Day 112: The Mold Study and the Landlord
In a rented apartment in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, roommates Jaqueline (A) and Maritza (B) are reading a news story about a study on damp homes when their landlord, Don Gildardo (C; don is a respectful title), comes to look at the mold in the bathroom.
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
Mira, Maritza: “Si las viviendas tuviesen buena ventilación, se evitarían miles de casos de asma”, dice un estudio.
Look, Maritza: “If homes had good ventilation, thousands of cases of asthma would be avoided,” a study says.
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B
Justo a tiempo: ahí viene don Gildardo. Léeselo, a ver si así se convence.
Just in time: here comes Don Gildardo. Read it to him and see if that convinces him.
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C
Buenas tardes, muchachas. ¿Dónde está esa famosa mancha de la que tanto me escribieron?
Good afternoon, ladies. Where's this famous stain you've written to me so much about?
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A
Aquí arriba, señor, y ya va bajando por la pared. Maritza no para de toser desde que empezaron las lluvias.
Up here, sir, and it's already creeping down the wall. Maritza hasn't stopped coughing since the rains started.
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C
En Coatza todo agarra humedad. Si ustedes dejaran la puerta abierta al bañarse, no estaría así; le pongo un extractor y listo.
In Coatza everything gets damp. If you left the door open when you showered, it wouldn't be like this; I'll put in an exhaust fan and that's that.
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B
Perdone, don Gildardo, pero un extractor sin salida al exterior nomás pasea el vapor de un lado a otro.
Sorry, Don Gildardo, but an exhaust fan with no outlet to the outside just moves the steam from one place to another.
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A
¿Y si lo pone en esa pared? Del otro lado está el patio, ¿no?
What if you put it in that wall? The yard's on the other side, isn't it?
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C
Del otro lado está mi recámara: si el extractor echara ahí el vapor, el del asma sería yo. Ahorita le hablo al albañil.
My bedroom's on the other side: if the fan blew the steam in there, I'd be the one with asthma. I'll call the contractor right away.
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