Free Sample Lesson

Lesson 1: ¿Dónde Vamos a Comer?
Where Are We Going to Eat?

Dos amigas están conversando en el centro comercial sobre sus planes para esa noche.

Two friends are chatting at the mall about their plans for that night.

Sandra: ¿Entonces qué quieres hacer? Ya se hace tarde y estamos tardando muchísimo en tomar una decisión.
So what do you want to do? It’s getting late and we’re taking a really long time to make a decision.

-When talking about something taking a long time, use tardar, not tomar.
-We substitute –ísimo for the –o in mucho and get muchísimo. This intensifies the meaning.
-Tomar una decisión = to make a decision. It’s better than saying hacer una decisión.

Mónica: Tranquila, todavía tenemos suficiente tiempo. Tengo hambre. ¿Qué tal si vamos a un restaurante? Tengo ganas de comer comida Italiana.

Relax, we still have enough time. I’m hungry. How about we go to a restaurant? I feel like eating Italian food.

-Qué tal si… = What if… How about…
-Tener ganas (de) = To feel like doing something or literally, “to have desires (to)…”

Sandra: Está bien. Vamos a un restaurante, pero no Italiano, es que comí comida Italiana ayer y no tengo ganas otra vez. Ah, ya sé, podríamos ir a la Taquiera Bar and Grill. Se supone que tiene unos platos bien ricos… al menos es lo que me dijo Javier.

All right. Let’s go to a restaurant, but not Italian. I ate Italian food yesterday and I don’t feel like it again. Oh, I know. We could go to Taquiera Bar and Grill. It’s supposed to have some really good meals… at least it’s what Javier told me.

–Es que… is a common way to start sentences and is like saying “It’s just that…The thing is… The reason is…” but it doesn’t always flow well in the English version.
-Otra vez = again, another time (literally)
-Se supone que… = It’s supposed to
–Rico can mean tasty, rich, good, etc. It’s usually used in the context of food, but some people use it for other things, such as describing the weather.
-Al menos = at least

Mónica: ¿Te refieres a Javier tu hermano menor? Pensé que te fastidiaba mucho.

Are you referring to/talking about Javier, your younger brother? I thought he annoyed you a lot.

-¿Te refieres a…? = Are you referring to/talking about…?
–Fastidiar is a synonym of molestar, both meaning to bother or annoy.

Sandra: Pues antes era así, pero últimamente hemos estado pasando un poco de tiempo juntos. ¿Y sabes qué? Nos llevamos muy bien. Cuando éramos niños, no me caía bien para nada. Él siempre se burlaba de mí, pero hoy en día se comporta mejor, más maduro.

Well before he was like that, but lately we’ve been spending a little more time together. And you know what? We get along really well. When we were children, I didn’t like him at all. He always made fun of me, but nowadays he behaves better, more mature.

-Pasar tiempo = to spend time
-Llevarse bien = to get along well (with someone)
-Caerse bien/mal = to like/dislike someone. Examples: Me caes muy bien = I like you a lot. Me caes mal = I don’t like you. This expression is used for people, and it’s meant in a platonic, not romantic way.
-Para nada = at all, not at all
-Burlarse de = to make fun of, to make a fool of

Mónica: Qué bien. Bueno, todavía hay que elegir a donde comer.

That’s good. Well, we still have to decide where to eat.

–Qué bien is very common and basically means “That’s good” or simply “Good” for short. You can also say Que bueno.
–Hay que is a synonym of tenemos que, but it’s more indirect. Tenemos que = We have to do x. Hay que = X must be done (by us).

Sandra: ¿Qué es eso? Huele a pizza. Hmm, qué rico.
What is that? It smells like pizza. Hmm, how tasty/smells good.

-Huele a… = It smells like… Make sure to say huele a, not huele como.
-Qué rico = How tasty

Mónica: ¡Qué tonta eres!
You’re silly/dumb!

–Tonto is less offensive than estúpido.

 
Sandra: ¿Por qué me hablas así?
Why are you talking to me like that?

Mónica: ¡Pizza es Italiano!
Pizza is Italian!

Sandra: ¿Y qué?
So what?

Mónica: Podríamos ir a un restaurante Italiano. Ordenas pizza y yo un plato Italiano.

We could go to an Italian restaurant. You order pizza and I’ll get an Italian dish.

Sandra: Tienes razón, no comí pizza ayer. No hay problema, vamos.

You’re right. I didn’t eat pizza yesterday. No problem. Let’s go.

-Tener razón = to be right or “to have the reason” (literally)
-No hay problema = It’s/there’s no problem. Don’t simply say, No problema like we do in English.

Mónica: Entonces vamos a un restaurante italiano y así quedamos.

Then we’re going to an Italian restaurant and we’re leaving it at that.

-Así quedamos = We’re sticking to this. We’re not changing our minds. This is how it’s going to stay.

For practice, start incorporating these useful Spanish words and phrases into your own conversations: 

-Se hace tarde = It’s getting late

-Tomar una decisión = to make a decision. It’s better than saying hacer una decisión.
-Tranquilo = Telling someone tranquilo is like telling them to calm down
-Qué tal si… = What if… How about…
-Tener hambre = to be hungry or literally “to have hunger”
-Tener ganas (de) = To feel like doing something or literally, “to have desires (to)…”
–Es que… is a common way to start sentences and is like saying “It’s just that…The thing is… The reason is…” but it doesn’t always flow well in the English version.
-Otra vez = again, another time (literally)
-Se supone que… = It’s supposed to
-¿Te refieres a…? = Are you referring to/talking about…?
-Al menos = at least
-Caerse bien/mal = to like/dislike someone
-Para nada = not at all, at all
-Burlarse de = to make fun of, to make a fool of

-Hoy en día = nowadays
-Pasar tiempo = to spend time
-Qué bien = That’s good. Good.

-Hay que… = We have to… X must be done.
-Huele a… = It smells like… Make sure to say huele a, not huele como.
-Qué rico = How tasty

-¿Y qué? = And? So what?
-Tener razón = to be right
-No hay problema = It’s/there’s no problem. Don’t simply say, No problema like we do in English.
-Así quedamos = We’re sticking to this. We’re not changing our minds. This is how it’s going to stay.

Vocabulary list from this lesson:

-Conversar = to chat, converse. It’s slightly more formal than hablar, charlar (mainly Spain), and platicar (Mexico).

-El centro comercial = the mall
-El plan = the plan
-Tardar = to take (a long) time
-Suficiente = enough
-Hermano menor = younger brother
-Fastidiarse = to bother, annoy
-Últimamente = lately. It has nothing to do with “ultimate” in English.
-Elegir = to decide
-Tonto = silly, dumb
-Ordenar = to order
-Ayer – yesterday