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🇪🇸 Spanish · Fluency Level 2

PART 3 · LESSON 30 OF 30 · 40 MINUTES

Twelve Grapes

New Year's Eve on the terrace of the top-floor flat, with twelve grapes each and the clock in Madrid on the television. When the last chime strikes, it's twenty-five days to the exam, on Saturday January twenty-sixth. Say have you got the grapes ready, peeled and seedless, the quarters don't count, stop, those are the quarters, I didn't have time, my mouth is full, tonight we don't talk about the exam, may this be your year - and look back at the whole of Fluency Level Two.

Audio instruction: English

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THE STORY

It's Monday, December 31st, 2029, five to midnight, on the terrace of the top-floor flat. It's eight degrees, which in Seville is freezing, so everyone is wrapped in a blanket. On a little table, a television shows the clock in Madrid's main square, where the whole of Spain eats a grape with each of the twelve chimes. In front of Sarah, Julian, Encarna, Emily and Curro, back from Boston yesterday, there's a small bowl with twelve grapes. Encarna came up in the lift, which she now calls "my lift". This is the conversation you'll be able to say by the end of the lesson.

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Words and phrases

The lesson is for your ears. Open this afterwards, to see what you learned.
¿Tenéis las uvas preparadas?teh-NEH-ees lahs OO-bahs preh-pah-RAH-dahsHave you got the grapes ready? To a group.
Doce cada uno.DOH-seh KAH-dah OO-nohTwelve each.
Peladas y sin pepitaspeh-LAH-dahs ee seen peh-PEE-tahsPeeled and seedless
como manda la tradiciónKOH-moh MAHN-dah lah trah-dee-see-OHNas tradition demands
¿Y cuándo empiezo?ee KWAHN-doh ehm-pee-EH-sohAnd when do I start?
Con la primera campanada.kohn lah pree-MEH-rah kahm-pah-NAH-dahWith the first chime.
los cuartoslohs KWAHR-tohsthe quarters
Los cuartos no cuentan.lohs KWAHR-tohs noh KWEHN-tahnThe quarters don't count.
¡Ya, ya, que empiezan!yah yah keh ehm-pee-EH-sahnThat's it, they're starting!
quietokee-EH-tohkeep still, to a man

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