A nurse from Valencia arrives in Bilbao in August with a dead phone and asks a stranger for directions. You will practise asking where things are, the difference between ser and estar, and simple travel sentences. See today's words with pictures and subtitles: watch the Spanish video lessons by level on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@SpanishShadowLearning/playlists 0:00 Welcome and the scene1:19 Marta arrives in Bilbao5:23 Asking a stranger10:36 At the hotel13:14 The whole story again15:10 Check your understanding16:28 See you tomorrow Learning faster with the videos: every lesson style in this podcast has an illustrated version on YouTube, new every day from A1 to C2, with the Spanish and English on screen. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@SpanishShadowLearningA short lesson every day on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spanishshadowlearning/ Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1bwlOpCvZ3lQwaxjbFu1oG / Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spanish-shadow-daily/id6825677794 / YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpanishShadowLearning Full transcript Welcome and the sceneHost: Hello and welcome to Spanish Shadow Daily. This is Spanish Story Time, and today's story is for A1, complete beginners.Host: Here is the scene. It is August, and a woman called Marta has just arrived in Bilbao, in the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. She is from Valencia, on the east coast, so this city is new to her.Host: Her phone battery is dead, she cannot find her hotel, and she has to do something many of us dread: stop a stranger and ask for directions in Spanish.Host: Along the way we will learn one big thing: Spanish has two verbs for to be. One of them is this.Co-host: ser = to be (what something is)Host: And the other is this.Co-host: estar = to be (where or how something is)Host: The simple rule for today: the first one is for what something is, like your job, your nationality, your character. The second one is for where something is and how it feels right now. You will hear both many times in the story.Host: Here is how it works. After each Spanish sentence, you will hear a tone. In the pause, say the sentence out loud, even if you are walking or cooking. Then I explain it. Ready? Let's go. Marta arrives in BilbaoA: Es agosto y Marta está en Bilbao. = It is August and Marta is in Bilbao.Host: It is August and Marta is in Bilbao. Look, both verbs in the very first sentence. The month gets the first verb, because August is what the month is.A: agosto = AugustHost: August. In Spanish, months have no capital letter, and the g here is soft, like a breathy h. Then Marta's location gets the second verb.A: está en = is inHost: Is in. Whenever you say where someone or something is, this is your verb. Where is the station, where is Marta, always this one.A: Marta es de Valencia. = Marta is from Valencia.Host: Marta is from Valencia. Now where she is from is part of who she is, so we use the first verb, the one for what things are.A: es de = is fromHost: Is from. Notice the difference with the last sentence. She is in Bilbao right now, but she is from Valencia. Origin is part of who you are, so it takes the first verb.A: Tiene veintiocho años y es enfermera. = She is twenty-eight years old and she is a nurse.Host: She is twenty-eight years old and she is a nurse. Remember that in Spanish you have years, you do not be them. Twenty-eight is twenty plus eight, said as one word.A: enfermera = nurse (female)Host: Nurse. A job is what you are, so again the first verb. And one lovely thing: no article. Spanish leaves out the word for a, so it is literally she is nurse.A: Está un poco nerviosa. = She is a little nervous.Host: She is a little nervous. This is a feeling right now, not her personality, so it takes the second verb.A: nerviosa = nervousHost: Nervous. It ends in a because Marta is a woman. A nervous man would end the word in o. If Marta were nervous by nature, a nervous person in general, that would be the first verb, but today it is just a passing mood.A: Quería llegar al hotel, pero está perdida. = She wanted to get to the hotel, but she is lost.Host: She wanted to get to the hotel, but she is lost. A little bit of the past here.A: quería llegar = she wanted to arriveHost: She wanted to arrive, or wanted to get to. This past form is very useful in shops and hotels too: I wanted a room, I wanted a coffee. It sounds polite.A: perdida = lostHost: Lost. Being lost is a situation, a state you are in right now, so it takes the second verb. Nobody is lost as part of their personality, I hope.A: Su teléfono no tiene batería. = Her phone has no battery.Host: Her phone has no battery. Literally, her phone does not have battery. The little word no goes right before the verb, and that is all you need to make a negative.A: batería = batteryHost: Battery. Easy to recognise, but careful with the stress: it lands on the i, ba te RI a. And the first word of the sentence means her; it can also mean his or your. Asking a strangerHost: Now Marta sees a young man with a shopping bag. His name is Jon, he is from Bilbao, and she decides to ask him. Listen to how she starts.A: Hola, perdona, ¿dónde está la calle Ledesma? = Hi, excuse me, where is Ledesma Street?Host: Hi, excuse me, where is Ledesma Street? This is the golden sentence of the episode. Learn this one and you can survive any city in Spain.A: perdona = excuse meHost: Excuse me, or sorry. This is the friendly, informal version, perfect for a young person in the street. Hello plus this word is how almost every Spaniard stops a stranger.A: dónde está = where isHost: Where is. Location again, so it is the second verb, every single time. Where is the hotel, where is the bathroom, where is the station: same two words, then the place.B: ¡Hola! Está muy cerca, a cinco minutos. = Hi! It is very close, five minutes away.Host: Hi! It is very close, five minutes away. Good news for Marta. Jon answers with the same location verb.B: cerca = close, nearHost: Close or near. Its opposite is far, and you will hear both in every set of directions. The c before e sounds like a th in Spain, so it is THER ka.B: a cinco minutos = five minutes awayHost: Five minutes away. Literally, at five minutes. That little a is how Spanish says how far something is. At two minutes, at ten minutes, at one hour.B: Mi hermano trabaja en un bar allí. = My brother works in a bar there.Host: My brother works in a bar there. Jon is being friendly, and a bit of a local guide.B: hermano = brotherHost: Brother. The h is completely silent, so it starts with er. Sister would end in a instead of o. The next word means works, a regular verb, and the last word of the sentence means there.B: Sí, y el pintxo de tortilla cuesta dos euros. = Yes, and the tortilla pintxo costs two euros.Host: Yes, and the tortilla pintxo costs two euros. Here is your one local word for today. A pintxo, spelled the Basque way, is a small snack on a slice of bread, the Basque Country's famous bar food. Tortilla here is the Spanish potato omelette, not a Mexican flatbread.B: cuesta = costsHost: Costs. You will hear this in every shop and market. How much does it cost is the question, and the answer is this word plus the price. Two euros for a snack is a very good deal.A: ¡Qué bien! Tengo hambre. = Great! I am hungry.Host: Great! I am hungry. Marta is forgetting her nerves already. Two tiny sentences, both very useful.A: tengo hambre = I am hungryHost: I am hungry, but literally I have hunger. Just like age, hunger is something you have in Spanish. The h at the start is silent, so it sounds like AM bre.B: Es por la izquierda, siempre recto. = It is to the left, always straight ahead.Host: It is to the left, always straight ahead. Now the actual directions. Here the first verb is used in a fixed way to say which way you go, not where a spot is. The little word before the left means through or by way of.B: siempre recto = always straight aheadHost: Always straight ahead. The first word means always, and the second means straight. Together they are the two words every Spaniard says while waving a hand down the street. The left is the other phrase here, with that tricky z, EETH kier da.A: Gracias, eres muy amable. = Thank you, you are very kind.Host: Thank you, you are very kind. A perfect way to close a conversation with a stranger.A: amable = kind, friendlyHost: Kind or friendly. Kindness is a quality of the person, part of who they are, so this sentence uses the first verb, in its you form. Say this to anyone who helps you and you will make their day. At the hotelA: Marta llega al hotel a las ocho. = Marta arrives at the hotel at eight.Host: Marta arrives at the hotel at eight. So she found it, five minutes and one left turn later.A: llega = arrivesHost: Arrives. The double l in Spain sounds like a y, so it is YE ga. And a time of day is said with the little word a plus the hour: at eight, at nine, at ten.A: La habitación es pequeña, pero está limpia. = The room is small, but it is clean.Host: The room is small, but it is clean. This is the best example of our two verbs in one breath. Small is what the room is, so first verb. Clean is its condition right now, so second verb.A: habitación = roomHost: Room, as in a bedroom or a hotel room. Silent h again, stress on the end, a bi ta THION. It is a feminine word, so it takes la.A: limpia = cleanHost: Clean. With the second verb, because a room can be clean today and dirty tomorrow. Nothing about a room is clean forever, sadly.A: Hay leche y café en la habitación. = There is milk and coffee in the room.Host: There is milk and coffee in the room. The little word at the start means there is or there are, and it never changes. One thing, ten things, same word.A: leche = milkHost: Milk. Feminine word, and the ch is just like English, LE che. Coffee with milk is the classic Spanish order, so these two words belong together.A: Ahora Marta está contenta. = No
