Coffee Break Spanish - Coffee Break Spanish Espresso 005 – Día de los Muertos

Episode Date: November 1, 2014

In this week’s Coffee Break Spanish Espresso we’re focusing on a cultural aspect: in many Spanish-speaking places around the world this time of year is an important time for remembering friends and relatives who have passed away. In this episode we’ll be looking at some of the traditions – and vocabulary – surrounding El Día de los Muertos. In the Subjunctive of the Week section, Fernanda looks at esperar que, and this week’s quotation comes from Chilean author Isabel Allende.This season of Coffee Break Spanish Espresso features a total of 10 lessons, all of which are included in the podcast feed. If you’d like to benefit from video versions, lesson notes and bonus audio materials, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Spanish in the Coffee Break Academy.Don’t forget to follow Coffee Break Spanish on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Spanish. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Spanish Facebook page here.If you’d like to find out what goes on behind the scenes here at Coffee Break Languages, follow @coffeebreaklanguages on Instagram.You can also check out our Coffee Break Spanish Twitter page and the Coffee Break Languages YouTube channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coffee Break Spanish Espresso, episode 5. Hello, welcome back to the Coffee Break Spanish Espresso, in which we're bringing you a quick shot of Spanish to help you keep thinking about the language on a regular basis. Thanks again for all your messages this week. In particular, we'd like to say thanks to Ashmarvla on iTunes, who gave us a fantastic five-star review saying, I love this so much and it's really helped me.

It feels like I have my own teacher. Well, thank you, Ashmarbla. We are delighted that you feel that way. We'd also like to say Ola to Faye Lee from Switzerland who told us, Me Encanta this podcast. I'm listening to Vow in El Cotech.

And I'm saying to Vow the week It's fantastic to know that you're all enjoying the espresso and please do keep your comments, reviews and emails coming. Okay, let's get on with the episode. And this time we've got something a little special for you. This week we're focusing on an aspect of culture rather than language. This episode will be released on the 1st of November, which is an important day

around the Spanish-speaking world. It's known in Mexico as El Dia de los Mueros, or El Dié de Murtos. But the Catholic festivals of All Saints, Tos los Santos, and All Souls, Los Fieless de Fuontos, are also celebrated in most other Spanish-speaking countries. Since the coffee break Spanish Espresso is all about helping you increase your vocabulary and about building your awareness of all things Spanish, we thought it would be useful to look at some words and phrases traditionally associated with this time of the year. In Mexico, the Dia de los Muerdos is a time when people come together to pray for their family members and friends who have died. Some families will build a private altar known as El Altar de la Offrenda, the altar of the offering. And they'll honor the dead

by placing calaveras de azucar, or indeed in Mexican Spanish calaveras de azucar, sugar skulls, and Flores de Sempasuchil. Sempasuchil is a Mexican marigold. It's a yellow flower, and it's said to have 400 petals and a very strong

smell, which represents death. Now, other words associated with this special day include El Eskeleto, which is the skeleton. But the skeletal figure, but the skeletal figure which represent death in the traditions are actually known as Las Calacas,

Las Calacas. Another thing that's placed on the altar, on the altar, which is created in people's houses or indeed schools or places of work, are velas.

Bellas are candles, and these light the way for the souls on their journey. Something else that's placed on the altar is a retrato del falleciedo. El Fallecido is the dead person, the deceased, falleced, fallecedo or of course,

fallesido. Now, this comes from the verb fallecer. F-A-L-L-C-E-R, and that means to pass away. It's a nicer verb than morir. It's less strong than the verb morir, which of course means to die.

So we have morir to die, giving muerto and fallecer to pass away. Fallecido being someone who has passed away or who is deceased Fallecido A Retrato del Fallecido Now there's lots more to be said about El di de los Mueros and we'll add some links to the lesson notes to help you find out more

about these traditions in various parts of the Spanish-speaking world Of course if you're not already signed up for a membership to access these lesson notes you can find it all you need to know at coffeebreak Spanishespresso.com Okay, we'll be back in just a moment. In between lessons of Coffee Break Spanish, why not check out our social media accounts? On Facebook, just search for Coffee Break Spanish. We post regular language challenges and cultural information. We are Learn Spanish on Twitter, and you can come behind the scenes with the coffee break team

by searching for Coffee Break Languages on Instagram. Practice your Spanish and join the conversation with Coffee Break Spanish. Okay, let's get on with the lesson. it's time to move on to the next part of our episode. And that is... Subjunctive of the week. It is indeed time for the subjunctive of the week. And as you know, that's when we say,

hello to Fernanda. Hello, Mark, how you? Very well. And you? And to me, very well, thanks. Well, the subjunctive of this month is Esperer. Ah, the word Esperant.

It has two significators, no? Yes, yes. So, you can use in two occasions different. So first, I'm going to wait.

I'm waiting for the bus. Very well. I'm waiting for the bus. But also it's also to hope. Yes, is it's

unid to the word Esperanza. Sure that is. Very beautiful power. The first

oration of this is, I'm that we're we're we're the

converse. I'm also. I'm we're to cross those Exactly.

Repitamuses. I hope that we hope that we're lucky and we can't the concurs. What is the traduction, Mark? I hope that

we have luck, literally. But not said like in English. I hope that we are lucky. Very well. And that we win the competition.

Yes, perfect. Very well. And here we have two subjunctives, two verbs conjugated. The first, Tengamos, that comes

to be Tener. You know what is Tener, Mark? I think so. Ah, excellent. What is? Tener is to have.

Very well. So here we're saying I hope that we have luck because in Spanish you don't say to be lucky, but to have luck.

Yes, you know, you know, you know, and the second is, ganemos, that comes

of the verb canar. What is to win? Ganar to say to win but also

to earn Yes, yes, yes, yeah, win. Garned money? Yeah,

to earn money? Yes, very well, I'm going, I'm going, I'm sure you want to ask you.

One question. Dime. I'm, I'm sure we can we can't get the concursu?

Or, I hope we can't we get the concussion. You can use

both in this occasion. Depend to what you want to you

think you have the difference. Ambas are uned

to the first I'm in so it's a good but you an option. Okay,

much thank you. The second is Pilar is Pilar is that

his marid his marid his work poor Pillar. Poor Pilar Yes, poorsit.

Well, other other again, Pilar ispera that his marido

encounter his work Pronto. What sign the question?

So here Pilar is that her husband finds work soon. Yes, for that's her, she said, and here we're saying

a subjunctive, which is Enquentre, that comes from the verb, Encontra. Encontra. Encontrar,

means to find. Yes. Well, then we'll close the deados for Pilar. Yes,

well, de repent we'll we'll do do it for the thing participate in

the concurs. So, we Gane the Concourne the Concurs. Very well,

well, much thanks. Thank you, Mark, Adios. Subjunctive of the week. Okay, that's that for the subjunctive

of the week. It's now time to think about our quotation, our Cita of the Semana. And this time,

we're talking again about a subject that we've already covered in this episode, and that is the subject of death, La Morte.

And this is a quotation from the Chilean of, author, Isabel Allende. And it goes like this. The Muerre no exists.

The people only die when they'll avoidan. If you can record me, I'll say that again. The Morte No Existee.

The people only die when they'll they'll leave. If you can record me, I'm always I'm this is quite a poignant

quotation. Let's think about it and let's think about it from a language point of view. La Muechre no exist. Death does not exist. La Jente solo muere when la olivian. So, la gente is people only die. And remember, La Jente is singular, although we talk about people in the Pluto in English.

So, la gente solo muire when lovidan. So people only die when you plural in the Usteades form forget them and the la is referring to la but of course them is the translation because we talk about people in English La gente solo muere when loviden If you can record me Siempre estare contigo If you can remember me I will always be with you

This quote comes from the novel Evaluna by Isabel Allende. And again, we'll put more information about this in our notes for this week. La Mueerte no exists. La Jente solo muere when they'll forgetan. If you can record me, Siempresteer Contigo. And that's where we're going to leave it for this week's Coffee Break Spanish Espresso. We hope you've enjoyed this espresso shot of Coffee Break Spanish.

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