Day 130: Unwritten Rules of the Shoe Factory
In the design office of a shoe factory in León, Guanajuato, Martha (A), the head of design, has a word with Noemí (B), a young designer who joined her team a week ago.
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
Noemí, ya que sobreviviste tu primera semana en la fábrica, te cuento las reglas que no vienen en ningún reglamento.
Noemí, now that you've survived your first week at the factory, let me tell you the rules that aren't in any rulebook.
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B
¿Reglas no escritas? Ahora sí me asustó, Martha: ¿metí la pata en algo?
Unwritten rules? Now you've got me worried, Martha: did I mess something up?
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A
Nada grave, pero ayer comiste sola en tu escritorio, y aquí eso casi es una grosería: a las dos comemos todos juntos.
Nothing serious, but yesterday you ate alone at your desk, and here that's almost rude: at two we all eat together.
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B
Perdón, en mi trabajo anterior cada quien comía a su hora. ¿Qué más tengo que saber para adaptarme?
Sorry, at my last job everyone ate whenever they liked. What else do I need to know to fit in?
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A
Los cumpleaños: cada quien coopera con cien pesos para el pastel, y aunque no conozcas al festejado, le cantas las mañanitas.
Birthdays: everyone chips in a hundred pesos for the cake, and even if you don't know the birthday person, you sing them Las Mañanitas.
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B
¿Cien pesos por cada uno? Somos quince en diseño; eso da casi mil quinientos al año, nada más en pasteles.
A hundred pesos for each one? There are fifteen of us in design; that comes to nearly fifteen hundred a year, just on cakes.
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A
Y la posada de diciembre es sagrada: aunque no te guste bailar, vas, porque el dueño lleva treinta años organizándola.
And the December posada is sacred: even if you don't like dancing, you go, because the owner has been organizing it for thirty years.
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B
Con razón el martes me miraron feo cuando me fui a las seis. ¿También está vigente eso de no salir antes que usted?
No wonder they gave me funny looks on Tuesday when I left at six. Is that thing about not leaving before you in effect too?
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A
Esa sí es una tontería que llevo años queriendo abolir. Tu horario acaba a las seis, así que vete, aunque te miren feo.
That one really is nonsense, and I've been wanting to abolish it for years. Your working day ends at six, so go, even if they give you funny looks.
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