Day 17: Late to His Own Farewell
In a café in Guadalajara, Alondra (A), who has organized the farewell, Erick (B), who has brought the cake, and Ingrid (C), who keeps checking her phone, wait for their friend Gael, who is moving to Canada.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- 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.
- 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
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A
¡Dos horas tarde a su propia despedida! Pero bueno, más vale tarde que nunca, ¿no?
Two hours late for his own farewell! Oh well, better late than never, right?
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B
A estas alturas, más vale nunca que tarde: así nos comemos el pastel antes de que se derrita.
At this point it's better never than late: that way we get to eat the cake before it melts.
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C
Me acaba de escribir “ya casi llego”, que, traducido del gaélico, quiere decir que apenas se va a bañar.
He's just texted “nearly there,” which, translated from the Gaelic, means he's only just about to take a shower.
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A
Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente, y a este, hasta Canadá.
The shrimp that falls asleep gets swept away, as they say, and this one's being swept all the way to Canada.
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B
Allá se le acaba la hora mexicana: a veinte bajo cero, nadie espera al que llega tarde.
Mexican time's over for him there: at twenty below, nobody waits for latecomers.
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A
Propongo que su llegada la recibamos con una rechifla. Bueno, con aplausos, como cuando aterriza el avión.
I propose we greet his arrival with jeers and whistles. OK, fine, with applause, like when the plane lands.
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B
Y le cantamos las mañanitas con todo y pastel, que para cuando llegue ya va a ser de mañana.
And we sing him Las Mañanitas, the morning birthday song, cake and all, since by the time he gets here it'll be morning.
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C
Pues yo sí voy a extrañar el hecho de que llegue tarde: las mejores pláticas de nuestra vida las tuvimos esperándolo.
Well, I really am going to miss the fact that he shows up late: we had the best chats of our lives waiting for him.
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A
¿Tú, la que le hacía drama por cinco minutos de retraso? Con razón no sueltas el celular.
You, the one who kicked up a fuss over five minutes late? No wonder you won't put your phone down.
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C
Llevo una hora escribiéndole “no te vayas” y borrándolo. Así que ahora sí, que se tarde lo que quiera.
I've spent an hour typing “don't go” to him and deleting it. So now, honestly, he can take as long as he likes.
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