INTRODUCTION TO HIST

Bienvenido/Welcome to the High-Intensive Spanish Training (HIST) Program offered by the Bakersfield Police Department.  This initial session of five six-hour training days will stress the most basic means of speaking and understanding the Spanish language, with an emphasis on law enforcement needs.  This will be an arduous experience for both instructor and participants alike and, with appropriate effort considerable learning will indeed take place.  Even so, one should not expect too much in such a short time.  This training session should be viewed a mere beginning, and it is assumed that all participants have little or no prior experience with the language.  That said, here are a few more details for you to ponder:

• Your instructor, whom you will know as “Don Lino,” has lived in Spanish-speaking countries (Spain, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico) for most of his adult life, and for the past 34 years taught university political science courses in Spanish in Puerto Rico.  He is also author of textbooks and scholarly articles published in the language.  If you are interested, visit his professional page on the Internet (http://members.cox.net/profbender)
•  Don Lino will conduct the training almost exclusively in Spanish from the very beginning.  Don’t worry if you don’t understand every word.  One can do a lot through gestures.  And many written explanations and definitions will be given in English via printed handouts and electronic presentations (including the Internet).  You should get used to using a notebook to jot down and word or phrase that you wish to remember.  It might also be useful to invest in a basic Spanish-English dictionary for reference purposes. There is also a good English-Spanish free dictionary site on the Internet (http://www.wordreference.com/)  You’ll be exposed to considerable vocabulary.  Concentrate first on words in Spanish that are similar to those in English and simple commands, such as:

Siéntese.                            Sit down.

Escuche.                             Listen.

Abra el libro.                     Open your book.

Cierre el libro.                   Close your book.

Hable español.                   Speak Spanish

Responda or Conteste.        Answer.

These expressions are used when talking with one person.  When you want to say the same thing to two or more persons, the endings change a bit:

Siéntense.                              

Escuchen.

Abran los libros.

Cierren los libros.

Hablen español.

Respondan or Contesten.

Singular and plural commands can be vitally important in law enforcement.  For example, Sálgase del carro. (Get out of the car—one person), Sálganse del carro (Get out of the car—with a group exiting all at once.  Or questions:

¿Cómo están hoy?               How are you today?

¿Listos?                                Ready?

¿Comprenden?                     Do you understand?

¿Sí o no?                             Yes or No?

¿Saben esto?                        Do you know this?

¿Es verdad?                          Is it true?