Meeting Someone In Spanish Via Voice Message: Audio Transcripts
These days you could be meeting someone in Spanish online, get to know them without ever meeting in person.
But how can you do this in Spanish? What does it look like when native Spanish speakers are getting to know each other by sending voice messages via WhatsApp?
See how Spring Spanish teacher Paulisima will get to know Spring Spanish teacher Maura, just by sending voice messages back and forth.
1. Meeting someone in Spanish: Poniendo el tono (Setting the tone)
PAULISIMA
¡Hola, Maura! ¡Oye, quĂ© gusto conocerte! Lástima que estemos tan lejos, pero ya nos conoceremos en persona algĂşn dĂa.
(Hello, Maura! How nice to meet you! Too bad we’re so far away, but we’ll eventually meet in person some day.)
Ya nos conoceremos. (We will eventually meet.)
We love this construction to talk about the future: Ya nos conoceremos. (We will eventually meet.)
Learn it just like that! As a chunk of Spanish:
✔️ Cheat Sheet with 54 essential Spanish Chunks you’ll hear and use yourself in ANY Spanish conversation (and example sentences). Taken from our YouTube Teacher’s most popular videos!
✔️ 2 Bonus Cheat Sheets with Travel Chunks and Dating/Relationship Chunks
✔️ A Spanish Chunking Tutorial showing you the 1 technique that’ll help you make 100% of the Spanish from our videos roll off the tongue in just 5 minutes a day (you’re probably only using 50% of our lessons’ potential right now…)
PAULISIMA
Oye, ¿está bien si te mando mensajes de voz? Es que se me hace mucho más fácil, pero a muchas personas no les gustan. Proceso mejor te pregunto porque
(Hey, is it okay if I send you voice messages? It just makes it so much easier, but I ask you because a lot of people don’t like them.)
ÂżEstá bien sĂ…? (Is it ok if…?)
Another great chunk of Spanish to ask people for their consent. Chunks are phrases commonly used by native speakers, and because they don’t vary, they can do wonders for your fluency. You just learn it once, and you’re right all the time!
Spanish | English |
---|---|
¿Está bien si tomo esta silla? | Is it ok if I take this chair? |
¿Está bien si me sirvo café? | Is it ok if I pour myself some coffee? |
¿Está bien si te abrazo? | Is it ok if I hug you? |
¿Está bien si continuamos hablando con Maura? | Is it ok if we continue talking to Maura? |
MAURA:
¡Hola, PaulĂsima! ¡Igualmente! ¡Mucho gusto! ¡Claro! Por mĂ están bien los mensajes de voz, solo que a veces no los puedo escuchar inmediatamente.
(Hi, PaulĂsima! You, too! Nice to meet you! Of course! Voice messages are fine with me, it’s only that I can’t listen to them right away sometimes.)
Solo que (It’s only that) is a great chunk of Spanish to introduce an excuse.
2. Hablando sobre rutinas (Talking about routines)
PAULISIMA:
¡Claro! ¡Claro! Igual. Me pasa lo mismo. Pues ya, nos escuchamos cuando podamos. Oye, y cuéntame, ¿cómo organizas tu semana laboral?
(Of course! Of course! Likewise. The same happens to me. Well, we’ll listen to each other when we can. Hey, and tell me, how do you organize your work week?)
MAURA:
Trabajo todos los dĂas de lunes a viernes. Suelo terminar sobre las 7:00 p.m., aunque luego tengo clases o alguna activad deportiva. Y hago todo lo posible por no trabajar los fines de semana. ÂżY tĂş?
(I work every day from Monday to Friday. I usually finish around 7:00 p.m., although I later have classes or some sport activity. And I try my best not to work on weekends. How about you?)
PAULISIMA:
¡Ay, quĂ© organizada eres! Yo, no. Yo, por cuatro dĂas, pienso mucho en lo que tengo que escribir y hago investigaciĂłn. DespuĂ©s, tomo un solo dĂa de la semana para realmente sentarme y escribirlo todo. ¡Por eso termino trabajando el domingo a las tres de la mañana! ¡SĂ, amiga, creo que tengo que organizarme mejor!
(Oh, how organized you are! Not me. I, for 4 days, think a lot about what I have to write, and I do research. Then, I take only 1 day of the week to really sit down and write everything. That’s why I end up working on Sunday at 3 in the morning! Yes, girlfriend, I think I have to organize myself better!)
My people, did you notice how many words we said end with O:
- Pienso (I think)
- tengo (I have)
- hago (I do)
- tomo (I take)
- termino (I finish)
And this is because we’re conjugating lots of verbs for the grammatical person “yo” (I), I. Learn more about that subject of conjugating with yo in this video.
This is also a great time to subscribe to the Spring Spanish channel, mi gente (my people). In case you haven’t done it yet.
3. Hablando sobre pasatiempos (Talking about hobbies)
PAULISIMA:
ÂżOye, me comentaste que estás viviendo en Madrid, verdad? ¡QuĂ© lindo! CuĂ©ntame, ÂżcĂłmo te gusta pasar los dĂas por allá? ÂżQuĂ© te gusta hacer para divertirte?
(Hey, you told me that you are living in Madrid, right? How nice! Tell me, how do you like to spend your days there? What do you like to do for fun?)
Here we used two phrases that you can use to ask a person about their favorite hobbies or activities:
Spanish | English |
---|---|
ÂżCĂłmo te gusta pasar los dĂas? | How do you like to spend your days? |
¿Qué te gusta hacer para divertirte? | What do you like to do for fun? |
We have more options of how to have a conversation about hobbies right in this video with Juan, see it here.
Let’s see what Maura says.
MAURA:
Madrid es una ciudad bellĂsima, con mucha vida de bares, asĂ que vamos a alguno al menos una vez a la semana. Lo que sĂ pasa es que no tiene casi nada de naturaleza dentro de la ciudad, asĂ que nos toca salir una hora o más hacia las afueras para hacer algo de senderismo y asĂ. Igual como me encanta viajar, siempre aprovecho esas excusas para ir a conocer algĂşn pueblito nuevo. ÂżY tĂş? ÂżQuĂ© tal la vida por MĂ©xico?
( Madrid is a beautiful city, with lots of bars, so we go to one at least once a week. What does happen is that there is almost no nature within the city, so we have to go out for an hour or more to the outskirts to do some hiking and such. Anyway, since I love to travel, I always take advantage of those excuses to see a new little town. How about you? How’s life in Mexico?)
PAULISIMA:
¡Ah, quĂ© padre! O, ¡quĂ© guay más bien! ¡CĂłmo dicen los españoles! ¡A mĂ me encanta salir a conocer la ciudad a pie! ¡Me gusta mucho caminar! Voy mucho a museos o exhibiciones o eventos artĂsticos. ¡Me fascina comer fuera! Es que la comida aquĂ en la Ciudad de MĂ©xico es increĂble, increĂble. ÂżTe gusta la comida mexicana?
(Oh, “quĂ© padre”! (Mexican for “how cool”) Or “¡quĂ© guay!” (Spanish for “how cool”) As the Spanish say! I love getting to know the city by foot! I really like walking! I go a lot to museums or exhibitions or art events. I love eating out! It’s just that the food here in Mexico City is incredible, incredible. Do you like Mexican food?)
4. Hablando sobre preferencias (Talking about preferences)
Did you notice the chunks we used to introduce our likes and preferences?
Spanish | English |
---|---|
A mi me encanta… | I love… |
Me gusta mucho… | I really like… |
Me fascina… | I’m fascinated by… |
Let’s see if Maura uses any of these chunks.
MAURA:
¡Me fascina la comida mexicana! No te lo puedo explicar. Por lo menos dos o tres veces al mes salgo a algún restaurante mexicano. Me muero por ir a México para probar las cosas más auténticas. Es una de las mejores cosas de viajar, probar la comida autóctona.
(I love Mexican food! I can’t explain it to you. At least 2 or 3 times a month I go out to a Mexican restaurant. I’m dying to go to Mexico to try the most authentic things. That’s one of the best things about traveling, trying the local food.)
PAULISIMA:
¡Ay, quĂ© bien! ÂżSabes quĂ©? ¡A mĂ tambiĂ©n me encantan los viajes! Soy muy afortunada de que como hago home office, tengo mucha flexibilidad para trabajar desde cualquier lugar. Si Dios quiere,este año voy a ir a Malasia este año, asĂ que si andas por Asia, pues podrĂamos conocernos o reunirnos en algĂşn lugar.
(Oh, that’s great! You know what? I also love traveling! I am very lucky to work from home, I have the flexibility to work from anywhere. God willing, I’m going to Malaysia this year, so if you’re in Asia, we could meet up at some point.)
Notaste el “Si Dios quiere”? (Did you notice the “God willing?) It means “God willing” and it’s a phrase that is widely used in Mexico, especially amongst adults.
MAURA:
Uff, Âżte imaginas? SerĂa increĂble irnos de viaje juntas. ¡Quizás a Bali!
(Pff, could you imagine? It would be amazing to go on a trip together. Maybe to Bali!)
PAULISIMA:
¡Ay, sĂ me encantarĂa! ¡Amo Bali! Oye, hablamos más tarde, es que ahora sĂ ya me tengo que poner a trabajar.
(Oh, yes I would love to! I love Bali! Hey, let’s continue talking later, because now I do have to get to work.)