Silbo Gomero — the Spanish whistled language ;)

I was surfing the net earlier today and I came across a site with a post regarding Silbo Gomero (or El Silbo), the whistled language spoken by inhabitants of a Spanish Island called La Gomera which is located in the Canary Islands. Yes, whistled language – as in whistling.

This language was invented by the original inhabitants of the island called the Guanches, and it was adapted by the Spanish settlers who came to the island at around the 16^th century.  The Silbo Gomero is a means of communication over long distances, which is just perfect for an island jagged with rough terrains. What makes El Silbo better than a phone? Your phone would lose coverage, El Silbo would not.

I was really so amazed when I heard how they communicate to each other just by whistling. Not applicable in New York of course, but you can’t help but be amazed how these people’s ancestors managed to create such language.

Since whistling can reach places that mere voices cannot, you can use Silbo Gomero to call to people from a far away location. The people of La Gomero use El Silbo to call call their children to come home, or sometimes to tell their mom “Hey, I forgot to ask you to buy some vegetables for dinner tonight” – even if their mom is eight kilometers away.

When the language faced the possibility of extinction in the early 20^th century, their government acted fast to save this treasure. They required each student to have at least three years of studying El Sibo in school, which erased all fears of extinction in everybody’s mind. As one “silbador” puts is, “we will be lost if the culture dies.”

You can check the video at:  

NYC Spanish Classes

Leaning Spanish in a fast paced world such as New York City can be a real pain. Not only am I talking of the vast number of options, but I am also talking about the two things that stops people from   going to a language school – time and money.

Different people have different reasons for learning Spanish.  Some people want to learn it for business, and some want to learn it for personal use.  Whatever the reason is, most people have the same problem, and that is having the time to study. We people are often times so busy that we don’t have the time to go to classes, which is often the reason why we waste precious time not learning. Luckily, language learning schools has evolved. They are no longer the traditional school who just wait for people to enroll and that’s it. We now have different options to sort out the schedule problem.

Some schools offer private classes, and they will set a schedule according to your preference so you don’t have to rush to class after your job. This option is best for businessmen, or people who often travel since they can also reschedule your classes if you have other engagement. I don’t recommend moving your class schedule as this may delay your learning, but I guess some people just don’t have an option. You can check out NYC Spanish- NYC Espanol, who offers private classes for $80.00 an hour if the classes are going to done at their classroom, or $140.00 an hour if you want to do it at your place.

Other institutions also offer semi-private classes (made up of two to three people). Like a private class, this can be conducted at the student’s home, office or other suitable location. This option is not as expensive as a private class and unlike a big class, the teacher’s attention is almost undivided. This is one of the best types of classes if you ask me, and it’s a lot cheaper too. Some institutions, such as Spanish Classes in New York [http://www.spanishnewyork.com/], offer semi-private class for as low as $75.00 if you do it in their office and $79.00 if you want to do it in your place.

Now for those who are not comfortable studying in an office, and doesn’t have their own place to conduct lessons either, some institutions offer phone and webcam lessons. You can check out http://www.meanslanguagecenter.com for more information on this.

Generally, the cheapest option is going to a group class but you may want to be careful on this as other institutions have really big classes, sometimes up to 12 people. It tends to be really noisy, distracting you from learning plus you won’t have enough of the teacher’s attention, making the process of learning more difficult.

Crash courses are also offered for those who want to learn Spanish to survive at least a week in Mexico. Cactus [http://www.cactuslanguagecourses.com] offers a 4-week course, made up of a 2 hour classes once a week. The courses provide an ideal way to build confidence before using the language more frequently socially or when jetting off on holiday, a gap year or business trip. Their native speaker teachers gives instructions on Spanish so you’ll learn to speak and understand expressions and information that is commonly used.

Please keep in mind that the best way to learn a language is having the dedication to learn it. You may try all the courses offered in New York City, with the best teachers and undergoing all kinds of classes but these will not help you in any way if you don’t spend enough time learning and practicing the language.