Immersive Spanish - Immersive Spanish - Colombia Adventure - Episode 2 - Breakfast in Medellín

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

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Before we begin the episode, know that anything I break down in Spanish, I'll say at least twice, with gaps in between. That's not because I love the sound of my own voice. It's so you can repeat after me. One of the most beneficial things you can do of this podcast is repeat everything you hear. If you're learning Spanish so you can actually speak it, well, here's your chance. Even if you haven't fully understood the word or phrase, please, please, please, please. repeat in the gaps provided. Ola Viejeroz, welcome back to immersive Spanish. I'm here in Medellín, Colombia,

and I've just woken up absolutely ravenous. Or as they say in Spanish, Tengo much ambray. I have a lot of hunger. Tengo much ambre. I don't know whether it's the jet lag or the questionable airline food from yesterday. but whenever I arrive in a new country, I wake up super early and starving.

So, it's hour to buskare desajuna. It's time to find some breakfast. Now, I could play it safe and have some eggs on toast at the hotel, but it's 7 a.m. And they don't start serving food for a couple of hours. And where's the fun in that? When I'm traveling, I like to eat as the locals eat. And this morning, I've got my heart set on some Colombian street food.

I saw from the taxi last night that there are some enticing little street vendors, and they're just around the corner. So, so, so this street vendor looks like they're selling arrepas. If you don't know, an arepa is kind of like a cross between a pancake, a bread roll, and a tortilla. Imagine they're flat, round, and usually made from corn. So today, hopefully, thanks to this vendor, I'm trying an arepa deuebo, which is an arepa with an egg cooked inside. I always like to have eggs for breakfast wherever I am in the world.

I always like to have eggs for breakfast wherever I am in the world. without in what part of the world stay.

Lister. I'm to ask it. Hello, hello hello, good

days. Hello, very good days. Here areas of web so

yeah, quite, how I'm, three, for favor. Three?

Oh, so, you can have a hungry. Yeah, yeah. not come

from yesterday at the I'm much hungry, eh? In

serious? And why not dinner? Because I was in an car

I've to get to get to London I know I'm

my son my Soberine my Sotenham In Tottenham

In Sereo? What casuality Yeah Some day I want to visit her. Well, it's a city

incredible. Although, the climate is much better here. That's so, well,

are 15,000 pesos. Perfect. In a momentico, are you are set up perfect, muchismas great,

it's moments like this that remind me why I learned Spanish in the first place. had I not learned Spanish, I probably wouldn't be standing here waiting for three delicious arepas. And I definitely wouldn't have discovered that this lovely lady here has family living in Tottenham. It's crazy when you think about it. It's like you travel to the other side of the world, start chatting to someone in another language,

and suddenly you're talking about a part of London. That's what I love about learning language. It's connecting with people who I usually wouldn't. I'm going to sit down whilst I wait on this plastic chair by the road. Let me break down what we've said so far. I asked, Here vending arpeas de webo. Here,

vending arpeas de, be bevo. Remember to repeat in the gaps provided. Here vending arrepas de ubo means do you sell arepas de uvo here? Do you sell egg arepas here? Notice I said, vendin. Vendens. This means they sell or you sell when speaking to multiple people, such as the staff at a shop or a restaurant or a food stand.

Vendin comes from the verb vendere. meaning to sell. Think of a vendor, vende. When speaking to one person, you would use vendez informally or vende, formally. If you, a good friend, were selling a repas, I'd ask you informally, vendez are repas? But in most scenarios, though, I'd ask an individual formally. Bende a repas? But in many cases, because stalls or restaurants are staffed by multiple people, I'd ask, Venderepas. Another example.

Here vendin café? Here. Venden. Coffee. Do you, multiple people working, sell coffee here. Here, Here vending empanadas. Here

vending empanadas. Do you sell impanadas here? Moving on, though, the vendor then asked Quantas Le do.

Quantas Le do. Literally, how many do I give you? But more naturally, how many would you like? You'll hear this

all the time. when buying food. Quantas le doy. Then she said, si kee tini ambre. Si ke

Tien Ambre. Which means you really are hungry. That little phrase of si ke si ke adds emphasis.

So instead of Ah, Tine Ambre, she says si You really have hungry. Siy K

Tien Ambre. You really are hungry. Then I said No come from yesterday al-mediodia.

No Como Desde Ayer Al Mediodia. This means I haven't eaten

since yesterday lunchtime. No como from yesterday al medio-day. Des-de-a-er since yesterday. Des-de-a-eer. And

al-mediodi-day, meaning at midday or at lunchtime. So, repeat after me. Al-medio-dia. The lady selling arrepas then asked me why I didn't have dinner.

Listen out for this. And why no senor? And for what ke no seno.

And word for word this means and why didn't you have dinner? And why no senor? Now, your turn to repeat.

And because no seno? Sounds melodic, doesn't it? That's the Spanish language for you. Senar, senar means to have dinner. So, no senet. I didn't have dinner. No. Senet.

Ja seno? Means have you had dinner yet? Yeah. I repeat after me. I responded by saying, Acabo de de'gear de londres. Acabo

de get of Londones. This means I've just arrived from London. Now, this structure in particular is very useful. Acavo de. And this means I've just.

For example, I've just eaten. Acavo de to come. I've just arrived. Acavo de I've de'gear.

I've just woken up. Acavo de despertarme. Acavo De Desperta me. Following this, the vendor then said,

My Sobrina Vive Aja in Tottenham. My Sobina Vive Aja in Tottenham.

Sobraina, meaning Nis. If it were enough, it would be, Sobrino. Sobrina, niece. Sobrino, nephew.

So, my niece lives over there. My sobrina vive there. My, sobriina, Vive, Aja. I then said, What a casualidad.

What a coincidence. What a casualidad. What casualidad? You'll hear, Ke casualidad, whenever two people discover an unexpected connection. The first five letters of casualidad spell casual in English,

so you can use that to help you remember it. What a coincidence. Then she said, Algon diea, I want to visit her to visit her. Algun Dia I'm

A Visitarla This means one day I want to go and visit her Algun day meaning One day or someday Algun day

I want to visita Visit her To visit her The La at the end refers to her niece. Then I said, This has

Tiena ke ir. Well, Tiena K Iir. This means, well, you have to go. Or more naturally, I should say,

you should definitely go. Tiena ke means you have to. Then, although the climate is much mehore

here although or even though. So I'm basically saying although the weather is much better here listen out for it

one more time although the climate is much And finally, she said, In a momentico are listas. In

a momentico are listas. They'll be ready in a little moment. Remember back to the last lesson where I told you that Colombians love to use the diminutive. making something really small.

It's not a moment she's making me wait. It's a momentico, just a little moment. Anyway, that word momentico, super Colombian. And just remember, it means a little moment. And then she said, listas, meaning ready, because we're talking about las arrepas. Right? Feminine? Therefore, listers. Not listos.

So, they're ready. Well, here they're ready. Perfect. Here. Here you. Much thanks. One question. Do you? Salsas?

Yes, sure. We have angie, salsa rosada, and salsa of ajo. Perfect. for favor, Ponga me acai. Right, guys. This is the real reason I came to Colombia. It's this little sauce.

Aji. It's a Colombian chili sauce made from things like chilies, onions, coriander, perhaps some lime and a bit of vinegar. Let's get it on there. Yeah. I love a good empanada or a good arippa, but the secret is the sauce. That just completes it.

So let's see how good this one is. Oh yeah. Que Rico. The arepa, or shall I say the arepa, is crispy on the outside. It's soft in the middle. The egg is perfectly cooked. And ah, that aji. It just brings everything together.

It's fresh, it's tangy, slightly spicy, and honestly, it's becoming one of my favorite sources in the world. I'm definitely going to have to learn how to make this when I get home. I'm going to eat these, so I'll be right back. Okay, guys, let's break down the second part of that chat. The vendor handed me my repas and said, Wella, here they're. Well, Acquis,

Tiené. This simply means, well, here you are. You're here Aki Tiené all the time when someone hands you something. It could be your food,

your coffee, your change, whatever. Then I asked, Tienes Tensas. Tienes. Salsas.

Of course, this means, do you have any sources. Viennes salsas. But notice, I didn't say, I, salsas. I'm asking the vendor if she has sources available. So she responded,

Weenemos haj, salsa rosada, and salsa de ajo. Wehuis, salsa rosada, and salsa de ajo. but the useful word here is we have we have we have restaurants and cafes often say we have

rather than I have so get used to that for example we have coffee we have empanadas we have empanadas then I said Pongame a poquito de aji, for favor.

Pongame. Un. Pocate. There. Aji. Por. Favor. This is a fantastic phrase of your ordering food.

The verb here is poner. Poner. To put. So, Pongame. Boname Literally means put for me Put me

Or I suppose more naturally Could you put on it So for example Pongame queso Put some cheese on it Pongame salsa Put some sauce on it Pongame a poikita de ahi

Put a little bit of chili sauce on it please Notice I said a pocito. And you guys know that means a little bit. Finally, the vendor replied, Con much gusto. Con mucho gusto.

I hope you're repeating, guys. Con much gusto. So, what do you think con much gusto means? With much pleasure. With much pleasure. But in English, we'd simply say, my pleasure.

Or, of course. You're here con much gusto, everywhere in Colombia. In Spain, though, you're more likely to hear de nada instead. Con much gusto feels especially polite. Rather than saying, it's nothing. You're letting the person know that instead, it was a pleasure to serve you. Well, there we go then. Ayes ta.

That should bring you up to date with that interaction. Yeah, I mean, those Arepas were absolutely delicious. Estaban rigissimas. A little heavy, perhaps. I did get three. But delicious. So, I think I'm going to walk them off and head into the city. It's about 19 degrees this morning.

That's 19 degrees Celsius. And I have to say, it's the perfect temperature for exploring. In my opinion, Medellín has the mejor climate del mundo. I said, in my opinion, Medellin, or Medellin, has the best climate in the world. And I'll tell you why.

It's because it gets that year-round sunshine of the tropics, but its unique location, 1,500 meters above sea level, means it escapes the intense heat and the intense humidity that you'll often find at sea level. The climate no could be better. El.

Clima. No. Podria. Ser. Mejor. Nevertheless, now comes the exciting part. At the beginning of the episode, my conversation while buying a rep is, might have sounded fast or difficult to follow.

But we've now broken it down together, piece by piece. And you're about to discover that you, yes you, can understand real Spanish conversations. I'm now going to play the interaction again. Notice just how much more you understand this time round. And don't be afraid to repeat this episode as many times as you need. Every time you listen, you'll notice new words and expressions that passed you by before. If you'd like the full transcript, along with photos from my adventure around Columbia, head over to Patreon. Hello, hello, hello, good days.

Hello, very good days. Here vented arepas de webo? Yes, sure. How many? Three, for favor. Three? Oh, yes, that you have hungry. Ha, ha, ha, ha.

Yes. No, I'm from yesterday at the midi-day. I've got much more hungry, eh? In serious? And why not? Because I was in an avion. I've got to get to London.

De Londres? That good. I'm a lot. My sobrina lives there in Tottenham. In Tottenham? In Serious? What casuality? Yes,

I'll I want to visit her Well, It's a It's a It's a It's a

It's a Much more Here, That's That's So, Well, So,

So, So, Perfecto In a Momentico They're They're Perfect,

Thank Thank you Thank you Well, Here Here Here It's

Perfect Here you have Much Thanks One question You have sals Yes, We have salsas?

We have Aji, Salsa Rosada and Salsa De Ajo Perfecto For favor Pongamé

a little of aji Sure With much Okay Guys, I hope you enjoy this episode

Remember, If you want to Improve your Spanish Try the Immersive Spanish app, fluency builder. And if you want to learn visually, head to the Emerson's Spanish YouTube channel to see me interacting

and teaching with real locals. Now, yes, I need a good cafe. After the next, amigos and amigas.