Learn about expressing distance or time from one place or moment to another
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalia: Buenos días, soy Natalia. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos. “But I need to go to Panama, what do I do?” What’s going on pod101world? My name is Carlos and with me as always is Natalia. Naty, how are you doing today? |
| Natalia: Muy bien, Carlos. ¿Y tú? |
| Carlos: I’m doing alright, oops I heard a little thunder! |
| Natalia: A little thunder? Carlos. |
| Carlos: What? |
| Natalia: You know how it’s been lately. |
| Carlos: Naty, it’s been a beautiful week in Costa Rica. |
| Natalia: Well you know as always Carlos, but haven’t you noticed the weather? |
| Carlos: Yeah, you know what, the rain hasn’t been as constant although the other day it rained for like the entire day which really is weird. |
| Natalia: It’s the hurricane season. There’s hurricanes in the Caribbean. |
| Carlos: You know, I had a lot of people call me from home concerned about me like, I’m surprised like how many people had no idea where I am. I mean like, “we don’t get hurricanes here, huh?” |
| Natalia: Poor Carlitos, they don’t care enough about you to see where you are. |
| Carlos: It’s not about caring, it’s more ignorance of geography. |
| Natalia: Alright. Carlos, you uses the pronoun we instead of you. Are you including yourself among the residents of Costa Rica or what? |
| Carlos: Maybe a little bit but I don’t really think about it. What about the hurricanes? |
| Natalia: Okay, okay, okay. Well you know what, we really don’t get any. We are high up in the Central valley, the mountains protect us. |
| Carlos: Okay, what about the Caribbean coast? |
| Natalia: Carlos, am I a meteorologist or something? |
| Carlos: I don’t know, I mean I’m just curious. |
| Natalia: Okay well, they get rain but hurricanes don’t usually make it all the way over here. |
| Carlos: That’s a good thing you know. I know Puerto Rico gets hit hard every year. |
| Natalia: Yes, but Puerto Rico is very, very far away from here you know sometimes they confuse Costa Rica with Puerto Rico like when you go to other countries. |
| Carlos: Well, they are not Puerto Rican. |
| Natalia: Exactly, other people do. |
| Carlos: I know they do. San Juan, San José. It’s two different cities, two different worlds actually. No but Naty listen, what’s our grammar point for today? |
| Natalia: Well, that would be the use of the prepositions to express the time and distance. |
| Carlos: That sounds like fun. |
| Natalia: Tonnes of fun. |
| Carlos: Well, okay. By all means, let’s get into it. But now, you know what? Will be the time to open up the lesson guide in your pdf reader and follow along with the conversations. |
| DIALOGUE |
| ANA: Buenas tardes. Quisiera comprar un boleto a Panamá. |
| ANDRES: El bus sólo va hasta Sixaola. |
| ANA: Pero necesito ir hasta Panamá. ¿Qué hago? |
| ANDRES: No se preocupe. Sixaola está en la frontera de Costa Rica con Panamá. |
| ANA: ¿Cómo cruzo? |
| ANDRES: Caminando nomás. Es facilísimo. Ya va a ver. |
| ANA: Good afternoon. I'd like to buy a ticket to Panama. |
| ANDRES: The bus only goes to Sixola. |
| ANA: But I need to go to Panama. What do I do? |
| ANDRES: Don't worry. Sixola is at the border of Costa Rica and Panama. |
| ANA: How do I cross? |
| ANDRES: Just walking. It's really easy. You'll see. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Carlos: It is really easy because I have crossed Panama at that point. It’s like a… |
| Natalia: On foot? |
| Carlos: On foot yes! It’s like five and a half hour bus ride from San José all the way to the border then you walk across this, like I said before poor, poor excuse for a bridge. |
| Natalia: Poor excuse of a bridge. |
| Carlos: Yes, seriously you can see like… |
| Natalia: It’s perfect! It gets the tourist nervous. |
| Carlos: Yes it’s amazing because suddenly you just know you are somewhere else and everybody speaks English and they are all like trying to get you to like, hey where are you going? Bocas de Toro? because everybody is going to Bocas from the other side, it’s usually the main point but I have got to say that for all the border crossings, it’s the easiest. |
| Natalia: Carlos, you know… |
| Carlos: What, now that we’ve gone through the conversation you want to go through the vocabulary? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natalia: Yes. |
| Carlos: Okay, first off we are going to start off with a masculine noun. |
| Natalia: Okay, that would be “boleto”. |
| Carlos: “Ticket.” |
| Natalia: “Bo-le-to”, “boleto”. |
| Carlos: Next up we have a preposition. |
| Natalia: “Hasta”. |
| Carlos: “Until”, “unto.” |
| Natalia: “Has-ta”, “hasta”. |
| Carlos: Then we have a verb. |
| Natalia: “Preocuparse”. |
| Carlos: “To worry.” |
| Natalia: “Pre-o-cu-par-se”, “preocuparse”. |
| Carlos: Then we have another verb. |
| Natalia: “Cruzar”. |
| Carlos: “To cross.” |
| Natalia: “Cru-zar”, “cruzar”. |
| Carlos: Next up then we have an adverb. |
| Natalia: “Nomás”. |
| Carlos: “Just”, “only.” |
| Natalia: “No-más”, “nomás”. |
| Carlos: Alright, last but not least we have a superlative adjective. |
| Natalia: That I want you to repeat after I say it. First, “facilísimo”. |
| Carlos: “Really easy.” |
| Natalia: “Fa-ci-lí-si-mo”, “facilísimo”. |
| Carlos: “Facilísimo”. |
| Natalia: “Facilísimo”. |
| Carlos: “Facilísimo”. |
| Natalia: “Preocuparse”. |
| Carlos: “Preocuparse”. |
| Natalia: “Boleto”. |
| Carlos: “Boleto”. |
| Natalia: “Hasta”. |
| Carlos: “Hasta”. |
| Natalia: “Cruzar”. |
| Carlos: “Cruzar”. |
| Natalia: “Nomás”. |
| Carlos: “Nomás”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Natalia: See how good he’s getting, it’s getting boring now that you know everything, Carlos. |
| Carlos: She like takes some really, really weird pleasure in like making fun of me and like, she’s really also in pain is what it is. |
| Natalia: No. |
| Carlos: I’m just joking with you, Naty. I’m just not used to the whole thing. I’m just used to the Newbie series but I’m not used you giving me compliments on my pronunciation. |
| Natalia: Was I complementing you? |
| Carlos: Yes, you were. |
| Natalia: I was just saying it’s no fun. Anyways, Carlitos. |
| Carlos: Well, do you know what gave me trouble? |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: Words like the word “ticket”, I mean when learning Spanish I would always catch myself saying “tiquete”. |
| Natalia: Well, that would be wrong. |
| Carlos: Well, I understand that now. We’ve already gone through the vocab list. |
| Natalia: “Boleto”. |
| Carlos: “Boleto”, masculine noun. |
| Natalia: Por ejemplo, “Carlos bought a ticket to Panama.” “Carlos compró un boleto a Panamá”. |
| Carlos: That I did. Gas prices. |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: I’m just saying, when I got my ticket to come down here originally, they weren’t as expensive as they are now. |
| Natalia: Focus Carlos, focus see how you can, you absolutely get out of the way. Can we continue? |
| Carlos: Sure. Okay, once a woman asked me about “un pasaje”. |
| Natalia: Oh well, that’s just a related term it also means “ticket” but “fare” too. |
| Carlos: Okay, now it all makes sense I mean I kind of got back I was like pass, what? |
| Natalia: Next word... |
| Carlos: “Hasta”. |
| Natalia: Let’s put a stop on Carlos’ stories. |
| Carlos: Okay, “hasta”. Now I know this one and thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger so does most of the American public and the world. |
| Natalia: Carlos. |
| Carlos: What? |
| Natalia: I will walk out right now if you do a Terminator impression. I swear to you. |
| Carlos: I won’t Naty, you know me too well. |
| Natalia: Well, well, well, you know “hasta” is what we call a preposition of a place. |
| Carlos: And that means “until” or “upto” or “to.” |
| Natalia: Carlos. |
| Carlos: Naty. |
| Natalia: But we’ll look at that later in the grammar section. |
| Carlos: Fine with me, fine with me, alright. Next up... |
| Natalia: Next up... |
| Carlos: No, no, no Naty, give me this one. |
| Natalia: Okay, okay. “Preocuparse”, “preocuparse”. |
| Carlos: “Preocuparse”, “preocuparse”. A first conjugation verb that means “to worry” or “to be concerned.” |
| Natalia: Why do you want that one? |
| Carlos: You know, it was one of those words that I had to work on. Like the pronunciation of the phrase “no te preocupes” or “no se preocupe”, because you know when I was in Spain it was one of the hard words when you hear it it’s the multiple syllables that get you. |
| Natalia: I’m sure, but see how much you have improved. |
| Carlos: Thanks Naty. “Don’t worry” informal will be “no te preocupes” and “don’t worry” formal will be “no se preocupe”. |
| Natalia: “No se preocupe”, perfect. |
| Carlos: Okay, perfect. You know that word is difficult, “preocupe”, “preocupe”. You know once I practice the individual syllables you know I got it. |
| Natalia: You hear that audience? That is a very good way to learn a difficult word. |
| Carlos: Natalia, I drop good advice sometimes. |
| Natalia: Sometimes. |
| Carlos: Not all the time. |
| Natalia: Bueno, “nomás”. |
| Carlos: Huh? |
| Natalia: “Nomás”. |
| Carlos: Don’t you mean “no más”? |
| Natalia: “Nomás”. This is one word that can be separated as “no más” but the pronunciation is almost always blended together “nomás”. |
| Carlos: Okay, so it’s just one of those words. |
| Natalia: Nothing else but that word. |
| Carlos: Okay, what does that mean? |
| Natalia: “Nomás” is translated, it means “no more”. That is just or only. |
| Carlos: For example? |
| Natalia: “Nomás comentarios de pizza en New York”. “No more New York pizza comments”. |
| Carlos: Okay, I won’t talk about…..Naty, once you taste the heaven that is New York pizza... |
| Natalia: Oh my God! |
| Carlos: Listen to me, man! |
| Natalia: This man is about to buy me a plane ticket just for me to go have a pizza and point at me and say “you see!” |
| Carlos: You see how she is trying to put that in my brain?! She’s like “Carlos, do you have a credit card?” |
| Natalia: Carlos... |
| Carlos: Well, you know what? New York pizza is the best in the world, I mean that’s where all the Italians went. Okay, but listen up, next up we have the superlative form, right? |
| Natalia: Well, Carlos, now we have a superlative form. |
| Carlos: Okay, wait, so that means we will see the ending “ísimo”. |
| Natalia: “Isimo”. Exactamente, superlativo. Recognize in the superlative it’s “facilísimo”. |
| Carlos: Nice, which would be the superlative form of “fácil”. |
| Natalia: “Fácil”. |
| Carlos: “Fácil”. |
| Natalia: Carlos but you are not screaming, you are saying. |
| Carlos: See I am not wearing headphones right now. |
| Natalia: Okay, “fácil”. |
| Carlos: “Fácil”. |
| Natalia: “Fácil”. |
| Carlos: Which means “easy.” |
| Natalia: Which means “easy.” See, one minute he’s screaming of joy the next he’s like bummed. What’s with you? |
| Carlos: I’m bi-polar. |
| Natalia: Sounds like it. |
| Carlos: I have issues, man I think I need some counselling. |
| Natalia: Carlos, I knew that from the time I met you. The first time I met you. So anyways... |
| Carlos: Yo también, Naty. Yo también... before we get along. So… |
| Natalia: Carlos. |
| Carlos: Yes? |
| Natalia: What would “facilísimo” mean? |
| Carlos: Well, they would make it easiest or really, really easy. |
| Natalia: Ay, ¡que bueno! Well Carlos, I have to mention something. |
| Carlos: What? |
| Natalia: “Fácil” is related to both the verb “facilitar” and also the opposite spectrum, “difícil”. |
| Carlos: Well Naty, what are some of the superlatives that you might use, like one or two? |
| Natalia: “Muchísimo”. |
| Carlos: “Muchísimo”. |
| Natalia: “Muchísimo”. |
| Carlos: “Muchísimo”. |
| Natalia: “Riquísimo”. When I have a giant, giant chocolate cookie... |
| Carlos: See, see got it! |
| Natalia: So pathetic, Carlos, please. |
| Carlos: Sorry. |
| Natalia: While you say “riquísimo”, “riquísimo”. |
| Carlos: You should see the excitement in her eyes when I give her like a little bite size snickers. |
| Natalia: No, no, no. I’m on a sugar diet. |
| Carlos: She is on a sugar diet which means... |
| Natalia: I’m on a sugar diet right this moment. Let’s stop talking about pizzas and cookies and that stuff because I’m going to get hungry. It’s time to get into the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Alright, let’s do this. |
| Natalia: Okay, today we are looking at a prepositions. |
| Carlos: Prepositions? |
| Natalia: Yes, but we are expressing distance or time from one place or moment to the other. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: So what you have to do is you have to choose one of these two pairs of emphasis, either to lessen or to add to it. |
| Carlos: What do you mean? |
| Natalia: Like you can never say, “de Costa Rica hasta Panamá”. |
| Carlos: Why not? |
| Natalia: No! |
| Carlos: Why not? |
| Natalia: Because no. |
| Carlos: Well, that’s like when I was a kid and I asked my mother “why?” she’d be like “because” and I’m like “what do you mean?” And then I say it to her, she’s like because is not an answer, and I’m like, “you say it to me all the time.” |
| Natalia: Relax Carlos and breath. |
| Carlos: Okay, I’m sorry. |
| Natalia: Think about all the times your mum hugged you. |
| Carlos: All the time. |
| Natalia: Okay. |
| Carlos: I’m going to call my mum, I’ll be right back. |
| Natalia: Carlos, okay so you could never say “de Costa Rica hasta Panamá” because “de” is used with an “a”. |
| Carlos: “A” and this “desde” is used with “hasta”. |
| Natalia: Yes, correcto. Entonces “de”, “a”, “from”, “to”, this form is used to lessen the emphasis of the distance or time. |
| Carlos: Alright, let me guess, Naty. “Desde” and “hasta”, “from to now” hmmm…. This would be used to add emphasis to distance and time. |
| Natalia: Carlos, that was pretty easy, please. That was a fair bet but it’s pretty easy. |
| Carlos: What can I say man, you know it’s grab an opportunity, grab it. |
| Natalia: Poor thing. |
| Carlos: But you know what, Naty? I’m going to need some examples from you and I think our audience will as well. |
| Natalia: Okay, let’s say “Voy a viajar desde San José hasta Nueva York”. |
| Carlos: “I’m going to travel from San José all the way to New York.” Once again she’s trying to plant that idea…. |
| Natalia: Oh my God! So you see people, I want to go to New York. Anyways, Carlos, |
| Carlos: Yes. |
| Natalia: There was an easy one. How about “trabajo desde la una hasta las nueve”? |
| Carlos: “I work from one o’clock until nine.” |
| Natalia: Or, “I work from one o’clock, all the way till nine.” |
| Carlos: Well, that’s only some people Naty, because we work at home. |
| Natalia: Oh please. See how he puts it out there? |
| Carlos: I do I’m proud. |
| Natalia: Carlos I don’t even like you anymore. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: You are bragging too much. |
| Carlos: I’m sorry, I’m in that kind of mood today. Okay, give me another example, Naty. |
| Natalia: Another example. But Carlos, are you really paying attention to these examples I just see you rumbling. |
| Carlos: Oh you hear that? This is the hurricanes. |
| Natalia: The hurricanes are coming! |
| Carlos: They are coming to get me! Okay. No, I am listening to your examples, Naty. I am soaking everything up. |
| Natalia: Okay, well, I have another one. |
| Carlos: Shoot. |
| Natalia: Like how about “caminé de mi casa a la tuya”. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: Wait that was very spaced wait a minute. How about “caminé de mi casa a la tuya”. |
| Carlos: I like the space though, give me time to think. Okay, so that ending would mean the preterit tense so “caminar”, “to walk”. “I walked from my house to yours.” Wait, that would be impossible because Naty lives like far. |
| Natalia: Okay, then so another one. “Estuve donde Paco de las tres a las siete”. |
| Carlos: “I was at Packo’s from three to seven.” Three o’clock to seven o’clock. Well, the preterit tense once again. |
| Natalia: How do you know that? |
| Carlos: Well, other than the ending, “I was at Packo’s house”, it was a completed action. I am no longer there. |
| Natalia: So you should be very thankful for the verb conjugation series, Carlos. You should be thanking people. |
| Carlos: Naty, I say thank you every morning for it. I put one foot on the ground and say “thank” the other one “you”. |
| Natalia: Carlos! |
| Carlos: Yes, Naty. |
| Natalia: It’s time for “la tarea”. |
| Carlos: The homework. |
| Natalia: In today’s lesson, we discuss the difference between “de”, then “a”, to lessen the emphasis on distance or time. And “desde” to “hasta” to add emphasis to the distance or time of a trip. Here I’m going to give you five sentences in Spanish and what you have to do is translate them to English and figure out if we are adding emphasis or taking emphasis away. Are you ready? |
| Carlos: Well, I’m just going to stand here and say nothing because this is all, Naty. |
| Natalia: [Laughs] Okay. Number one, “manejé desde mi casa hasta la tuya”. Two, “caminé del parque hasta la tienda”. Three, “vamos a volar desde Costa Rica hasta Chile”. Four, “el año pasado volamos desde Argentina hasta Brasil”. Five, “tomé un taxi del centro a mi casa”. |
Outro |
| Carlos: And remember you can always get the answers and comments on the answers to this homework assignment on the premium audio track labelled “tarea”. Naty, it’s about that time we are wrapping everything up and you know we are really getting this newbie series stuff down. |
| Natalia: Well, you are, because I’m doing all the work, you are just here talking. |
| Carlos: Well, either way, that makes it work for me. What I would say is work smart not hard. You know? |
| Natalia: That’s your motto. You should get that tattooed on your chest. |
| Carlos: What, work smart not hard? |
| Natalia: Yes. Es hora de decir adiós. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: Say bye, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Goodbye, Carlos. |
| Natalia: Say bye, Carlos happy. |
| Carlos: Bye, Carlos happy! |
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