Day 58 of 160

Day 58: Culture Shock at the Car Plant

During office hours at the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Emanuel (A), an engineering student back from a six-month internship at a Japanese car plant in Aguascalientes, tells his professor, Dr. Imelda Zúñiga (B), what working there was like.

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

    Doctora, ya volví de las prácticas en la planta japonesa, y traigo anécdotas de sobra.

    Professor, I'm back from my internship at the Japanese plant, and I've got stories to spare.

  2. B

    Bienvenido, Emanuel. Para su reporte final necesito más que anécdotas: ¿qué le llamó más la atención?

    Welcome back, Emanuel. For your final report I need more than stories: what struck you most?

  3. A

    La puntualidad. Llegando a la planta, habĂ­a que checar diez minutos antes del turno, sin excepciĂłn.

    The punctuality. As soon as you got to the plant, you had to clock in ten minutes before your shift, no exceptions.

  4. B

    ¿Y en las juntas? ¿Lo dejaban opinar o nada más escuchaba?

    And in meetings? Did they let you give your opinion, or did you just listen?

  5. A

    Nadie opinaba: hablaba el supervisor y todos asentĂ­an. Terminada la junta, nadie se quedaba platicando.

    Nobody gave opinions: the supervisor spoke and everyone nodded. Once the meeting was over, nobody stayed behind chatting.

  6. B

    Ahí tiene su tema: en las empresas mexicanas, ¿la jerarquía es menos rígida o solo está mejor disimulada?

    There's your topic: in Mexican companies, is the hierarchy less rigid, or is it just better disguised?

  7. A

    Disimulada, diría yo: allá callar era una forma de respeto; aquí callamos en la junta y criticamos en el pasillo.

    Disguised, I'd say: there, keeping quiet was a form of respect; here we keep quiet in the meeting and criticize in the hallway.

  8. B

    Ese contraste vale un capítulo. Y algo se le pegó: lo encontré afuera diez minutos antes, sin atreverse a tocar.

    That contrast is worth a chapter. And something has rubbed off on you: I found you outside ten minutes early, not daring to knock.

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