In episode 10 Ben and Marina discuss why Spain still has such a crazy timetable for shops, office work, and meals.
We explore how the roots of this problem lie in Franco’s Spain, when people often had two jobs, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and see if anything can be done to bring Spain into line with the rest of Europe’s timetable.
In episode 11 Ben and Marina discuss the idea that Denmark is the happiest country on earth because it brings up happy children that turn into happy adults.
We look at ideas from a new book that attempts to explain how this is done, and compare to our own experiences of life and education in Spain and the UK.
Photo: Happy Children during the fiestas in Jerez.
In episode 12 Ben and Marina discuss Cataluña, and the wonders of Catalan cuisine, landscapes, restaurants, pueblos, and of course, the great city of Barcelona.
We talk about how Spain is a nation of huge cultural and geographic diversity, and how our friends Pep and Tom keep us in touch with the joys of life in Cataluña.
In episode 13 Ben and Marina discuss why everyone is stressed these days, the number of things we have going on in life, the quantity of inputs overwhelming us all, and how to solve this 21st century problem.
We talk about changes in work culture and deadlines, how our parents’ generation faired differently, and how a walk in nature is our solution to everything.
In episode 14 Ben and Marina discuss Paco de Lucia, the famous flamenco guitarist who took this very Spanish music onto the international stage.
We look at his childhood, from how he first picked up a guitar, to his first steps onto the international stage, plus the great influence of Jazz on his work, and his very interesting personality.
This podcast was inspired by the fascinating documentary, Paco de Lucía. La Búsqueda You can watch it here on filmin.es, a service we often use to watch films at home.
Tu and usted – what is the rule of thumb? Marina tends not to use ‘usted’ much these days, but would use it in smart restaurants, with a hotel receptionist, the King, an elderly neighbour she met for the first time, and whenever someone addressed her with ‘usted‘ first.
Getting the hang of – coger el truco
E.G. Estoy aprendiendo a tejer y creo que ya lo estoy cogiendo el truco. – I’m learning to knit and I think I’m getting the hang of it.
Lamenting past decisions:
Debería de haber comprobado la documentación correctamente – I should have checked the documentation properly
Debería de haber pedido a un mecánico que comprobase el estado del coche – I should have got a mechanic to check the state of the car
Debería de haberme comprado un coche nuevo – I should have bought a new car
Tendría que haberme comprado un coche nuevo – I should have bought a new car
What else to listen to after Notes in Spanish? If you’ve listened to everything we have (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced, Gold…) then watch Spanish films via filmin.es, or try the Cadena Ser or RTVE radio podcasts. Marina used to like La Ventana from Cadena Ser.
In episode 15 Ben and Marina discuss a new device that translates real time conversations into different languages on the go, and ask if it’s the end of language learning – no way!
We also discuss whether learning languages makes you more intelligent, how it helps explore the depths of a culture and can lead to greater acceptance in a community when you life abroad, and how the musicality of another language can reach parts of you that your own language can’t touch.
In episode 16 Ben and Marina talk about the endless ways of greeting people in Spain – should you shake hands, give two kisses, a hug, or a combination of all of them?
If they are a neighbour, an old friend, an elderly lady? A persona a friend is introducing you to for the first time? How does this all differ for men and women, or from people who aren’t Spanish, like Ben? We hope to clear everything up!
In episode 17 Ben and Marina discuss etiquette in Spain, covering Spanish punctuality, inviting people to your home in Spain, and how to be polite with food.
Are the Spanish generally punctual? How late will people arrive if you invite them to lunch? How late can you arrive at a restaurant? Can you refuse food at a friends house? Should you take the last croqueta on the plate? And what do the Spanish say about people that sing at the table while everyone is still eating?
Photo: Arriving on time by horse in the Jerez fiestas.
In episode 18 Ben and Marina discuss the excessive use of smartphones and social networks in the younger generations, and what effect it can have on our minds, ability to reason, and even our democracy.
We look at how many of the founders of these technologies now reject them for themselves and their children, and ask, is this just progress? Is the human being evolving in new ways? Or should we be looking more closely at this as a society?
Photo: Wall mural, “El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho” – Miguel de Cervantes (He who reads a lot and walks a lot, sees a lot and knows a lot).
In episode 19 Ben and Marina discuss the art of relaxation. We look at how the after-lunch ‘sobremesa‘ is one of the most relaxing customs in Spain, and how it resembles an ancient Chinese concept of lazyness.
Plus we reveal all of our relaxation secrets, including walking, reading (travelling by novel! Recently with Isabel Allende…), films, yoga, and much more.
In episode 20 Ben and Marina pay homage to Madrid, the city where Marina was born and Ben has lived since 1998.
We discuss the city’s most beautiful neighbourhoods, its classic bars and restaurants, and how the gentle art of meeting friends at one of the many terrazas in the city’s plazas may be where its real magic lies.
Ben and Marina answer more great questions from listeners about everyday Spanish expressions, grammar, and language resources. Below are the notes and links from the Q and A audio.
Quiero disfrutar a tope cada día – I want to live every day to the fullest
Ben estás a tope hoy – Ben you are full of beans today
¿Qué tal todo en el trabajo? – How is everything at work
Estoy a tope – I’m completely overloaded
Question 4 – Ni fu ni fa
Ni fu ni fa – I’m indifferent, I don’t mind
¿Te gustan las lentejas? – Do you like lentils?
Ni fu ni fa – They aren’t my favourite dish but I can eat them
Question 5 – Ganar
Serena ganó a Venus el sábado – Serena beat Venus on Saturday
Me ganó a las cartas otra vez – She beat me at cards again
Question 6 – Caer bien/mal
Ese hombre me cae mal – I don’t like that guy
Ese hombre me cae bien – I like that guy
El novio de mi hermana me cae bien – I like my sister’s boyfriend
El novio de mi hermana me cae mal / me cae fatal – I don’t like /really don’t like my sister’s boyfriend
Me cae fenomenal – I really like him
Question 7 – Pillar de camino
Me pilla de camino – It’s on my way
Te puedo dejar en tu casa porque me pilla de camino al supermercado – I can leave you in your house because it’s on my way to the supermarket
¿Qué tal? – How are you?
Regular – Not feeling great, a bit down
You can also use: ‘Regulín’, or, ‘Regulín regulán’
¿Cómo te han tratado en el dentista? – How did it go at the dentist?
Regular – They weren’t very caring or nice
Question 10 – The flat I used to live in
La casa en la que vivía cuando tenia 20 años – The flat I lived in when I was 20
Mi antiguo piso – My old flat
El piso donde vivía antes – The flat I used to live in
Mi piso anterior – My old flat
El coche que tenía antes – The car I had before/used to have
Mi antiguo coche – My old car
Question 11 – No creo que + Subjunctive
‘No creo que’ expresses doubt or uncertainty, and uses the subjunctive – see our Super Subjunctive Rule Book for further explanation.
No creo que haya problema – I don’t think there is a problem – uses subjunctive
Creo que no hay problema – I don’t think there is a problem – doesn’t use subjunctive
Question 12 – Recoger
Te recogeremos a las 8 – We’ll pick you up at 8
Pasaremos a buscarte a las 8 – We’ll pick you up at 8
Question 13 – You decide
¿Quieres beber cava o cerveza esta noche? – Do you want to drink cava or beer tonight?
Tu decides – you decide
Lo que tu quieras – you decide
Question 14 – Excited about something
Estoy emocionada por verte mañana – I’m excited about seeing you tomorrow
Estoy deseando irme de vacaciones la semana que viene – I’m really looking forward to going on holiday next week
Tengo unas ganas que no veas de irme de vacaciones la semana que viene – I’m really really looking forward to going on holiday next week
Me muero por irme de vacaciones la semana que viene – I can’t wait to going on holiday next week
Question 15 – Menos mal
Menos mal – Thank goodness
Menos mal que nos fuimos pronto a la cama ayer porque hoy los vecinos nos han despertado a las 7 de la mañana – Thank goodness we went to bed early last night because today the neighbours woke us up at 7am
Voy a llegar en 5 minutos – I’ll be there in 5 minutes
Menos mal, tu hijo ya te está echando de menos – Thank goodness, your son is missing you a lot.
Question 16 – The food is to die for
Esta comida está de muerte – The food is to die for/is incredible
Esta comida está que te mueres – The food is to die for/is incredible
Esta comida está que te mueres de buena – The food is to die for/is incredible
Also available: with 90 minutes of exclusive audio, our “Real Spanish Phrase Book” is your ultimate guide to speaking Real Spanish and fitting in with the locals immediately! Check it out in our store!
And if you just want to support our work, feel free to make a donation.
Here’s all the fun Spanish slang and cool phrases from today’s video:
Estoy pletórico – I’m full of life, full of energy
He empezado el día con buen pie – I’ve started the day very well/happily
He empezado el día con el pie izquierdo – I got out on the wrong side of the bed
Dime donde enchufo la pasta – Tell me where to send the money
Está como una cabra – She’s acting crazy, she’s really flustered
Estoy como una cabra, he perdido las llaves – I’m going crazy, I’ve lost my keys
Ha perdido el norte – She’s in a real state
He perdido la cabeza – I’m in a real fluster, in a real state
More cool Spanish like this!
There is plenty more cool Spanish like this in all our free Spanish-learning audios! We also highlight this type of phrase specifically in the worksheets for each level (available in our store).
As you know we love to send you Spanish-packed newsletters with great phrases, and news of new Notes in Spanish audios and videos. You may also know about new European privacy laws that came into effect on May 25th 2018 which mean that we can’t send you any more of our super newsletters unless you re-subscribe to our newsletter list – As the Spanish say, ¡Qué rollo! – What a pain!
Please take a minute to sign up again so we can keep sending you our real-Spanish newsletters – we have lots of great things coming up! (If you don’t we can’t send you any more newsletters – ¡Qué pena! – A big shame!)
As you know, we love to collect and share with you real Spanish phrases (Ben carries a notebook around and is always writing down the best from conversations with Spanish friends!)
Here are a few of the latest that have made us think ‘we have to send these to our Notes in Spanish listeners!’
First of all, why haven’t you heard from us in a while?
Hemos estado muy liados con las nuevas leyes de privacidad – We’ve been really busy with the new privacy laws.
Y como dicen en España, ‘Cosas del palacio van despacio’ – As they say in Spain, bureaucracy is a slow process. (Literally, things of the palace go slowly – you hear this phrase often when there is tedious paperwork to be done involving the state).
Another phrase with ‘liado’:
Estoy super liado en el trabajo – I’m really busy at work
Pero bueno, ha llegado el verano, y hace un calor que te mueres – But anyway, summer has arrived, and it’s unbelievably hot (literally ‘it makes a heat that you die!)
Ha llegado el calor y me ha dejado planchado – The heat has arrived and it’s knocked me out (literally ‘it has ironed me’!)
Nos cuesta más dormir por la noche, y por la mañanase nos pegan las sabanas – It’s harder for us to get to sleep at night, and in the morning we can’t get out of bed (literally ‘the sheets stick to us’)
And a phrase Ben often uses at swimming pools:
Soy de secano – I’m not much of a water person (when someone asks me why I don’t get in the pool or the sea much)
And finally, a verb that is much used around June/July in Spain, veranear:
¿Donde veranáis? – Where are you going on holiday this summer?
Los Reyes siempre veranean en Mallorca – the Royals always go on their summer holiday in Mallorca.
More cool Spanish like this!
Remember, there is so much more cool Spanish like this in all our free Spanish-learning audios! We also highlight this type of phrase specifically in the worksheets for each level (available in our store).
You’ve probably heard the phrase, ‘Estás en Babia’, to mean that you are dreamy, distracted, or ‘on another planet’. It comes from times gone by, when the kings of the region of León would go to the nearby area of Babia to hunt.
Someone was telling me this story again the other day, and commented, ‘Los reyes se quedaron allí ensimismados.’ – The kings were there (in Babia) lost in themselves, lost in their own thoughts. What a great word! Ensimismados!
Ben está ensimismado – Ben is in a dream
Here’s one more great one from our kitchen table…
I was sitting at the table the other day, ‘ensimismado’, while we were preparing supper. Marina, wanting my help, said ‘No te sientes ahí como un zero a la izquierda’ – Don’t sit there being useless.
‘Como un zero a la izquierda’ means something is useless – it literally means, ‘like a zero on the left’. When you put a zero on the left of a number, e.g. 023, that zero does nothing, hence the origin of the expression!
No quiero trabajar más con David, es un cero a la izquierda – I don’t want to work with David anymore, he’s useless.
More cool Spanish like this with our Summer Sale!
Remember, there is so much more cool Spanish like this in all our free Spanish-learning audios! We also highlight this type of phrase specifically in the worksheets for each level, available in our store, and now with a 25% Summer Sale Discount until Midnight Monday July 9th!
Just use the coupon code summer18 in our store today!
We hope you’ve had a great summer! We spent some time at the beach in Cantabria, near Santander (see the photo above!) Today we’ve got some great slang Spanish from the streets of Spain, and news of a Special September boost for your Spanish.
Some cool Spanish slang!
It’s 20 years since I (Ben) moved to Madrid, so I can say:
Llevo 20 años en Madrid, un huevo de tiempo – I’ve been in Madrid for 20 years, a really long time (literal translation “an egg of time”!)
“Un huevo”, an egg, is often used in Spain to show something is really big, or long. But don’t use this in formal circumstances, it’s pretty slang – fine with friends though! Here are more examples:
Los precios de las casas han subido un huevo este año – The prices of houses have gone up a huge amount this year.
Los mejores futbolistas ganan un huevo – The best football players earn a huge amount of money (not an egg!)
Special September Sale! 25% Off!
Remember there are loads more cool phrases like these highlighted in the worksheets for each of our audio levels, and to kick-start your Spanish this September, until midnight September 10th you can get 25% off any worksheet pack in our store with the coupon code: sept18
Just head to our store now, select the product you’d like, and use the special sept18 code to get the discount.
This is going to be a great September for your Spanish!
Lots of news today! First some useful Spanish phrases with ‘dar vuelta’, then links to a great interview with Ben and Marina about life in Spain, and much more (so do read on below!)
Spanish phrases with Dar Vuelta:
Le voy a dar una vuelta – I’m going to think about it (e.g. a decision or possible plan)
Darle una vuelta y me dices – think about it and let me know
No le des tantas vueltas al coco – (slang) don’t overthink it, don’t think about it so much (“it” being whatever you are thinking too much about!)
Also in the world of mindfulness, you will hear:
La mente da muchas vueltas – the mind spins around a lot
Another way to say this is ‘la mente es muy saltarina’ – the mind jumps around a lot. ‘Saltarina’ comes from ‘saltar’, to jump.
Ben and Marina Interview:
We were interviewed by Paul Burge for his When in Spain podcast. We chat with Paul about how Spain has changed since Ben first arrived here twenty years ago, the ups and downs of bi-cultural and bilingual relationships, observations on Spanish life, favourite places in Madrid, whether living in a foreign country changes you, and if there is a specific type of personality that’s suited to building a life abroad.
You can now find all our podcasts in Spotify, and Stitcher, just search for ‘Notes in Spanish’ in either, and of course, we’ve been in Apple Podcasts forever!
Remember the worksheets!
If you like the phrases in today’s email, do buy the worksheets that accompany our audios, they are full of useful Spanish like this, plus you support Notes in Spanish with your purchase! Find them in our store now.
Un abrazo!
Ben y Marina
P.S. (or ‘P.D.’ as the Spanish write) if you are interested in happiness, and mindfulness, check out Ben’s side project ‘Being Happiness’ (in English).
First more cool, real Spanish vocab, then news of NEW real Spanish audios from Ben and Marina coming very soon, plus our Instagram for photo lovers!
The other day I heard Marina telling her sister, ‘Nos ha sobrado un montón de comida’ – we’ve got loads of food left over (after a party we had).
And it reminded me of the wonderful verb ‘sobrar’, to be too much, or to be left over – and a classic Joaquin Sabina song, ‘Nos sobran los motivos’ – We have plenty of reasons.
In our case… Nos sobran motivos para ser felices – We’ve got plenty of reasons to be happy…
Because we are starting a brand new audio series on November 5th – Notes in Spanish Conversations.
These will be more of our trademark real-speed, 100% natural, real Spanish conversations, just like our Advanced series, with a new, streamlined ‘Real, Essential Spanish’ transcript that includes the transcript of our whole conversation and a list of the Real Essential Spanish you need to know from each show.
We’ll be in touch soon with more details, and the first weekly episode will be out November 5th. Until then, keep listening to our other audios and working with the worksheets in our store to bring you up to speed.
Photo lovers: the photo at the top of this email is from Cordoba, back in 2008 – check out more at our Instagram page (which Ben is very excited about getting out with his camera to work on!): https://www.instagram.com/notesinspanish/
In episode 10 Ben and Marina discuss why Spain still has such a crazy timetable for shops, office work, and meals.
¡Un abrazo desde Madrid!
