Day 78 of 160

Day 78: Grasshopper Hill on Line One

On a Line 1 Metro train in Mexico City, Florencio (A), an older man, starts talking to Montserrat (B), a young woman who is studying the station symbols on the line map.

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

    Perdone que me meta, señorita: Chapultepec significa “cerro del chapulín” en náhuatl. Por eso el símbolo es un chapulín.

    Sorry to butt in, miss: Chapultepec means “grasshopper hill” in Nahuatl. That's why the symbol is a grasshopper.

  2. B

    ¡Qué interesante! Se ve que conoce el Metro: habrá tomado esta línea miles de veces.

    How interesting! You obviously know the Metro: you must have taken this line thousands of times.

  3. A

    Cuarenta años de ir y venir. Aunque la mayoría no lo hablemos, el náhuatl está en todas partes.

    Forty years of coming and going. Even if most of us don't speak it, Nahuatl is everywhere.

  4. B

    Ni me lo diga: soy guía de turistas y estaba repasando los íconos para mañana.

    You're telling me: I'm a tour guide, and I was going over the icons for tomorrow.

  5. A

    ¡Con razón me escuchaba tan paciente! A ver, señorita guía: ¿qué significa Pantitlán?

    No wonder you were listening so patiently! OK then, Miss Tour Guide: what does Pantitlán mean?

  6. B

    “Entre banderas”: en el lago había un remolino, y los mexicas lo señalaban con banderas.

    “Among the flags”: there was a whirlpool in the lake, and the Mexica marked it with flags.

  7. A

    Eso no lo sabía, y eso que me creía experto. Por andar de maestro, ya me pasé de mi estación.

    I didn't know that, and I thought I was an expert. Playing the teacher, I've gone and missed my stop.

Your progress is saved in this browser only, with no sign-up. The course page and the menu show where you left off. Well done! Next up: Day 79: My Son Plays the Interviewer 

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