Experience authentic Puerto Rican & Dominican cusine in Lancaster Pa!

We are going to the Home Plates Restaurant to enjoy a variety of typical Dominican and Puerto Rican foods, prepared especially for YLC guests. Join us on Wednesday, June 24th, from 5 - 7:30pm. The menu will include a buffet of picaderas, mofongo, pernil, sancocho, arroz negro, mangú, pollo a la plancha, ensalada verde, flan, torta de queso, y un jugo especial. The restaurant is on N. Prince St, just south of the Fruitville Pike bridge, on Manheim Ave. The cost for this 4 course meal for current YLC clients is $22 for adults and $12 for children ages 3 - 12. The cost for anyone else who would like to join us for this specially prepared meal is $25 for adults and $15 for children. The price includes the buffet meal with a variety of delicious authentic dishes, a beverage, taxes and gratuity. It is a BYOB establishment.

There is only enough seating for 35, so reservations will be taken on a first come, first served basis. Please let me know if you would like to be added to this very special guestlist.
Checks can be made payable to "Your Language Connection" and mailed to PO Box 7374, Lancaster, PA 17604.

Fun French Facts

- The Languedoc-Rousillon city of Nîmes is the birthplace of jeans. The distinctive fabric was imported to California by Levi Strauss in order to make tough work trousers for gold diggers. Denim is short for“de Nîmes”

- The Statue of Liberty was made in France, and given to the United States as a gift. The statue’s face is thought to be modeled on that of Isabella Eugenie Boyer, the Parisian wife of sewing machine manufacturer Isaac Singer.

- The Eiffel Tower, designed by Gustav Eiffel, was made for the 1889 World Fair and wasn’t all that popular with Parisians at the time,even though it was then the tallest structure in the world. It was due to be torn down in 1909, but it was saved as it made an ideal spot to put TV and radio antennas on top of.

-Nearly 6m people climb the Eiffel Tower (or Tour d’Eiffel) every year. - If you laid out the cables used in the lifts of the Eiffel Tower end to end, they would stretch for 16 kilometers.

Sign up today for a conversational French class,
which will include more fun cultural facts,

at www.yourlanguageconnection.com

A Fun and Exciting night of Salsa

Friends and clients of YLC enjoyed an informative and energetic night of Salsa. Not only did Loida Esbri give great, easy-to-follow dance lessons, she included the history and significance of the dance. After an hour of instruction, and a fabulous performance by the Temple University Salsa Dancers, the YLC dance students braved the dance floor on their own. Everyone had a great time and promised to come back for more! The Rumba Nite Club, an elegant night club on N. Queen St., offers free Salsa lessons every Friday night from 8:30-9:30pm. Ask for my friend Ricky, the owner, who makes sure everyone who comes feels welcome!

"It is fun and not as difficult as it looks. I want to come back to learn more!"
Marco Salinas, State Farm Agent

Cultural Trivia (or Conversation Starters)

True or False (See below for answers)

1. In France, cheese and salad are always served before the main course, which is then followed by fruit, nuts and dessert.

2. Mandarin Chinese has 6 tones and is somewhat like music.

3. Standard Italian did not become widely spoken in Italy until the invention of the television.

4. In France, coffee is customarily served with milk for all meals, and espresso is served with dessert.

5. The Puerto Rican flag was designed after the Cuban flag, with the colors inverted as a sign of solidarity with Cuba

6. A German man founded the sports company “Adidas”.

7. Paella, the traditional dish of Spain, was originally made to serve at the weddings of Royalty to show their wealth since seafood was so rare and expensive.

8. The word "toast", meaning a wish of good health, started in ancient Rome.


If you want to know more about any of the Trivia information, the instructors at YLC are very knowledgeable. The following information was provided by instructors:
May Westlund (Chinese), Janet M. Tamburro (French), Henry Hallock (Italian, Greek, French), Bruce Sperber (German), Fiorella Spidaliere (Italian) and Michelle Salinas (Spanish, ESL).


1. False. In France, salad is served after the main course followed by cheese, fruit/nuts, and then dessert.

2. False. Mandarin Chinese has 4 tones (1st, 2nd 3rd 4th), it is somewhat like music. If you change the tone, you may change its meaning. For example, "fei/1st ji/1st (（飞机 - airplane）vs. "fei/2nd ji/1st" (肥鸡 - fat chicken).

3. True. The invention of the television broadcast it more easily into homes across the country. Regional dialects were and are still spoken in all parts of Italy, with some estimating that more than 200 exist. Standard Italian was based off of a mixture of dialects, not the other way around; most Italian dialects came directly from Latin.

4. False. Coffee is customarily served with milk only at breakfast and expresso is served during the day and evening.

5. True. The Cuban flag came first and Puerto Rico's flag was designed after the Cuban flag. The colors are inverted or switched - for example: the triangle in Cuba's flag is red and the stripes are blue and white. In Puerto Rico's flag the colors were switched, a blue triangle and red and white stripes.

6. True. A German named Adolf Dassler founded the company. A nickname in German for "Adolf" is "Adi". Mr. Dassler combined his nickname with the first half of his last name to come up with ADIDAS, now one of the most recognized names in sports equipment!

7. False. Paella was originally a laborers' meal, cooked over an open fire in the fields and eaten directly from the pan using wooden spoons. Seafood is rare in the fields of Valencia, which is why they used chicken, rabbit, duck and snails. Snails were the most commonly used meat as they were cheap; for special occasions rabbit or duck would be added and the well-off would have chicken. Anyone that tries to tell you that the original paella was a seafood dish is wrong.

8. True. The word "toast", meaning a wish of good health, started in ancient Rome, where a piece of toasted bread was dropped into wine

Language Learning for Families

Are your children ready for an introduction to a language spoken by millions of people worldwide? Learning Chinese or Spanish today may be one of the best investments you can make in your child’s future. Chinese is swiftly becoming one of the world’s most important languages. Spanish is now considered the second language of the United States. The economic significance of learning one or both of these languages can translate into expanded future career opportunities for your children.

Learning a foreign language as a family is one of the very best ways of preparing your children for a new, global society. Your Language Connection makes learning a new language interesting, active, and fun. We involve the entire family in learning about not just the words of another language, but also about the culture.
Starting young is the key to acquiring true fluency.

To find out more about learning languages as a family or registering you children for summer language camps go to www.yourlanguageconnection.com.