Q. How do I say _______ in Spanish? How do I say _______ in English?

A. A variety of online dictionaries can be found on the Dictionaries page. My favorite dictionary is as Diccionarios.com, although it can be slow to load at times, with WordReference.com a very close second. For translating sentences (or longer works), I suggest the AltaVista Translation site. It's far from perfect, but it's quick. Other resources for instant translating are on the Online Translation page.

Q. How do I suggest a link to add?

A. Writing to me is usually the fastest way. I usually look over suggested sites within two or three days and selectively update pages at least once a week.

Q. What is the best way to learn Spanish?

A. Invariably, my advice is to use the language as much as possible. That's one reason I provide links to online newspapers, forums, and magazines. Reading gives learners a chance to see the language as it really is used. For most purposes, conversing in the language is even better, and if I could provide a way to do that I would (although chat is a possible substitute). If you live in an area where there are Spanish-speaking people, find some way to converse with them, such as going to a church or social club. Watch Spanish-language TV or movies or listen to Spanish-language radio. Don't ignore study of grammar and vocabulary, but any studies will help you immeasurably more if you're actually using the language.

Q.Where can I get college credit for studying Spanish at home?

A. The best directory I've seen of colleges that provide credit for classes taken by correspondence or on the Internet can be found at Peterson's. A wealth of information about learning also has been developed by About.com's Distance Learning Guide.

Q. How do I make accented characters when I'm using Windows 95/98?

A. See this article, which describes the procedures for Windows 95 and 98 as well as the Macintosh. Although some of the labels are slightly different, the same general procedure that applies to Windows 95 and 98 also applies to Windows 2000.

Q. What is the best software for learning Spanish?

A. That's hard for me to answer to for two reasons: First, I have tried only a small sample of the software available. Second, people have different learning styles. For example, people who have an auditory learning style may benefit from tapes, while those who need a visual approach might do better with reading or multimedia. My advice is to converse with other users on the bulletin board to ask questions and see what has worked for others. You can also check the list of feature articles to see if I have written any software reviews recently.

Q. Where is Spanish spoken? How many people speak it?

A. More people speak Spanish as a first language than any other language except Chinese. This article has the details.

Q. How much does Spanish vary from country to country?

A. There are differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, but they are probably no more significant than, say, the differences among American, British and Australian English. If you have reasonably good pronunciation and can speak standard Spanish, you will be understood wherever you go in the Spanish-speaking world. This article has more details.