Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Spanish by SpanishPod101.com.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your occupation in Spanish.
For example, "I’m an investor." is
Soy inversionista.
Two passengers, Valeria Varela and Ángel Salazar Almonte , are seated next to each other on a plane to Mexico.
Before you hear their conversation, let's learn some of its key components.
estudiante
"student"
estudiante
estudiante
inversionista
"investor"
Inversionista
inversionista
Listen to the conversation and focus on Angel's response.
Note: the speakers in this conversation use informal Spanish.
Ready?
¿Eres estudiante?
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
Once more with the English translation.
¿Eres estudiante?
"Are you a student?"
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
Let's break down the conversation.
Do you remember how Valeria asks,
"Are you a student?"
¿Eres estudiante?
First is eres, which means "are," as in "you are." Eres. Eres.
Note: eres is a shortened form of tú eres, “you are.” In Spanish, tú, “you” is often omitted as it is understood.
Eres comes from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser.
Next is estudiante, "student." Estudiante. Estudiante.
In Spanish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Estudiante is masculine and singular.
All together, it’s ¿Eres estudiante? “Are you a student ?”
¿Eres estudiante?
Now, let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Angel says,
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
First is no, "no." No. No.
It answers Valeria's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" ¿Eres estudiante?
After this, Angel specifies that he is not a student. No soy estudiante."I'm not a student." No soy estudiante.
First is no, meaning "not" here. No.
Next is soy. " am." Soy. Soy.
Note: soy is a shortened form of yo soy. In Spanish, the yo, "I," is usually omitted as it is understood.
Soy is from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser.
Together, no soy, literally means "not am." But it translates as "I'm not." No soy.
Next is estudiante. "Student." Estudiante.
All together, No soy estudiante. "I'm not a student." No soy estudiante.
Angel then tells Valeria his actual occupation. Soy inversionista. "I'm an investor." Soy inversionista.
First is soy. " am." Soy.
Next is inversionista. "Investor." Inversionista. Inversionista.
Inversionista is a masculine singular noun.
Together, Soy inversionista. “I’m an investor.” Soy inversionista.
All together, No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
The pattern is
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
Imagine you’re Emma López , a student.
Ángel Salazar asks you if you’re a "teacher.” The word for a female “teacher” is maestra. Maestra. Maestra.
Say
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
Ready?
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
In Spanish, some occupations have the same word for both genders. For example, "student," estudiante. Estudiante.
However, much of the time, words will differ depending on gender. In general, nouns that end in -o tend to be masculine, while nouns that end in -a tend to be feminine.
Again, the key pattern is
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
Let's look at some more examples.
Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
No, no soy doctora. Soy científica.
"No, I'm not a doctor. I'm a scientist."
No, no soy doctora. Soy científica.
No, no soy enfermera. Soy doctora.
"No, I'm not a nurse. I'm a doctor."
No, no soy enfermera. Soy doctora.
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro.
"No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher."
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro.
No, soy barista.
"No, I'm a barista."
No, soy barista.
Did you notice how the last speaker omits part of the response?
No, soy barista.
"No, I'm a barista." No, soy barista.
When directly responding to someone's question, it’s often possible to omit part of the response.
Here by simply answering No, “no,” you can omit no soy estudiante, “I’m not a student.”
This pattern is
No, soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
"No, I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."
You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we'll use the pattern
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."
Let's review the key vocabulary.
In Spanish, occupation terms can vary based on gender. In these cases, we provide the masculine word for the occupation followed by the feminine one.
“Student.”
Estudiante. Estudiante.
"Teacher."
Maestro.. Maestro.
Maestra. Maestra.
"Scientist."
científico. científico.
científica. científica.
“Nurse.”
Enfermero. Enfermero.
Enfermera. Enfermera.
“Doctor.”
Doctor. Doctor.
Doctora. Doctora.
"Barista."
Barista. Barista.
Let’s review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. Ready?
Do you remember the word for a male “investor?”
Inversionista.
Inversionista.
Do you remember how Angel says,
"I'm an investor."
Soy inversionista.
Soy inversionista.
Do you remember how to say “student?”
Estudiante.
Estudiante.
And how to say "not?"
No.
No.
Do you remember how Angel says,
"I'm not a student"
No soy estudiante.
No soy estudiante.
Do you remember how Angel Salazar says,
"I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
No soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
No soy estudiante. Soy inversionista.
Do you remember how Valeria Varela asks,
"Are you a student?"
¿Eres estudiante?
¿Eres estudiante?
Do you remember the word for a male “teacher?”
Maestro.
Maestro.
And the word for a female "teacher?"
Maestra.
Maestra.
Do you remember the word for a female "scientist?"
científica
científica
Let's practice.
Imagine you're Emma Lopez, and you are a student, or estudiante in Spanish.
Respond to Angel's question.
Ready?
¿Eres maestra?
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
Listen again and repeat.
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante.
Let's try another.
Imagine you're Victor Trejo and you’re a teacher, or maestro in Spanish.
Respond to Angel's question.
Ready?
¿Eres estudiante?
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro.
Listen again and repeat.
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro.
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro.
Let's try one more.
Now, imagine you're Valeria Varela , and you’re a scientist, or científica in Spanish.
Respond to Angel's question.
Ready?
¿Eres maestra?
No, soy cientifica.
Listen again and repeat.
No, soy cientifica.
No, soy cientifica.
In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your occupation in Spanish. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review.
Do you remember how Valeria Varela says,
"I'm Valeria."
Soy Valeria.
Soy Valeria.
And do you remember how Valeria Varela says
"Nice to meet you. I’m Valeria."
Mucho gusto, soy Valeria.
Mucho gusto, soy Valeria.
And how to say "from?"
de
de
Do you remember how Valeria says,
"I'm from Florida."
Soy de Florida.
Soy de Florida.
Do you remember how to say "where?"
Dónde.
Dónde.
And the formal word for "you?"
Usted.
Usted.
And do you remember how Angel Salazar asks,
"Where are you from?"
¿De dónde es usted?
¿De dónde es usted?
Do you remember how to say "American?"
estadounidense
estadounidense
And do you remember how Valeria Varela says
"I'm American?"
Soy estadounidense.
Soy estadounidense.
Do you remember how Angel Salazar Almonte asks,
"Are you American?"
¿Eres estadounidense?
¿Eres estadounidense?
Imagine you're Jack Jones , a student from London, and you're English.
Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in Spanish?
Jack Jones
Jack Jones
Respond to Angel Salazar Almonte 's self-introduction and follow-up question…
Ready?
Hola. Soy Ángel. Mucho gusto.
Mucho gusto. Soy Jack.
Listen again, and repeat.
Mucho gusto. Soy Jack.
Mucho gusto. Soy Jack.
Do you remember how to say "London" in Spanish?
Londres
Londres
Now respond that you’re from London.
¿De dónde es usted?
Soy de Londres.
Listen again and repeat.
Soy de Londres.
Soy de Londres.
And do you remember how to say "English" in Spanish?
inglés
inglés 
Now respond that you’re English.
¿Eres inglés?
Sí, soy inglés.
Listen again and repeat.
Sí, soy inglés.
Sí, soy inglés.
Now, do you remember how to say "student" in Spanish?
estudiante
estudiante
Respond that you're a student.
¿Eres maestro?
No, no soy maestro. Soy estudiante.
Listen again and repeat.
No, no soy maestro. Soy estudiante.
No, no soy maestro. Soy estudiante.
Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Introduce Yourself unit of this course.
Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.
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Show us what you can do.
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You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.
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