With only a few weeks to go until its six-month anniversary, the Puerto Vallarta Young Professionals Organization (YPO, to its members) is proving to be a strong, vital business and social network for the area’s professionals. PV Pulse sat down with founder Lindsay Prime recently to discuss the group’s (extremely short) history and bright future.

The State of Arizona launched a web site yesterday at www.buildtheborderfence.com. The implementation of this fund raising tool is the first act under SB-1406, a bill that authorizes the use of private donations and inmate labor to build a fence along the U.S. - Mexico border.

Update July 20, 8:57pm: Mexico's National Metereological Service classifies Dora as a category 4 hurricane. 

Update July 20, 1:50pm: Mexico's National Meterological Service has reclassified Dora as a category 2 hurricane, and expects high waves and rain to hit the coast of Jalisco and Michoacan.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a public advisory regarding hurricane Dora, which is expected to become a major hurricane by tomorrow. The storm will likely stay offshore, traveling parallel to the west coast of Mexico.

The Obama administration has ordered gun dealers operating in four states that border Mexico to report multiple sales of AK-47s and other semi-automatic weapons. The directive comes in the wake of revelations around the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) sting operation "Fast and Furious", which is alleged to have involved the intentional and illegal trafficking of weapons over the Mexican border. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is vowing to appeal the policy.

Yesterday, two months after the closure of the Malecon to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for a series of modifications and repairs, two streets have been reopened to pedestrian traffic. Further successive openings are scheduled for the coming weeks.

Nearly 128,000 Mexican volunteers and workers planted four million trees at events across the country for National Reforestation Day. The event, which attracted participants in 360 sites across the country, sought to reforest approximately 4,600 hectares. While participant numbers exceeded expectations, some have questioned the effectiveness of the program, citing low replanted tree survival rates.

Virgin America has filed with the United States Department of Transportation to get permission to provide non-stop flights between San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR) in Mexico. If the airline can obtain approval from the D.O.T. and the Mexican government, it intends to provide the route this winter.

Specialists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have opened a field study in Cerro de Coamiles, Tuxpan, in the northwest territory of Nayarit state, where researchers discovered approximately 30 petroglyphs. According to CNNMexico, the petroglyphs are distinctive to the Aztatlán culture, which occupied the area between 850 and 1350 AD. For visitors to nearby Alta Vista, the findings will be familiar - both sites contain bas-relief designs.

According to a recent press release, the first two streets along the Malecon are scheduled to open to foot traffic on July 16, 2011. As stated in the project's weekly status meeting, the Malecon remodelling project is on schedule.

There are no two ways around it: For adults, language learning can be daunting, and for non-Spanish speakers living in Puerto Vallarta, the incentive nonexistent. As a busy tourist hub on Mexico's Pacific coast, the city is full of bilingual people, which in practical terms means that you can accomplish the basics without speaking the national language. 

Many people, however, recognize that the rewards of learning Spanish go far beyond ordering off a menu or giving directions to a taxi driver. The ability to express and understand needs and wants is the basis of human connection. And those words – words that the Warren Hardy method calls “power verbs” – are where the program at Melchor's Spanish Language School begins.

Maestro Melchor Cortés Cortés and the Warren Hardy Method

In 2004, maestro (teacher) Melchor Cortés Cortés had already been teaching Spanish for 15 years, but when he learned about the Warren Hardy method he decided to get certified to teach it. "I find this method effective, very well organized and designed for adult learning," he told PV Pulse in an interview. "It allows the student to start communicating in Spanish right away."

That first, immediate success is key. For many adult learners, time is at a premium, so we want to see results. My experience? After only a single class I was able to return to my regular food market and order items from the shopkeepers using full sentences.

A quick peek at the school’s web site suggests that my experience is far from atypical. “After the first class, I was able to speak Spanish in sentences,” one former student writes. “The way it is organized is very good,” says another. “You can say things to people in Spanish right away.”

Currently, Melchor is the only teacher in Puerto Vallarta certified to use the Warren Hardy method.

What You Can Expect at Melchor’s Spanish Language School

Classes are held in Versalles, in an air conditioned classroom. In my class, every student has studied with Melchor before, a fact that belies both the popularity of the program and of his specific technique.

Melchor is joined by his wife, Martha Flores Salcedo, who assists with the drills. The setting is friendly and informal, and Melchor encourages questions about language, culture, and everyday life – conversations that serve to deepen the students’ understanding.

Class time is divided between short, digestible lectures, and peer-to-peer drills and games where students work together with the books and flash cards. Students are never expected to perform in front of the class.

Many of us are baffled by the language rules in our native tongue, having learned through speech and understanding what “sounds right”. Melchor is impressive in his knowledge of both English and Spanish grammar, and patient in the reiteration of language rules. Although some learning must be done by simple memorization, repetition is used sparingly and effectively.

Four Levels to Master

The Warren Hardy program is broken into manageable, high-intensity levels. Melchor teaches each in classes that run three hours per day (10:00am – 1:00pm), three times per week, for three weeks. In addition to class time, students are expected to do approximately 4 hours of homework between classes.

• Level 1 focuses on "power verbs" (verbs you can use with other verbs like "to need", "to want", “to like” and "to be able to"), the present tense, and basic numbers, is designed to give beginners basic skills for real life living.
• Level 2 delves into past tense, irregular verbs, and pronouns -- the building blocks of conversational Spanish.
• In Level 3, students practice the past imperfect, future, conditional, present progressive and present perfect tenses.
• Level 4 focuses on subjunctive mood (present and past), and more advanced structures like compound sentences and conditionals.

This laddered approach to language learning allows students to leave each class with new, actionable knowledge.

Primary materials include the workbook and a set of flashcards, but audio CDs are also available.

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