Spanish English Dictonary

Economy Pushes Spanish to Learn English

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Spain is struggling with a recession. More than one in five Spaniards are out of work. Unemployment is the highest of the seventeen nations that use the euro. But one area of the economy that seems to be doing well is English classes.

A report this year from the EF Education First company listed Spain is a "low proficiency" country in English. Spain ranked just below Italy and just above Taiwan.

About a fifth of the world speaks Spanish.

(SOUND)

There are many Spanish language TV shows and movies. Spaniards can also watch Hollywood movies dubbed in Spanish or news from Latin America.

One of the few English voices on Spanish TV belongs to Richard Vaughan.

RICHARD VAUGHAN: "Hello and welcome back to another half-hour segment of Cloverdale's Corner. Today is Tuesday, and Lourdes has had to leave but we still have four people here ... "

Richard Vaughan is from Texas but for thirty-five years has lived in Spain. He operates that country's biggest English teaching company. It even has its own TV channel. "Aprende Ingles" -- Learn English -- is Spain's only national channel in English.

He says people watch his channel and take his classes to get a better job.

RICHARD VAUGHAN: "People don't learn English here for cultural reasons. Some do. But the motive is always, ninety-nine percent of the time, professional."

Modern changes in the world economy -- globalization -- may offer chances for a better job in another country. But economic problems at home can also make people feel they have few other choices.

NICK BYRNE: "People realize, you know, they are not only going to have to be mobile out of a choice, but they are going to have to be mobile because of necessity."

Nick Byrne is director of the language center at the London School of Economics.

NICK BYRNE: "We found that, in our university language centers across the UK and indeed across Europe, that language learning is up. We're not talking about people doing a whole degree in languages, but people going on evening courses -- English courses particularly."

In Spain, some of those studying English hope for jobs in Britain or the United States. But others want to work for international companies with offices in Spain. Many companies now require workers to be bilingual.

Dominic Campbell is an American who lives in Madrid and teaches English part time.

How To Do a Spanish Spelling Check – spelling dictionary, spanish ...

Spanish is one of the most difficult languages to learn, if not the most difficult language. Whether you are writing it or speaking it, using the correct grammar and spelling is a must. Otherwise, you will never be understood with what message you want to convey. Here are some tips on how to do a spelling check in Spanish.

If you are writing something online, install a Spanish spelling dictionary and not just an English dictionary on the browser that you are using. There are several add ons that enable you to do so. This way, while writing online you will easily detect if an incorrect word is spelled.  Add more functionality to what is mentioned above by installing SpellBound with your Firefox browser. This is a Firefox add on based on the basic spell check feature, but this application easily adds words to the dictionary and easily switches between dictionaries. There are various applications that may be used for spelling check.  You can easily download one program that suits your needs the best. These programs not only offer spelling check but grammar check and word check as well. It would be better if you use an application that offers a diversity of functions. Another way to know if you have your spelling correct is by checking a book dictionary and not just the online ones. It is better that you have many resources rather than just have one, or rather just checking it online. One cannot simply rely on the online resources, because it is possible that this resource is not updated, or more importantly not correct. Books are more reliable compared to online resources, since these resources are most often not checked by reliable copywriters. A full proof way of checking your spelling grammar in Spanish is by asking a friend who is an expert in the Spanish language to double check the work that you have done. This way, you are not only relying on the correctness of your writing through the technology that is available on the market, but also on a human perspective. There are things that technology can do better, but the thoroughness of a human cannot be questioned.

What are mentioned above are just tips on how you can prevent yourself from having wrongly spelled words. Checking for incorrectness is hard enough when using the English language but even harder when you are using Spanish as a language. It is important that you take note of the spelling but also that you are using the words correctly. Meaning, your grammar is also correct and you are not using the correct spelling of a word that should not be used in the sentence that you are constructing. If this happens, you may be conveying the wrong message in your sentence. It is important that you are very keen on checking all the possible loopholes your writing may have, not only with spelling but with your grammar as well. Spanish is an unforgiving language, and you can easily make mistakes if you do not know what you are doing. It is important to use tools to help you correct your grammar, etc.

Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English dictionary

Offers eighty thousand entries highlighting Latin American Spanish, tables of regular and irregular verbs, and sections on numbers and common abbreviations

Saltshaker Spanish - English - Spanish Food & Wine Dictionary

Spanish to English and English to Spanish reference dedicated to the world of food and wine - an indispensable addition to the library or backpack of any ...

Handy Spanish-English and English-Spanish dictionary

(concubinage. abarraranarse, -nar'si, v, r, to live in Spanish and English. abarrancadero, Bbârrânkâdà? rS, em. boggy place ; precipice ; difficult business ...

New Spanish and English dictionary

Langenscheidt's pocket Spanish dictionary, Spanish-English, English-Spanish

A convenient reference for writers, students, and businesspeople;anyone who needs the right word at the right time.