Day 40: Recording Purépecha Stories for School
In a village near Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Don Anselmo (A; don is a respectful title), one of the last fluent Purépecha speakers on his street, has just been asked by his neighbor Catalina (B), an elementary school teacher, to record the stories he tells for her students; pirekuas are traditional Purépecha songs.
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
¿Grabar mis cuentos? A los muchachos de ahora el purépecha ya no les interesa.
Record my stories? Young people these days aren't interested in Purépecha anymore.
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B
Al contrario: el hecho de que casi nadie lo hable aquí los tiene muy intrigados.
On the contrary: the fact that hardly anyone here speaks it has them really intrigued.
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A
Ni mis nietos me contestan en purépecha. ¿Qué les va a importar a otros niños?
Not even my grandchildren answer me in Purépecha. Why would other children care?
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B
Ayer me preguntaron por qué nadie les enseña la lengua en la cual se cantan las pirekuas.
Yesterday they asked me why nobody teaches them the language in which the pirekuas are sung.
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A
¿Eso preguntaron? Entonces sí grabo, pero en purépecha: traducidos, mis cuentos pierden la gracia.
They asked that? Then I'll record them, but in Purépecha: translated, my stories lose their charm.
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B
Claro. El que lo escuchen a usted vale más que todo el acervo de la biblioteca.
Of course. Having them hear you is worth more than the library's whole collection.
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A
Eso sí, quiero una copia para mis nietos, a ver si les da envidia.
One thing, though: I want a copy for my grandchildren, to see if it makes them jealous.
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