Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

The city of Guanajuato is the capital of the state with the same name in Central Mexico. Mexico is divided into 31 states with capital cities much like the United States. Mexico D. F. (Districto Federal) is the capital of the country much like Washington D.C. (District of Colombia) is the capital city of the United States.

Guanajuato is known for it's colonial charm, historical significance and cultural richness of dance, music, and theatre. According to the Guanajuato website, residents started performing Cervantes plays in 1953. The International Cervantes Festival is now a major International event in Guanajuato each year in October.

Diego, the BilingoKiz character for Mexico, is from Guanajuato. He is a 14 year who plays soccer and belongs to a group of folk dancers. Below Diego is pictured in front of the Teatro Juarez.

Mexican Folk Dance displays colorful costumes unique for each region.  The dances have historical or cultural significance and they honor the cultural diversity of Mexico. Be sure to attend a traveling tour if they appear in your area. 

To Learn a second language or not to learn

Several years ago I took a Chinese class.  Besides wanting to learn some Chinese, as a foreign language teacher, I felt it important to be able to again understand what it was like in a class and not understand a word!  I did well in the class but I longed to learn more and have more of an immersion type experience.  I needed more repetitions than the class was able to give me.  I longed for a program like BiLingo Kidz in Chinese where a learner can listen and study independently.  For me, as a teacher and as a learner, repetition is the key to learning not only correct pronunciation but correct sentence structure in context.  

Several years later I attended a TPRS (Teaching for Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) conference  where I had the opportunity to again learn some Chinese using TPRS techniques.  I learned so much in about 20 hours because of the constant repetition and it was so much fun!  Of course having an instructor is more fun than working off a software program but either way one can learn. 

Parents often find themselves without a class for their younger children.  Most schools in the United States wait until high school to teach a second language. This practice directly affects correct pronunciation.  Many parents start before or after school programs but they are difficult to maintain with schedules, car pools, and finding teachers. 
 
I am currently lucky to have a Chinese student living with me.  Of course I had to practice my minuscule amount of Chinese with her.  Most of the time she didn't have a clue as to what I was saying as I had picked up some bad pronunciation habits.  Not my teacher's fault, just a lack of repetition and reading. At any rate, I practice and get corrected and practice and get corrected again and again.  At this rate I don't know that I will ever be fluent but hopefully not completely illiterate when I visit China.