Day 20 of 160

Day 20: Our Kitchen-Table Board Meeting

At the kitchen table of their apartment in Mexico City, Carla (A) and Fátima (B), roommates who run a small online store selling handwoven Oaxacan textiles, hold their monthly business meeting; Doña Eulalia (a respectful title) heads the group of weavers they work with.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  1. A

    Bueno, se abre la sesión: la tienda departamental nos pidió 300 caminos de mesa.

    OK, I declare the meeting open: the department store has ordered 300 table runners from us.

  2. B

    Anoche me puse a hacer cuentas: las artesanas tejen unos cuarenta al mes.

    Last night I sat down and did the math: the weavers make about forty a month.

  3. A

    Estamos a punto de cerrar el mejor pedido de nuestra vida, ¿y me sales con eso?

    We're about to land the best order of our lives, and you come out with that?

  4. B

    Con dos meses de plazo, o le quedamos mal a la tienda o exprimimos a las artesanas.

    With two months to deliver, either we let the store down or we work the weavers to the bone.

  5. A

    ¿Y si doña Eulalia invita a más tejedoras del pueblo? Ojalá no se hayan comprometido con nadie más.

    What if Doña Eulalia brings in more weavers from the village? I hope they haven't committed to anyone else.

  6. B

    Le marco ahorita. Espero que no le hayas prometido nada a la tienda.

    I'll call her right now. I hope you haven't promised the store anything.

  7. A

    ¿Cómo crees? Bueno, les dije que era “casi seguro”, pero no firmé nada.

    Don't be silly! Well, I told them it was “almost certain,” but I didn't sign anything.

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