Learn how to introduce yourself
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Anna: Hola soy Anna |
| Eric: Eric here! “Introducing Yourself in Spanish.” |
| Anna: In this lesson, you'll learn how to introduce yourself in Spanish, as in "I’m Anna." |
| Eric: This conversation takes place in a college Biology Class. |
| Anna: And it’s between Sofía and Mateo. |
| Eric: The speakers are two university students in the same Biology Class, and the professor has asked the students to introduce themselves to each other. The speakers will use informal register. |
| Anna: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sofía: Hola, yo soy Sofía. Encantada de conocerte. |
| Mateo: Hola Sofía, soy Mateo. Mucho gusto, ¿cómo estás? |
| Sofía: Muy bien gracias, ¿y tú? |
| Mateo: Bien también, gracias. |
| Eric: Now let's listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| Sofía: Hola, yo soy Sofía. Encantada de conocerte. |
| Mateo: Hola Sofía, soy Mateo. Mucho gusto, ¿cómo estás? |
| Sofía: Muy bien gracias, ¿y tú? |
| Mateo: Bien también, gracias. |
| Eric: Now let's listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Sofía: Hola, yo soy Sofía. Encantada de conocerte. |
| Sofía: Hello, my name is Sofía. Nice to meet you. |
| Mateo: Hola Sofía, soy Mateo. Mucho gusto, ¿cómo estás? |
| Mateo: Hello Sofía, I'm Mateo. Nice to meet you. How are you? |
| Sofía: Muy bien gracias, ¿y tú? |
| Sofía: I'm really well, thank you. And you? |
| Mateo: Bien también, gracias. |
| Mateo: I'm fine too, thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Let’s talk a little about the right way to greet someone in Spanish. First, it's common to say hola whenever you meet a person and then follow that with some kind of greeting. |
| Anna: That's right. For example, when two people meet for the first time, they say hola, then they introduce themselves. |
| Eric: We'll give some more details on this in the grammar point. |
| Anna: And after introducing themselves, they should ask about the other person by saying "How are you?" which is ¿Cómo estás? in Spanish. |
| Eric: Then they’ll switch roles and repeat the same steps. |
| Anna: Also, in Spanish culture, it's considered polite to always say hola to someone you've already been introduced to, even if you've only met the person once and very quickly. |
| Eric: That’s right, you don't have to stay around and talk, but you should at least say… |
| Anna: Hola. |
| Eric: Okay, now let's move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: hola |
| Eric: hello |
| Anna: hola [slowly] |
| Anna: hola |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: encantado, encantada |
| Eric: pleased, glad |
| Anna: encantado, encantada |
| Anna: encantado, encantada |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: conocer |
| Eric: to know, to meet for the first time |
| Anna: conocer [slowly] |
| Anna: conocer |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: yo |
| Eric: I |
| Anna: yo [slowly] |
| Anna: yo |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: ser |
| Eric: to be (permanent characteristic) |
| Anna: ser [slowly] |
| Anna: ser |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: bien |
| Eric: good, well |
| Anna: bien [slowly] |
| Anna: bien |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: gracias |
| Eric: thanks, thank you |
| Anna: gracias [slowly] |
| Anna: gracias |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: cómo |
| Eric: how |
| Anna: cómo [slowly] |
| Anna: cómo |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: In this lesson we are going to look at some Spanish greetings. The first word we're going to look at is... |
| Anna: ...hola, |
| Eric: ...which means "hello," or "hi." |
| Anna: Hola is the standard word for a greeting in Spanish. You can use it in the morning or at night, and in both casual or formal situations like at home or at work. |
| Eric: In fact, you can use it pretty much anytime. |
| Anna: That's right. The next phrase we'll look at is encantado de conocerte which means "nice to meet you." |
| Eric: Now, literally, the phrase... |
| Anna: ...encantado de conocerte, |
| Eric: ...translates as "charmed of meeting you," which sounds a bit odd in English (haha) but it's perfectly correct in Spanish. And also, the phrase... |
| Anna: ...encantado de conocerte, |
| Eric: ...has the same feeling and use as "nice to meet you." Could you break this down for us? |
| Anna: Sure! En can ta do de co no cer te |
| Eric: And one time quickly? |
| Anna: Encantado de conocerte. |
| Eric: Perfect. Our next phrase is? |
| Anna: ¿Cómo estás? |
| Eric: Which means "How are you?" |
| Anna: So, after saying encantado de conocerte, it's very common to ask, "How are you?" with something like ¿Cómo estás? |
| Eric: That’s right. This phrase is a casual way of saying, "How are you?" Could you break this down for us? |
| Anna: Sure! ¿Có mo es tás? |
| Eric: And one time quickly? |
| Anna: ¿Cómo estás? |
| Eric: Okay, so, what's our last phrase? |
| Anna: Our last phrase is Estoy bien, which means "I'm fine." Now, the typical way to answer ¿Cómo estás? is estoy bien. Estoy means "I am" and bien means "fine" or "well". |
| Eric: Could you break this phrase down for us? |
| Anna: Sure, Es toy bi en. |
| Eric: And one time quickly... |
| Anna: Estoy bien. |
| Eric: Okay, now let's move on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself using the verb “to be.” |
| Anna: Which is ser. In the dialogue, we heard the phrase, Yo soy Sofía. |
| Eric: Which we translated as "I’m Sofía." |
| Anna: First, we should warn you that the Spanish verb ser is conjugated into more forms than the English verb "to be." You have three forms for the English verb and six forms for the Spanish. |
| Eric: That's right. But you shouldn’t be too worried about these. You aren't saying anything new – just a little more specifically than you would in English. |
| Anna: That's right. So, let's take a look at the conjugations for the verb ser. |
| Eric: First we have "I am," which is what in Spanish? |
| Anna: Yo soy. |
| Eric: Excellent. And "you are" is? |
| Anna: Tú eres. |
| Eric: "You are" in the formal form is? |
| Anna: Usted es. |
| Eric: And the "he is" / "she is" pair? |
| Anna: Él es and ella es respectively. |
| Eric: Listeners, keep in mind that those could also mean "it is". Okay, could you give us "we are?" |
| Anna: Nosotros somos. |
| Eric: And "you all are?" |
| Anna: Vosotros sois. |
| Eric: And the formal form of "you all are?" |
| Anna: Ustedes son. |
| Eric: Okay so, lastly could you give us the pair for "they are?" |
| Anna: Ellos son and ellas son. |
| Eric: Perfect! Listeners, these conjugations are specific to certain points of view, or persons, in a conversation. |
| Anna: And, in Spanish, the verbs are conjugated according to these "persons" or points of view. For example, Yo soy Alex means "I’m Alex." |
| Eric: Exactly. This phrase is both correct Spanish and correct English. However, the phrase... |
| Anna: Yo somos Alex, which translates as "I are Alex," sounds just as bad in Spanish as it does in English. |
| Eric: Spanish also tends to leave off or drop the words that represent those points of view, such as "he," "she," or "they," or even proper names. You usually only include these words if you need to emphasize something, or if there might be some confusion if you don't. |
| Anna: Exactly. For example, in English we would say, "Hello, I’m Mateo" or "You’re Mateo, right?" |
| Eric: Right. |
| Anna: But in Spanish, we would say Hola, soy Mateo, or Eres Mateo, ¿verdad? |
| Eric: Exactly. You can use this verb in this way to say many things about yourself, or other people. Can you give us an example, Anna? |
| Anna: Soy profesor. |
| Eric: Which means, “I’m a teacher.” What’s another example? |
| Anna: Es mi jefe. |
| Eric: Meaning, “He’s my boss.” |
| HOMEWORK |
| Anna: Okay, now it’s time for the last section from this lesson, the homework, or in Spanish, tarea. |
| Eric: We’ll ask you a question at the end of each lesson and give you three possible answers. You have to select the right one, and find out the answer at the end of next week’s lesson. |
| Anna: Here we go: One of these 3 sentences is incorrect. Which one? |
| 1) Yo soy Mónica. ¿Y tú eres? |
| 2) Nosotros sois maestros de español. |
| 3) Ellas son buenas alumnas. |
| Eric: Remember that we’ll give you the answer at the end of our next lesson. |
Outro |
| Anna: Well, that just about does it for this lesson. |
| Eric: Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Anna: ¡Hasta luego! |
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