Learn to talk about and understand office rules, review the Demonstrative Pronouns
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Asking About Office Rules in Spanish. John Here. |
| Laura: Hola. I'm Laura. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about office rules. The conversation takes place at the office. |
| Laura: It's between Alejandra Soto, Alan Brown, and Sergio Méndez. |
| John: The speakers are boss and employees; therefore, they will speak formal Spanish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Alejandra Soto: El Licenciado Méndez se integrará al equipo a partir de hoy. |
| Alan Brown: Bienvenido Licenciado. Si tiene alguna pregunta no dude en contactarme. |
| Alejandra Soto: Y si tiene alguna duda sobre el reglamento que le mandé a su correo, déjemelo saber. |
| Sergio Méndez: Muchas gracias. Tengo un par de preguntas al respecto. ¿Tenemos acceso a los laboratorios del quinto piso? |
| Alejandra Soto: A esos sí. Pero solo los martes y jueves de ocho de la mañana a cinco de la tarde. |
| Sergio Méndez: Perfecto, y con respecto al material del almacén. ¿Cómo hacemos la requisición? |
| Alan Brown: Para eso tiene que llenar este formato, y llevarlo a la oficina del almacén del tercer piso. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Alejandra Soto: El Licenciado Méndez se integrará al equipo a partir de hoy. |
| Alan Brown: Bienvenido Licenciado. Si tiene alguna pregunta no dude en contactarme. |
| Alejandra Soto: Y si tiene alguna duda sobre el reglamento que le mandé a su correo, déjemelo saber. |
| Sergio Méndez: Muchas gracias. Tengo un par de preguntas al respecto. ¿Tenemos acceso a los laboratorios del quinto piso? |
| Alejandra Soto: A esos sí. Pero solo los martes y jueves de ocho de la mañana a cinco de la tarde. |
| Sergio Méndez: Perfecto, y con respecto al material del almacén. ¿Cómo hacemos la requisición? |
| Alan Brown: Para eso tiene que llenar este formato, y llevarlo a la oficina del almacén del tercer piso. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Alejandra Soto: El Licenciado Méndez se integrará al equipo a partir de hoy. |
| Alejandra Soto: Mr. Mendez will join the team starting today. |
| Alan Brown: Bienvenido Licenciado. Si tiene alguna pregunta no dude en contactarme. |
| Alan Brown: Welcome. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me. |
| Alejandra Soto: Y si tiene alguna duda sobre el reglamento que le mandé a su correo, déjemelo saber. |
| Alejandra Soto: And if you have questions about the rules that I sent to your email, let me know. |
| Sergio Méndez: Muchas gracias. Tengo un par de preguntas al respecto. ¿Tenemos acceso a los laboratorios del quinto piso? |
| Sergio Méndez: Thank you very much. I have a couple of questions about them. Do we have access to the laboratories on the fifth floor? |
| Alejandra Soto: A esos sí. Pero solo los martes y jueves de ocho de la mañana a cinco de la tarde. |
| Alejandra Soto: To those yes. But only on Tuesdays and Thursdays from eight a.m. to five p.m. |
| Sergio Méndez: Perfecto, y con respecto al material del almacén. ¿Cómo hacemos la requisición? |
| Sergio Méndez: Perfect, and regarding the material from the warehouse. How do we do the requisition? |
| Alan Brown: Para eso tiene que llenar este formato, y llevarlo a la oficina del almacén del tercer piso. |
| Alan Brown: For that, you have to fill in this form and take it to the warehouse office on the third floor. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: There was a discussion of workplace rules in the conversation today. |
| Laura: Yes, like most countries, there are rules that you should follow when at work. |
| John: What kind of rules are common in Mexico? |
| Laura: In the business world, don’t use first names unless you’re instructed to. |
| John: Stick with people’s titles. I suppose this could be difficult to remember as Mexican conversations are generally pretty friendly. |
| Laura: That’s right. Also, Mexicans can be pretty flexible with their time but do try to arrive on time for work and appointments. |
| John: If you are going to be late, call ahead and let them know. |
| Laura: If you’re leaving the office for lunch or other reasons, let your boss or colleagues know. |
| John: Are people in Mexico direct with each other? Is it common to hear a straight “no” in the office? |
| Laura: No, it isn’t. It’s more likely you’ll hear a “maybe” or “let’s see.” |
| John: This is a technique that our listeners should use in the office, too. |
| Laura: That’s right. You don’t want to be seen as aggressive or pushy. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Laura: integrar [natural native speed] |
| John: to integrate |
| Laura: integrar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: integrar [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: equipo [natural native speed] |
| John: team |
| Laura: equipo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: equipo [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: contactar [natural native speed] |
| John: to contact, get in touch |
| Laura: contactar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: contactar [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: duda [natural native speed] |
| John: doubt, concern |
| Laura: duda [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: duda [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: reglamento [natural native speed] |
| John: regulation |
| Laura: reglamento [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: reglamento [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: dudar [natural native speed] |
| John: to doubt |
| Laura: dudar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: dudar [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: laboratorio [natural native speed] |
| John: laboratory |
| Laura: laboratorio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: laboratorio [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: saber [natural native speed] |
| John: to know |
| Laura: saber [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: saber [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Laura: almacén [natural native speed] |
| John: warehouse |
| Laura: almacén [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: almacén [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Laura: requisición [natural native speed] |
| John: requisition |
| Laura: requisición [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Laura: requisición [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Laura: a partir de |
| John: meaning "from" |
| John: This phrase literally translates to “starting from.” |
| Laura: a partir, means “starting.” Next is de. |
| John: meaning “from.” |
| Laura: Altogether, the phrase is a partir de. |
| John: You use this expression to say when something starts. |
| Laura: It can be used in both formal and informal settings. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say.. A partir de hoy comenzaré a hacer ejercicio. |
| John: ..which means "From today, I will begin exercising." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Laura: no dude en |
| John: meaning "don't hesitate to" |
| John: Let’s break this phrase down. |
| Laura: The first word is no, which means “no.” Next is dude. |
| John: Which means “doubt, hesitate.” The last word means “to.” |
| Laura: That is en. |
| John: You can use this phrase to tell someone to feel free and comfortable to do something. |
| Laura: The informal version is No dudes en. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say.. Cualquier cosa no dudes en contactarme inmediatamente. |
| John: .. which means "If anything, don't hesitate to contact me immediately." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Laura: déjemelo saber |
| John: meaning "let me know" |
| John: Let’s break down this phrase, too. |
| Laura: The first word is déjemelo, which means “let me.” The last word is saber. |
| John: Which means “to know.” You can use this phrase to tell someone to keep you informed. |
| Laura: Déjemelo saber is the formal version of the phrase. |
| John: What is the informal version? |
| Laura: Déjamelo saber |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Laura: Sure. For example, you can say.. Déjemelo saber en cuanto tenga la respuesta. |
| John: .. which means "Let me know as soon as you have the answer. " |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about office rules. |
| John: First, we’ll begin by looking at demonstrative pronouns. Previously, we looked at demonstrative adjectives. You will notice that there are some similarities between the two. |
| Laura: Yes, several of the words are the same. |
| John: The difference is that a demonstrative pronoun replaces a noun, whereas a demonstrative adjective modifies it. |
| Laura: Another difference is that demonstrative pronouns include singular neuter pronouns. |
| John: These don’t refer to a specific thing but to an unknown object or concept. Let’s check out some of these singular neuter pronouns. |
| Laura: esto |
| John: Which means “this.” |
| Laura: eso |
| John: Which means “that.” |
| Laura: aquello |
| John: Which means “that.” Let’s hear some example sentences. |
| Laura: ¿Qué es esto? |
| John: “What is this?” In this case, the “this” is an unknown object, so we use a singular neuter pronoun. |
| Laura: Aquellos que dicen mucho hacen poco. |
| John: "Those who talk a lot do very little." |
| Laura: Este no es el momento de hacer bromas. |
| John: "This is not the time to make jokes." You can find more information about demonstrative pronouns, including information about how to write them properly, in the Lesson Notes. |
| Laura: Right. Before, these pronouns used to be written with accent marks, but not anymore. |
| John: Okay, let’s move on to office rules. Let’s learn some useful phrases and sentences |
| Laura: Hay que seguir el reglamento para evitar problemas. |
| John: “Guidelines must be followed to avoid problems.” Now if you want to specify what rule you are referring to |
| Laura: La regla número… |
| John: “Rule number…” If you want to reinforce a certain rule or behavior you can say |
| Laura: Debemos… |
| John: We must... |
| Laura: Debemos mantener todo limpio. |
| John: “We must keep everything clean.” Another useful phrase is |
| Laura: Tienen que mantener silencio durante la conferencia. |
| John: “You have to maintain silence during the conference.” To talk about something that is forbidden, you can say |
| Laura: Está prohibido… |
| John: It is prohibited to… |
| Laura: Está prohibido fumar dentro de la sala de conferencias. |
| John: “It is prohibited to smoke in the conference room.” Alright listeners, as always, you can find more useful patterns and examples in the Lesson Notes PDF. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Laura: Hasta la próxima. |
Comments
Hide