INTRODUCTION |
Joseph: “The languages of Machu Picchu” |
Beatriz: Hey, what’s up? ¿Que tal todo el mundo? |
Joseph: Muy bienvenidos a otra lección del ciclo peruano, transmitiendo desde SpanishPod101.com. |
Beatriz: You’re listening to the 24th lesson of the Peruvian Regional Series. |
Joseph: Bea, I can’t believe we haven’t talked about this topic yet! |
Beatriz: I know! And we are already in Lesson 24. |
Joseph: The conversation that we’re going to listen to today takes place in one of the most marvelous places in the world: Machu Picchu. |
Beatriz: Yes, another word that comes right from the Quechua. |
Joseph: Right on! So, today we’re going to find out what it’s like to go to Machu Picchu. |
Beatriz: Así es. Es uno de los sitios turísticos más visitados en el mundo. |
Joseph: One of the most visited tourist attractions in the world. And when tourism explodes in such a small area is this: a sort of global community takes shape, where languages from all over the world are being spoken. |
Beatriz: Claro, cuando estás en Machu Picchu no sería de extrañar que escuches alemán, francés, japones, portugues, chino… |
Joseph: Right, right! It’s amazing, you hear a number of languages from Europe, from Asia, from all over America. It’s really quite something, I mean it’s kind of a strange thing because you’re so isolated, but at the same time you feel like, you know, you’re in this global community. |
Beatriz: Yes! And as for the grammar today? |
Joseph: Well, last time we looked at a few different topics: the way the verb “sacar” can be used to mean “adquirir” “to acquire”… |
Beatriz: ¿Qué más? |
Joseph: We also learned the word “dejo” as a synonym for “acento” “accent.” |
Beatriz: Aja, ¿y? |
Joseph: Y sobre el significado cultural de la palabra gringolandia. |
Beatriz: Muy bien, ¿y hoy qué nos toca? |
Joseph: Today we’re going to learn how to say “from now on.” We’ll also going to learn how to make a comparison, so that you can describe that one thing is better than another. |
Beatriz: Bueno amigos, no dejen de hacer click en el botón de su iPod para ver la transcripción de hoy en la pantalla. |
Joseph: Remember that this lesson references Newbie Lesson 24. |
Beatriz: Okay! Entonces, vámonos a la conversación. |
Joseph: Let’s get into today’s conversations! |
DIALOGUE - NORMAL |
Beatriz: So, back in Newbie Lesson 24, we heard the following conversation: |
YMA: ¿Ustedes entienden inglés? |
MARISSA: Sí, yo entiendo, si usted habla despacio. |
LUKE: Sí. Mi esposa y yo podemos entender inglés. |
YMA: Muy bien. Empecemos el tour con la tumba de Francisco Pizarro. |
M3: This time with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
YMA: ¿Ustedes entienden inglés? |
YMA: “Do you all understand English?” |
MARISSA: Sí, yo entiendo, si usted habla despacio. |
MARISSA: “Yes, I can, if you speak slowly!” |
LUKE: Sí. Mi esposa y yo podemos entender inglés. |
LUKE: “Yes, my wife and I can understand English.” |
YMA: Muy bien. Empecemos el tour con la tumba de Francisco Pizarro. |
YMA: “Very well! Let’s begin the tour with the tomb of Francisco Pissarro.” |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Joseph: Bea, you’ve been to the Cathedral in Lima before, right? |
Beatriz: Es una de los sitios más hermosos que conozco. |
Joseph: Muy interesante, muy interesante. |
Beatriz: La construcción arquitectónica y el arte que hay adentro es increíble. |
Joseph: Es verdad, el arte que hay dentro de la Catedral es impresionante. So, now, let’s turn our attention to the Peruvian conversation that we’re going to study today. In order to do this, you need to picture in your minds the thin air of the Andes. You’re on a little range of peaks with inking ruins surrounding you, below you can look down and see the Urubamba River, rushing with white water, but almost silent, because it’s so far away. Here’s today's conversation: |
DIALOGUE - PERUVIAN |
MARÍA: ¿Está bien si de aquí en adelante seguimos el tour en inglés? |
HENRY: De hecho, me resultaría difícil. Soy un poco torpe con el inglés. ¿Habla, Usted, francés? |
MARÍA: ¿Francés? Ay, lo siento, no hablo francés, pero alemán sí. |
HENRY: ¡Ay, qué suerte! Mi alemán es mejor que mi inglés. |
MARÍA: Entonces, ¡Bienvenidos a Machu Picchu! Herzlech willkommen in Machu Picchu! |
Beatriz: Once again slowly! Una vez más, esta vez lentamente. |
MARÍA: ¿Está bien si de aquí en adelante seguimos el tour en inglés? |
HENRY: De hecho, me resultaría difícil. Soy un poco torpe con el inglés. ¿Habla, Usted, francés? |
MARÍA: ¿Francés? Ay, lo siento, no hablo francés, pero alemán sí. |
HENRY: ¡Ay, qué suerte! Mi alemán es mejor que mi inglés. |
MARÍA: Entonces, ¡Bienvenidos a Machu Picchu! Herzlech willkommen in Machu Picchu! |
Beatriz: This time with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
MARÍA: ¿Está bien si de aquí en adelante seguimos el tour en inglés? “Is it okay if from now on we continue the tour in English?” |
HENRY: De hecho, me resultaría difícil. Soy un poco torpe con el inglés. ¿Habla, Usted, francés? “Actually, that would be tough for me. I’m a little slow with English. Do you speak French, madam?” |
MARÍA: ¿Francés? Ay, lo siento, no hablo francés, pero alemán sí. “French? Oh, I’m sorry! I don’t speak French, but German I do.” |
HENRY: ¡Ay, qué suerte! Mi alemán es mejor que mi inglés. “How lucky! My German is better than my French.” |
MARÍA: Entonces, ¡Bienvenidos a Machu Picchu! Herzlech willkommen in Machu Picchu! “So then, welcome to Machu Picchu. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Joseph: I bet for a lot of our listeners that sounds to strange to hear a little German being spoken in Machu Picchu, huh? |
Beatriz: Yes, yes! Para darle un poco de sabor internacional. |
Joseph: Exactly, exactly! It’s to give a little bit of international flavor and that’s really, you know, what’s the heart of this lesson is that while you have one of the landmarks of Peru and the Incan Empire, now it’s this whole international scene… |
Beatriz: Yes! |
Joseph: And it’s really wild. |
Beatriz: Es super cosmopolitan. Te puedes imaginar desde 1911, Cusco se convirtió desde el descubrimiento de Machu Picchu en uno de los sitios de interés mundial, |
Joseph: Right, right! |
Beatriz: que empezó por los historiadores arqueólogos. |
Joseph: And, and you know, it’s just found in 1911 you say, right? |
Beatriz: Yes! |
Joseph: Yes, so, you know, in such short amount of time, it’s turned into, like, this cosmopolitan place that’s in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it’s like in the heart, I mean it’s on the East side of the Andes. Pretty wild! Okay! So, here we’ve got two conversations that are quite a bit different from each other. And the Newbie conversation today also takes place in Peru, but it takes place in Lima, in La Catedral actually. So, clearly, the conversation that you would have there would be different from the one that you’d have in Machu Picchu. |
Beatriz: Claro, es lógico que estas conversaciones sean diferentes. Empecemos con el primer verso. |
Joseph: Alright! So, in Newbie Lesson 24 as Allan has pointed out, Ima is about to give the tour of La Catedral. And because there are number of foreigners here, she wants to use a language that is common to everyone there. In that case, the tour will be given in English. Ima asks her group: |
YMA: ¿Ustedes entienden inglés? |
YMA: “Do you all understand English?” |
Beatriz: Sounds pretty straightforward. |
Joseph: Yes! I mean, this is very polite, very universal, but I have to say it sounds a little forced. I mean, anyone would understand you if you put it this way and as a foreigner I think that this is the kind of thing you can expect to hear. However, there are many other ways that this same idea could be expressed. |
Beatriz: Claro. And then, in today’s Peruvian conversation Maria asks Henry “¿Está bien si de aquí en adelante seguimos el tour en inglés?” |
Joseph: Okay! So, the phrase that we’re going to focus on here is “de aquí en adelante”. Now, before we learn about this, let’s translate the rest of the sentence and see if the context helps us understand it. |
Beatriz: Okay! Without that phrase the question will be “¿Está bien si seguimos el tour en inglés?”. |
Joseph: And that means “Is it okay if we continue the tour in English?” |
Beatriz: Right! Maria is trying to figure out in which language she’ll give the tour. |
Joseph: And they haven’t really started yet. I mean, they’re just beginning. So, she’s kind of giving a little preamble. |
Beatriz: That’s why she asks “¿Está bien si de aquí en adelante seguimos el tour en inglés?”. |
Joseph: So, here we find the phrase “de aquí en adelante” “from now on”, “from here on now”. |
Beatriz: And what kind of phrase is this? |
Joseph: Well, it seems to be modifying the verb “seguimos”. |
Beatriz: And what do we call a word or phrase that modifies the action of the verb? |
Joseph: Un adverbio. An adverb. So, we can say “de aquí en adelante” “From here on, I’m going to wake up early every day.” |
Beatriz: Of course, of course! |
Joseph: ¿Me crees? No me crees. |
Beatriz: Claro. Así cuando se hacen esas resoluciones por Año Nuevo. |
Joseph: Right! A new year’s resolution. |
Beatriz: De aquí en adelante no como pan en la mañana. |
Joseph: Okay! “From now on, I’m not going to eat bread in the morning.” Okay! Good! |
Beatriz: You know, for these diets. |
Joseph: Right! So, a quick recap, in Newbie Lesson 24: |
YMA: ¿Ustedes entienden inglés? |
YMA: “Do you all understand English?” |
Joseph: In our Peruvian version ¿Está bien si de aquí en adelante seguimos el tour en inglés? |
Beatriz: Okay! Let’s look at how these questions were answered. |
Joseph: In Newbie Lesson 24 Marinsa answers: |
MARISSA: Sí, yo entiendo, si usted habla despacio. |
MARISSA: “Yes, I can, if you speak slowly.” |
Joseph: And then Luca adds: |
LUKE: Sí. Mi esposa y yo podemos entender inglés. |
LUKE: “Yes, my wife and I can understand English.” |
Beatriz: Pero en la conversación peruana, Henry es un turista frances. Ha venida al Perú desde Francia pues dice: Soy un poco torpe con el inglés. ¿Habla, Usted, francés? |
Joseph: “I’m a little slow with English. Do you speak French, madam?” So, he says that he’s a little “torpe”, that is “slow”, “thick”, “dim”. In a word it would be really straining for him to hear the tour in English. |
Beatriz: Which is why he asks if Maria can give the tour in French. |
Joseph: And can she? |
Beatriz: No! |
Joseph: Why not? |
Beatriz: Porque no habla francés. |
Joseph: She doesn’t speak French, but she does speak another language, doesn’t she? |
Beatriz: Sí. |
Joseph: ¿Cúal? |
Beatriz: Aléman |
Joseph: And “aléman” means German. Now, this brings us to the next comparison. Henry, relieved that he and Maria found a common language that they can speak, says “¡Ay, qué suerte! Mi alemán es mejor que mi inglés.”. |
Beatriz: Okay! Let’s break it down. |
Joseph: Alright! First word? |
Beatriz: Mi |
Joseph: “My” |
Beatriz: Then “aléman”. |
Joseph: “Aléman” means German, so, “My German” as in the German language. And then we have the phrase “es mejor que” and we use this phrase “mejor que” to say “better than”. |
Beatriz: So, “mejor que” means “it’s better than”. |
Joseph: And then we have “mi inglés” “my English”. So, the sentence means “My German is better than my English.” Bea, being able to express comparisons like this is invaluable. Can you think of a couple other examples that we can offer to our students so that they can really see the value here? |
Beatriz: Okay! For example, “Para mi la papa es mejor que el camote”. |
Joseph: Okay! “For me the potato is better than the sweet potato.” Exactly! So, it’s a really easy construction and a really useful one. All right! Now, let’s move on and take a closer look at the local context of this conversation. Here, we’re at the majestic site of Machu Picchu. So, Bea, a lot of our listeners have probably heard about Machu Picchu, but why don’t you tell us a little bit about what function this place served in “Tawantinsuyu” or the Incan Empire? |
Beatriz: Bueno, Machu Picchu es una construcción muy especial que tuvo una función mayormente religiosa y administrativa. |
Joseph: Okay! So, it’s a very special construction and its function was for the most part religious and, you know, to some extent administrative. |
Beatriz: Yes, fue una pequeña capital política y religiosa que se supone sirvió de morada para el Inca y el élite. |
Joseph: Right, right! So, that Ili and to the head Inca they would spend time there and everything. So, this wasn’t a place for everyone. |
Beatriz: Se pensó que Machu Picchu era un sitio donde reservaban las mujeres unas Yahuasi o algo así… unas Yahuasi o Mamahuasi… no me acuerdo. Y este… pero se supo después por los encuentros arqueológicos de los restos fósiles que hubieron hombres y mujeres en la misma proporción así que fue simplemente un sitio religioso, muy importante, administrativo que estuvo ubicado en un sitio estratégico dentro de las montañas cerca a la selva. |
Joseph: It was originally thought that this was a place where they would raise young girls. Could we say that that’s similar to Pachacamac which is real close to Lima, there’s… |
Beatriz: Yes, they thought, they supposed that. |
Joseph: Right, but it wasn’t true. |
Beatriz: It wasn’t true. |
Joseph: Because they, yes, in the fossils they found male, you know, male remains also. |
Beatriz: Male, in the same proportion of males and women. |
Joseph: Males to females. Okay, okay, okay! And I have to say in the context of our conversation it sounds a little strange to hear Maria speaking German. |
Beatriz: That’s really common there. |
Joseph: Many of the guides don’t only speak two languages, they speak a number of languages, right? |
Beatriz: Yes, this, that’s right! That’s right! Yes, the most of the tourists, you know, they speak English because, I don’t know, like people in Europe, most of the people in Europe follow you in English, right? |
Joseph: Right! |
Beatriz: But, it’s much more comfortable if you have your own language. |
Joseph: Exactly, exactly! Now, Bea, you’ve worked as a tour guide before and have taken many people to Machu Picchu. So, let me ask you. If one of our listeners is going to Machu Picchu, how would you suggest that he or she visit the site? |
Beatriz: One thing that I suggest is to walk the Inca trail and get to Machu Picchu in the afternoon and then the next day start very, very early with the first light. |
Joseph: For our listeners who don’t know, the Inca trail is basically a very rustic road that goes, I think it’s just South of Cusco, is that right? |
Beatriz: Actually, the most popular is this from Cusco, but they have other Inca trails that were a lot. |
Joseph: Right, right! But when, I mean, when you say the Inca trail and capitals you’re referring to the walk from Cusco to Machu Picchu. |
Beatriz: Yes, of course. The famous one that you can walk is the one that is in the Sacred Bareli. |
Joseph: Okay! And one more question here before we run out of time. How should we visit the site? Like, you go to Machu Picchu, right? And there’s tons of tour guides, but I think a lot of people who visit Machu Picchu are going there for some kind of a spiritual experience also, right? |
Beatriz: Yes, yes! |
Joseph: So, you know, getting the tour guide and finding out all the archeological information, makes it really hard to kind of get in contact with nature and, you know, to think about what used to go on here. So, do you think it’s better to have a guided tour or to just go there and kind of absorb all the energy on your own? |
Beatriz: Creo que depende de tu estado de ánimo, de que es lo que quieres personalmente. Pero, bueno por ejemplo la primera vez que fui a Machu Picchu lo hice de forma independiente sin guia. Lo cual me gustó mucho. |
Joseph: So, as you say, Bea, you, the first time that you were there you did not go on a guided tour, but you just kind of experienced to yourself in, you enjoyed that. |
Beatriz: Pero lo que sí es muy impresionante es estar ahí y entender la construcción arqueológica. |
Joseph: But, since then you have taken guided tours and you found them to be pretty, pretty interesting, huh? |
Beatriz: Yes, I think so. I mean, the tour ways are pretty interesting. It depends on you. |
Joseph: Yes, I personally am in favor of that. I think it’s nice to, I would go there for two days, and the first day I would just kind of go up and walk around and check things out and then in the second day I would get a guided tour and let someone explain some of the history and culture of the place. |
Outro
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Beatriz: Okay! Bueno chicos ya no nos queda tiempo. |
Joseph: That’s going to wrap it up for today. Remember that this lesson references Newbie Lesson 24 and the 24th lesson of the Iberrian and Costa Rican series. So make the cross reference and see what the talk is all about. |
Beatriz: Okay, ha sido un gusto amigo, nos vemos. |
Joseph: Thanks for joining us. |
Beatriz: Hasta la próxima. |
Joseph: Chao! |
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