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| INTRODUCTION |
| Carlos: Man, I am starving. |
| Natalia: Hola todos. Hi everyone. |
| Carlos: What’s going on everyone? I am Carlos and I am joined as always by the one, the only Natalia. |
| Natalia: That sounds like a commercial, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Natie |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: ¿Qué hay de nuevo? |
| Natalia: Not much. |
| Carlos: All right, well cool Natie, it’s time for #9 and that rhymes. |
| Natalia: If rolling your eyes could be a sound, you would be hearing a rhyme now ladies and gentlemen. |
| Carlos: Pay no attention to her, no sense of humor. Come on Natie, today we are going to be talking about one of your favorite topics. |
| Natalia: Silver jewelry, gold. |
| Carlos: No. |
| Natalia: Drawing. |
| Carlos: No. |
| Natalia: Watching YouTube. |
| Carlos: Ah ah! |
| Natalia: Carlos, then? |
| Carlos: Food. We are talking about eating. |
| Natalia: People are just going to think that I eat and eat and eat and eat. That’s not one of my favorite things. |
| Carlos: She is lying everybody, she is lying, you hear it, but seriously she is lying, but otherwise today we are going to be talking about going to eat with friends. |
| Natalia: Okay. Well that makes sense. |
| Carlos: And why is that? |
| Natalia: Because last time, we talked about drinking. |
| Carlos: Memory like a steep trap over here but you know what Natie now that I think about it, this is a great opportunity. |
| Natalia: Why is that? |
| Carlos: Well I don’t think I’ve ever eaten at a Costa Rican restaurant outside of the country. |
| Natalia: Me neither. We should get one started. |
| Carlos: Okay well restaurants are very risky business. Right now, I have to focus on my spanishpod101.com job. We can think about it but you know what, it is a good idea because the food here, I mean I love it and I mean, I don’t think we gave it the attention that it really deserves. |
| Natalia: Well if we are talking about Costa Rican food, we have to talk about “casados”. |
| Carlos: Hold on Natie, let’s go into the lesson. |
| Natalia: Bueno vamos. |
| Carlos: Let’s go back to newbie lesson 9. In that lesson, we heard the following conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| MARÍA: ¡Tengo hambre! |
| HECTOR: Sí, yo también. Quiero almorzar. |
| ALEJANDRO: ¡Qué bueno! Para el almuerzo, tenemos curanto. |
| MARÍA: ¡Qué rico es el curanto! |
| HECTOR: ¡Tengo ganas de comer! |
| Carlos: This time with the translation.Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| MARÍA: ¡Tengo hambre! I am hungry. |
| HECTOR: Sí, yo también. Quiero almorzar. Yeah me too, I want to have lunch. |
| ALEJANDRO: ¡Qué bueno! Para el almuerzo, tenemos curanto. Great, for lunch we have curanto. |
| MARÍA: ¡Qué rico es el curanto! How delicious curanto is. |
| HECTOR: ¡Tengo ganas de comer! I feel like eating. |
| Carlos: Now let’s hear that conversation in the Tico way. |
| DIALOGUE - COSTA RICAN |
| Carlos: ¡Qué moncha! |
| Natalia: ¡Si, mae qué moncha! Ya quiero almorzar. |
| Carlos: Pura vida. ¿Almorzamos un casado? |
| Natalia: Suena bien. ¡El casado es para chuparse los dedos! |
| Carlos: ¡Diay, jale a comer! |
| Carlos: Once again slowly. |
| Carlos: ¡Qué moncha! |
| Natalia: ¡Si, mae qué moncha! Ya quiero almorzar. |
| Carlos: Pura vida. ¿Almorzamos un casado? |
| Natalia: Suena bien. ¡El casado es para chuparse los dedos! |
| Carlos: ¡Diay, jale a comer! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Carlos: Hmm… |
| Natalia: Don’t say it. |
| Carlos: It has to be said. I mean there are really big differences in these two conversations. |
| Natalia: Hmm I thought you are going to say something else. Let me guess, you want me to begin an explanation. |
| Carlos: If you’d be so kind. |
| Natalia: Claro que sí, Carlos. Well let’s start with the phrase “qué moncha” |
| Carlos: “Qué moncha.” That sounds pretty enthusiastic. |
| Natalia: Well it’s “¡Qué moncha!”. It’s an interjection. |
| Carlos: Kind of sounds like “munchy”] wait, wait. Moncha, munchy. Moncha, munchy. |
| Natalia: “Qué moncha”, is like saying I am so hungry. |
| Carlos: I like it. You know it sounds cool. Natie, ¡qué moncha! |
| Natalia: That’s nothing new. You are always hungry. |
| Carlos: Yeah look who is talking. |
| Natalia: Okay. |
| Carlos: Look who is too good, okay, okay. |
| Natalia: So to be clear, in newbie lesson 9, we heard “Tengo hambre.”, I am hungry. |
| Carlos: And how do we say this in Costa Rican Spanish? |
| Natalia: Qué moncha. |
| Carlos: Munchy. |
| Natalia: Carlos, stop it. |
| Carlos: What! Moncha, munchy. It’s like so obvious. Seriously though, you call this expression an interjection. |
| Natalia: Interjection. |
| Carlos: Interjection right. |
| Natalia: Yes. |
| Carlos: Well I’ve noticed these are pretty common in Spanish and most of the time, they don’t translate all that literally. |
| Natalia: I see what you mean, it’s true. For example, if we say “Cuanta hambre tengo” how would this be translated literally? |
| Carlos: Getting into spotlight, all right hold on. I am brain hurt, oh man... |
| Natalia: Carlos, just go. |
| Carlos: Let’s see. It would be something like how much hunger I have. That sounds pretty stupid Natie. |
| Natalia: Well you are the one who translated that way. |
| Carlos: Anyway so we’ve said this is a very expressive thing to say. I mean so Natie, how do we pronounce it? |
| Natalia: Well you can just say “qué moncha” so you got to say like you mean it like: “¡Qué moncha!” |
| Carlos: Qué moncha. |
| Natalia: Yeah that’s good but it doesn’t sound like you are that hungry. |
| Carlos: ¡Qué moncha! |
| Natalia: That’s more like it. |
| Carlos: Munchy |
| Natalia: Carlos! |
| Carlos: All right, all right sorry Natie, what are some other ways we can use this word “moncha”. |
| Natalia: Well we could say “jale a monchar”, let’s go eat. We could say Carlos quiere monchar, Carlos wants to eat. |
| Carlos: Carlos does want to eat, that’s coincidence. Alright, cool so Natie, is this a kind of thing that I should say to your grandma on a Sunday afternoon when I am getting ready to sit down, some of that good home cooking. |
| Natalia: Well, not my grandma because she would smack you but if you have like a really cool grandma, then you could definitely say that but I should also point out that “monchar” is used really, really informally between friends, guys, girls. You should just never say “jale a monchar” to a girl you just met. |
| Carlos: Yeah why not? |
| Natalia: Well because it is just like you want to be you know respectful. |
| Carlos: So just to recap in newbie lesson 9, the phrase I am hungry sounded like this. |
| Natalia: Tengo hambre. I am hungry. |
| Carlos: And when you are speaking to a Costa Rican, a friend somebody you jell out with, don’t be surprised if you hear |
| Natalia: ¡Qué moncha! |
| Carlos: And that means something like I am starving. Now Natie, you know I’ve really been getting a lot out of Joseph and Bae’s verb conjugation series. |
| Natalia: Yeah. |
| Carlos: Hey, not only am I a podcast personality at spanishpod101.com, I am also a member. |
| Natalia: That’s a cheap commercial right there Carlos. That’s so corny. |
| Carlos: And yet so good. Listen Natie, speaking of verbs, I think this is a good opportunity to deal with a really important verb in our conversation. |
| Natalia: Okay. |
| Carlos: Well in both the conversation in newbie lesson 9 and our tico version, we hear the phrase “quiero almorzar” |
| Natalia: Quiero almorzar. |
| Carlos: Sí, almozar. |
| Natalia: Almozar |
| Carlos: almozar |
| Natalia: almozar |
| Carlos: With an r? Almor? |
| Natalia: That’s how you say it , almozar. |
| Carlos: Almorzar. Okay. Well since I had to repeat it a thousand times “quiero almozar” to refresh my memory, what does this mean? |
| Natalia: It means I want to have lunch. |
| Carlos: Okay but if “almorzar” is a verb, then it expresses an act. I mean an occurrence or a way of being. |
| Natalia: You really like that verb series, huh? |
| Carlos: What can I say, employee discount but no I am being serious. So if I say “quiero almorzar” the literal translation would be I want to lunch. |
| Natalia: Yes. |
| Carlos: So it’s almost like saying, let’s do lunch in English. Natie, does this apply to other meals of the day? |
| Natalia: Uhoo..Let’s take for example the verb “desayunar”. |
| Carlos: Okay, to breakfast. That is to have breakfast. |
| Natalia: Uhoo and also the verb “cenar”. |
| Carlos: Now this one probably translates the best. We can say to dine or to have dinner. |
| Natalia: Uhoo you got it. |
| Carlos: You know, I would love some real examples using these verbs. How about “cenar”. |
| Natalia: Let’s say “cenamos tarde en mi casa.” |
| Carlos: We eat dinner late in my house. Moving on |
| Natalia: Desayunamos huevos revueltos con pan. |
| Carlos: We have scrambled eggs with bread for breakfast. |
| Natalia: And how do you know it was the personal pronoun we? |
| Carlos: Come on, the mos ending on the verb is those patterns you are talking about. I mean the verb “desayunar” became “desayunamos”. And you taught me that rule in lesson 4. |
| Natalia: I am such good teacher. |
| Carlos: Take it down a little bit, take it down a little bit. I am just going to start making mistakes on purpose now. |
| Natalia: No, no, no, no, no you don’t have to do it on purpose. |
| Carlos: It hurts but it’s true. And you know what I am hungry for Natie? |
| Natalia: What? |
| Carlos: Localisms. |
| Natalia: All right. Should have known. What should we explain today Carlitos? |
| Carlos: Well, it is something that I have been very, very, very grateful to come in contact with since coming to Costa Rica. |
| Natalia: Talking about me? |
| Carlos: Yes Natie you know what, it is you, you and “casados”. |
| Natalia: Casados. |
| Carlos: You know what, seriously my mouth is watering just thinking about this. I mean Natie, can you please shed some light on this delicious aspect of Costa Rican culture? |
| Natalia: The first thing I am going to say is that if you come to Costa Rica, you better try “casado” are combination plates of rice, beans, shredded cabbage salad, vegetable or fruit “picadillo” chopped vegetables or fruits and whatever meat you want. |
| Carlos: That sounds delicious. My god, this sounds delicious. |
| Natalia: Umm that’s not all. |
| Carlos: Seriously? |
| Natalia: Well then it’s garnished with fried plantain tortillas and a slice or two of tomato. You want to know the best part? |
| Carlos: Wait, there is a better part? |
| Natalia: Yes “casados” are so cheap, plentiful and you can find them anywhere in Costa Rica. They are about like $2, $3 a plate. |
| Carlos: Okay well, where are they sold? |
| Natalia: Well at the sodas. |
| Carlos: All right, I mean like Coke or Pepsi? |
| Natalia: No Carlos, “sodas” little restaurants all over the country that sell “casados” and drinks. “Sodas”, while you can think of this like many times, you find a lady you know like just good home cooking lady, she cooks really good and then she opens up a “soda” and then sells these plates and that’s what it’s like. It is just more like traditional homemade food. |
| Carlos: Umm home cooking. Well you know what, in my studies |
| Natalia: Uh! |
| Carlos: Yeah I am trying to get real deep now. All right, I seem to think that the word “casado” reminds me of something. |
| Natalia: And what’s that? |
| Carlos: The verb “casarse” or to marry. |
| Natalia: Yeah that’s not a surprise. |
| Carlos: Why? |
| Natalia: Well because a “casado” is the perfect married couple food. The literal translation of “casados” is married couple. |
| Carlos: Ah I always love to hear about a true love story. |
| Natalia: Don’t get corny again Carlos, don’t again…Andale andale. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Natalia: Let’s get back to business Carlos. |
| Carlos: Okay “¡Diay, jale a comer!” I am lost. I mean other than “comer”. |
| Natalia: Of course “Diay, jale” is something like saying let’s go. |
| Carlos: Okay so is “jale” another word to go? |
| Natalia: No, translated literally “jale” means pull. |
| Carlos: Okay I get it. So saying “¡Diay, jale a comer!” is like pulling someone by the arm and saying let’s go eat. |
| Natalia: Yeah well the thing is that the verb “jalar” in Costa Rica often has some meaning of “andar” which means to go or “correro” which means to run. |
| Carlos: Oh I get it. Okay wait, you know what better yet Natie, can you think of any other examples that use the word “jale” like this? |
| Natalia: Well you could say “Jale a bailar” let’s go dancing or you could say “jale a bretear” let’s go to work or you could say “jalemonos de aquí” like let’s get out of here. |
| Carlos: I get the point. |
Outro |
|---|
| Carlos: Since that is a lot of information, I think that’s enough for today and that will conclude today’s lesson. Now don’t forget to reference this lesson with newbie lesson 9. |
| Natalia: See you again next week. Ya nos vemos mañana. |
| Carlos: Ya nos vemos |
| Natalia: Yay! |
| Carlos: Ya nos vemos mañana. |
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