Learn expressions you can use while asking for a day off, review the prepositions: con, según
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| INTRODUCTION |
| James: Asking for Time Off at Your Job. James Here. |
| Laura: Hola. I'm Laura. |
| James: In this lesson, you’ll learn about asking for a day off. The conversation takes place at the office. |
| Laura: It's between a receptionist and Alan Brown. |
| James: The speakers are boss and an employee, therefore, they will speak formal Spanish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Recepcionista: Buenos días Señor Brown. Según mi colega usted es el indicado para pedir este favor. |
| Alan Brown: Con gusto la escucho. ¿Dígame, de qué se trata? |
| Recepcionista: Mi hija tendrá una pequeña operación con el dentista y me gustaría pedir unos días de descanso. |
| Alan Brown: Según lo que veo en su expediente, tiene derecho a pedir hasta cuatro días esta semana. |
| Recepcionista: ¡Gracias! Así podré estar con ella en casa. |
| Alan Brown: Por favor escriba un correo con toda la información a Recursos Humanos. |
| Recepcionista: Muchas gracias por su comprensión. |
| James: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Recepcionista: Buenos días Señor Brown. Según mi colega usted es el indicado para pedir este favor. |
| Alan Brown: Con gusto la escucho. ¿Dígame, de qué se trata? |
| Recepcionista: Mi hija tendrá una pequeña operación con el dentista y me gustaría pedir unos días de descanso. |
| Alan Brown: Según lo que veo en su expediente, tiene derecho a pedir hasta cuatro días esta semana. |
| Recepcionista: ¡Gracias! Así podré estar con ella en casa. |
| Alan Brown: Por favor escriba un correo con toda la información a Recursos Humanos. |
| Recepcionista: Muchas gracias por su comprensión. |
| James: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Recepcionista: Buenos días Señor Brown. Según mi colega usted es el indicado para pedir este favor. |
| Receptionist: Good morning, Mr. Brown. According to a colleague, you are the right one to ask for this favor. |
| Alan Brown: Con gusto la escucho. ¿Dígame, de qué se trata? |
| Alan Brown: I will listen gladly. Tell me, what does it concern? |
| Recepcionista: Mi hija tendrá una pequeña operación con el dentista y me gustaría pedir unos días de descanso. |
| Receptionist: My daughter will have a small operation with the dentist and I would like to ask for some days off. |
| Alan Brown: Según lo que veo en su expediente, tiene derecho a pedir hasta cuatro días esta semana. |
| Alan Brown: According to your file, you have the right to ask for up to four days this week. |
| Recepcionista: ¡Gracias! Así podré estar con ella en casa. |
| Receptionist: Thank you! This way I will be able to be with her at home. |
| Alan Brown: Por favor escriba un correo con toda la información a Recursos Humanos. |
| Alan Brown: Please write an email with all the information to Human Resources. |
| Recepcionista: Muchas gracias por su comprensión. |
| Receptionist: Thank you very much for your understanding. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| James: I hope the receptionist’s daughter will be okay! It’s never fun to go to the dentist. |
| Laura: And it’s definitely never fun to need an operation. |
| James: At least the receptionist was able to get the time off work to go. Is that typical? |
| Laura: It can differ from office to office. |
| James: Oh, so some employers will be flexible and others pretty strict? |
| Laura: That’s right. |
| James: What is the law regarding leave? |
| Laura: There is a base number of days that people are allowed to take, but it’s up to the employer if they get more. |
| James: So if you do need days off, what is the procedure that you should follow in order to get them? |
| Laura: Ask with at least a week in advance. |
| James: That’s a good idea; that way you can make sure any projects are finished and work covered. |
| Laura: It ensures your colleagues know about it, too. |
| James: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| James: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Laura: según [natural native speed] |
| James: "according to" |
| Laura: según [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: según [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: indicado [natural native speed] |
| James: "suitable" |
| Laura: indicado [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: indicado [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: con gusto [natural native speed] |
| James: "I'll be glad to, with pleasure" |
| Laura: con gusto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: con gusto [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: derecho [natural native speed] |
| James: "right" |
| Laura: derecho [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: derecho [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: poder [natural native speed] |
| James: "to be able to, can" |
| Laura: poder [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: poder [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: favor [natural native speed] |
| James: "favor" |
| Laura: favor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: favor [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: tratar [natural native speed] |
| James: "concern" |
| Laura: tratar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: tratar [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: día de descanso [natural native speed] |
| James: "day off" |
| Laura: día de descanso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: día de descanso [natural native speed] |
| James: Next we have... |
| Laura: con [natural native speed] |
| James: "with" |
| Laura: con [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: con [natural native speed] |
| James: And last... |
| Laura: comprensión [natural native speed] |
| James: "understanding" |
| Laura: comprensión [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: comprensión [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| James: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Laura: pedir un favor |
| James: meaning "ask for a favor." |
| James: This is a common phrase. |
| Laura: The first word is pedir. It means "to ask." Next is un, which means "a." Finally is favor. |
| James: This means "favor." You can use this phrase to ask somebody to do you a favor. |
| Laura: Pedir un favor is the standard phrase. |
| James: The unconjugated phrase. |
| Laura: Make sure to conjugate the verb when you use this phrase. |
| James: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say... Me pidió el favor de cuidar a su perro. |
| James: … which means "He asked me for the favor of looking after his dog." |
| James: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Laura: con gusto la escucho |
| James: meaning "I will gladly listen." |
| James: Let’s break down this phrase. |
| Laura: First is con, it means "with." Next is gusto, this means "gladly." The last part is la escucho. |
| James: This means "listen to you." So altogether, it literally means "I will gladly listen to you." |
| Laura: con gusto la escucho. |
| James: You can use this to politely tell someone that you will listen to them. |
| Laura: Be careful because this phrase changes depending on formality and gender. |
| James: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say... Con gusto la escucho hoy por la tarde. |
| James: ... which means "I will gladly listen to you this afternoon." |
| James: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Laura: tener derecho a |
| James: meaning "have the right to." |
| James: This is our last phrase. |
| Laura: The first word is tener. It means "to have." Next is derecho. |
| James: This means "the right." The last word means "to." |
| Laura: That is a. Altogether it is tener derecho a. |
| James: "have the right to…" You can use this when talking about having a just or right claim to something. |
| Laura: It can be used in both formal and informal settings. |
| James: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say... Tiene derecho a un abogado. |
| James: ... which means "You have the right to an attorney." |
| James: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| James: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for a day off. |
| James: But first, we’re going to continue reviewing prepositions. These prepositions, as you have seen in the dialogue, will come in handy when asking for a day off. What are the prepositions for this lesson, Laura? |
| Laura: It’s con and según. First will be con. |
| James: This is similar in meaning to "with", "at", "by", "on", "along with", "inclusive of", and "behind" in English. It can be used for many different things, such as to express the means or way that serves to something. For example; |
| Laura: Con medicina, logró curar la enfermedad. |
| James: "With medicine, she was able to cure the illness." It can also be used to express how something is carried out. |
| Laura: Él nada con energía. |
| James: "He swims with energy." It can also be used to say "in spite of." |
| Laura: Con ser tan joven, lo han aceptado. |
| James: "In spite of being so young, he has been accepted." There are some other uses that you can read about in the lesson notes. The other preposition for this lesson is: |
| Laura: según. It can mean "according to", "depending on", "by", "in compliance with", or "as per." |
| James: It can be used to express what something is in accordance to, or with. |
| Laura: For example, Según la ley. |
| James: "According to the law." It can also be used to show the proportion or correspondence to something else. |
| Laura: Se te pagará según la calidad de tu trabajo. |
| James: "You will be paid, according to the quality of your work." Now, let’s look at some sentences that will be helpful when asking for a day off at work. |
| Laura: Solicito dos días de descanso. |
| James: "I request two days off." |
| Laura: Me gustaría irme de vacaciones. |
| James: "I would like to leave for vacation." Those are very direct ways to ask for a day off. If you want to soften your request, you can start your request with the phrase |
| Laura: Quiero pedirle un favor… |
| James: "I would like to ask you for a favor…" For example, |
| Laura: Quiero pedirle un favor, ¿puedo tomar la próxima semana de descanso? |
| James: "I would like to ask you for a favor, may I take next week off work?" If you want to express that you truly need some time off, you can say |
| Laura: Requiero… |
| James: "I require…" For example, |
| Laura: Requiero dos semanas para mejorarme de la operación. |
| James: "I require two weeks to recover from the operation." Listeners, make sure to check the Lesson Notes PDF for more useful patterns. |
Outro |
| James: 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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