Learn how to express feelings and inquire about somebody else's health using Mexican Spanish
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hi everybody, this is Alisha. |
| Fernando: Hola amigos, yo soy Fernando. |
| Alisha: Welcome to SpanishPod101.com. Asking about Someone’s health in Mexico. In this lesson you will learn how to express feelings and inquire about somebody else’s health using Spanish. |
| Fernando: This conversation is between Ashley and her friend Alejandro. |
| Alisha: And it takes place at school. |
| Fernando: The speakers are friends, so they will be using casual Spanish. |
| Alisha: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Ashley ¡Hola Alex! Te ves cansado. |
| Alejandro: Sí, me siento mal. |
| Ashley ¿Qué pasa? |
| Alejandro: Me duele la cabeza. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ashley ¡Hola Alex! Te ves cansado. |
| Alejandro: Sí, me siento mal. |
| Ashley ¿Qué pasa? |
| Alejandro: Me duele la cabeza. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ashley ¡Hola Alex! Te ves cansado. |
| : Hi Alex! You look tired. |
| Alejandro: Sí, me siento mal. |
| : Yes, I don’t feel good. |
| Ashley ¿Qué pasa? |
| : What’s the matter? |
| Alejandro: Me duele la cabeza. |
| : I have a headache. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha: So Fernando, what should I do if I get sick in Mexico? And are there any precautions I can take? |
| Fernando: That’s a good question. Unfortunately, it happens. But for starters, I would recommend not drinking the tap water. |
| Alisha: So stick to bottled water? |
| Fernando: Yes, that is your safest bet. |
| Alisha: In case something does happen... are there enough hospitals and doctors everywhere? |
| Fernando: Yes, of course. No need to worry. |
| They also sell a lot of herbs and home remedies for everything you can imagine. |
| Alisha: And are they for real? |
| Fernando: Yes, many of them are. |
| Alisha: Are Mexicans still very much attached to ritual medicine? |
| Fernando: Yes, these traditions are still very strong in many places, and you can still find many people who practice herbal medicine. There are places such as Catemaco, in Veracruz, where you wouldn’t believe how many different herbs they sell. |
| Alisha: Hmm, very interesting! Mexican people should keep these ancient practices, I think they’re a cultural asset. |
| Fernando: Definitely! |
| Alisha: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| : Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: te [natural native speed] |
| : you |
| Fernando: te [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: te [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: verse [natural native speed] |
| : to look at oneself |
| Alisha: verse [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: verse [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Fernando: cansado [natural native speed] |
| : tired |
| Fernando: cansado [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: cansado [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: sentirse [natural native speed] |
| : to feel |
| Alisha: sentirse [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: sentirse [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Fernando: mal [natural native speed] |
| : bad |
| Fernando: mal [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: mal [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: tener [natural native speed] |
| : to have |
| Alisha: tener [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: tener [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Fernando: doler [natural native speed] |
| : to hurt, to cause pain |
| Fernando: doler [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: doler [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Alisha: cabeza [natural native speed] |
| : head |
| Alisha: cabeza [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Alisha: cabeza [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| : Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we’ll look at is.... |
| Fernando: Estoy cansado. |
| Alisha: And this means “I’m tired.” Please repeat everyone- |
| Fernando: Estoy cansado [pause] |
| Alisha: And if you’re a woman- |
| Fernando: ‘Estoy cansada’ [pause] |
| Do you remember ‘estoy’? This means “I am”. |
| Alisha: Yes, and it’s used for talking about conditions. The condition here is “tired”, but what are some other conditions it can be used with? |
| Fernando: For example... ‘feliz’ |
| Alisha: happy |
| Fernando: enojado |
| Alisha: angry |
| Fernando: triste |
| Alisha: sad |
| Fernando: So as you can see, all temporary conditions. Just remember to use the verb ‘estar’. |
| Alisha: Okay, the next word is... |
| Fernando: mal |
| Alisha: meaning “bad”. We saw it in the phrase... |
| Fernando: ‘Me siento mal.’ “I don’t feel good.” |
| Alisha: Or literally, “I feel bad.” |
| Fernando: Right. |
| Alisha: We’ll talk about that phrase later on in the grammar section. What’s the opposite of “bad”, by the way? |
| Fernando: When talking about feeling good/bad, it would be ‘bien’. ‘Me siento bien’. |
| Alisha: Okay great, now let’s look at our third phrase, which is... |
| Fernando: me duele. |
| Alisha: “It hurts.” repeat everybody |
| Fernando: me duele [pause] |
| Alisha: And how should we use it? |
| Fernando: Say ‘me duele’ and then the body part that is hurting you, for example ‘la cabeza’ |
| Alisha: “My head hurts.” Repeat everyone... |
| Fernando: Me duele la cabeza [pause] |
| Alisha: My finger hurts. |
| Fernando: Me duele el dedo [pause] |
| Alisha: Ok, listeners, time for our grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: In this lesson, you’ll learn about reflexive verbs and how they work. |
| Fernando: Such as “I feel good,” “I feel bad”, etc. |
| Alisha: Where do we start? |
| Fernando: Well, we need to understand what reflexive verbs are in Spanish. |
| Alisha: Good point! A verb is reflexive when the subject and object are the same. So for example, in the sentence “I wash the car”, the subject and object are different. But in the sentence, “I wash myself”, the subject and object are the same. So a reflexive verb would be used. |
| Fernando: In infinitive form these verbs are a single word, and they have ‘se’ at the end of them- ‘bañarse’, ‘sentarse’, etc... |
| Alisha: And those are... “to take a shower”, “to sit down”, etc... |
| Fernando: But when conjugated, reflexive verbs break up into two parts, and that ‘se’ moves to the front. It also gets conjugated. ‘Me baño’, ‘me siento...’ |
| Alisha: “I take a shower”, “I sit down.” |
| Fernando: Precisely. Let’s look at some more examples. |
| Alisha: Like we mentioned earlier, the phrases “I feel bad” and “I feel good” use a reflexive verb. |
| Fernando: Right. ‘sentirse’, which means “to feel”. ‘Me siento bien’. “I feel good.” Please repeat... ‘me siento bien’ [pause] |
| Alisha: How about “I feel bad”, like we had in the dialogue? |
| Fernando: ‘Me siento mal’. Please repeat. ‘Me siento mal.’ |
| Alisha: What about saying something like.. “I look good?” |
| Fernando: Yes, that uses a reflexive verb, verse. So “I look good” would be... ‘me veo bien’. Repeat after me - ‘me veo bien’ [pause] |
| Alisha: So tell us more about these little words that come before the verb - ‘me’, ‘te’, ‘se’... What are these? |
| Fernando: These are called personal pronouns, and they’re something like the “myself” in “I wash myself”, or “yourself” in “you take care of yourself”. |
| Alisha: Got it. Make sure to check the lesson notes for more information on how they are used. Lastly, let’s review how to say that something hurts. We saw this in the dialogue. It also uses a reflexive verb, right? |
| Fernando: Right. ‘Dolerse’. So when talking about yourself, ‘Me duele’. |
| Alisha: How would you translate that? |
| Fernando: It hurts me. |
| Alisha: And for instance, “I have a headache”? |
| Fernando: Again, you just put the body part that hurts after ‘me duele’. So... ‘Me duele la cabeza.’ |
| Alisha: Repeat everyone. “My head hurts.” |
| Fernando: Me duele la cabeza [pause] |
| Alisha: How about the phrase “my finger hurts”? |
| Fernando: Me duele el dedo. Repeat after me, Me duele el dedo. [pause] |
Outro |
| Alisha: Okay, and with that... I think we’re done! |
| Fernando: Great! Be sure to let us know if you have any questions, listeners. |
| Alisha: Definitely. That’s going to wrap up this lesson, and this series! |
| Fernando: Yes, that’s all for Absolute Beginner Season 3. |
| Alisha: We hope you all had fun learning with us! We definitely did! |
| Fernando: Best of luck with your Spanish studies. |
| Alisha: Until we meet again! |
| Fernando: Bye everyone! Adios! |
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