Coffee Break Spanish - Coffee Break Spanish Magazine Episode 101

Episode Date: October 3, 2012

It’s here! We’re delighted to present the first edition of the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine. In this edition:Alba asks the question ¿Cómo pasabas el verano cuando eras niño? – “How did you spend your summers as a child?”;Laura introduces us to the expression de perillas;and in our Q&A Spanish section JP and Nahyeli answer Molly’s question concerning gender of nouns.This season of Coffee Break Spanish Magazine 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 the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine 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.

This is the free edition of the Coffee Break Spanish magazine. It's the 3rd of October 2012. You're listening to Coffee Break Spanish. You're listening to Coffee Break Spanish. My name is Mark and I'm your host for this show. I'll be getting you through the episode, helping you understand all our fantastic content. This week, we'll be joining Alba on the streets of Barcelona,

where she is talking to passers-by about El Verano, the summer. Laura has a really interesting idiomatic expression for us in this episode, and we'll join JPM and Nijeli in Seattle, who'll be answering a question from one of our listeners. All this coming up in this episode of... So how does this coffee break Spanish magazine work? Well, we're producing the show in seasons of 10 episodes, and in this first season, each episode will have three elements, and each of these elements is in response to what the radiolingual language learning community has been asking for. First of all, we're bringing you real authentic interviews with native Spanish speakers.

We've actually been out filming in the streets of Barcelona. And those of you who have listened to our Showtime Spanish course, we'll remember Alba. And you'll be delighted to know that Alba is presenting this part of our show. Now, although these interviews are coming from Barcelona, we've actually interviewed Spanish speakers from all around the world. And you'll be getting a range of accents and even vocabulary in our interviews. So that's the first part of our magazine show.

The second part involves idiomatic expressions, and for this I'm joined by a new member of the radio-lingua team. Laura will be here with me in the studio for this segment, and Laura will be introducing us to an idiomatic expression, an expression that's used in everyday language, but that means something different literally from what it means idiomatically. So just as in English, where we would say it's raining cats and dogs,

I have butterflies in my stomach. These don't literally mean that there are animals falling out of the sky or that there are insects inside me. The Spanish language has a huge range of idiomatic expressions too, and Laura will be introducing one idiomatic expression per episode to us. Finally, we are answering your questions about grammar or about usage. And for this part of the show, we're going over to Seattle, where J.P. and Naili are based, and they've been running Q&A Spanish for radio lingua over the past year. J.P. and Naili will answer a listener's question, and this could be about anything, so stay tuned for that part of the show. Just before we go over to Alva in Barcelona, I'd like to explain that you're listening currently to the free version of this show.

You've probably downloaded this on iTunes or via our website at radiolingua.com, or indeed you might be listening to it on SoundCloud or via your Apple TV and so on. For over six years, now, we've been providing free language lessons to a worldwide community, and we want to continue to do that. As a free subscriber, you'll be able to listen to JPM Naili's Q&A segment, you'll get Laura's idiomatic expression, and you'll get a slightly shortened form of the interview content from Alba. We also have an extended version of the Coffee Break Spanish magazine available to premium subscribers. This includes additional audio content, with more discussion of the language used in the interviews with Alba,

and also the video versions of these interviews, complete with Spanish subtitles to let you fully understand what is being said. The premium version also includes a full transcript of all the Spanish included in the show, along with lesson notes and other information to help you get as much as possible out of your learning experience. You can find out more about the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine Premium version at coffeebreakspanish magazine.com. Now, of course, we won't be going through all this detailed information

in every edition of the Coffee Break Spanish magazine. I thought it would be useful, however, to explain how things work for this first edition. Okay, it's time now to go over to Alba in Barcelona. Hello, Alba! And our question for you, Alba, is, What is the question of the day? What is the question of the day?

day of today is, how passavas the verano when when you were a child? Alba's question then, how did you spend? How did you used to spend using the imperfect tense? How pastavas the verano when you were

a child? Or how did you spend your summers as a child? Let's now listen to some of our responses. The voyage, in a place, in a place, in a place of Mexico. The year, the vera no, the

vera no, in the poe of my parents, of my mother, more concretely. It's a little a little bit of Galicia, very pecan't, and when we'd in the play,

and when we'd govying, that was the climate of that we were the climate. We used in families, we're a family numerous, we have many brothers, and, and, we'd be a month

in a, in a city, or in Galicia, or in, well, Almeria, normally in the play, in the water in the water, almost 24 hours,

and natando and corriending a little more. I did promise you real authentic Spanish spoken at real authentic speeds. Let's have another lesson. The voyage, in some place, in some

place, in a little of Mexico. The year, the verano, the world of my parents, of my mother, more concretely. It's a world of Galicia, very little,

and it was always When we were in the play, when no, when we're the climate of the climate of the day. We used in family. We're a family numberos. We've done many our men.

And, well, we'd be a month in a in a city, or in Galicia, or in Almeria, normally in the play, in the water,

almost 24 hours, and, natando and corriending a little more. After of many the rest,

we're going to continue. Much thanks, Alba. And after the time now to go through some of these answers in more detail.

The first interviewee probably gave the most easy to understand answer. See which words you can pick out here. You probably recognized a few words in there. The interviewee mentioned

Viaja, Journey, Playa, Beach, and also Mexico, Mexico. So as a child, he spent his summers traveling to different places and different beaches in Mexico. Let's listen to the second answer now, and this is a little more complicated. The new, the verano, the vera no, in the polo of my parents, of my mother, more concretely. So he mentions Galicia, an area in the north-west of Spain. So he's basically saying that he spent his summers in his mother's house,

in this tiny village in Galicia. He then mentioned something about what he used to do, and it was a little bit weather-dependent. He's saying, whenever they were able to, they used to go to the beach when it wasn't raining, and that was the climate of that particular place where he grew up. Let's listen now to our final speaker on this interview. Now we used in family.

We're a family numberos, we're many brothers. And, well, we used to be a month in a city, or in Galicia, or in, well, Almeria. Now, this speaker does speak particularly fast, so we'll split this one up. Listen to that section again. And see if you can identify what he says at the beginning.

He talks about much of hermanos. Well, we'll go in family. We're a family numberus. So they're a numberus and, well, we're a new city or in Galicia or in Almeria. So they're a numerous family, a big family, and we have lots of brothers and sisters. Remember that Hermanos, in the plural, can refer to both brothers and sisters. Listen to this next section and see if you can spot any particular words or phrases,

which will help you understand what he's saying. Normally in the play, in the water, in the water, almost 24 hours, and natando and running, a little more. So with his brothers and sisters, he used to spend most of the summer at the beach, swimming in the water almost 24 hours a day,

and running around. Let's listen one more time to the three interviews. The question of the day of today is, how pastas the verano when you were a little? of a new place in a place in a some place in a the new the vera no

the vera no in the pollo of my my mother more concretely it's a a little and it

we all when we when we're when we're the clime we're the we're we're in family

we're we're a we're we're going to in a city or in Galicia or in Almeria, normally in the play, in the

water, almost 24 hours and couriering a little more. So much thanks also to all our interviewees who took part in these interviews for this episode. We'll be back again with Alba next time. 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 now to move on to the second section of our

magazine show, and that's where we say hello to Laura. Hello, Laura, how Hello, Mark, how How are you? Very good. And then, you are you are Spanish-Nove?

Yes, I'm a year, in Spain, in the south of Spain. And you're working or

studying here? Well, my objective first was to come to practice English, so now

me I'm to perfection with a pair of courses in the

university. Very very. And how is your English? Well, I think it is improving. Good. Excellent.

You're going to be speaking mostly in Spanish for our little sections each week. And you have been looking for some idiomatic phrases to help our listeners. Is that correct? Yes, that is correct. Well, Laura, I have a question. You have a accent a little distinct, no? If in Andalusia, we'll have to be a tone different. Also, not pronunciable

theses finales, and, also, a lot of times us comemes letters. We're going to let's letters. So you eat your letters, literally.

Yes, you, see. You know, for us going to do you want to do you? I'm going to make a effort

and I'm sure that they're going to understand perfectly our friends. Well,

perfect. Every every week you are to tryer us a phrase interesting, a phrase idiomatic.

I'm going to try a phrase that means something different to what literally is for that understand

the significal. But, you're going to explain the phrase, you're going to explain us the

word is the word and give an example of how it's this phrase. I'll

give the phrase in Spanish, one in English for that sense and

some examples. Perfect. So, what is the phrase idiomatic of the

day? De perillas. De perillas. Yes. Yes. I mean of perillas. I mean

of perillas. One question, then, what is a perilla? A perilla has

many significations. One of them is the montura of the cabo. The perilla

is the part of the montura that that's the person on the

cario to maintain the equilibrium So in English, I'm not I'm not I'm sure

because I know of the cabos but I think this is the pommel

It's the part of the horsey saddle the person who's raiding the horse uses to

keep their balance basically Yes that exactly Okay but what

what means to perillas. What has to be, right? It's a something that is exactly what

you need. And then this thing is this thing is the perils. You know, like the perilla that

you help to maintain the equilibrium if the cabio is... Cabalgando. Yeah.

Very very. You put an example. If I say, I have a friend

that's vendying your house and I in that moment I'm

looking a lot of you know you're in contact me it's very

very very very so then it's exactly at the

moment in the you need this case the the

information the information the house yeah very well

so if our people are using some something

something something this this phrase this phrase is the perils. Perfect.

Well, much thanks, Laura, and you're going to the

next year? For supposed. I'm sure. Perfect. After later.

Much thanks to Laura, for the phrase idiomatic of the same

to go over to Seattle, to J.P and Naili with this week's listeners

question. Thanks, Mark. This is J.P. Spanish. And I'm here with Naili,

hi, Naili. Hello, and thanks to everyone for listening. Niali, let's get

right to our question for today. Sounds good. Our first question comes from Sri Lanka. Wow. So Molly wants to know how to distinguish between feminine and masculine gender, because as we know in Spanish, we need to consider those when we are using our nouns. She wants to know how to distinguish between the two when it comes to... Masculine and feminine.

Objects, yes. Okay. Well, Molly, that's a great question. As you know, in Spanish, we have two genders. they're called masculine and feminine, and every noun in Spanish, whether it's a person or not, is going to have a gender. For example, a chair is feminine. La Silla. La Silla.

We know it's feminine because it starts with the feminine article La. On the other hand, a word like book is masculine. El Libro. As you can see, we're using the article El to say that it's masculine. Now, to us, English speakers, chairs and books are not gender specific objects, right? We don't think of them as masculine or feminine or male or female. But in Spanish, they do have to have this grammatical gender and you do have to know it. So Molly's question is, how do I know if one is going to be feminine and one who's going to be masculine?

Well, there's two ways that can answer this, Molly. The first way is to tell you you just have to memorize it. Memorization is not the key or the only key here. That's right. Now, you can follow those word endings as a guide. Let's take that word for chair again. La Silla. Now, La Silla ends in an A, so words that end in A tend to be feminine.

The word for book ends in an O. El Libro. El Libro. And words that end in an O tend to be masculine. Now, the problem is there's a bunch of words that seem to violate this concept. Like, for example, the problem. So here's a word that ends in A, but we use the article El. La Mano.

The hand. And here's a word that ends in O, but we use the article La. La. So there are. exceptions to that A and O rule, Molly. So, and then, of course, there's a bunch of nouns that don't end in A or O, like the word for student. Now, a studente.

Now, a studente can be masculine. El studente. Or it could be feminine. La studente. All right. So it's not enough just to look at the endings of words. Molly, what you're going to have to do in order to know the gender of these words is to memorize them with the article, El or La.

Correct. So when you're studying, don't just look at the word Libro. always say el libro. Don't memorize the word problema, but memorize the word el problema. And that way, if you learn the nouns together with their articles, you can't go wrong. Molly, that was a great question. That's it for the Q&A Spanish segment of this coffee break Spanish magazine. If you'd like to hear more Q&A from Nayeli and I, we have our own show where we can answer more of your questions.

Join us over at Q&Aspanish.com or follow the links on the radiolingo website. Remember, our questions come from our listeners. So go to the website Q&A Spanish.com and there you can find a number of different ways that you can submit your question. The website is Q&A Spanish.

spell out the word and A Spanish. Naili, I think it's time that we throw it back to Mark in Scotland. Sounds good. Asa L'Ego. Adios. Muchissima gracias, Jepie and Naili. Well, yeah is for

as almost us for this first edition of the Coffee Brick Spanish magazine. Once again, if you'd like to feel find out more about the magazine and how you can benefit from the full range of materials, head over to coffeebreakspanishmagine.com or just visit us at the Radiolingual website. Of course, if you can't wait until next week for your next fix of Coffee Break Spanish,

then head over to Facebook at facebook.com slash coffeebreak Spanish or indeed Twitter.com slash learn Spanish. And there you can join a vibrant language learning community and share your thoughts on our new magazine. We really do hope you like it. One final thing before I go. And that is just to mention something. We'll talk again about it next week. But we thought you'd like to know if you're a long time fan of the Coffee Break Spanish, you might be interested in nominating Coffee Break Spanish, or indeed Coffee Break French, or any of our other podcast language courses for the 2012 podcast awards. Nominations for the awards have just opened and they'll remain open until the 15th of

October. It's not really our style to push award nominations or anything like that. But if we don't mention it, then you might never know it's there. So if you are interested in nominating Coffee Break Spanish for a podcast award, then please do head to podcastawards.com and list your nominations there. Coffee Break Spanish for the education category and indeed people's choice are best produced if you feel that that's where we should be. That's it for this week. We'll be back again next time with more coffee break Spanish magazine. In the meantime, muchissima gracias and hasta very

pronto. This podcast was brought to you by the Radiolingua network. Find out more at www. www.orgia.com