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| INTRODUCTION |
| Joseph: “There’s no hurry!” |
| Beatriz: Bienvenidos a todos. |
| Joseph: Bea and Joseph are back again for another episode of the Peruvian Spanish Series coming to you on demand from Spanishpod101.com. Beatriz, que gusto. |
| Beatriz: El gusto es mío, paisano. |
| Joseph: Now, last time we learned about the long standing tradition of “las peñas,” the best place to hear la música criolla, Creole music. |
| Beatriz: And we also learned the word “misio” and we also learned about the pronunciation of the S as in “escucha.” |
| Joseph: Right! Escucha. Now, today, we have a new topic. A topic that anyone who visits Peru is bound to come in contact with. I’m talking about the tendency of Peruvians to take their good old time. |
| Beatriz: Lo que pasa es que sabemos disfrutar la vida y tomarnos nuestro tiempo. |
| Joseph: Ay, Dios. Okay, true! So, you guys do know how to enjoy life and how to take your time and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I have to say that for a foreigner this can be tough to get used to. |
| Beatriz: Why is that? |
| Joseph: Well, because sometimes it seems like the enjoyment that one person gets from taking their time results in an inconvenience for someone else. |
| Beatriz: Yes, I agree. Could be! But that’s the way we are. |
| Joseph: Okay! Well, it will be interesting to hear more about this as we go through the lesson. Now, before we jump in, remember that this lesson references Newbie Lesson 21. |
| Beatriz: Muy bien, ahora vamos a las conversaciones. |
| Joseph: Let’s get into today’s conversation! So, back in Newbie Lesson 21, Rosana and Tomas are yelling to each other. Rosana is in the patio behind the house and Tomas is upstairs. This is what we heard: |
| DIALOGUE - NORMAL |
| ROSANA: ¡Tomás, ven para acá! |
| TOMÁS: ¿Dónde estás, Rosana? |
| ROSANA: Estoy en el patio. |
| TOMÁS: Ya voy para allá. |
| Jospeh: This time with a translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| ROSANA: ¡Tomás, ven para acá! |
| ROSANA: “Tomas, come here!” |
| TOMÁS: ¿Dónde estás, Rosana? |
| TOMÁS: “Where are you, Rosana?” |
| ROSANA: Estoy en el patio. |
| FROSANA: “I’m on the patio.” |
| TOMÁS: Ya voy para allá. |
| TOMÁS: “I’ll be right there!” |
| Joseph: So, Bea, would this conversation be understood in Peru? |
| Beatriz: Yes, of course! |
| Joseph: And in Argentina? |
| Beatriz: Also. |
| Joseph: In Spain? |
| Beatriz: Of course! |
| Joseph: Costa Rica? |
| Beatriz: Costa Rica, yes! |
| Joseph: El Salvador? |
| Beatriz: Tambén. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Joseph: So, it’s safe to say that this conversation is pretty standard. |
| Beatriz: Yes, of course! |
| Joseph: Okay! Now let’s switch gears and hear how this might sound in Peruvian Spanish. |
| DIALOGUE - PERUVIAN |
| LUCÍA: ¡Julio, ven ahora mismo! |
| JULIO: ¡Ya, ya, ya voy! Pero si no hay apuro... |
| LUCÍA: La palabra apuro no existe en tu vocabulario. |
| JULIO: ¡Oye, mujer, espera un ratito! ¿Dónde estás? |
| LUCÍA: ¡Ya estoy en la puerta pues! |
| JULIO: Aguanta que estoy buscando las llaves. |
| Joseph: This time with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| LUCÍA: ¡Julio, ven ahora mismo! “Julio, come here right this minute!” |
| JULIO: ¡Ya, ya, ya voy! Pero si no hay apuro… “Okay, okay! I’ll be right there! There’s no hurry…” |
| LUCÍA: La palabra apuro no existe en tu vocabulario. “The word hurry doesn’t exist in your vocabulary!” |
| JULIO: ¡Oye, mujer, espera un ratito! ¿Dónde estás? “Hey, woman! You wait one second. Where are you?” |
| LUCÍA: ¡Ya estoy en la puerta pues! “I’m already at the door, man!” |
| JULIO: Aguanta que estoy buscando las llaves. “Hold on, I’m looking for my keys!” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Joseph: What a conversation! |
| Beatriz: A ver a ver, ¿dónde empezamos? |
| Joseph: Why don’t we begin with the first line? |
| Beatriz: Makes sense! So, in Newbie Lesson 21 Rosana says: |
| ROSANA: ¡Tomás, ven para acá! |
| ROSANA: “Tomas, come here!” |
| Beatriz: ¡Tomás, ven para acá! |
| Joseph: Right! And then, in our Peruvian version Lucia said: |
| LUCIA: ¡Julio, ven ahora mismo! |
| Joseph: “Julio, come here right this minute!” |
| Beatriz: ¡Julio, ven ahora mismo! |
| Joseph: So, a small but important difference. In the Peruvian version, we have the phrase “ahora mismo”. |
| Beatriz: Ahora mismo. |
| Joseph: A great phrase to know. |
| Beatriz: Ahora mismo. |
| Joseph: A useful one, too. This means “right now”, “this very minute”, “in this instant”. |
| Beatriz: Ahora mismo. |
| Joseph: This is a way of making very clear that you’re talking about this instant, this very instant. And not that “now” that exists a few minutes from now, in an hour or whenever you feel like it. |
| Beatriz: Right! This phrase “ahora mismo” can be used in lots and lots of situations. |
| Joseph: How about an example? |
| Beatriz: Tenemos que salir ahora mismo. |
| Joseph: Okay, that’s a good one! And that means “We’ve got to go right now!” Another one could be Voy a llamar a Carlos ahora mismo. |
| Beatriz: And how do you translate that? |
| Joseph: It would be “I’m going to call Carlos right now!” This is kind of the cattle prod of time expressions, right? You’re kind of getting people to move on. So, to recap, in Newbie Lesson 21 we heard: |
| ROSANA: ¡Tomás, ven para acá! |
| ROSANA: “Tomas, come here!” |
| Joseph: ¡Tomás, ven para acá! And in the Peruvian version? |
| Beatriz: ¡Julio, ven ahora mismo! |
| Joseph: “Julio, come here right this minute!” Now, in the second and third lines of the Peruvian conversation we see something interesting. In the Newbie conversation, Tomas simply asks: |
| TOMAS: ¿Dónde estás, Rosana? |
| TOMAS: “Where are you, Rosana?” |
| Joseph: ¿Dónde estás, Rosana? But, in the Peruvian version Julio is taking his good old time. Bea, what does he say? |
| Beatriz: He says ¡Ya, ya, ya voy! Pero si no hay apuro... |
| Joseph: And we translated that as “Okay, okay! I’ll be right there! There’s no hurry!” Now, Bea, can you just repeat the first part of that again? |
| Beatriz: ¡Ya, ya, ya voy! |
| Joseph: Okay! So, notice that the word “Ya” is spelled y-a is repeated three times. |
| Beatriz: ¡Ya, ya, ya voy! |
| Joseph: And when we translate it, it’s only repeated twice. We say “Okay, okay! I’ll be right there!” |
| Beatriz: CLaro, porque tiene diferentes funciones. It has different functions. |
| Joseph: Right! So, the first two times that it’s said, it’s kind of like saying “Alright!” or “Okay!” as a way of trying to appease someone. For example, if a child is crying, Bea, what might you say? |
| Beatriz: Ah pues la madre dice: Ya ya, ya mi amor ya te va a pasar, ya ya… |
| Joseph: Right, right! So, you can say “ya” as this kind of appeasement. And in this case, the word “ya” is being used to calm the child now. It’s kind of like saying “There, now!” “Ya ya mi amor” “There, now, honey, there!” |
| Beatriz: But other times you can say it like “Ya ya, ya no fastidies” |
| Joseph: Right! And in this case it’s like “Enough already!” or “Quit bothering me!”. The third time that the word is repeated, it’s being used in a different way. This time, it’s being used with the verb “voy”. |
| Beatriz: Claro, la expresión “ya voy” es casi una frase hecha. |
| Joseph: So, when we say “ya voy” we mean “I’m leaving right away!” or “I’ll be right there!”. It’s almost “una frase hecha” as you say, and “una frase hecha” is like a set phrase. So, now we see why we can’t translate this word the same way three times as it appears in the Peruvian Spanish version. So, to recap, in Newbie Lesson 21 we heard: |
| TOMAS: ¿Dónde estás, Rosana? |
| TOMAS: “Where are you, Rosana?” |
| Joseph: ¿Dónde estás, Rosana? and in our Peruvian version Julio says: |
| Beatriz: ¡Ya, ya, ya voy! Pero si no hay apuro...] |
| Joseph: “Okay, okay! I’ll be right there! There’s no hurry!” So, Bea, at the bottom of this, I think we’re dealing with an issue of patience. |
| Beatriz: CLaro, la paciencia y la impaciencia. |
| Joseph: So, ¿eres una persona paciente o impaciente? Are you a patient or impatient person? |
| Beatriz: Bastante paciente pero tengo mis limites. Very patient, but I have my limits. |
| Joseph: I see! And what don’t you have patience for? |
| Beatriz: Probably with the traffic. |
| Joseph: The traffic? So, are you one of those persons when you’re in the car you’re hawking your horn in every corner? |
| Beatriz: I don’t, I don’t. Ahora veamos las costumbres. |
| Joseph: Costumbres e idiosincrasia. Customs and idiosyncrasies. So, I don’t think that it’s fair to say that Peruvians in general are always slow. In fact, many people in Lima live a very, very fast pace life. |
| Beatriz: Yes, that’s right! For example, if you live in Lima and you are like trying to go to work, many people take the bus or the combine or many people take the taxies. Por ejemplo, si estás en un embotellamiento, ¿no? Donde todos los carros están ahí atascados and you can’t move, you can’t move, then you get really impatient. |
| Joseph: Right, right! So, the traffic in Lima is poor at best. I mean, the circulation of the traffic, there’s just cars everywhere and the drivers really aren’t all that friendly to pedestrians, I mean you really have to be careful where you walk. And, when there’s a lot of traffic, when there’s a traffic jam, it’s just the worst because people just are dying to get out of there, there’s just so much congestion and they’re hawking their horns and what are some other things that they yell when they’re getting impatient? |
| Beatriz: For example, like the taxi driver stops in the corner and the bus is behind him. And so, the bus wants to pick up some passengers, but the taxi driver is in the place, so the chauffeur or the “cobrador”, the guy who… |
| Joseph: Who takes the money from passengers. |
| Beatriz: Who takes the money from the passengers says “Hey, man, move there!”. |
| Joseph: And what does that sound like in Spanish? ¿Cómo es la frase? |
| Beatriz: They say “¡Oye muévete pues!” O peor. I mean, they could be really… |
| Joseph: Vulgar, right? |
| Beatriz: Could be vulgarizing. |
| Joseph: Right! So, “Oye muévete pues” is like “Hey, get out of here! Come on, move it!” |
| Beatriz: Yes! |
| Joseph: So, I think what we’re starting to see here is that there is this big contrast between “la paciencia y la inpaciencia” patience and impatience in Peruvian culture. And in today’s Peruvian conversation, there are several references to this kind of quorum quote “patience” that often marks Peruvian culture. |
| Beatriz: Claro. For example, Lucia says La palabra apuro no existe en tu vocabulario. |
| Joseph: Right! “The word hurry doesn’t exist in your vocabulary!” And that’s because Julio is really taking his time getting ready. In fact, he even says ¡Oye, mujer, espera un ratito! and that means like “Hey, woman, you wait just one second!” |
| Beatriz: Right! When Lucia says that she’s waiting at the door, Julio says Aguanta que estoy buscando las llaves. |
| Joseph: Right, right! And that’s like “Hold on! I’m looking for the keys.” So, Be, is this a really common situation? |
| Beatriz: Yes, it’s common that someone has to wait. It’s not necessarily the woman or the man, it could be either. |
| Joseph: Right, right! So, it’s really common to find yourself in a situation where you’re waiting for someone else. And we should say something about the word “aguanta”. Is this formal or informal? |
| Beatriz: It’s really informal. |
| Joseph: Okay! |
| Beatriz: Because “aguantar” means other thing, like if you have pain. |
| Joseph: Tienes que aguantarlo. |
| Beatriz: You have to “aguantar”, you have to… |
| Joseph: We translate it as “You have to take it.” You have to… |
| Beatriz: You have to take it. |
| Joseph: Or to withstand it. |
| Beatriz: Withstand the pain. |
| Joseph: Right! So, when someone is like trying to hurry you along and you say “Aguanta”, it’s like you know, “Take it!” or, you know, we translate it as “Hold on!”, but there’s a really heavy undertone to that, like you’re just going to have to deal with it. You know, that might be a better way to translate it. “Deal with it!”, right? |
| Beatriz: Alright! |
| Joseph: So, Bea, can you think of a situation when you would use “aguanta” as a command like this, like “aguanta”? |
| Beatriz: Yes, por ejemplo me preguntas mil veces lo mismo y yo estoy haciendo otras cosas. You ask me thousand times the same thing and I am really busy in the moment. |
| Joseph: Right! So, if I say ¿Me prestas tu celular? “Can I use your phone? Can I use your phone?” |
| Beatriz: ¡Aguanta, ya espera! |
| Joseph: Right, right, right, right! So, there are some cases where you can use it, but you should know that it’s a pretty informal command and you want to be careful where you use it. So, Bea, one more question! When you have an appointment with someone, right? You have a scheduled appointment, how long can you expect to wait for them to show up? |
| Beatriz: For a business, for example, you have an interview, if you’re not there on time, you’re really not going to be able to take the job. You have to be on time! |
| Joseph: And if you show up on time, can you expect the person who’s going to interview you to always be on time to or might they show up late? |
| Beatriz: They could show up late. |
| Joseph: Right! |
| Beatriz: I mean, they have the power. |
| Joseph: And see, this is exactly, they have the power. There’s a great saying for this “Tengo la sartén por el mango” and that means “I have the frying pen by the handle.” It means that they have leverage. This is really kind of at the heart of this contrast between patience and impatience, that when you have the leverage, you can take your good old time, you can enjoy yourself, enjoy whatever you’re doing, you can take that three hour lunch if you want because you know that that person is going to be waiting for you. |
Outro |
|---|
| Joseph: Okay! Well, Bea, that’s about all the time we have for today. |
| Beatriz: Lastima que termino. Alright! But I have more to say! Que impaciente eres, no broma broma... |
| Joseph: Que chistonta. |
| Beatriz: No te hagas el vivo. |
| Joseph: Now, be sure to reference this lesson with Newbie Lesson 21. |
| Beatriz: Ha sido un gusto como siempre, amigos. |
| Joseph: Y como siempre ya nos estamos bien. |
| Beatriz: Chao. |
| Joseph: Nos vedios. |
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