Spanish audio lesson with speaking & listening drills, and much more – Episode 85

Spanish audio lesson with speaking & listening drills, and much more

Podcast episode 85 – SEE ALL EPISODES

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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Today you’re going to hear a conversation, some vocabulary flashcards, when to use ‘yo’ and ‘tú’, and how to pronounce the letter Q.

See also: Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses.

Today’s episode is a lesson from my Spanish Audio Course. It brings you a conversation at a restaurant, vocabulary drills, a bit of grammar, and pronunciation practice.

Let’s listen to lesson 15 from my Spanish Audio Course.

Lesson 15. In this lesson we’re going to hear another dialog at the restaurant, we’re going to practise the new words with the audio flashcards, we’re going to learn when to use ‘yo’ and ‘tú’, and finally we’re going to practise saying the letter ‘q’.

Dialog: we’re going to hear this lesson’s dialog twice.

¿Tienen algún plato vegetariano?
Sí, tenemos tortillas y espaguetis.
Pues vamos a tomar mariscos con mayonesa y salmón con patatas, y ensalada y una tortilla francesa con arroz.

And here is the dialog with its translation:

¿Tienen algún plato vegetariano?
Do you have any vegetarian dishes?

Sí, tenemos tortillas y espaguetis.
Yes, we have omelettes and spaghetti.

Pues vamos a tomar mariscos con mayonesa y salmón con patatas,
Then we’re going to have shellfish with mayonnaise and salmon with potatoes,

y ensalada y una tortilla francesa con arroz.
and salad and a French omelet with rice.

Vocabulary audio flashcards: now we’re going to hear 11 words and phrases that came up in the dialog together with their translation:

algún
any, some

el plato
the dish, plate

vegetariano
vegetarian

la tortilla
the omelet

los espaguetis
the spaghetti

pues
then

vamos
we go / are going

la mayonesa
the mayonnaise

el salmón
the salmon

francesa
French (feminine)

el arroz
the rice

Let’s now practise saying those words. I’ll say them in English. Can you say them to me in Spanish?

French (feminine)
francesa

the salmon
el salmón

the mayonnaise
la mayonesa

the spaghetti
los espaguetis

the rice
el arroz

the dish, plate
el plato

then
pues

vegetarian
vegetariano

the omelet
la tortilla

any, some
algún

we go / are going
vamos

Have a look at
Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

Now that we’re familiar with the new words, let’s hear the dialog once more. Can you repeat each line after the native speakers?

¿Tienen algún plato vegetariano?
Sí, tenemos tortillas y espaguetis.
Pues vamos a tomar mariscos con mayonesa y salmón con patatas, y ensalada y una tortilla francesa con arroz.

Spanish grammar: in this lesson we’re going to learn when to use ‘yo’ and ‘tú’.

This is what the subject words ‘I’ and ‘you’ sound like in Spanish

yo – I
tú – you (singular)

The words ‘yo’ and ‘tú’ are often dropped in Spanish. Here are two sentences from the dialogs where these two subject words are not said:

quiero una habitación doble – I want a double room
¿qué tal estás? – how are you?

The reason why the subject words ‘yo’ and ‘tú’ can often be dropped in Spanish is because the verb forms already tell us who the subject is, for example:

soy – I am
soy americano – I am American

So, when do you actually use ‘yo’ and ‘tú’?

If you want to emphasise that it’s I or you who’s doing the action and not someone else, you do so by using the words ‘yo’ and ‘tú’.

It’s the equivalent of using the words myself or yourself in English, or emphasising the words I or you when you speak. Here are two examples:

Pedro es mexicano, pero yo soy americano
Peter is Mexican, but I, myself, am American

Juan tiene una radio. ¿Cuántas tienes tú?
John has one radio. How many do you have?

And here are five examples where ‘yo’ and ‘tú’ are not used:

¿de dónde eres?
where are you from?

estás en la playa
you’re on the beach

¿puedo ver su pasaporte?
may I see your passport?

¿en qué hotel estás?
which hotel are you in?

tengo dos maletas
I have two suitcases

Have a look at
Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

To practise what we’ve learned, I’m going to say ten sentences in English. Can you say them to me in Spanish?

I’m on the beach
Estoy en la playa

Where are you?
¿Dónde estás?

I’m on the beach. Where are you?
Estoy en la playa. ¿Dónde estás tú?

I’m from Mexico
Soy de México

Where are you from?
¿De dónde eres?

I’m from Mexico. Where are you from?
Soy de México. ¿De dónde eres tú?

I have a television
Tengo una televisión

How many televisions do you have?
¿Cuántas televisiones tienes?

I have a television. How many do you have?
Tengo una televisión. ¿Cuántas tienes tú?

I’m American and I have a cafeteria in New York
Soy americano y tengo una cafetería en Nueva York

Spanish pronunciation: in this lesson we’re going to learn about the letter ‘q’.

This is what the Spanish Q sounds like when said by a native speaker.

Please repeat after me: que – qui

1. The Spanish Q is always followed by a silent ‘u’. Pronouncing the ‘u’ will make words difficult to understand.

2. The clusters ‘q-u-e’ and ‘q-u-i’ sound identical to ‘k-e’ and ‘k-i’.

3. The clusters ‘q-u-a’ and ‘q-u-o’ don’t exist in Spanish words.

4. The Q in ‘q-u-e’ and ‘q-u-i’ sounds identical to the c in ‘c-a’, ‘c-o’ and ‘c-u’.

Listen to these five Spanish words which look very similar in English but don’t sound the same:

parque

mosquito

equivalente

adquirir

Quijote

Let’s now practise saying these five words. Repeat them after me:

parque

mosquito

equivalente

adquirir

Quijote

And here are 4 words with the letter Q from this course’s dialogs. Repeat after me:

qué

quieren

aquí

equipaje

Have a look at
Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

To sum up, let’s hear the dialog one last time:

¿Tienen algún plato vegetariano?
Sí, tenemos tortillas y espaguetis.
Pues vamos a tomar mariscos con mayonesa y salmón con patatas, y ensalada y una tortilla francesa con arroz.

Find out more about my Spanish courses.