Day 99: Seated Beside Reviewer Number Two
On the Tren Maya between Palenque and Campeche, a young archaeologist (A) tells the woman in the seat beside her (B) about the harsh anonymous review her article on Maya pottery has received.
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
Perdone, ¿le molesta si extiendo esto? Es el dictamen de mi artículo, y necesito espacio para odiarlo a gusto.
Excuse me, do you mind if I spread this out? It's the review of my article, and I need room to hate it properly.
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B
Extiéndalo, que de aquí a Campeche hay para rato. ¿Tan mal le fue? He leído dictámenes crueles, y hasta he escrito alguno.
Spread it out, it's a long way to Campeche. Was it that bad? I've read some cruel reviews, and even written the odd one.
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A
Escuche: “Leído el artículo, queda la duda de si la autora ha visto alguna vez un tiesto fuera de una base de datos”.
Listen: “Having read the article, one is left wondering whether the author has ever seen a sherd outside a database.”
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B
Cruel, pero bien redactado, eso sí. ¿Y qué sostiene usted en su artículo?
Cruel, but well written, I'll give it that. And what do you argue in your article?
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A
Que la cerámica naranja fina de Palenque se hizo ahí mismo, no en la costa del Golfo. Es en el desgrasante donde está la prueba.
That the Fine Orange pottery from Palenque was made right there, not on the Gulf coast. It's in the temper that the proof lies.
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B
A simple vista, cualquiera lo diría. Pero sin análisis químicos, eso es una corazonada con notas al pie.
To the naked eye, anyone would say so. But without chemical analysis, that's a hunch with footnotes.
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A
Habla igual que él. Pero fue mi asesora quien me hizo mandarlo a la revista sin análisis: cuestan una fortuna.
You sound just like him. But it was my advisor who made me send it to the journal without the analysis: it costs a fortune.
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B
Siendo así, el problema no fue el artículo sino la prisa. ¿Y qué le pide exactamente ese revisor?
In that case, the problem wasn't the article but the rush. And what exactly does this reviewer ask of you?
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A
Veinte tiestos analizados, y que cite un estudio de hace quince años sobre el Usumacinta. Seguro es suyo, el muy vanidoso.
Twenty sherds analyzed, and that I cite a fifteen-year-old study on the Usumacinta. It's bound to be his own, the vain so-and-so.
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B
Son dieciséis, y sería “la muy vanidosa”. Terminado el viaje, mi proyecto le paga los análisis, para que me desmienta con datos.
Sixteen, actually, and make that “her own.” Once this trip's over, my project will pay for the analysis, so you can prove me wrong with data.
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A
¿Así que fue usted quien me despedazó? Acepto, doctora, y hasta la cito: es en su estudio donde buscaré cómo refutarla.
So it was you who tore me to shreds? I accept, Doctor, and I'll even cite you: it's in your study that I'll look for a way to refute you.
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