Jose J. Soto

Post image for A Guide to Practical Spanish Language as a Skill-Set – Lesson 1: The Holy Grail

The ability to speak a second language is becoming an increasingly important skill-set. There are many ways to learn a language, from the not-so-good (software-based), to the best (immersion). This article should be used as a starting point to develop your skills in the Spanish language, but should not be your only resource. Interaction with native speakers, television, movies, radio shows and constant practice, should all be part of the learning process.

I don’t have a degree in Spanish or teaching, but I served as a Spanish Instructor at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy for four years and I’ll share with you the methods I learned and practiced at the time. My job as an Instructor was to prepare agents so they could conduct field interviews and interrogations in Spanish. Based on my experience over the past sixteen years, I believe adults are just as capable of leaning a new language as kids, but unlike adults, kids don’t worry about making mistakes or the perception of ridicule. [Read More…]

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Post image for Sign Cutting and Tracking Methods Employed by the US Border Patrol

“There’s always sign.”

Sign is the physical evidence of any disturbance of the environment left behind by animals, humans or objects. The detection of this sign is called sign cutting. A person (or animal) cannot traverse ground without leaving some sort of telltale sign. This sign is what we’re trying to find and track.

When most people think of tracking, they usually think of following footprints. But a trained tracker looks for more. He looks for kicked-over rocks, soil depressions, clothing fibers, changes in vegetation, changes in the environment, ambient noise or lack thereof, etc. Basically, the tracker looks for the disturbance — the sign — left behind by the person or persons being tracked. [Read More…]

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