Day 98: The Waiter Asks About Buying
At a café in Querétaro, Selene (A), a regular customer who works as a real estate agent, asks the young waiter, Carlos (B), for the check (the IMSS is Mexico's social security institute, and Infonavit the workers' housing fund).
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
Joven, la cuenta, por favor. Tengo que enseñar un departamento.
The check, please. I've got to show someone an apartment.
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B
¿Trabaja en una inmobiliaria? Perdone la pregunta, pero ¿cuánto cuesta ahorita un departamento sencillo?
Do you work for a real estate agency? Excuse me for asking, but how much is a basic apartment these days?
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A
Por la zona en la cual vendo, uno de dos recámaras anda arriba del millón y medio.
In the area where I sell, a two-bedroom one goes for over one and a half million.
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B
¡Híjole! Para cuando junte eso, ya habrán subido otra vez.
Geez! By the time I've saved that, they'll have gone up again.
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A
Por eso nadie lo junta todo: se da un enganche y lo demás es crédito.
That's why nobody saves the whole amount: you make a down payment, and the rest is a loan.
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B
¿Y a mí me prestarían? Llevo tres años cotizando en el IMSS.
And would they lend to me? I've been paying into the IMSS for three years.
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A
Es probable que ya haya juntado algo en el Infonavit. Quédese con el cambio: es para el enganche.
You've probably already built up something in Infonavit. Keep the change: it's for the down payment.
Your progress is saved in this browser only, with no sign-up. The course page and the menu show where you left off. Well done! Next up: Day 99: As If Everyone Were Late
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