Day 1 of 135

Day 1: The Taxi Driver Knew His Father

In a taxi from Guadalajara airport to a funeral home in Zapopan, Andrés (A), who has flown in for his father's funeral, rehearses his eulogy aloud in front of Armando (B), the driver.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning

  1. A

    Perdone que ensaye en voz alta, pero en una hora me toca hablar en el velorio de mi papá.

    Sorry for rehearsing out loud, but in an hour I have to speak at my dad's wake.

  2. B

    Ensaye con confianza, que hay tráfico para rato. Y lo acompaño en su sentimiento.

    Rehearse away, there's traffic for a good while yet. And I'm sorry for your loss.

  3. A

    A ver: “Durante cuarenta años, mi padre abrió la Ferretería Ibarra a las ocho en punto, lloviera o tronara”.

    Let's see: “For forty years, my father opened Ibarra's Hardware at eight on the dot, come rain or shine.”

  4. B

    ¿La Ferretería Ibarra, la de la calle Hidalgo? Fíjese que a su papá le debo mi primer oficio.

    Ibarra's Hardware, the one on Calle Hidalgo? You know, I owe your dad my first trade.

  5. A

    ¿A poco? Sabía que medio Zapopan le compraba tornillos, pero no que también repartía oficios.

    Really? I knew half of Zapopan bought their screws from him, but not that he handed out trades too.

  6. B

    NingĂşn banco me prestaba ni para unas pinzas, y don Aurelio me fiĂł toda la herramienta sin pedirme aval.

    No bank would lend me enough for a pair of pliers, and Don Aurelio let me have all the tools on credit without asking for a cosigner.

  7. A

    Por más que le rogábamos que no fiara, decía que el crédito se da a la gente, no a los papeles.

    However much we begged him not to give credit, he'd say credit is given to people, not to paperwork.

  8. B

    Y al despedirse me dijo muy serio: “A donde fueres, haz lo que vieres, y paga lo que debieres”.

    And as he saw me off he said, dead serious: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and pay what you owe.”

  9. A

    Pues ahĂ­ va la mitad del discurso: lo puntual lo sabĂ­a todo Zapopan, lo generoso ni yo.

    Well, there goes half the speech: all of Zapopan knew he was punctual, but not even I knew he was generous.

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