Day 72: Her Venezuelan Boarder Says Chévere
Over coffee in Guadalajara, whose people are called tapatíos, Ernestina (A), a retired woman who has taken in a boarder, a Venezuelan nurse, chats with her oldest friend Magdalena (B).
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
Ay, Magda, hoy le dije al del gas que su servicio estaba “chévere”, y se me quedó viendo.
Oh, Magda, today I told the gas man his service was “chévere,” and he just stared at me.
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B
Es culpa de tu inquilino venezolano: desde su llegada, no hay nadie en tu cuadra que no diga “chévere”.
Blame your Venezuelan boarder: since he arrived, there isn't a soul on your block who doesn't say “chévere.”
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A
No exageres. Aunque “chamo” sí se me pegó, y ayer regañé a mi nieto con un “chamo, cómete las caraotas”.
Don't exaggerate. Though “chamo” has rubbed off on me, and yesterday I scolded my grandson with a “chamo, eat your caraotas.”
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B
¿Las qué? Ay, amiga, el que a tus setenta y cuatro años hables como en las telenovelas venezolanas de los ochenta me tiene preocupada.
The what? Oh, my dear, the fact that at seventy-four you're talking like someone in an eighties Venezuelan soap has me worried.
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A
Las caraotas son frijoles, mensa. Y una arepa no es una gordita, aunque se parezca; me lo explicó con paciencia de santo.
Caraotas are beans, silly. And an arepa isn't a gordita, however much it looks like one; he explained it with the patience of a saint.
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B
¿Y qué te gusta más, la arepa o el hecho de que te diga “mi reina”?
And which do you like more, the arepa or the fact that he calls you “my queen”?
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A
Ríete, pero no conozco a nadie en Guadalajara que me diga “mi reina” sin querer venderme algo.
Laugh all you like, but I don't know anyone in Guadalajara who calls me “my queen” without trying to sell me something.
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B
Ya en serio: ¿y a él qué palabras de aquí le suenan raras? Porque los tapatíos también tenemos lo nuestro.
Seriously, though: which of our words sound strange to him? Because we tapatíos have our quirks too.
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A
Lo que más lo desconcierta es nuestro “ahorita”: dice que aquí puede significar en cinco minutos o en cinco años.
What baffles him most is our “ahorita”: he says here it can mean in five minutes or in five years.
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B
Tiene toda la razón. No hay mexicano que sepa cuánto dura un “ahorita”, ni siquiera el que lo dice.
He's absolutely right. There isn't a Mexican alive who knows how long an “ahorita” lasts, not even the one saying it.
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A
Y que lo digas: anoche me pidió que le enseñara a hacer pozole, le contesté “ahorita, chamo” y ahí sigue, con el mandil puesto.
You can say that again: last night he asked me to teach him to make pozole, I told him “ahorita, chamo,” and he's still waiting, apron on.
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