Day 22: Zapotec Classes on the Patio
In Oaxaca City, Itzel (A), a tenant who teaches Zapotec, asks her landlord, Don Alfonso (B; don is a respectful title), whether she may use the patio the tenants share for evening classes.
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
Don Alfonso, ¿me permitiría dar clases de zapoteco en el patio por las tardes?
Don Alfonso, would you allow me to give Zapotec classes on the patio in the evenings?
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B
Adelante, siempre y cuando terminen antes de las nueve y no haya quejas.
Go ahead, as long as you finish before nine and there are no complaints.
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A
Se lo agradezco. Casi todos mis alumnos quieren recuperar el idioma que se perdió en su familia.
Thank you. Nearly all my students want to recover the language their family lost.
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B
Como en la mía: mi mamá era hablante de zapoteco, pero a nosotros nunca nos lo enseñó.
Like mine: my mother was a Zapotec speaker, but she never taught it to us.
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A
¿Y sabe por qué no quiso enseñárselo?
And do you know why she didn't want to teach it to you?
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B
En la escuela la ridiculizaban por hablarlo, razón por la cual nos crio solo en español.
At school they ridiculed her for speaking it, which is why she brought us up in Spanish only.
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A
Pues lo espero en la primera clase, don Alfonso. Y no se preocupe: terminamos antes de las nueve.
Well, I'll expect you at the first class, Don Alfonso. And don't worry: we finish before nine.
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