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🇪🇸 Spanish · Fluency Level 3

PART 1 · LESSON 2 OF 30 · 40 MINUTES Free

What Have You Got to Lose?

Sixteen days before the exam, the study group meets round Sarah's kitchen table for the last time, and Alvaro arrives with his mind made up. He isn't sitting it this year. Sarah, Nerea and Encarna have one evening to change his mind, with questions he can't answer. Persuade someone with questions - what have you got to lose by trying, if not now, when, what's the worst that can happen, and then what - and admit what you're afraid of.

Audio instruction: English

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Lesson 2 · What Have You Got to Lose?

Spanish · 40 minutes

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THE STORY

It's Thursday, January 10th, 2030, six in the evening, in the kitchen of the top-floor flat. The exam is in sixteen days, and this is the study group's last session before it. On Sunday night, Alvaro left Sarah a voice message. He had something to tell her and Nerea. Now he sits down at the kitchen table, and doesn't open his cards. At half past seven, Encarna comes up in her lift with the biscuits. At nine, at the door, Alvaro has one more thing to say. This is the conversation you'll be able to say by the end of the lesson.

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Words and phrases

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Este año no me presento.EHS-teh AH-nyoh noh meh preh-SEHN-tohThis year I'm not sitting it.
¿Cómo que no te presentas?KOH-moh keh noh teh preh-SEHN-tahsWhat do you mean, you're not sitting it?
Lo tengo decidido.loh TEHN-goh deh-see-DEE-dohMy mind's made up.
una tercera vezOO-nah tehr-SEH-rah behsa third time
No puedo suspender una tercera vez.noh PWEH-doh soos-pehn-DEHR OO-nah tehr-SEH-rah behsI can't fail a third time.
por intentarlopohr een-tehn-TAHR-lohby trying
¿Qué pierdes por intentarlo?keh pee-EHR-dehs pohr een-tehn-TAHR-lohWhat have you got to lose by trying?
lo poco que me quedaloh POH-koh keh meh KEH-dahwhat little I've got left
El orgullo. Lo poco que me queda.ehl ohr-GOO-yoh loh POH-koh keh meh KEH-dahMy pride. What little I've got left.
en el simulacroehn ehl see-moo-LAH-krohin the mock exam
¿Quién quedó el doce en el simulacro?kee-EHN keh-DOH ehl DOH-seh ehn ehl see-moo-LAH-krohWho came twelfth in the mock exam?
aquelloah-KEH-yohthat, back then
Pero aquello era un simulacro.PEH-roh ah-KEH-yoh EH-rah oon see-moo-LAH-krohBut that was a mock exam.
Si no es ahora, ¿cuándo?see noh ehs ah-OH-rah KWAHN-dohIf not now, when?
¿Y el año que viene vas a saber más?ee ehl AH-nyoh keh bee-EH-neh bahs ah sah-BEHR mahsAnd next year, are you going to know more?
¿Y esas caras?ee EH-sahs KAH-rahsAnd what's with those faces?
¿Y eso por qué?ee EH-soh pohr KEHAnd why's that?
Por miedo. Esa es la verdad.pohr mee-EH-doh EH-sah ehs lah behr-DAHDOut of fear. That's the truth.
¿Qué es lo peor que puede pasar?keh ehs loh peh-OHR keh PWEH-deh pah-SAHRWhat's the worst that can happen?
Que suspenda otra vez.keh soos-PEHN-dah OH-trah behsThat I fail again.
Que me presento el año que viene.keh meh preh-SEHN-toh ehl AH-nyoh keh bee-EH-nehThat I sit it next year.
Pues eso.pwehs EH-sohWell, there you are.
Vale. Me presento.BAH-leh meh preh-SEHN-tohAll right. I'm sitting it.
Eso lo he dicho yo.EH-soh loh eh DEE-choh yohThat's what I said.
muerta de miedoMWEHR-tah deh mee-EH-dohscared to death, a woman
Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente.kah-mah-ROHN keh seh DWEHR-meh seh loh YEH-bah lah koh-rree-EHN-tehYou snooze, you lose.