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| INTRODUCTION |
| Carlos: How cool, you speak English! |
| Natalia: Hola todo el mundo. |
| Carlos: Okay I am Carlos and Natie just said hello to the world. |
| Natalia: Yes. |
| Carlos: Well, I am joined here by Natie. As always and hold on, let me practice. Natie ¿tuanis? |
| Natalia: Pura vida, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Oh my god, I got it. Here we go. Dus tres. |
| Natalia: Dus…? |
| Carlos: Well, it’s just a way to say 23. |
| Natalia: Carlos, the more I get to know you, the less I think you speak English. It’s like another language sometimes. Man, he got slang from all over. |
| Carlos: I can speak correctly what I want to. The trick is to be able to switch in between and I guess I can equate it to a regional series. |
| Natalia: How so? |
| Carlos: Well our regional series focuses on different variants of Spanish throughout the Spanish speaking world and while I wouldn’t call it completely slang, it is based on a true version that would be understood anywhere. |
| Natalia: Yeah we got certain things we say here in Costa Rica would not be understood in other parts of the world. |
| Carlos: Man, just like you didn’t recognize “dus tres”. |
| Natalia: I mean 23. I still think it sounds pretty – I don’t know pretty weird. |
| Carlos: Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder Ms. Araya. |
| Natalia: Well anyways, what Costa Rican insight am I providing today? |
| Carlos: Well, she really knows where she is. |
| Natalia: What! |
| Carlos: Today we move on from our focus on formal and informal commands. We have been looking at them for the last couple of lessons. |
| Natalia: Okay where are we moving then? |
| Carlos: Well today, we meet Marcella and Xavier and Marcella is very happy to meet Xavier. |
| Natalia: Why? |
| Carlos: He speaks English. |
| Natalia: Ah kind of like when you met me. |
| Carlos: Okay I can’t argue with that. Listen, as someone in the country by himself without a mastery of the language, it was cool to meet someone who spoke the same language. |
| Natalia: You would not leave me alone. He would not leave me alone I doubt. |
| Carlos: And she is still here. |
| Natalia: Yeah it’s the secret. |
| Carlos: And she is still here. |
| Natalia: Hey Carlos, any grammar. |
| Carlos: Natie, how many times you called me today? |
| Natalia: Natie, Natie! |
| Carlos: How many times you called me today? |
| Natalia: Would you just stop that calling me weird man. Any grammar? I was just calling you to see what time we had to be here. |
| Carlos: Aha well, we are going to look at “ni” and “ni” or neither/nor and you know my next door neighbor’s grandmother was named Nini. |
| Natalia: Okay Carlos, we will go down the memory lane later. We have more important things to deal with. |
| Carlos: Alright Natie, let’s see how it is. I can see you are all about business today. |
| Natalia: Today and every single day, you know. |
| Carlos: That’s right. |
| Natalia: So to begin, let’s think back to newbie lesson 23. |
| Carlos: Right on. And there we heard the following conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| GUILLERMO: ¿Usted puede hablar en español? |
| JUANA: Sí. Yo puedo hablar un poco del español. |
| GUILLERMO: Usted habla bien en español. |
| JUANA: Hablo bien, pero un poco no más. |
| Carlos: This time with the translation. Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| GUILLERMO: ¿Usted puede hablar en español? Can you speak Spanish ma’am? |
| JUANA: Sí. Yo puedo hablar un poco del español. Yes I can speak a bit of Spanish. |
| GUILLERMO: Usted habla bien en español. Ma’am you speak Spanish well. |
| JUANA: Hablo bien, pero un poco no más. I speak well but just a bit. |
| Carlos: Now, let’s see what that might sound in Costa Rica. |
| DIALOGUE - COSTA RICAN |
| MARCELA: ¡Qué chiva! Usted habla inglés. |
| JAVIER: Bueno, sí, me defiendo. Y tú, ¿qué? |
| MARCELA: ¿Yo? ¡Ni por señas ni por suerte! |
| JAVIER: Mae, yo me apunto a enseñarle. |
| Carlos: And now slower. Una vez más, esta vez lentamente. |
| MARCELA: ¡Qué chiva! Usted habla inglés. |
| JAVIER: Bueno, sí, me defiendo. Y tú, ¿qué? |
| MARCELA: ¿Yo? ¡Ni por señas ni por suerte! |
| JAVIER: Mae, yo me apunto a enseñarle. |
| Carlos: And now with the translation. Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| MARCELA: ¡Qué chiva! Usted habla inglés. How cool you speak English! |
| JAVIER: Bueno, sí, me defiendo. Y tú, ¿qué? Well yeah, I can hold my own, why you can’t? |
| MARCELA: ¿Yo? ¡Ni por señas ni por suerte! Me, neither with my hands nor with luck. |
| JAVIER: Mae, yo me apunto a enseñarle. Man, I am game to teach you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natalia: Okay then, let’s get down to business and check out these differences. |
| Carlos: And where would you like to begin? |
| Natalia: Let’s begin by comparing when Juana says “Sí. Yo puedo hablar un poco del español.” Yes I can speak a bit of Spanish. |
| Carlos: With |
| Natalia: Xavier’s line “Bueno, sí, me defiendo.” |
| Carlos: Okay, they are really, really, really different. |
| Natalia: Exactly. That’s why they are such a good comparison. |
| Carlos: Now, Juana’s line is pretty common and actually very practical for someone learning Spanish to know but I can’t see how Xavier’s line even compares. |
| Natalia: Well the key is in the verb. |
| Carlos: Which is |
| Natalia: “defender” |
| Carlos: Okay that’s known to me but if I were to guess, to defend. |
| Natalia: Yep. |
| Carlos: All right, now okay Natie, what does defending yourself had to do with being able to speak a language? |
| Natalia: Well here it’s used differently. In Xavier’s line “Bueno, sí, me defiendo” becomes “defenderse” a pronominal verb. |
| Carlos: Pronominal? |
| Natalia: Yeah they also call it reflexive, remember? If a person or a thing is both the subject and an object of the verb. |
| Carlos: Okay so it’s reflexive. Ah okay like “defenderse” conjugated “me defiendo”. |
| Natalia: Right. So how might we translate that? |
| Carlos: Well I defend myself, I hold my own et cetera. Okay I see the link. |
| Natalia: Okay what is it? |
| Carlos: Well in newbie lesson 23, we heard |
| Natalia: “Sí. Yo puedo hablar un poco del español.” Yes I can speak a bit of Spanish. And? |
| Carlos: In our tico conversation, Xavier says “Bueno, sí, me defiendo.” Oh yeah, I guess I can hold my own. Right, so holding one’s own doesn’t make them an expert but at the same time, they aren’t defenseless or not basic. |
| Natalia: Yeah they are sort of can do something about it. Y tenemos “me defiendo”. |
| Carlos: I can hold my own. |
| Natalia: Exactly. |
| Carlos: Okay now there is a comparison that interests me. |
| Natalia: Which is? |
| Carlos: Alright. In newbie lesson 23, we heard [*] say |
| Natalia: “Hablo bien, pero un poco no más.” I speak well but just a bit. |
| Carlos: And once again I think something practical for someone new to Spanish to learn. I speak well but just a bit. |
| Natalia: Umm okay. |
| Carlos: Well so on our tico conversation, what was Xavier’s last line again? |
| Natalia: “Mae, yo me apunto a enseñarle.” |
| Carlos: And how is that translated? |
| Natalia: Man, I am game to teach you. |
| Carlos: Natie, where do you get game from? I mean I don’t see “juego” or “partido” |
| Natalia: Once again, we have a pronominal verb with “apuntarse” which in this sense means to be willing. |
| Carlos: Oh okay or to be game. All right, so we translate it with a little slang, to be willing or to be game. |
| Natalia: Translation is a sticky thing. Sometimes a direct translation doesn’t capture the nuances of something. So another example will be “Nat, ¿te aputnas a cenar a mi casa?” |
| Carlos: Are you game to come to my house for dinner? |
| Natalia: Oh yes of course Carlos, just let me know when. Well, you know how I feel about it. Man, he made some good chicken the other day. |
| Carlos: I walked right into that one. |
| Natalia: Now we should point out something. |
| Carlos: Sure. “Mi apunto” |
| Natalia: Me apunto. |
| Carlos: Me apunto. |
| Natalia: That was fast. |
| Carlos: I am just trying to practice. Nah nah seriously, what do you want to point out? |
| Natalia: Well we see “enseñarle”. |
| Carlos: Yeah. |
| Natalia: To teach, to show, to point out. |
| Carlos: Right. I kind of got that. |
| Natalia: Okay so how do we know that it’s formal? |
| Carlos: How? |
| Natalia: Well so you got that. |
| Carlos: Well I didn’t get everything. How? |
| Natalia: Well, with “enseñarle” we have the formal indirect object pronoun “le” suffixed to the infinitive. |
| Carlos: Alright. So for argument sake, if I wanted to say the same thing informally, how would I? |
| Natalia: What do you think? |
| Carlos: Enseñarte? “Te” for “tú”. |
| Natalia: “Te” for “tú”. |
| Carlos: En “tú” for “ti”? |
| Natalia: Thank you. I would like some tea too. That is so silly, but that was right. |
| Carlos: Okay so…. |
| Natalia: So how is it “enseñarte”, “te” for “tú”. |
| Carlos: All right, so “enseñarte”. Nice, I am moving up in the world. |
| Natalia: Localisms, go for localisms. |
| Carlos: That’s my line. |
| Natalia: Go! |
| Carlos: Localisms. |
| Natalia: Did they diagnose you with ADD when you were a kid? |
| Carlos: Localisms, no they wouldn’t diagnose me at that point but I am pretty sure that if they had, I’d be there. I’d bounce around... |
| Natalia: My god man, you are so freaking enthusiastic. |
| Carlos: Localisms, life is excellent Natie, I am always excited. |
| Natalia: Either that or you are really, really like… Eso o realmente te gustan los localismos. |
| Carlos: What? |
| Natalia: Never mind. |
| Carlos: What does that mean? |
| Natalia: Well Carlos, try. |
| Carlos: I couldn’t understand. You spoke too fast. |
| Natalia: Okay let’s go again, let’s go again. Let’s trick the man to see if he can do it. Eso o realmente te gustan los localismos. |
| Carlos: Either that or really like localisms. |
| Natalia: Oh look at the guy, he is learning. |
| Carlos: Good review. |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: O and O. Remember either/or. Natie, that was the perfect opportunity to get into “ni” and “ni”. |
| Natalia: What neither/nor? |
| Carlos: Exactly. You know Natie, that reminds me of something. |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: You know I went to a place in San Pedro about a week ago to hear some music and there was this dude playing what – he is playing “trova” which I really wouldn’t have known without you. |
| Natalia: Yeah I know, I know. You owe me that one. So he was playing “trova” where at? |
| Carlos: At just a café. |
| Natalia: Okay and then. |
| Carlos: Well, so I hear this song and as you all know, my Spanish is far from fluent as we just all heard but I heard this song and you know, it spoke to me. |
| Natalia: Because it is like poetry made music, I told you. |
| Carlos: Now the chorus was tight. I think it went: “No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá.” |
| Natalia: “No tengo edad ni porvenir. Y ser feliz es mi color de identidad.” |
| Carlos: Okay see now, even though I understand that means, I am not from here nor there. |
| Natalia: Exactly. |
| Carlos: The rest of the course is tight too as Natie is just saying. |
| Natalia: I didn’t sing it. I was just saying hello, I am not going to brunt you with my beautiful voice. |
| Carlos: It’s an excellent song but I heard it and it spoke to me for some reason and it hit me in the heart but since we are looking at “ni” neither or nor, that came to mind and I was going to ask you if you knew that song but obviously you do. |
| Natalia: Man, you just said it and it came to me. So it’s like I am not from here nor there and the rest of the song just says like I have no age or destiny. Being happy is my identity color. |
| Carlos: My god, it’s me. |
| Natalia: Oh my god, please don’t do that. Don’t ruin that song to me. I am not going to let you ruin that song to me. |
| Carlos: You’ve… |
| Natalia: Oh please let’s keep going. Please go in, please go in. I am still going to like that song, I am still going to like that song. Come on, come on, come on, go, go, go! |
| Carlos: Music is interesting like that. You don’t need to understand the words to hear the words. And either way, it was tight and now this phrase “ni por señas ni por suerte” neither with my hands nor with luck. Now is this phrase common in Costa Rica? |
| Natalia: Well it’s not very, very common but you know which one you can use? |
| Carlos: What’s that? |
| Natalia: “Ni por señas”. That’s very common. It’s funny, it’s like an ironic way of tico to say something so he can even speak English in sign language. |
| Carlos: Okay but for our purposes here “ni por señas ni por suerte” works and It would say neither/nor. So we have O and O either/or and now “ni” “ni” neither/nor. |
| Natalia: Neither/nor, I am very happy. At least you seem like you are getting the idea Carlos. |
| Carlos: I try. Well, this will conclude today’s lesson and it was a boring ending. |
Outro |
|---|
| Natalia: No man, like you know, “No soy de aquí ni soy de allá”. I did enjoy that. I didn’t say that, I didn’t to bring that one up. |
| Carlos: Oh you didn’t know, you didn’t at all. |
| Natalia: I know but then… |
| Carlos: But you did. I had no idea we’d get into that song. |
| Natalia: We’d know that song by heart. |
| Carlos: Do you really? |
| Natalia: Yes. |
| Carlos: I heard that it was tight, you know the whole theme. |
| Natalia: It’s amazing. |
| Carlos: It was awesome. I heard and I was like, I was sitting there and I was like…. |
| Natalia: Umm really…. |
| Carlos: I had a tear job going, you know what I mean, I hit my shoe. Well this concludes today’s lesson and don’t forget to reference this lesson with newbie lesson 23. |
| Natalia: Nos vemos pronto. |
| Carlos: Your peace, love and Spanish. |
| Natalia: Okay. Carlos! |
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