Sebastian: ¡Hola! and welcome to Un día en español, a Babbel podcast for Spanish learners that welcomes you into the lives of Spanish speakers in the US and Latin America. 

I'm your host, Sebastian, and I'm here to help you follow the story and make sure you learn something new by the end of each episode. 

Remember, if you don't understand everything the first time through, you can always go back and listen again. You can also read along while you listen to help train your comprehension skills. Visit babbel.com/podcasts to access our dynamic transcript, which includes the full text of the story as well as extras, like maps, photos and more! 

Today we'll hear from Andrea, who’s from Panama but lives in Mexico. She takes us to Puerto Escondido, where she's de vacaciones, on vacation, and where she learns to surf. I have never surfed myself – I think it looks amazing, but also kind of scary. Andrea felt the same way, she always thought it looked so cool, but something was holding her back. But there are days in life that really change you, and this was one of those days for Andrea.

Andrea: ¡Hola! Soy Andrea. Soy de Panamá pero vivo en México. Ahora estoy de vacaciones en la costa pacífica de México, en Puerto Escondido, mi ciudad favorita. 

Sebastian: Have you ever been to Puerto Escondido? I'm curious now, Andrea says that it's her ciudad favorita, her favorite city. What's so special about this city? Other than its mysterious name, of course, which translates to “hidden port”. 

Andrea: Puerto Escondido no es muy famoso para los turistas, como Cancún o Cabo, ¡pero es famoso para todos los amantes del surf! 

Sebastian: Oh I see, so Puerto Escondido is not famoso para los turistas, or not famous or well known by tourists, but is full of amantes del surf, surf lovers. I bet you can find huge waves there, or olas. Yep, it sounds like the greeting, hola, but ola, written without an “h” meaning “wave” in Spanish. 

Andrea: Las olas en Puerto Escondido son como las olas de Hawái: ¡son olas muy grandes! Por eso hay muchas personas que practican surf aquí. Yo quiero practicar surf, pero tengo un problema: ¡no sé nadar! 

Sebastian: Ooo, so here we have a problem. Andrea would like to practicar surf, but she says that she can't swim: no sé nadar. In Spanish when you want to talk about your ability to do something, or about something you've learned, you can say sé and the verb, or no sé and the verb if you don‘t have the ability to do something. 

So today Andrea is going to enjoy a day en la playa, at the beach, of Puerto Escondido. 

Andrea: Me encanta estar en la playa. Voy a la playa temprano en la mañana todos los días. Me gusta mirar a los surfistas. También me gusta leer en la playa y beber jugos de frutas. 

Sebastian: Mmm, sounds like a very relaxing plan: drinking fruit juice, reading… She says that she really likes to be at the beach, me encanta estar en la playa, and that she likes to watch the surfers, me gusta mirar a los surfistas. I guess she wishes she could swim, so she could surf herself. Suddenly, de repente, one of the surf instructors comes up to talk to her and asks her if she wants to take a surf lesson. 

Andrea: De repente, uno de los instructores de surf quiere hablar conmigo. 

Tivo: –¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Soy Tivo. Soy instructor de surf. ¿Quieres hacer un curso de surf? 

Andrea: –Oh...Mejor no...gracias. 

Sebastian: Andrea says that she'd better not take a surf lesson. I guess this surprises Tivo, and he asks her if she doesn't like to surf, no te gusta el surf. And Andrea tells him the truth: I can't swim, no sé nadar. 

Tivo: –¿Por qué no? ¿No te gusta el surf? 

Andrea: –Bueno...la verdad es que… no sé nadar. 

Tivo: –Aahh… Entiendo, pero eso no es un problema: ¡no necesitas saber nadar! ¡Solo necesitas estar bien asegurada a la tabla! 

Sebastian: Oh, seriously? I didn't know you could take a surf lesson if you can't swim. But Tivo explained that as long as she is asegurada a la tabla, secured to the board, she'll be fine. Call me overly cautious, but I don't think I would take a surf lesson if I couldn't swim. 

Andrea: –¿En serio? 

Tivo: –Sí, en serio. Si quieres aprender, yo te puedo ayudar. 

Andrea: –¡OK! Buenísimo.

Sebastian: Well, Andrea is way braver than me! Tivo tells her that si quieres aprender, if you want to learn, he can help her, te puedo ayudar. And Andrea doesn't think twice! 

In the afternoon she is again en la playa, at the beach, ready for her first surf lesson. 

Andrea: En la tarde estoy otra vez en la playa lista para mi primera lección de surf. 

Sebastian: I'm still a bit worried for Andrea… But at least she’s gonna wear a life jacket, un chaleco salvavidas. 

Andrea: Para mi primera lección tengo un chaleco salvavidas. Eso está bien: me gusta la seguridad. 

Sebastian: I like la seguridad too, Andrea! Tivo and Andrea first practice outside of the water, fuera del agua. Tivo explains what to do and answers all of Andrea's questions, and she is less nervous. And now she says that she‘s ready to take her first waves: estoy lista para tomar olas.

Andrea: Primero Tivo y yo practicamos fuera del agua. Él me explica muchas cosas y responde a todas mis preguntas. Ahora no estoy nerviosa y estoy lista para tomar olas. 

Sebastian: Tivo and Andrea are on their tablas de surf, surf boards. They wait for a wave. Andrea shouts ¡Viene una ola!, a wave is coming. 

Andrea: Tivo y yo estamos en las tablas y esperamos una ola. 

¡Viene una ola! 

Sebastian: She couldn’t take, or tomar, the first wave but she tries again, and after three attempts, she finally makes it! And it‘s great! 

Andrea: Pero no puedo tomar la primera ola. 

Intento tomar otra ola y después otra y otra, y, finalmente, tomo la ola. ¡Es genial! 

Dos horas después Tivo y yo terminamos la lección.

Sebastian: Okay, after two hours, they finally finished the lesson! I bet Andrea is tired. Tivo asks Andrea if she likes to surf, ¿Te gusta el surf?, and Andrea really likes it! She likes it so much that she wants to repeat the next day! 

Tivo: –¿Qué tal? ¿Te gusta el surf? 

Andrea: –¡Sí! ¡Me encanta el surf! ¡Mañana quiero repetir! ¿Puedo? 

Tivo: –Sí, pero tiene que ser muy temprano, mañana a las 6 de la mañana las olas van a estar perfectas para tu segunda lección. 

Andrea: –Normalmente no me gusta madrugar…¡pero puedo madrugar si voy a practicar surf! 

Sebastian: Alright, Andrea is going to have her second lesson tomorrow. She has to start muy temprano, very early, at 6 am! Although normally she doesn‘t like to get up early, no me gusta madrugar, she tells Tivo that she can do it if she‘s going to do some surfing! 

Ah, I'm so impressed with Andrea's courage, I definitely wouldn't have dared, especially with olas as big as the ones you can find in Hawaii. I guess sometimes we just need a bit of help to overcome our fears! 

Were you able to catch a lot of the Spanish in this episode? Visit babbel.com/podcasts to follow along with the dynamic transcript, get helpful learning resources, and test your knowledge with the full Spanish story. 

Un dia en español is produced by the language experts at Babbel. Whether you're hoping to make new Spanish-speaking friends or explore a new culture, the Babbel app teaches everything you need to understand and use the language. Thanks for listening and ¡Hasta el próximo día!