Ben and Marina answer questions from listeners about everyday expressions, grammar, and language resources. Below are the notes from the Q and A:
Estoy deseando conocerte – I’m looking forward to meeting you.
No tener dos dedos de frente – Thick as a brick – read about the origin of the phrase here.
Cada quien baila con su propia pañuelo – Everyone is very individualistic.
El mundo es un pañuelo – It’s a small world.
South American Spanish – Ben is reading Mas allá del invierno by Isabel Allende (Contains disturbing scenes).
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.
