Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Joseph: “How you doing, my man?” Muy buenos días. I’m Joseph! I’m here with Beatrice and we’d like to welcome you to the first lesson of the Peruvian Spanish Series in Spanishpod101.com, the only place where you get podcasts adapted to the Spanish of Peru.
Beatriz: ¡Así es! That’s right! Here, we reference the core curriculum of Spanishpod101 and show how it applies to Peruvian Spanish.
Joseph: We’ll also shed light on words and idiomatic phrases proper to Peru.
Beatriz: Showing you how these are pronounced with an authentic Peruvian accent.
Joseph: And giving you insight into Peruvian customs and culture. So, join us for this lesson of Spanishpod101.com!
Beatriz: Welcome to Inaugural Peruvian Spanish lesson!
Joseph: For this lesson, we’ll study how the Spanish spoken in Lima, the capital of Peru, differs from the neutral version that we heard in Newbie Lesson 1. Also, we’ll learn the basics of introductions using the verb “estar” “to be”.
Beatriz: In today’s Peruvian conversation, we’ll hear Jorge and Elena, who are good friends, greet each other.
Joseph: So, let’s start today’s lesson off by going back to Newbie Lesson 1. In that lesson, we heard the following conversation.
DIALOGUE - NORMAL
Beatriz: ¡Hola!
José: ¡Hola! Buenos días.
Beatriz: ¿Cómo estás?
José: Yo estoy bien. ¿Y tú?
Beatriz: Yo estoy muy bien. Gracias.
José: Ahora incluiremos la traducción. This time, we’ll add the translation!
Beatriz: ¡Hola!
Beatriz: “Hi!”
José: ¡Hola! Buenos días.
José: “Hi! Good morning!”
Beatriz: ¿Cómo estás?
Beatriz: “How are you?”
José: Yo estoy bien. ¿Y tú?
José: “I’m very well. And you?”
Beatriz: Yo estoy muy bien. Gracias.
José: “I’m very well, thanks!”
DIALOGUE - PERUVIAN
Joseph: Now, let’s hear what that sounds like in Peruvian Spanish, and in particular, using some slang from Lima.
HELENA: ¡Hola, Jorge!
JORGE: ¡Habla, Helena!
HELENA: ¿Cómo estás pues, causita?
JORGE: Bien, muy bien. ¿Y tú?
HELENA: Tranqui como siempre.
Joseph: One more time! This time, slowly.
HELENA: ¡Hola, Jorge!
JORGE: ¡Habla, Helena!
HELENA: ¿Cómo estás pues, causita?
JORGE: Bien, muy bien. ¿Y tú?
HELENA: Tranqui como siempre.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Joseph: So, you can see that there are some really big differences between the two conversations. To begin, let’s look at the way “Hi! Good morning!” was rendered in the Peruvian Spanish from Lima. Beatriz, could you repeat that for us, please?
Beatriz: ¡Habla, Helena!
Joseph: “Talk to me, Elena!” Now, in Newbie Lesson 1, it sounded like this:
José: ¡Hola! Buenos días.
Joseph: ¡Hola! Buenos días. Beatrice, what do you think are the major differences here?
Beatriz: In the first place, Jorge says “habla” instead of “hola”. This is a very colloquial expression, very informal. It’s only used among friends, and it’s more common among men. In fact, it’s the kind of expression you hear on the street.
Joseph: “Claro” The word “habla” literally means “speak” or “talk” as in “Talk to me.” In Newbie Lesson 1, the expression is simply “Hola” which means “Hello!”. So, in Lima, Peru, a very, very informal way to say “Hola” is “Habla”. Again, this is a slangy expression and as Beatrice just pointed out, it’s only used in informal situations and it’s more commonly used among men. So, again, the neutral way to say “Hi! Good morning!” is:
José: ¡Hola! Buenos días.
Joseph: ¡Hola! Buenos días. and in the Peruvian Spanish of Lima we could say:
Beatriz: ¡Habla, Helena!
Joseph: “Talk to me, Elena!” Great! All right! Next we’re going to look at the way “How are you?” was pronounced in Peruvian Spanish. Beatrice, could you repeat that for us?
Beatriz: ¿Cómo estás pues, causita?
Joseph: “How you doing, my man?” Now, in Newbie Lesson 1, it sounded like this:
Beatriz: ¿Cómo estás?
Joseph: “¿Cómo estás?” Beatrice, what do you think is the major difference here?
Beatriz: Well, first let’s look at the word “pues” which has a consecutive nuance.
Joseph: Right! So, the word “pues” is a kind of pause word. We use it when we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to say next. So, in the example “¿Cómo estás pues, causita?”, is as if we’re trying to decide whether or not to use the word “causita” or some other word. And, Beatrice, the word “causita” what does that mean?
Beatriz: Buena pregunta. is a colloquial form of address or as we say in Peru, it is a “jerga”, that is a slang. “Causita” means “amigo” “friend”. But, you know, it’s not the same as saying “amigo”.
Joseph: “Buen punto”. Good point! So, maybe we could translate the form of address “causita” as “buddy”, “pal” or “my man”.
Beatriz: Yeah. I like it.
Joseph: So, as you can see, this is a really, really informal way of speaking, but on the other hand, it’s not uncommon to hear it in Lima. Beatrice, if I’m not mistaken, the word “causita” is used in some other expressions, too. Is it not?
Beatriz: You must be thinking of the expression “Causita del corazón”.
Joseph: Eso es. That’s it! “Causita del corazón” It’s like saying “bosom buddy” or in a funny way “my man squeeze”.
Beatriz: Yes, it’s funny to translate the slang words because they’re idiomatic. It’s often hard to get a direct translation, but I think that idea come through here.
Joseph: Yes, I think you’re right! So, again, the neutral way to say “How are you?” is”
Beatriz: ¿Cómo estás?
Joseph: ¿Cómo estás? And in Peruvian Spanish, especially in Lima, we can say:
Beatriz: ¿Cómo estás pues, causita?
Joseph: “How you doing, my man?” Let’s go over some of the localisms that came up in the conversation. Today, we’ll look at the expression “tranqui”. Beatrice, would you take us back to where this came up in the Peruvian Spanish conversation?
Beatriz: Tranqui como siempre.
Joseph: “Chill, like always!” Now, Beatrice, the word “tranqui” probably isn’t all that familiar to most of our listeners. What exactly does this mean?
Beatriz: Well, the word “tranqui” is a shortened form of the word “tranquilo” or “tranquila”.
Joseph: Right! And “tranquilo” is the masculine form, and “tranquila” the feminine. This means “cool”, “relaxed”, “laid back”, “chill” or something like that.
Beatriz: That’s right! In the slang that we use in Lima, it’s not uncommon to shorten a word on pronounce the root only, from which the rest of the root is recognizable.
Joseph: Exacto. Exactly! And there are other examples of this phenomenon, too. Aren’t there?
Beatriz: Yes, there are. For example, we can say “compu” instead of “computadora”.
Joseph: Right! So, you say “compu” instead of “computadora” in order to refer to the “computer”.
Beatriz: Other expressions that follow this pattern are “refri” instead “refrigerador”, “deli” instead of “deliciosos” and “matri” instead of “matrimonio”.
Joseph: Perfecto. Perfect! So, with that list, we can see that this kind of slang follows a certain pattern. And, you know, it seems like we have something similar in English. I mean, isn’t saying “refri” something like saying “fridge” instead of “refrigerator”?
Beatriz: It’s seems like it is! It’s interesting that this similarity exists. Joseph, can you think of a translation from the slang word “deli”?
Joseph: Well, seen that “deli” is the shortened form of “delicioso”, it would seem that we can translate it as “delice”, as the shorten form of “delicious”.
Beatriz: Muy bien, Joseph. However, we should point out that this is a very informal way of speaking and aside from being informal, it is very limenio, very proper to Lima, Peru.

Outro

Joseph: Alright! That’s pretty interesting! Well, we’re going to have to stop here for today. To further compare what we’ve covered here, check out Newbie Lesson 1 and we’ll see you soon!
Beatriz: Nos vemos pronto.

Dialogue - Peruvian Accent

Dialogue - Standard

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