Coffee Break Spanish - Coffee Break Spanish Magazine – Episode 207

Episode Date: July 24, 2013

We’re back with another edition of the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine. In this episode:Alba asks, ¿qué es para ti el verano? – what does summer mean to you?Mark joins Fernanda on a virtual tour of the Dominican Republic;and JP and Nahyeli answer a listener’s question about the use of the imperfect and perfect subjunctive.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 18th of July 2013. You're back with another episode of the Coffee Break Spanish. We're back with another episode of the Coffee Break Spanish magazine. I'm Mark, and I'm your teacher and the host for the show. It's a calor and a seol here in Scotia this week. It is indeed a warm summer, so we have a summary question from Alba. What is for you, the verano?

Jip and Aielli answer a tough question about when to use the perfect or imperfect It's adjunctive and I'm off to the Dominican Republic for a virtual tour with them. All this and more in this week's episode of... As much, we're going to start the revista with the interviews in the call on Alba. Well, Alba, tell us what is the question of today. Hello, chicoes. Our question of today is,

What is for you, the verano? This week's question is a straightforward one. What is for you, the verano? What is for you this summer? And this is a structure that we've seen before. For example, what is a good teacher for you? What makes a good teacher?

So here, what does summer mean to you? Aligria. Calor. Aligria. People, people, play, vacations. A lot.

play and to play with my friends or our friends.

The verano vacations, get to be in air and playa.

The verano is a place soleado is to

your friends to take a cup in the mar

so a straightforward question and some straightforward answers

this week as usual we'll have a listen to the

interviews in greater detail and we'll talk about the words and phrases used. In the first couple of answers, you'll hear the word a legria, happiness. Have a listen. Aligria. Calor. Aligria. Gente. Gelaire. So in addition to alegria, we had gente, people, playa, and you'll hear that mentioned a few times, the beach, vacations, holidays, vacations and calor, heat.

Let's move on now and we'll take a listen to our next answer. So this younger interviewee said that it's a period of free time where I can go to the playa so it's a period of free time. So it's a period of free time

when I can go to the beach. Now she said, Donde. Of course, Donde literally means where. But it works in this case, a period of time when or where I can go to the beach. She could also have said, in el

which, in which is a time livery, in el which I can go to the with my friends, or my primos, my prisms. My primos are my cousins. Let's go on and listen to the next answer for the question,

that is for you the verano So another Vacations, Salir, Estar at the Air Livere and Playa.

So another answer mentioning the playa the beach. She said Vacaciones, Estar Al Air

being out in the open air. And the other word that she mentioned was Salir going out. So she likes to go out,

go to the beach and be in the open air during the summer. And our final answer now have a

person. Another answer. She said, she said, El Verano is a place soliado. It's a sunny place. It's being with your friends. It's tomartee one cupa front of the Matt, it's having a drink opposite the sea, literally, at the seaside. Okay, it's time now to have another listen through to our answers for this week, and hopefully this time you'll understand every word.

For you the winter. Aligria. Calor. Aligria. People, playa. Vacations. A time live where can go to the play

and to play with my friends or primos. The verano? Vacations, to be in the air free, and playa.

The verana is a place, it's a place is to be your friends, is to make

to the car in the mar. In resum, Mark, the

is Felicidad. We'll come to work. Much thanks, Alva.

We're to continue with the second part of the Revista. And we're going to say to Fernanda. Hello, Fernanda. Hello, Mark. How you go? Very well. And to you? Very well, as always.

If I'm a record, well, this week, this time, we're going to visit Republic of Dominica. Right? Yeah, for yeah, we're going. What place we're going to visit? We're going to the Hermosa Puntacana.

That good, that good. Well, well, what we're going to to the Republic of Dominica is their importance historic for the continent

American. You know why Mark? Tendra to be with the discovery of America,

maybe. Yes, very well. The 5 December of 1492, Colon

came to the coasts of the Antilla, and they called the Spanola. And this

is part of the Republic Dominica and well, Colon and all

his tripulation made a city in the place that is a Santo

Domingo. Very important then. Yes, much. What we do in Puntacana? Well, Punta Cana is

known by all their plays of ensue. All the plains have a black, millions

of palms of cocoa, and in the mar there is a barrera natural of coral

that cover all the area. Very good. Well, Puntacana

is a place for you enjoy and you enjoy and you do you

It's like a movie. Yes, if you see, the photos, are of a movie. Well, in Punta Kana, also can't do many other activities and visit other places. Also, for example,

if you do with the sea, you have to do a tour in barco, and that tour you get to the Caribbean and balenas. That's beautiful. Yes,

also, you can't put to go to the Playa Bavaro. This playa was declared by the UNESCO, one of the

major places of the world. There you can You can't To do Boceo Snorkel, Parafly or

Navigation Or navigate in Catamaran That's For the most Adventurers No? Well,

also Also, also for the adventure In this case There is

an excursion to Starry for the island This tour to

take to the island and also you know to learn

about to take to take to places to come.

Now, Amante of the culture and of all the history, I have something special for Timar. A place special for me? Yes, as you had said, you're near, you're near the city of Santo Domingo, that was the first city of the Americas. So, as visit the city, you can take a tour or visit it at a-peat and recorrent all the

locales. The first thing you have to do is see the house that built Christova the colon, and also visit the faro commemorative in its name. Also, well, you have to visit all the markets typical Dominicans of the city,

in where the people still do trueke and gangas. Truke and gangas? Yes, well, the treke is what was what was when no idea

when the people interchambia one thing for other. Oh, and they were that in more places?

Yes, and the and the gangas? Well, the gangas is the same to say offers.

You know how we do they like to us others the offers. Well, yeah, I mean

also I'm like much. Well, after having heard about many places

in Puttacana, to have a city we're the next next year? The next time we

go to Havana Cuba. Oh, Cuba, very interesting. So, much

thanks for all, Fernanda. We'll see the next time. Adios, Mar.

Okay, we'll be back in just a moment. In between lessons of 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. From the Dominican Republic, we are now heading to Seattle,

where we'll join J.P. Anayeli, who have an interesting question. this week. Quite a tricky one. I think that's right, J.P. Thanks, Mark. Naili and I are here. Hello, Naili. Hello, J.P. And we have a question from Christy. Take it away, Naili. She wants to know the difference between the imperfect subjunctive versus preterito perfecto. Oh, my goodness. So I'll give you the example of the imperfect subjunctive first. It's a lastima that Susanna dejara the studies the month past.

Okay, that was the imperfect subjunctive. And then the second sentence, me da much. Pena that Susanna has done this work. Okay.

So, JP, can you explain that to Christy and our other listeners? I can,

but I'm going to have to explain it two different ways, Christy. I hope you understand. First of all,

I explain it the way any normal Spanish speaker would explain it to you by saying it's the

same thing. It doesn't really matter. You can use either one. Right, because I could say dejara or

I get a same thing. It means the same thing. Right. Now I'm going to answer you as a Spanish teacher,

as a professional Spanish hitcher. And I don't want it to come off sounding too strong, but the standard explanation that I would give is to use the preterito perfecto del subjunctivo. In other words, it's a lestima that Susana has dejado. And the reason why is because in standard Spanish, we use the preterrito perfecto del subjunctivo

when the verb in the independent clause is in the present. And since the verb in the independent clause is, is a lestima, is a laustima that, then we'll use the pretreterito perfecto, I have decided. If that independent clause had been in the past, like, for example, if I had said,

fue una lastima, then I would end it with that Susanna dejara his studios. How do you feel about that? Beautiful. And how do I feel about that? I just have to say that if that did not make sense,

they do need to contact us again, and we will redo this all over again with different sentences and other verbs. But the good news, though, Naili, is that when you're speaking normally, Spanish speakers usually don't care about that. Right. No, because... Right. I'll understand.

Exactly. So this is just for your Spanish class. If you're doing it for your Spanish teacher, if you want to be impressive, if you want to stay in the safe zone, use the preterterito perfecto del subcontivo with the independent clause whose action is in the present. But if that action is in the past, then you should use the imperfecto del subcontivo. I'm sweating, Naili. I'm sweating just listening to the whole explanation. But the good news is that you can use either one in regular Spanish. Correct.

Okay. So, Christy, I hope that answers your question, and good luck with that Spanish class. You can find her email address at Q&A Spanish.com, where you can find us on Facebook, of course. All right, so back to Mark. Yes, let's go back to Mark. Well, much gracias, Jepi. Much thanks indeed to our whole team for bringing this episode together. We'll be back again.

soon with another episode of the Coffee Break Spanish magazine and we hope that you've enjoyed this one and that you've found it useful and interesting. In the meantime, feel free to go over to Facebook where the conversations continue with our community and if you have any experience of the Dominican Republic or indeed if you just want to post some photos of your summer holidays of you enjoying coffee break Spanish wherever you are, then please do post them on the Facebook group. Well, much thanks a all,

as always and after the next.