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Lesson Transcript

Long-distance Bus Trips in Mexico
In the previous lesson, we covered how to get a bus ticket. In this lesson we will continue teaching you how to say other phrases that will be helpful for your trips during your visit to Mexico.
Let’s imagine a situation that happens all the time in Mexican bus stations. Let’s say you chose to travel by bus from Mexico City to Puebla. First of all, you would go to the information desk and make sure the bus timetable hasn’t changed. You can ask “When is the next bus to Puebla departing?” In Spanish, that is:
¿Cuándo sale el próximo autobús para Puebla?
(slow) ¿Cu-án-do sa-le el pró-xi-mo au-to-bús pa-ra Pu-e-bla?
¿Cuándo sale el próximo autobús para Puebla?
The first word, cuándo, means “when”.
(slow) Cu-án-do.
Cuándo.
Next we have sale, which means “depart”.
(slow) sa-le.
sale.
It’s followed by el próximo, which is translated to “the next”.
(slow) el pró-xi-mo.
el próximo.
Then we have the word autobús, which means “bus”.
(slow) au-to-bús.
autobús.
After that comes para, which is the word for "to."
(slow) pa-ra.
para.
Last, you place your destination, in this case Puebla.
(slow) Pu-e-bla.
Puebla.
The whole question is:
¿Cuándo sale el próximo autobús para Puebla?
In English that is:
“When is the next bus to Puebla departing?”
The next question you will need to ask is
¿En dónde compro el boleto? In English, that is translated as “Where can I buy a ticket?”
En dónde means “where”
(slow) En dón-de.
En dónde.
Compro is a present form of the verb that means “to buy”.
(slow) Com-pro.
Compro.
And last we have el boleto, which means “the ticket”.
(slow) el bo-le-to.
el boleto.
Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time.
¿En dónde compro el boleto?
When you get on the bus, make sure that the bus is the one you need to take. For this, you will need to ask, “Is this bus going to Puebla?”, which in Spanish is-
¿Este autobús va para Puebla?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ¿Es-te au-to-bus va pa-ra Pu-e-bla?
¿Este autobús va para Puebla?
Este is the masculine form of “this”.
Autobús means “bus”.
Va is the present tense form of the verb “to go”.
(slow) Va.
Va.
And the last words, para Puebla, are translated as “to Puebla”.
The whole question once again is:
¿Este autobús va para Puebla?
Now let’s learn how to buy a ticket for a far destination.
Un boleto para Cancún, por favor. In English - “A ticket to Cancun, please”.
(slow) Un bo-le-to pa-ra Can-cún, por fa-vor.
Un boleto para Cancún, por favor.
You already know that un boleto means “one ticket.”
Next we have para Cancún, which means “to Cancún”.
(slow) Pa-ra Can-cún.
Para Cancún.
And at the end come the words por favor which, as usual, mean “please”.
The whole sentence is:
Un boleto para Cancún, por favor.
When you get ready for a long trip, it is normal to be interested in how many hours it will take to reach the destination. All you have to do is to ask the driver the following question.
“How long does it take to get to Cancún?” in Spanish, that is: ¿Cuántas horas tarda para llegar a Cancún?
(slow) ¿Cu-án-tas ho-ras tar-da pa-ra lle-gar a Can-cún?
¿Cuántas horas tarda para llegar a Cancún?
Cuántas is the Spanish word for "how much" or “how many”, in a feminine form.
(slow) Cuántas.
Cuántas.
Horas means "hours".
(slow) Ho-ras.
Horas.
Tarda means "to take".
(slow) Tar-da.
Tarda.
We’ve already learned that para means “to”.
Llegar means literally "to arrive".
(slow) Lle-gar.
Llegar.
And then you just say a, or “to”, and insert your destination! In our case, a Cancún, “to Cancun”.
The whole phrase is:
¿Cuántas horas tarda para llegar a Cancún?
To close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !buena suerte! which means “Good luck!” in Spanish.
“When is the next bus to Puebla departing?” - ¿Cuándo sale el próximo autobús para Puebla?
“Where can I buy a ticket?” - ¿En dónde compro el boleto?
“Is this bus going to Puebla?” - ¿Este autobús va para Puebla?
“A ticket to Cancun, please.” - Un boleto para Cancún, por favor.
“How long does it take to get to Cancún?” - ¿Cuántas horas tarda para llegar a Cancún?
Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Hasta luego.

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