborated by various other studies shows that not more than about 110 words, (maybe even less) are used in more than half of all communications! If you figure out and learn those 110 words, you are almost half-done and with a superb start towards learning Spanish. In our Spanish courses in mumbai spread all over mumbai, the practice of including such high frequency Spanish words has enabled Spanish learners in mumbai to rapidly master the language.

Select the right Spanish learning course/class in mumbai –   First, it is essential to figure out whether you need classroom coaching/courses in Spanish in mumbai. If you are a beginner or intermediate Spanish learner in mumbai, a classroom setting is more or less necessary. It may also be a good point to visit your Spanish course counselor in mumbai and discuss your requirements for learning Spanish in mumbai

I’ve been learning Spanish for about 2 years now, entirely self-taught (although I just met a nice Mexican girl who says she’ll be glad to sit down and help me with my Spanish, and she’s cute and single to boot , and I’ve used a number of learning-Spanish programs and products.

I’ve tried Pimsleur, which uses native Spanish speakers who are actually from SPAIN, therefore the Spanish is very different than what you would hear in Latin America where I’m interested in traveling to and living at. I’ve tried Michel Thomas, who’s voice and accent I simply cannot stand, and I’ve also used FSI (Foreign Service Institute) which I personally like although it’s not the best choice for a beginner as it takes 2 hours a day of practice for 6-8 months to complete, as well as a program called Learning Spanish Like Crazy (I know, they should’ve picked a shorter name).

Out of all of those, it’s very difficult to choose one ‘best’ one and I actually recommend you get more than one because the ‘overlap’ is VERY beneficial to your learning–I started Learning Spanish Like Crazy while I was on Level 3 of Pimsleur Spanish. However, I personally found that Learning Spanish Like Crazy not only used the ‘Pimsleur Method’ of learning a foreign language, which I love, but it had a LOT more material in it than Pimsleur did–I felt like I was much farther along after completing level 1 of LSLC than I did after I had completed all 4 levels of Pimsleur Spanish.

Learning Spanish Like Crazy has 2 levels and each level takes approximately one month to complete, at a rate of one lesson per day (they’re just the right length: 25-30 minutes each). It’s available as an audio MP3 download that is entirely digital and comes with written transcripts of all dialogue in pdf format, so that you can download it immediately and start learning, or it’s available on CDs that you can purchase and have mailed to you at an additional cost.

Additionally, purchase of Learning Spanish Like Crazy includes access to a private forum on the LSLC website where you can ask instructors questions about Spanish and get help from and interact with other customers who have purchased LSLC and are themselves learning Spanish, probably at about the same level or higher than you are.

The few things I don’t like about LSLC are as follows: it’s almost entirely audio, so you’re not going to get much reading/writing practice, but it does bill itself out as a course to help you SPEAK Spanish, which is what most people are far more interested in than reading/writing, and they also include written transcripts of everything actually spoken in the lessons, so you can always feel free to use that to follow along, check a word you didn’t understand, or to improve your Spanish reading skills.

Please check out our Platiquemos Complete Spanish Course as another method for learning Spanish.

Tips

To become skilled at German easily you should keep certain tips in your mind. The main tips are given below.

The first thing to do is make sure that you want to study German. If you are not motivated, you will just be wasting your time. If you are working hard for some days and quitting, you will not get any benefit.

The next thing to do is to pay a visit to the most reputable book store in your locality. You could search for the different books that can help you in learning German easily. You should also try to get a German dictionary.

Organize yourself and make a specific schedule that will help you in spending additional time for learning German every day. You must not take things too lightly or too seriously as making the right steps is the important factor in mastering the language.

Try to cover the simple questions in the beginning so that you can make a slow and steady progression. Finding the answers for general questions will help you in getting everything covered.
You should also take advantage of the Internet. Try to download German lessons that are offered by different websites. Practice should also be given ample importance. Keeping these tips in mind can help you in learning German easily.

Be sure to check out Talk Now German for an inexpensive way to learn German.

Also, be sure to check out our post on learn German software.

Click to learn how to learn French language!

You need to first measure your competency level in the French language. This way you will be able to choose the essential books, tutorial materials or sign up for classes that best fits your skills level. Learning French language and mastering it might take a long time. You should speak and practice frequently to achieve mastery. You might find it easy if you actually lived in France or least take a trip to France.

If you think going to France is not possible, you can definitely have a handy phrase book, tutorial software, or audio book that will help you recollect what you learnt. Consider it a small investment in a skill that you’ve long desired!

It is essential to use appropriate keywords when you explore for guides that will aid you in learning French language. Keep in mind though that if you plan to study on your own you really want to learn French as quickly and easily as possible. To find the most helpful French learning tools online you first need to be capable enough to analyze them.

Learning French language can be made as uncomplicated by just chatting with friends or people who are well versed in French. Aside from chatting, you can also converse through Skype and e-mails. You need not bother about anything. Thousands do this, particularly European students who are equally interested in improving their English-speaking skills as well. You might be able to get a suitable “pen pal” through forums that serves language students. Though these language forums aid you in learning French language easily, restrict yourself from giving your personal details to random people in the forum. The advantage of these language forums is that you can exchange languages with your online buddies and learn your favorite language without having to spend money.  

To speak French more perfectly you have to take up listening and speaking French repeatedly. One of the most effective ways to analyze your understanding of French is to watch French movies without captions and try to understand the speech. From time to time – or whenever you can afford it, eat in a French restaurant to get better acquainted with French menu. Aside from the language itself, experiencing actual French culture will for sure be of great help in learning French language. If it is possible, why not take an actual trip to France, especially to Paris? Visiting Paris or dining at a French restaurant may not be possible but if you certainly have a a great love for the language you can go a step ahead and do the above. Learning French language is not just about memorizing new words and phrases and pronouncing them properly but it’s to be able to actually have a good understanding of what French culture is truly all about.

Click Here to Learn French Now!

Be sure to check out the Talk Now French Course for learning French.