Learn small talk expressions you can use while eating out with coworkers, review the Demonstrative Adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Eating Lunch With a Mexican Coworker. John Here. |
| Laura: Hola. I'm Laura. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about making small talk and eating out. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Laura: It's between Alan Brown, Fernando Rojas, and Alma Cordero. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers and will speak informal Spanish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Alma Cordero: Este lugar es uno de mis preferidos. Vengo siempre que hay un congreso en la capital. |
| Alan Brown: Por cierto, ¿Qué les pareció la conferencia que dió el director del área de Innovación? |
| Fernando Rojas: Esa presentación dejó mucho que desear. Los datos estadísticos no cuadraban. |
| Alma Cordero: Exacto, probablemente esos datos estaban maquillados. |
| Alan Brown: ¿Pedimos la cuenta? |
| Alma Cordero: Sí, tenemos que regresar al auditorio antes de la plática de la Licenciada Soto. |
| Fernando Rojas: Yo me encargo de la cuenta. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Alma Cordero: Este lugar es uno de mis preferidos. Vengo siempre que hay un congreso en la capital. |
| Alan Brown: Por cierto, ¿Qué les pareció la conferencia que dió el director del área de Innovación? |
| Fernando Rojas: Esa presentación dejó mucho que desear. Los datos estadísticos no cuadraban. |
| Alma Cordero: Exacto, probablemente esos datos estaban maquillados. |
| Alan Brown: ¿Pedimos la cuenta? |
| Alma Cordero: Sí, tenemos que regresar al auditorio antes de la plática de la Licenciada Soto. |
| Fernando Rojas: Yo me encargo de la cuenta. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Alma Cordero: Este lugar es uno de mis preferidos. Vengo siempre que hay un congreso en la capital. |
| Alma Cordero: This place is one of my favorites. I always come here when there is a conference in the capital. |
| Alan Brown: Por cierto, ¿Qué les pareció la conferencia que dió el director del área de Innovación? |
| Alan Brown: By the way, what do you think about the conference given by the head of the Innovation department? |
| Fernando Rojas: Esa presentación dejó mucho que desear. Los datos estadísticos no cuadraban. |
| Fernando Rojas: That lecture could have been better. The statistical data did not fit. |
| Alma Cordero: Exacto, probablemente esos datos estaban maquillados. |
| Alma Cordero: Right, that data was probably manipulated. |
| Alan Brown: ¿Pedimos la cuenta? |
| Alan Brown: Should we ask for the check? |
| Alma Cordero: Sí, tenemos que regresar al auditorio antes de la plática de la Licenciada Soto. |
| Alma Cordero: Yes, we have to be back at the auditorium before Ms. Soto's lecture. |
| Fernando Rojas: Yo me encargo de la cuenta. |
| Fernando Rojas: I will take care of the bill. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: This time, we heard a conversation during a business lunch. |
| Laura: It’s very important to take part in business lunches in Mexico. |
| John: What kind of things are spoken about at these lunches? |
| Laura: Well, before discussing business, it is common to talk about personal things. |
| John: Like your family, recent events or other social themes. |
| Laura: Yes. Mexicans are used to smoking and drinking freely at business lunches, too. |
| John: It all sounds very relaxed and a good way to build relationships and trust. |
| Laura: It is. These lunches can last two to three hours and usually don’t start until 2 or 3pm. |
| John: We’ve said before that punctuality isn’t as important in Mexican business as it is in some other countries. |
| Laura: That’s right. For social events, people can arrive up to an hour late. It’s best to be on time for business appointments, though. |
| John: Mexicans can be very enthusiastic when they speak at lunches. Lots of raised voices and big gestures. |
| Laura: That’s right. This is a good thing and not a sign of anger or discomfort. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Laura: preferido (a) [natural native speed] |
| John: preferred, favorite |
| Laura: preferido (a) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: preferido (a) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: congreso [natural native speed] |
| John: congress |
| Laura: congreso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: congreso [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: desear [natural native speed] |
| John: to desire, to wish, to care for |
| Laura: desear [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: desear [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: conferencia [natural native speed] |
| John: conference |
| Laura: conferencia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: conferencia [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: presentación [natural native speed] |
| John: presentation |
| Laura: presentación [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: presentación [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: plática [natural native speed] |
| John: talk |
| Laura: plática [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: plática [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: maquillado (a) [natural native speed] |
| John: makeup |
| Laura: maquillado (a) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: maquillado (a) [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: encargar [natural native speed] |
| John: entrust |
| Laura: encargar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: encargar [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: datos estadísticos [natural native speed] |
| John: statistical data |
| Laura: datos estadísticos [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: datos estadísticos [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Laura: cuadrar [natural native speed] |
| John: fit, tally |
| Laura: cuadrar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: cuadrar [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Laura: dejar mucho que desear |
| John: meaning "could have been better" |
| John: This has a literal meaning of “to leave much to be desired.” |
| Laura: First is dejar, which means “leave.” Next is mucho, which means “a lot.” Next is que. |
| John: Which means “to.” The final part of this phrase means “desire, wish.” |
| Laura: That’s desear. Altogether, the phrase is dejar mucho que desear. |
| John: You can use this to describe something that doesn’t meet your expectations. |
| Laura: You can use it in both formal and informal settings. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say.. La exposición dejó mucho que desar. |
| John: ..which means "The exposition could have been better." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Laura: datos maquillados |
| John: meaning "manipulated data" |
| John: This literally translates to “makeup data.” |
| Laura: The first word, datos, means “data.” It is followed by the word maquillados. |
| John: This means “makeup.” In this phrase, we understand it as “manipulated,” though. |
| Laura: This phrase usually refers to something negative. |
| John: Yes, it’s used for data that has been forged to prove something that isn’t right. |
| Laura: You might hear this in complaints. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say.. El artículo estaba lleno de datos maquillados. |
| John: .. which means "The article was full of manipulated data." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Laura: Yo me encargo de |
| John: meaning "I will take care of" |
| John: Let’s break this phrase down. |
| Laura: First is yo, this means “I.” Next is me. |
| John: This means “myself.” The next word means “take care.” |
| Laura: That is encargo. The last word is de. |
| John: Which means “of.” You can use this expression to say that you will give attention to and sort out a situation. |
| Laura: You can use this in both formal and informal settings. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say.. No te preocupes, yo me encargo de cerrar la oficina. |
| John: .. which means "Do not worry, I will take care of closing the office. " |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about making small talk and eating out. |
| John: First, we’re going to look at demonstrative adjectives. An adjective is a word that describes a noun. A demonstrative adjective is a word that indicates exactly what we are talking about. |
| Laura: In English, these include words like “this, these, that.” |
| John: That’s correct. Spanish demonstrative adjectives depend on number and gender. |
| Laura: There are 12 in total. |
| John: Demonstrative adjectives are always placed before the noun they are modifying. So Laura, let’s hear some examples. |
| Laura: este |
| John: Which means “this.” It is a singular masculine word and is used to refer to something near both the speaker and the person being spoken to. |
| Laura: The feminine version is esta. Another example is esos. |
| John: This is the plural masculine version of “those.” It’s used for something near the person being spoken to. |
| Laura: The feminine version is esas. |
| John: There is a full table of these in the lesson notes. Now, let’s hear some sentence examples. Remember, the demonstrative adjective is placed before the noun. |
| Laura: Me gusta este libro. |
| John: “I like this book.” |
| Laura: Voy a comprar esos zapatos. |
| John: “I am going to buy those shoes.” |
| Laura: Prefiero aquellas flores. |
| John: “I prefer those flowers.” Now, let’s look at some phrases and sentences that you can use when making small talk. |
| Laura: A good conversation starter is Cuénteme sobre... |
| John: “Please tell me about…” |
| Laura: Disfruto mucho... |
| John: “I really enjoy…” |
| Laura: ¿Cuáles son sus...? |
| John: “What are your….” Note that these phrases are in the formal register, so you can use them when talking to any of your colleagues including your superiors. And finally, here are some phrases to help when eating out in Mexico. |
| Laura: Tenemos una reservación. |
| John: “We have a reservation.” |
| Laura: Yo me encargo de la cuenta. |
| John: “I will take care of the bill.” |
| Laura: Buen provecho. |
| John: “Bon appetit.” Listeners, make sure to check the Lesson Notes PDF for more useful phrases and examples. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Laura: Hasta la próxima. |
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