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The Marlins' English speakers are onto him. At the behest of CEO Derek Jeter, the Marlins last year began Spanish language classes for coaches, and the program has since been expanded throughout the organization, from media relations to analytics to the front office. Now minor league players who speak English are being taught Spanish, while Spanish-speakers learn English - part of a trend in Major League Baseball toward more bilingual teams. The Jeter regime's education program for minor league players extends beyond language. They're taught life skills and cultural awareness - an asset for youngsters hoping to break into the big leagues in one of the nation's most diverse cities. The Marlins are not alone.


About half of the 30 teams in the big leagues have begun offering Spanish lessons to English-speaking players in the past few years, says Major League Baseball vice president Paul Mifsud, who works with player programs. Miami Marlins minor league players Will Banfield, left, and Connor Scott take part in base running drills during spring training baseball practice Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, in Jupiter, Fla. Banfield and Scott, both native English speakers, are taking part in a program offered by the team to teach players and coaches Spanish. Alfaro's T-shirt was worn in jest - he's bilingual, excited about his move to Miami and already a clubhouse leader. But potential cultural divides exist on any team, and the Marlins' education program offers a bridge. Gary Denbo, vice president of scouting and player development. The work our education department is doing affects everything in our players' lives. The better you know your teammates, the more you trust them," Scott says. "I think that's the biggest they're preaching here - trust. If you don't trust the guy next to you, how will you trust him to get the runner over, or trust that he's not going to run into you in the outfield?


Media captionLanguage app Babbel got a big boost when the makers of hit TV show Narcos suggested a tie-up. Eleven years ago, one of Thomas Holl's closest friends, Lorenz Heine, wanted to learn Spanish. Thomas confidently assured him that there must be several easily accessible online courses to assist him in this quest. But when Thomas turned to Google, the then 32-year-old software engineer was surprised by the sparse results. Thomas, who at the time was working on a music-mixing programme for DJs. But the journey from a loose concept scrawled on a wall of whiteboards in Berlin, to a global operation that works with the likes of computer giant Apple and video streaming service Netflix, was anything but straightforward. Thomas of himself and his three co-founders. Not one of the company's young masterminds had any background in teaching languages, and at first they simply tried to adapt existing course materials. Thomas, who is now the company's chief strategy officer.


Nearly one in six teachers starting in England's schools last year qualified overseas, according to official figures obtained by the Times Educational Supplement (TES). In the year to March, 6,179 teachers who qualified elsewhere had their qualifications recognised in England, suggests Department for Education data. This amounts to 16% of 38,746 teachers who gained qualified status that year. England faces a "major shortage" of teachers, said a head teachers' leader. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary heads. The overall figures on the number of overseas teachers who achieved qualified status in England last year are from the annual report of the National College of Teaching and Leadership.


The TES also obtained Freedom of Information figures on the countries from which these teachers came. Almost a third (1,851) qualified in Spain, 10% (610) in Canada and 9% (574) in Poland. The government allows teachers who qualified in the European Economic Area, as well as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US to register their qualifications to obtain qualified teacher status in England. To be awarded qualified teacher status in England, applicants must have been fully qualified and trained in countries that are recognised as comparable teaching standards, said the spokesman. Teacher recruitment expert, Prof John Howson, a visiting research fellow at Oxford University's department of education said the UK's shortage of teachers was "beginning to suck in people from other countries where there's a surplus of teachers". Prof Howson suggested high unemployment in Spain and the need for Spanish language teachers in England could explain the large numbers of teachers from Spain in the figures.


After practice and lunch Wednesday, most D.C. United players headed home for the day. Others had meetings or media obligations. For three players and two assistant coaches, the next stop was a windowless, cinder-block room around the corner and down the hallway from the locker room. Each carried a textbook and, upon entering, grabbed a work sheet from a table in front of a screen and whiteboard in the middle of the room and settled at makeshift desks. "Hola, David," instructor Katherin Rodriguez said to her first arrival, David Ousted. The Danish goalkeeper responded in kind. Class was in session. In the morning, during the first physical workouts since extending its unbeaten streak to five Sunday against New England, United worked on combination plays and crosses at RFK Stadium’s training grounds.


In the afternoon, in the first class since last Thursday, a small group turned to conjugating verbs and understanding masculine and feminine usage of Spanish words. It’s common for newly arrived Latin American soccer players in MLS to take English classes to understand coaching orders, communicate with teammates and assimilate into largely English-speaking circles. It’s not common for the English speakers to pursue Spanish skills. But this month, at the urging of English-speaking players eager to expand their linguistic horizons in a sport with heavy Latin American influence, United introduced a Spanish class. "I was taken back a little, but in a good way," team administrator Francisco Tobar said of the request early this year by the wannabe Spanish speakers. Sign up for Dan Steinberg’s new D.C.


Sports Bog newsletter for Capitals, Nationals, Redskins and Wizards coverage. Expect weirdness in your inbox every weekday. The group, which has up to eight participants, meets twice a week for 90 minutes per session. The organization covers the cost, including the "Spanish Demystified" textbooks. Classes will run through September and might continue into October. The purpose is to improve communication with Latino team members — who, in most cases, have learned English to varying degrees through classes and tutors — and to strengthen bonds on a diverse roster. "The priority is for them to learn English," said midfielder Russell Canouse, 23, a central Pennsylvania native who is taking the Spanish class.


"But if they see some guys making the effort to learn their language too, it makes them feel more welcome and hopefully helps them want to learn English. "I can fit in with them better and they can see I’m trying. Because soccer is played professionally in most countries, locker rooms are mixing bowls of language and culture. With that global footprint, players typically speak several languages. Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian national team striker, speaks six, and during news conferences at the World Cup this summer in Russia, he and others from various countries transitioned seamlessly between questions in multiple tongues. Ousted is fluent in Danish, English, Swedish and Norwegian and knows some German.


He leaped at the chance to learn another. "I pushed for it. I asked for it," he said. "It’s an opportunity to communicate with guys on another level. Aside from English, Spanish is most prevalent in MLS. At the start of the season, 21.4 percent of the 637 players were born in countries where Spanish is the first language. When Portuguese is included, the total rises to 23.9 percent. The largest Latin delegations were from Argentina (23 players), Colombia (14) and Costa Rica (14). Five other countries were represented by nine players apiece. United’s 27-man roster features Argentina’s Luciano Acosta and Yamil Asad; Costa Rica’s Joseph Mora and Ulises Segura; Bolivia’s Bruno Miranda; and Venezuela’s Junior Moreno. Only Asad played in MLS before arriving in Washington. Acosta, who at age 21 arrived before the 2016 season, has made great strides learning English.


He knew few words before engaging in lessons and assimilating here; he’s now able to converse in English (though he is more comfortable using an interpreter in interviews with English-language reporters). Language was never a major obstacle for the coaching staff because Tobar, a native of Chile, and physical therapist Gabriel Manoel (Brazil) are on the bench during matches. Team coordinator Rory Molleda (Spain) is a constant presence, as well. Added Tobar: "In a quick moment, a coach wants to get a message across. An interpreter takes a little more time and is less personal. Ashton and colleague Nolan Sheldon are taking the class.


Other participants have included Stewart Mairs, United’s director of soccer strategy and analysis, and fellow Englishman Jonny Northeast, head of sports science and fitness. Ben Olsen, United’s head coach, said he attended the first class but hasn’t returned because of constant scheduling conflicts. Some of United’s U.S. Paul Arriola, were already proficient in Spanish. Ousted, 33, is seeking to add another language to his portfolio. He had learned English (with British emphasis) and German in school in Denmark, then picked up Nordic languages from teammates on Danish clubs. He was introduced to English with a Canadian accent when he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2013. "It was a little confusing," he said, laughing. Canouse moved to Germany when he was 15 and, through his club, Hoffenheim, took language courses for three years as part of high school curriculum. "I had to pick up the language or I would be lost," he said. To retain German skills, Canouse practices with Zoltan Stieber, United’s Hungarian midfielder who played nine years in Germany, and speaks on the phone periodically with former teammates at Hoffenheim and Bochum. Three weeks into Spanish lessons, the D.C. Still, as Ousted said, it’s difficult to understand informal conversation and slang.


Catalonia's sacked President Carles Puigdemont has spearheaded the region's peaceful drive for independence from Spain. In defiance of the law and Spain's constitution, he has pushed forward in the hope of international recognition. But his zeal for secession has put him on a collision course with Spain's authorities, which outlawed the independence referendum held in Catalonia on 1 October. After imposing direct rule, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called a snap Catalan election. But the result on 21 December was bad news for Madrid. The separatists won a slim majority, even though a pro-unity party came top. Mr Puigdemont said, calling for negotiations with the Spanish PM. He was speaking in Brussels, having fled there with four ministers after declaring independence. The election result proved that his campaigning via videolink from Brussels had worked.


But the village baker's son from Girona faces the weight of Spanish law if he returns to Spain. The separatist leaders are accused of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Born in Amer in 1962, Carles Puigdemont grew up under the dictatorship of Gen Francisco Franco and was taught in Spanish at a Church-run boarding school, but spoke Catalan at home like others of his generation. Joan Matamala, a few years his senior at the school, remembers the boy everyone got on with, even the older pupils. Mr Matamala runs a bookshop, Les Voltes, that has been promoting Catalan language and culture in Girona for 50 years.


The young Mr Puigdemont did not come over as a natural leader at the time, but he was someone you did not forget, he says. As a young man, Mr Puigdemont had a passion for his native tongue, going on to study Catalan philology at the local university and polishing colleagues' copy when he first found work at the city's newspapers. Miquel Riera worked with him, often late into the night, at the fiercely pro-independence paper now known as El Punt Avui. Mr Riera. This may have fed Mr Puigdemont's awareness of social media, which was crucial in promoting the referendum campaign.


Mr Riera, whose 25-year-old son, he says, was bruised on the chest by a police rifle butt at a polling station at the 1 October referendum. Mr Puigdemont served as mayor of Girona from 2011 until 2016 when he was elected regional president of Catalonia. There is no denying his star appeal among his supporters, who clamour to take selfies with him at rallies and avidly follow his social media accounts, which he curates himself. Montse Daban, international chairperson of the Catalan National Assembly, a grassroots pro-independence movement. But in the eyes of Spain's government, the Catalan leader has ruthlessly created a crisis, burning all the bridges in order to make a unilateral declaration of independence. Madrid government source told the BBC. Reality Check: Would Catalonia be a viable country? Images of violence at the polling stations in October's banned referendum caused an international outcry. But the source said this was "150% part of Puigdemont's plan". Mr Puigdemont talks the language of independence in a way his more cautious predecessor, Artur Mas, did not during the dry-run referendum of 2014, which was also banned by Madrid. How can we explain to the world that Europe is a paradise of democracy if we hit old women and people who've done nothing wrong? This is not acceptable.


1. Catch on to patterns as quickly as you possibly can. There are many patterns in Spanish, especially in verbs. The better you grasp these patterns, the quicker you can learn as you can then apply it like a tool to various other verbs. For instance, the fact that some verbs with O in them will change to UE. Also, that not only words that end in O are masculine, but also ones that end in N or E as well. Quick tip, LONERS and DIONZA, words that end with any of the letters in LONERS are likely masculine, and words that end in D "-ion," Z, or A are likely feminine.


Although there are many useful patterns in Spanish, there are also a few key things that are just irregular. You just have to get used to them. Don't try to bully them down and figure them out so hard that you're incapable of using them, accept them to find out more. 2. See it twice, use it once, remember it forever. Vocabulary can be a tough thing for some and an easy thing for others. There are many, many different ways to learn vocabulary. Find what works for you. At some point, though, you're going to have to be able to pick up vocab without fancy flashcards or songs. Read. Use. Remember. I incorporate reading with conversation practice in order to excel quickly. See a vocab word twice, use it yourself in a conversation, and I guarantee you'll move a lot quicker.


This isn't shaming flash cards or all the other great methods out there, but if you find that it works for you, use it as much as you can. Learn a language. Make it your own. 3. Realize that sounds in Spanish are not the same as sounds in English. Just because it is the exact same letter or letter combination as English, doesn't mean that it makes the same sound. The "T" sound does not have nearly as much air to it as in English. Try to especially grasp the sound of "R" and double "RR," even if you can't make them yet, try to hear how they are different and are different from English. 4. Realize that there are a ton of accents, and some really are far more difficult to understand for a learner than others.


In the very beginning, I recommend sticking to something pretty standard such as Mexican or Colombian so you can get a good feel of what it's like to grab hold of a conversation. If you're feeling bold, try Argentina, Chile, and Cuba. Otherwise, if you need to understand a particular dialect, go directly for it. 5. Don't be afraid to watch something or talk to someone and barely pick up on what they're saying. Every single time you go to use or receive the language, you're learning something new. Even if you're just picking out words you already know, you're getting better at that. Use all of that to really focus and pick out new words to look up. You're always getting better at recognizing correct pronunciation, tone, and sentence structure. So go for it. Just starting to learn Spanish yourself? Check out my post on Everything you need to learn Spanish completely for Free.


The British are the worst in Europe for learning foreign languages, with little over a third of us able to speak anything other than English, according to a recent survey by the European Commission. But should we all be making a bit more of an effort to become at least bilingual, not just to boost our conversational prowess when we travel abroad, but also to ward off dementia? Several studies over the years have suggested that becoming proficient in at least one language other than our mother tongue is good for the brain, especially in terms of boosting recall, attention span and concentration. But few experiments attempting to prove it have been carried out — until now.


The aim was to confirm whether the learning of a language improved brain function. But the scientists running the experiment also expected to find that younger volunteers would fare better on the grounds that their brains have greater plasticity, which is the ability to form new connections and ‘rewire’ themselves in response to challenges. At the outset, each of the volunteers (half aged 18 to 30 and half over 56) underwent a battery of tests to analyse their memory, mental flexibility and ability to pay attention. For the next month, they took Spanish lessons for two hours a day, three times a week.


In between lessons, they were given homework and told to practise as much as possible. When the month was up, they were subjected to the same tests again. Although all the volunteers improved their mental performance, it was the older age group which improved the most. Share 486 shares As Dr Mosley told Good Health: ‘The results exceeded expectations. There is lots of research that shows taking up new activities, like learning a language, had beneficial effects,’ he says. ‘But I was surprised at the extent of the effect, especially in the older volunteers. As she explains to the study participants during the programme: ‘Without becoming perfect in Spanish, your brains responded very well and improved in attention tests.


But could the same benefits be seen with any of the other brain-boosting pastimes, such as Sudoku? ‘It’s a much bigger activation of the brain,’ he says. But should we all be making a bit more of an effort to become at least bilingual, not just to boost our conversational prowess when we travel abroad, but also to ward off dementia? However, other researchers question whether being bilingual really translates into a long-term reduced risk of dementia. This is because being better educated across the board means they have accumulated ‘cognitive reserve’, the formation of new connections between brain cells that protects against cognitive decline later in life. ‘There have been studies that found bilingual people are better at executive brain functions — such as planning ahead, or switching between tasks,’ says Dr Mukadam. She adds that experiments such as the one on Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, measure the short-term impact of ‘brain training’ exercises but not the long-term effect. Dr Mosley believes otherwise, saying: ‘Previous research suggests being bilingual means you may be less likely to develop dementia so it’s reasonable to assume any improvements will persist.


ROME (AP) - Migrants in distress at sea have told their rescuers that several ships passed them by without offering assistance, a European aid group said Sunday while seeking safe harbor for a rescue vessel with 141 migrants aboard. On Friday the group's chartered ship Aquarius, which it operates in partnership with Doctors Without Borders, rescued 141 people in waters off Libya. Of these, 25 were found adrift on a small wooden boat that had no motor and was believed to have been at sea for about 35 hours, the group said. The other 116 people, including 67 unaccompanied minors, were rescued later that day, it said. Nearly three-quarters of those rescued originate from Somalia and Eritrea. Many migrants recounted how they were "held in inhumane conditions in Libya," where human traffickers are based, the aid group aid.