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| INTRODUCTION |
| Joseph: “You have eyes like the sea.” |
| Beatriz: Hola amigos ¿cómo están? |
| Joseph: Hola todos. |
| Beatriz: Bienvenidos al ciclo de habla peruana. |
| Joseph: You’re listening to the 26th lesson of the Peruvian Spanish Series coming to you on demand from Spanishpod101.com. Beatrice and Joseph back again. |
| Beatriz: Hoy vamos a hablar sobre el romance. |
| Joseph: Romance. In this lesson we’re going to look at some different ways to flatter someone or to pick someone up. |
| Beatriz: This is a topic that everyone can relate to. |
| Joseph: Aside from this, we’re also going to learn a really useful way to use the present tense, when we’re expressing “emociones” “emotions.” |
| Beatriz: So, where does today’s conversation take place? |
| Joseph: Well, today, Luisa is sitting in a café and her friend has just gotten up and gone to the bathroom. Alfredo has been eyeing Luisa and he’s taking advantage of the opportunity to go and try to meet her. |
| Beatriz: Of course! |
| Joseph: And, Bea, which Newbie Lesson does today’s Peruvian Lesson reference? |
| Beatriz: Newbie Lesson 26. Alright! Shall we? |
| Joseph: I’m ready when you are. |
| Beatriz: Vamos. |
| Joseph: So, to get things started, let’s go back to Newbie Lesson 26 where we heard the following conversation: |
| DIALOGUE - NORMAL |
| ELIANA: ¿Y qué haces tú en Santiago? |
| RAMÓN: Bueno, estoy aquí por mis estudios. |
| ELIANA: Ah, ¿y qué quisieras ser? |
| RAMÓN: Quisiera ser ciego. |
| ELIANA: Ciego, ¿por qué ciego? |
| RAMÓN: Para poder leerte con las manos... |
| ELIANA: ¡Ay, pero qué imbécil! |
| Joseph: And now with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| ELIANA: ¿Y qué haces tú en Santiago? “And what are you doing in Santiago?” |
| RAMÓN: Bueno, estoy aquí por mis estudios.“Well, I’m here for school.” |
| ELIANA: Ah, ¿y qué quisieras ser? “And what would you like to be?” |
| RAMÓN: Quisiera ser ciego. “I would like to be blind.” |
| ELIANA: Ciego, ¿por qué ciego? “Blind? Why blind?” |
| RAMÓN: Para poder leerte con las manos… “So that I can read you with my hand.” |
| ELIANA: ¡Ay, pero qué imbécil! “What a jerk!” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Joseph: Wow! What a “piropo”. I wouldn’t have the guts to say something like that to a woman. |
| Beatriz: Yes! I’m not sure about it. |
| Joseph: Okay! Now, let’s switch gears and listen to how this conversation might sound in Lima, Peru. |
| DIALOGUE - PERUVIAN |
| ALFREDO: ¿Sabes qué, Luisa? |
| LUISA: ¿Qué, Alfredo? |
| ALFREDO: Tienes los ojos como el mar... |
| LUISA: ¡Uf! Estás profundo. |
| ALFREDO: Pobre del que te mire y no sepa nadar... |
| LUISA: Jejeje... Pues dime, Alfredo, ¿sabes nadar? |
| Joseph: And now slower! Una vez más, ahora lentamente. |
| ALFREDO: ¿Sabes qué, Luisa? |
| LUISA: ¿Qué, Alfredo? |
| ALFREDO: Tienes los ojos como el mar... |
| LUISA: ¡Uf! Estás profundo. |
| ALFREDO: Pobre del que te mire y no sepa nadar... |
| LUISA: Jejeje... Pues dime, Alfredo, ¿sabes nadar? |
| Joseph: And now with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| ALFREDO: ¿Sabes qué, Luisa? “You know what, Luisa?” |
| LUISA: ¿Qué, Alfredo? “What, Alfredo?” |
| ALFREDO: Tienes los ojos como el mar… “You have eyes like the sea!” |
| LUISA: ¡Uf! Estás profundo. “Wow, you’re deep!” |
| ALFREDO: Pobre del que te mire y no sepa nadar… “I feel sorry for the guy that looks at you and doesn’t know how to swim.” |
| LUISA: Jejeje... Pues dime, Alfredo, ¿sabes nadar? “So, tell me, Alfredo, do you know how to swim?” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Joseph: So, I don’t know, Bea, do you think he’s going to win with that “piropo” or what? |
| Beatriz: I think it’s pretty funny. |
| Joseph: Yes? |
| Beatriz: Yes! It’s not bad. |
| Joseph: No! |
| Beatriz: I feel positive for this soap-opera. |
| Joseph: For this soap-opera, yes. Okay! This is a really great topic. I mean, think of how hard it can sometimes be to have a romantic conversation in your own language. And now imagine the trials that you can expect to face when you’re doing this in Spanish. |
| Beatriz: That’s why this lesson is so useful. |
| Joseph: So, what we see in both of these conversations are what we call “piropo”. And, Bea, what can we say “piropo” is? |
| Beatriz: Well, there are two basic meanings. |
| Joseph: And the first? |
| Beatriz: The first is a ruby. |
| Joseph: Like the precious stone? |
| Beatriz: Yes. |
| Joseph: And the second? |
| Beatriz: The second is “lisonja”. |
| Joseph: And both “piropo” and the second sense “lisonja” refer to a flattering comment. |
| Beatriz: Y puede ser grosero como también gracioso. |
| Joseph: Good point! And these can be either rude or funny. So, a lot depends on the taste of the person who’s letting one of these fly. |
| Beatriz: For example, the “piropo” from the Newbie Lesson sounds [*]. |
| Joseph: Let’s hear it again. In Newbie Lesson 26 the “piropo” was: |
| RAMÓN: Quisiera ser ciego. |
| ELIANA: Ciego, ¿por qué ciego? |
| RAMÓN: Para poder leerte con las manos... |
| Joseph: “I would like to be blind.” “Blind? Why blind?” “So that I can read you with my hands.” |
| Beatriz: Ay ay ay. A mi parecer suena bien mañoso. |
| Joseph: Yes! And you know, Bea, that’s a good way to put it. This word “mañoso” literally means “handy”, but in Peru it has another meaning, too, doesn’t it? |
| Beatriz: Así es. También significa lujurioso. |
| Joseph: Right! And “lujurioso” means “lecherous” or “lustful”. So, combine that with the image of someone who’s queered quote “handy” and you get the drift. |
| Beatriz: La versión peruana suena más, como te digo, más sutil. Con mejores intenciones. No así pues tan mañosa, pues… Si alguine me dice eso, pucha le doy una cachetada. |
| Joseph: You’d have slapped them if they said that to you, the “piropo” from the Newbie Lesson. But you’re saying that the Peruvian lesson doesn’t sound as rude. So, to understand exactly what you mean by better intentions, let’s listen to the “piropo” from the Peruvian version one more time. |
| Beatriz: Do you want to repeat it? |
| Joseph: Con gusto. Alfredo tells Luisa Tienes los ojos como el mar… Pobre del que te mire y no sepa nadar… I mean, come on, it even rhymes. |
| Beatriz: That’s even really funny. |
| Joseph: It is! I think it’s funny, too. So, let’s look at this closer to really see what it means. |
| Beatriz: There are basically three parts. |
| Joseph: Let’s start with “pobre de el…” |
| Beatriz: So, we also often say “pobre de mí” or “pobre de ti” or “pobre de ella”. |
| Joseph: And “pobre” means “poor”, so this is like saying “poor him” or “poorly me” or something like that. |
| Beatriz: Pero también me parece que expresa cierta advertencia. |
| Joseph: Exactly! And “una advertencia” is a warning. So, in the example “pobre de el que te mire y no sepa nadar” it’s like saying “Too bad for him who looks at you and doesn’t know how to swim.” But, you can see that this translation is on slippery ground since “pobre de el” is idiomatic. |
| Beatriz: Right! It’s used to express a warning and with this warning certain emotions are implicit. |
| Joseph: Exactly! And that’s why it triggers the Subjunctive Mood in the subordinate clause “que te mire y no sepa”. |
| Beatriz: Let’s look quickly at these forms. |
| Joseph: Alright! First, what’s the Infinitive form of the verb “mire”? |
| Beatriz: Mirar |
| Joseph: Which means? |
| Beatriz: “To look” |
| Joseph: And if you notice it’s –ar ending in the Infinitive. You’ll also notice that the vowel has changed from A to E in the Present Tense of the Subjunctive Mood, from “mira” to “mire”. |
| Beatriz: This is the rule for regular verbs of the first conjugation. Que yo mire. Que tú mires. Que él mire. Etc… |
| Joseph: And then we have the verb “sepa”. |
| Beatriz: Sepa |
| Joseph: And what’s the Infinitive form of this one? |
| Beatriz: Saber. |
| Joseph: Regular o irregular. |
| Beatriz: Irregular. |
| Joseph: So, how about a quick taste of the forms of this irregular verb “saber” in the Present Tense of the Subjunctive Mood? |
| Beatriz: Que yo sepa. Que tú sepas. Que él sepa. Etc… |
| Joseph: So, again, the Subjunctive Mood here is triggered by the expression “pobre de el”. This warning brings with it a certain emotional charge and we can almost always associate emotions with the Subjunctive Mood. |
| Beatriz: Localismos. |
| Joseph: The flavor of Spanish by way of Peruvian culture. |
| Beatriz: El tema de hoy: los piropos. |
| Joseph: Flattering comments, pick up lines. They really come in all shapes and sizes, don’t they, Bea? |
| Beatriz: Así es, como ya hemos dicho, a veces son groseros y otras veces graciosos. |
| Joseph: And, I think this is a really interesting point because from Newbie Lesson 26 we saw “un piropo” that was probably closer to “grosero” than it was to “gracioso”. I mean, it’s funny, but someone could get offended which kind of takes away some of the humor from it. |
| Beatriz: Yes! Pero en la versión peruana vemos algo diferente. |
| Joseph: Right! In the Peruvian version, Luisa seems kind of flattered by the comment. I mean, she even kind of ups the ante. |
| Beatriz: Exactly! |
| Joseph: I mean, Alfredo says Tienes los ojos como el mar. Pobre del que te mire y no sepa nadar... |
| Beatriz: And she replies “Pues dime, Alfredo, ¿sabes nadar?” |
| Joseph: Exactly! That’s just where I’m getting at. She takes him up on it, she expresses some interest. It’s like she interprets his “piropo” as an invitation into a playful and romantic conversation. |
| Beatriz: Jo, can you think of another “piropo” that is “gracioso” and not “grosero”? |
| Joseph: Let’s see, let me think about this. All right, I got one. |
| Beatriz: Okay! A ver. |
| Joseph: Señorita, disculpe ¿por casualidad no se llama usted Alicia? |
| Beatriz: No, tonto, soy Bea. |
| Joseph: Ay perdon. Esque desde que la vi me siento como en el país de las maravillas. I got another one! |
| Beatriz: Alright! Habla. |
| Joseph: ¿Crees en el amor a primera vista? Do you believe in love at first sight? |
| Beatriz: Depende |
| Joseph: It depends. |
| Beatriz: Sí, bueno sí sí. |
| Joseph: Porque si no puedo pasar de nuevo. Because if you don’t, I can walk by again. |
| Beatriz: That’s good, too. That’s a good one. |
| Joseph: So, you can see that they don’t always have to be offensive. You know, a lot of times they’re playful and it’s really kind of a way to open up a dialogue with someone else. |
| Beatriz: Muy bien amigos, hasta aquí llegamos. |
Outro |
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| Joseph: That’s all for today! |
| Beatriz: Ok, amigos, ha sido un gusto. Cuidense. |
| Joseph: Cuidense mucho. |
| Beatriz: Bye! |
| Joseph: Chao. |
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