Day 86: An Allowance That No Longer Stretches
At home in Puebla, Julieta (A), a middle school student, asks her mother Maribel (B) for a bigger allowance, which Mexicans call el domingo; a torta is a Mexican sandwich on a roll and agua fresca a fruit drink.
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
Mamá, ¿me subes mi domingo? Doscientos a la semana ya no alcanzan ni para el recreo.
Mom, will you raise my allowance? Two hundred a week doesn't even cover recess anymore.
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B
¿Otra vez, si te lo subà en agosto? A ver, dime en qué se te va.
Again, when I raised it in August? Come on, tell me what you spend it on.
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A
Mira, en la cooperativa la torta pasó de $30 a $40, y el agua, de $15 a $20.
Look, at the school store the torta has gone from 30 to 40 pesos, and the agua fresca from 15 to 20.
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B
Pues mira mis tickets del súper: cuanto más suben los precios, menos rinde el gasto, y nadie me lo sube.
Well, look at my supermarket receipts: the more prices go up, the less the grocery money stretches, and nobody gives me more.
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A
Ya sé, ma, pero en la cooperativa la inflación es peor: todo subió un tercio en un año.
I know, Mom, but inflation is worse at the school store: everything has gone up by a third in a year.
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B
Te creo, pero una torta hecha en casa sale en quince. ¿Y si te llevas lunch y te subo cincuenta?
I believe you, but a torta made at home comes out to fifteen pesos. What if you bring your lunch and I give you fifty more?
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A
¿Lunch, como en la primaria? Qué oso, pero sale: con eso y cincuenta más, me alcanza.
Lunch from home, like in elementary school? How embarrassing, but fine: with that and fifty more, I'll manage.
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B
Hechas las cuentas, casi no ahorro, pero por lo menos comes mejor. Eso sÃ, el lunch te lo preparas tú.
Once you do the math, I hardly save anything, but at least you'll eat better. One thing, though: you make your lunch yourself.
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