Practice Spanish with excerpts from "Barcelona" in Spanish, followed by the English translation.

En español:
Esta privilegiada situación geográfica, que hace de Barcelona en tantas ocasiones la puerta y el puerto de España, confiere a la ciudad ese especial carácter de ser, a la vez el enclave más europeo de España y quizás la presencia española que más cuenta en Europa. A caballo entre la montaña y el mar, no lejos de la raya fronteriza de los Pirineos, Barcelona parece dar la bienvenida a muchos de los visitantes que llegan a España.

Entre Las Ramblas y El Paralelo
Y ya estamos en el arranque de una de las vías más famosas del continente. Gentío afanoso que va a buen paso a sus quehaceres, vaga de escaparate en escaparate o se sienta en la terraza de algún café o en las sillas que pueden alquilarse bajo los árboles; grupos que se reúnen para discutir la actualidad taurina, en el Arco del Teatro, o la futbolística, junto a la Fuente de Canaletas; algarabía de pájaros libres o enjaulados en los puestos en que se vende la alada y leve mercancía; pregones de las floristas al pie de sus puestos de venta; cháchara de los dueños de los quioscos de libros, revistas y periódicos en las fachadas. Todo ello forma un alegre tumulto callejero y popular, lleno de colorido, luz y fuerza vital.

A la entrada de la calle del Conde del Asalto los visitantes se sorprenden las atrevidas líneas del palacio Güell, obra de Gaudí. Aquí se halla instalado el Museo del Teatro también. Cualquiera de las calles que salen en idéntica dirección de Las Ramblas llevan, tarde o temprano, directa o indirectamente, al Paralelo, mezcla curiosa de Broadway y Montmartre, bajo un signo, sin embargo, muy barcelonés, donde la vida teatral, especialmente durante la noche, encuentra adecuado escenario.

In English:
Barcelona's favorable geographic location, which makes it the gateway and the port of Spain, gives it the special role of serving as the most European enclave in Spain as well as the most influential Spanish presence in Europe. Situated between mountains and the sea, Barcelona is not far from the border formed by the Pyrenees, and welcomes many of the visitors traveling to Spain.

Between Las Ramblas and the Paralelo

Here travelers find themselves at the beginning of one of the most famous avenues on the European continent. An industrious crowd walks smartly on the way to work. Others idle about while window shopping or sitting down in the terrace of some café or on rental chairs under the trees; groups meet to discuss bullfighting news at the Arco del Teatro (Arch of the Theater) or soccer news next to the Fuente de Canaletas (Fountain of Canaletas); a racket radiates from the "free" pigeons or from the birds in their cages hanging in the stalls where aviary merchandise is sold; shouts emanate from the flower vendors standing guard by their stalls; chatter arises from the owners of the kiosks where books, magazines and newspapers are sold. All this forms a happy and lively commotion in the streets which are full of color, light and vitality.

At the entrance of the Conde del Asalto Street, visitors will be surprised by the bold lines of the Güell palace, one of Gaudí's works. The Museum of the Theater also located here. Sooner or later Las Ramblas and its parallel streets will take you directly or indirectly to the Paralelo. The Paralelo is a curious mixture of Broadway and Montmartre done in a very Barcelonan way, where the noisy life of the theater, especially at night, finds its expression.

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The End of an Era in Peru
President Alberto Fujimori has recently decided to step down from his post after winning his third election in May.

In Peru, presidential terms are five years long. Previous to Fujimori’s presidency, the term limit was one! Fujimori was not ready to leave office at the end of his first and second terms, so he changed the term limits for the presidency in the Constitution. This enabled him to run for an unprecedented second term and politically questionable third term.

In May 2000, Peru held presidential elections and Fujimori won, although the United States and other international organizations did not recognize the elections as valid. Since the elections, Fujimori has suffered a number of setbacks, including a bribery scandal involving one of his top officials.

A video was released which showed his Intelligence Chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, attempting to bribe an opposition Congressmen. This scandal caused the public to question the goals of Fujimori’s government and Montesinos consequently fled in exile to Panama. Fujimori also lost the majority in Congress and three of his top lawmakers defected, making it impossible for him to pass new laws and run the government with ease as he had done previously.

Fujimori is scheduled to step down in June, when Peru will hold a premature presidential election to replace him.

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Exciting news! According to PC Data, October 2000, Transparent Language, Inc. has maintained the number one position in the foreign language software category for the month of September 2000 and for the entire year to date!

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Open the online Help and print the Keyboard Shortcuts topic to have a handy list of shortcut keys to keep near your computer. There are shortcuts for many common actions!

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