Grupo Básico Español – lección veinticinco

Grupo Básico Español – lección veinticinco

Buenos días señores y señoras. Bienvenidos a la lección veinticinco de la clase de español.

Hoy, estoy solo. Lucía y Aureliano, mi hijo Tom y mi nieta Julia están en Jersey para una corta vacacione con mi hijo Sam y su familia. Espero que estén divirtiéndose.

Tengo algo especial para ustedes hoy. Vamos a ver un video de la canción La Bamba, algunas tradiciones matrimoniales mexicanas y cómo atar un lazo con los pies.

Las cosas también están ardiendo en nuestra historia Las Dudas de Marta ...

Esta semana, terminaremos el Capítulo Nueve de Sueños. Entonces estamos en el Capítulo Diez. ¡Eso es a mitad de camino!

I said Espero que estén divirtiéndose. I have introduced you to a new verb ‘divertirse’ which means to have a good time, to enjoy oneself. It’s a reflexive verb. Divirtiéndose is the gerund form of the verb, so: having a good time.

Note that I have used estén and not estan for ‘they are’. This is quite advanced grammar and a bit complicated … in Spanish the subjunctive form of a verb is used much more than in English and one of the times it is always used is after a verb that expresses some kind of wish.

English speakers will find this particularly difficult because we don’t use this form of speech as much, but we do use it. An example of the subjunctive in English is: I wish I were able to fly.

We often wish someone a good time and you can use the imperative form of divertise to do that: diviértete means enjoy yourself and diviértanse means enjoy yourselves. If you want to ask someone if they had a nice time, you can say: ¿Que tal lo pasaste? and a quick answer is: lo pasé bien.

I recommend Barron’s 501 Spanish Verbs if you want the “Full Monty”.

I also want to draw your attention to Tengo algo especial para ustedes hoy (I have something special for you today). I had wanted to say: “I have some treats for you today” and wrote “tengo algunas tratas para ustedes hoy” which means “I have some you try for you today”. It doesn’t make any sense. Lucy tells me that there is no direct translation for a treat in Spanish; the verb tratar means to treat something or to try and you cannot convert it to a noun. Apparently, my son Tom has fallen into the same trap.

If you want to give a treat, Lucy suggests:

Una golosina – food treat

Una sorpresa – a surprise

Un regalo – a present

Algo especial – something special

Sorry, for all that complicated grammar in my introduction! Normally I try to keep it simple. However, sometimes you write something that just doesn’t translate and I think it’s good to share those mistakes.

Now, let’s catch up with our story, but first – a quick question:

¿Qué fecha es hoy?

Can you write it down, including the day? … and the year

Es martes, veinticuatro de abril, dos mil dieciocho

Las Dudas de Marta

Alberto’s mum has gone to bed and left Marta and Alberto alone in Madrid. Are things about to get interesting?

Capítulo Tres (continuado)

“¡Pero mamá! ¿No quieres tomar un café o un vino antes de volver al hotel? Esto es Madrid, y es sábado por la noche.”

“No, pero id vosotros, que sois jóvenes. Divertíos.”

Marta cree que Alberto va a decir que también quiere ir al hotel, pero se sorprende.

“Y tú Marta, ¿qué quieres hacer? ¿Vamos a tomar una cerveza?

Marta y Alberto pasean por la Calle Huertas y entran en un bar con buena música. Piden unas cañas. Alberto charla y se ríe con Marta. Está relajado. De repente, se acerca y la besa en la boca. ¡Marta está a punto de caerse del taburete!

Alberto vuelve a ponerse tenso. Se levanta y toma su chaqueta.

“Marta, ¿Volvemos al hotel? Se hace tarde.

Pero, ¿qué le pasa a este chico? Marta no entiende nada. Resignada, toma su abrigo y los dos se dirigen al hotel. Al despedirse en el pasillo, él le da un beso en la mejilla.

“Buenas noches, Marta.”

A la mañana siguiente, visitan el Rastro. El Rastro es un mercadillo al aire libre donde se puede encontrar de todo: ropa, complementos, electrónica, comida, artículos de segunda mano …

“¡Qué bien! ¡Cuántas cosas para comprar!” dice la madre de Alberto. Al final, termina con las manos llenas de bolsas de los más variados objetos. Y, por supuesto, tiene hambre.

“¿Qué os parece si comemos en este bar? ¡Me muero por una ensaladilla rusa!”

Después de comer, se dirigen al aeropuerto en el metro. El fin de semana toca a su fin. Y Alberto no ha mencionado ni una vez lo que ha pasado la noche anterior.

The final part of Chapter 9 of Sueños was about ordering drinks and snacks. Let’s do some quick revision and then it is time for some role play exercises.

In a café, the waiter may ask:

¿Qué va a tomar? What will you (singular) have?

¿Qué van a tomar? What will you (plural) have?

¿Qué vas a tomar? What will you (singular, familiar) have? Sólo si el camarero es tu amigo.

The waiter might also say: Dígame … literally tell me (what you want).

If you only order a coffee, he might ask: ¿Algo más? (anything else).

¿Tienen hambre? ¿Quieren unas tapas o bocadillos, papas fritas?

There are lots of ways to say what you’d like:

Quiero … I want

Quisiera … I would like

Me gustaría … I would like

Voy a tomar … I’m going to take

We can also use the imperative form of the verb poner:

Ponme un café (informal)

Póngame un café (formal)

Lucy thinks that using poner (to put, to place) is very rude.

Paying for your food and drinks

¿Cuánto le debo? … how much do I owe you?

¿Cuánto es? … how much is it?

La cuenta, por favor … the bill, please.

"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, made famous by Ritchie Valens, who had a top 40 hit in the US charts with a rock ‘n’ roll version of the song in 1958.

Valens' version of "La Bamba" is ranked number 354 on Rolling Stone magazine′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is the only song on the list sung in a language other than English.

Ritchie Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela on May 13, 1941. His recording career lasted just eight months.

On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as "the Day the Music Died", Valens was killed in a plane crash in Iowa, an accident that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Shall we take a look at the lyrics. They don’t make much sense!

The name of the dance, La Bamba has no direct English translation. It is presumably connected with the Spanish verb bambolear, meaning "to shake" or perhaps "to stomp".

Para bailar La Bamba

Se necesita una poca de gracia

Una poca de gracia

Para mi, para ti, ay arriba, ay arriba

Arriba means up, but it can also mean faster

Por ti seré, por ti seré, por ti seré

So we have future tense of the verb ser (to be). Por can also mean ‘by’ as well as ‘for’. So, by you I will be is the literal translation. In English, we would say I will be by you.

The next bit: Yo no soy marinero, soy capitán (I am not a sailor, I am a captain) of course, makes perfect sense!

"La Bamba" has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Los Lobos, whose version was the title track of the 1987 film La Bamba and reached No. 1 in the US and UK singles charts in the same year. That’s the version we’re going to watch now. The video won the 1988 MTV Video Music Award for ‘Best Video from a Film’.

Shall we watch the video? CLICK HERE

"La Bamba" is often played during weddings in Veracruz. This tradition pre-dates Valens’ big hit. In the dance, the bride and groom perform a particular dance, which is intended to display the newly-wed couple's unity through the performance together of complicated, delicate steps as well as through the tying of a bow from a long, red ribbon, using only their feet.

The "arriba" part of the song suggests the nature of the dance, in which the footwork is done faster and faster as the tempo increases. The repeated lyric is "Yo no soy marinero, soy capitán", is probably due to Veracruz being a maritime locale.

I have a video of the wedding dance, also one of some children practising tying the bow.

¿Les gustaría ver esos videos ahora? Do you remember the conditional tense? We use it to pretend to be polite.

CLICK HERE for wedding dance

CLICK HERE for tying the knot

¿Les gustó los videos? Do you remember the past tense of gustar that we did last week? Have you spotted the deliberate mistake?

It should be: ¿Les gustaron los videos? Why is that?

¿Les gustó el video?

¿Les gustaron los videos?

Sí, me gustaron los videos.

Me gustó el primer video, pero no me gustaron los otros

No, no me gustaron los videos

When I asked if you would like to see the videos, I used gustaría (the singular), not gustarían (the plural). Why was that. Let’s look at the sentence:

¿Les gustaría ver esos videos ahora?

It is not the videos that would please you, it is to see the videos. To see requires the singular form of gustar, not the plural.

Links to all the videos (as well as my complicated lesson notes) will be on the blog and Facebook page.

OK, now we start Chapter 10, which is all about travel, buying tickets and checking times – really useful stuff if you’re travelling around Spain or South America.

Let’s start with a quick quiz, do you know the Spanish word for the following:

1.     The train

2.    The car

3.    The plane

4.    The bus

5.    The taxi

6.    The metro

7.    The ferry

8.    The train station

9.    The airport

10. The bus station

1.     The train – el tren

2.    The car – el coche (el carro in LA)

3.    The plane – el avión

4.    The bus – el autobus (el bus in LA)

5.    The taxi – el taxi

6.    The metro – el metro

7.    The ferry – el ferry

8.    The train station – la estación de tren

9.    The airport - el aeropuerto

10. The bus station - la estación de autobuses

Let’s look at some useful verbs to use when travelling:

Querer – to want

Yo quiero

Tú quieres

Él, ella, usted quiere

Nos queremos

Vos queréis

Ellos, ellas, ustedes quieren

Other useful travelling verbs:

Ir – to go

Poder – to be able

Tomar – to take (it also means to have in relation to food)

Coger – to catch (it also means to grab or seize)

Venir – to come

Viajar – to journey

Volar – to fly

Those in red are irregular verbs (we have to learn the conjugation), those in green are regular -ar verbs,  the one in blue is a regular -er verb with a spelling change (the g becomes j) and the one in brown is a stem-changing verb.

Ir

Yo voy                   Tú vas

Él, ella, usted va     Nos vamos

Vos vais                 Ellos, ellas, ustedes van

Don’t forget the infinitive is ir. So:

¿Peudo ir a Madrid en tren? Can I go to Madrid by train?

Poder

Yo puedo                         Tú puedes

Él, ella, usted puede         Nos podemos

Vos podéis                       Ellos, ellas, ustedes pueden

Tomar

Yo tomo                           Tú tomas

Él, ella, usted toma           Nos tomamos

Vos tomáis                       Ellos, ellas, ustedes toman

Coger

Yo cojo                            Tú coges

Él, ella, usted coge           Nos cogemos

Vos cogéis                       Ellos, ellas, ustedes cogen

Estoy cogiendo el tren de las seis en punto

Venir

Yo vengo                          Tú vienes

Él, ella, usted viene          Nos venimos

Vos venís                         Ellos, ellas, ustedes vienen

A qué hora vas a venir

Viajar

Yo viajo                           Tú viajas

Él, ella, usted viaja          Nos viajamos

Vos viajáis                       Ellos, ellas, ustedes viajan

Volar

Yo vuelo                          Tú vuelas

Él, ella, usted vuela           Nos volamos

Vos voláis                        Ellos, ellas, ustedes vuelan

Estoy volando mañana

To arrive (llegar)

To drive (conducir or manejar)