December 23, 2006 Lesson 10 Notes In this edition: celebrating Christmas, giving gifts and singing songs! ¡Feliz Navidad! Lesson 10 Programme Notes Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish, the podcast aimed at independent learners of Spanish. In Coffee Break Spanish we’ll be guiding you through the basics of the Spanish language and helping you to learn to communicate in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. Navidades Christmas period This gives the following greeting: ¡Feliz Navidad! Happy Christmas! Lesson 10 of Coffee Break Spanish is a special edition of the show with a festive theme. The notes will give you access to the language covered in the lesson and will provide some extra material including song lyrics. To wish someone a Happy New Year, you would say: Christmas Greetings ¡Próspero Año Nuevo! Happy New Year! As most Spanish-speaking countries have Christian traditions, Christmas is a major feast throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The word for Christmas itself is: Dialogues Two dialogues were included in the recording of lesson 10. Here is the transcript of both dialogues to help you get to grips with the language covered. Navidad Christmas The plural form of this word is used to talk about the Christmas season: Mark: Hola. Jair: 1 Hola, buenos días. The word él is used to reinforce the subject as “he”. Mark: ¿Qué tal? Jair: Muy bien. Mark: ¿Cómo te llamas? Jair: Me llamo Jair. ¡Cantemos! Mark: Jair, ¿de dónde eres? Jair: Soy de México. Soy de Veracruz, pero ahora vivo en Glasgow, Escocia. Mark: ¿En qué trabajas? Jair: Navidad, Navidad, hoy es Navidad Con campanas este día hay que festejar. Navidad, Navidad, porque ya nació ayer noche, Nochebuena, el niñito Diós. Soy maestro. Mark: Y ¿te gusta tu trabajo? Jair: Me encanta. Mark: Muy bien. Pues, muchas gracias, Jair. One word which you may not yet know is: (el) maestro/a teacher A transcript of the second dialogue now follows: Ana: Hola, me llamo Ana. Soy de Barcelona, pero ahora vivo en Glasgow, en Escocia. Trabajo en un colegio y me gusta mucho mi trabajo. Mark: Ana, ¿tienes hermanos? Ana: Sí, tengo un hermano mayor. Se llama Miguel y él vive en Valencia. Mark: Y en tu tiempo libre, ¿qué te gusta hacer? Ana: In Lesson 10 we learned to sing Navidad, Navidad, a Christmas song to the melody of the popular Christmas song Jingle Bells. En mi tiempo libre me gusta ir al cine. Me gusta salir con mis amigos, y me gusta mucho leer. Here are some words and phrases to help you fully understand the lyrics of this song: hoy today una campana a bell este día this day hay que... you have to... festejar to celebrate nació was born Mark: Muy bien. Ana said she had an older brother: ya already un hermano mayor an older brother When talking about her brother, she said: él vive en Valencia he lives in Valencia. The word él refers to “he”. It’s not necessary to use this: vive en Valencia in the example above would equally have meant “he lives in Valencia”. 2 porque because ayer yesterday Nochebuena Christmas Eve ¡es genial! it’s great el niño / el niñito the boy / the little boy es justo lo que quería It’s just what I wanted Diós God ¡Qué detalle! That was so nice of you! A loose translation of the song is as follows: Christmas, Christmas, today is Christmas This day must be celebrated with the ringing of bells Christmas, Christmas, because already Last night, Christmas Eve, the God-child was born. Bonus language In the bonus podcast for lesson 10 we’ve covered some phrases which may be useful if you’re giving presents to Spanish-speaking friends over Christmas. If you have something for someone you could use one of the following phrases. Note that these phrases are all in the informal forms: te he traído algo I’ve brought you something Hopefully you’re now fully equipped to give and accept Christmas presents in Spanish! Bonus song The extra podcast included a bonus Christmas song. Here are the lyrics with a translation to help you understand the Spanish lyrics. Oh pueblecito de Belén, cuan quieto tú estás. Los astros en silencio dan su bella luz en paz. Mas en tus calles brilla la luz de redención que da a todo hombre la eterna salvación. The song words are explained in the bonus podcast. The following words and phrases should help you get the meaning of the lyrics. esto es para ti this is for you Someone giving you a gift may say: a ver si te gusta let’s see if you like it a ver si te queda bien let’s see if it fits / suits you Oh little town of Bethlehem How still you are The stars in silence Peacefully shine their beautiful light. But in your streets shines the light of redemption which gives to all men eternal salvation. espero que te guste I hope you like it If you’re accepting a gift then it would be polite to say muchas gracias. You could also say that you like it: me gusta or me encanta. You could develop this by saying: 3 CoffeeBreakSpanish.com All materials ©Copyright Radio Lingua International 2006