Learn how to respond to formal questions using Mexican Spanish
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hi everybody, this is Alisha. |
| Fernando: Hola amigos, soy Fernando. |
| Alisha: Welcome to SpanishPod101.com. Responding to Questions in Spanish, Part two! |
| Fernando: In this lesson you’ll learn how to respond to formal questions using Mexican Spanish. |
| Alisha: You’ll also learn how to ask where someone is going, and why they are doing something. |
| Fernando: This dialogue takes place at the airport. |
| Alisha: It’s between Ashley and the immigration officer she’s meeting as she enters Mexico City. Since it’s an official, work-related conversation, the speakers will be using formal Spanish. |
| Fernando: Lets listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Officer ¿A dónde va, señorita? |
| Ashley Voy a México D.F. |
| Officer ¿A qué va? |
| Ashley A trabajar y estudiar español. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Officer ¿A dónde va, señorita? |
| Ashley Voy a México D.F. |
| Officer ¿A qué va? |
| Ashley A trabajar y estudiar español. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Officer ¿A dónde va, señorita? |
| Alisha: Where are you going, Ma’am? |
| Ashley Voy a México D.F. |
| Alisha: I'm going to Mexico City. |
| Officer ¿A qué va? |
| Alisha: What are you going for? |
| Ashley A trabajar y estudiar español. |
| Alisha: To work and to study Spanish. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha: Fernando, when the immigration officer asked Ashley where she was headed, she answered ‘Mexico de-efe’. What does this mean? |
| Fernando: ‘México De-efe’ means “Mexico City”, and it is the abbreviation for ‘Distrito Federal’, or “Federal District.” |
| Alisha: And what does Federal District mean? |
| Fernando: Well, it’s very similar to, for example, Washington D.C. in the US. It’s separate from the other states. |
| Alisha: Ah, I see - so it’s a federal entity within Mexico and not considered part of any other state? |
| Fernando: Yes, exactly. |
| Alisha: And so the Federal District name is also used for Mexico City? |
| Fernando: Yes. You’ll hear it referred to like this. In some contexts, the name Mexico refers to the capital as well. |
| Alisha: So if you notice someone talking about ‘de-efe’, just know that they’re talking about Mexico City! |
| Fernando: That’s right. |
| Alisha: Okay, now onto the vocab! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Alisha: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: a [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to, at |
| Fernando: a [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: a [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: dónde [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: where |
| Fernando: dónde [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: dónde [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: ir [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to go |
| Fernando: ir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: ir [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: señorita [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: young lady, miss, ma'am |
| Fernando: señorita [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: señorita [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: qué [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: what |
| Fernando: qué [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: qué [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: trabajar [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to work |
| Fernando: trabajar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: trabajar [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: estudiar [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to study |
| Fernando: estudiar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: estudiar [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: español [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: Spanish |
| Fernando: español [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: español [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Fernando Ok, the first one is ‘Señorita.’ |
| Alisha: Meaning “young lady”,“miss”. |
| Fernando: Yes. This word is tricky. You cannot use it very much in business settings in Mexico. |
| Alisha: Why? You can’t address women as ‘señorita’ when doing business in Mexico? |
| Fernando: Well, it depends. If it’s a woman in a store, a restaurant, or anything like that, then yes, you may say ‘señorita’. |
| Alisha: Let’s repeat it once again... |
| Fernando: ‘Señorita’ [pause] |
| But if you’re dealing with someone in their profession, you should call them by their title. |
| Alisha: Like “Professor” and so on? |
| Fernando: Yes, like ‘Profesora’, if she is a teacher, ‘Arquitecta’, if she is an architect, ‘Ingeniera’ if she is an Engineer, and so on. |
| Alisha: Wow, it seems like Mexican people are very proud of their professions. |
| Fernando: Well, that’s true. But also, ‘señorita’ could be seen as condescending, so you should be careful. |
| Alisha: Is it okay to say ‘señorita’ to an older woman? |
| Fernando: No, older women, or women who are married, are not called ‘señorita’. They would be ‘Señora’ or ‘seño’ in casual Spanish. |
| Alisha: Let’s repeat - “Miss” |
| Fernando: ‘Señorita’ [pause] |
| Alisha: And “Madam” |
| Fernando: ‘Señora” [pause] |
| Alisha: Ok, I think we’re ready to move onto the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: In this lesson, you’ll learn the expression... |
| Fernando: ...‘a dónde’... |
| Alisha: ...and learn how to ask where something or someone is headed. |
| Fernando: First of all, ‘a dónde’ is always followed by a verb. |
| Alisha: What kind of verb? |
| Fernando: A verb that indicates direction. For example, “to go”. Remember, the word ‘a’ indicates direction. |
| Alisha: So, for example, the phrase “Where are you going?” would be... |
| Fernando: ‘¿A dónde vas?’ Repeat after me - ‘¿A dónde vas?’ [pause] |
| Alisha: The verb here is ‘vas’? |
| Fernando: Yes, the verb is ‘vas’, which is a conjugation of the root verb ‘ir’ meaning “to go”. |
| Alisha: Repeat after Fernando- “I go...” |
| Fernando: ‘Yo voy...’ [pause] |
| Alisha: “You go...” |
| Fernando: ‘Tú vas...’ [pause]. |
| Alisha: Now how do we respond to the question “where are you going?” |
| Fernando: To say “I’m going to school”, for example, just start with the verb “to go”, then say ‘a’, and add the place or direction. Here’s an example - ‘Voy a la escuela.’ |
| Alisha: So the pattern is... |
| Fernando: ‘Voy a...’ plus the place. |
| Alisha: Listeners, please repeat. “I’m going to school.” |
| Fernando: ‘Voy a la escuela.’ [pause] |
| Alisha: Can we go over some other conjugations of the verb “to go”? |
| Fernando: Sure. For example, ‘yo voy-’ |
| Alisha: I go, |
| Fernando: tú vas |
| Alisha: you go, |
| Fernando: él va, ella va |
| Alisha: he goes, she goes... |
| Alisha: Okay, great. Let’s look at one more thing. |
| Fernando: Yes, the question ‘a qué’ |
| Alisha: And this means, “What for?” |
| Fernando: In the dialogue, the immigration officer asked Ashley ‘¿A qué va?’ |
| Alisha: “What are you going (to Mexico) for?” |
| Fernando: And she replied - ‘A trabajar y estudiar español.’ |
| Alisha: “To work and to study Spanish.” |
| Fernando: The word ‘a’ means intention or direction. |
| Alisha: So to answer this question, we say “I’m going”, then the preposition ‘a’ and then the verb or answer that explains the purpose of your action? |
| Fernando: Right. Just as Ashley did - ‘Voy a trabajar y estudiar español.’ Here, trabajar and estudiar are two verbs that mean “to work” and “to study”. |
| Alisha: And these verbs explain the reason that Ashley is going to Mexico. |
| Fernando: That’s right. |
Outro |
| Alisha: Please review your lesson notes for more details. Okay, everybody, this is it for this lesson. Bye, everyone! |
| Fernando: Hasta pronto! |
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