Sebastian: Hola! Soy Sebastian y estás escuchando el pódcast Un día en español, a Spanish podcast for beginner learners! Each episode welcomes you into a day in the life of a Spanish speaker in Latin America or the US. I’m here to help you out and make sure you've learned some new Spanish expressions by the end of this episode!

Today we're heading to Argentina, where Micaela goes to visit her family with her boyfriend Tom. 

They live in the UK, Reino Unido, so it will be the first time Tom meets Micaela's family. And, by the way, by family, I don't just mean her mom and dad. He's meeting the whole family! This is a challenge for Tom as his Spanish is still at a beginner's level and Micaela's family doesn‘t speak any English at all. Meeting your partner's family for the first time is always an experience on its own, so imagine when you don't even speak the same language! Let's hear how this day goes!

Micaela: ¡Buen día! Soy Micaela y soy de Argentina, pero vivo en Reino Unido con mi novio, Tom. Hoy viajamos a Argentina para visitar a mi familia.

Sebastian: Once they arrive in Buenos Aires they take a bus to Micaela's home town: Firmat. This is a small town almost 250 miles away from Buenos Aires, where agriculture is an important source of income.

Micaela: Cuando llegamos a Buenos Aires, tomamos un autobús a Firmat. Mi familia vive allá, es una ciudad pequeña en una zona de mucha agricultura.

Sebastian: And finally, after a 13 hour flight and an 8 hour bus ride, they arrive in Firmat. Oof, I bet they are very cansados, tired. But Micaela is really looking forward to seeing her family and happy that Tom will finally meet them!

Micaela: Después de un vuelo de 13 horas y un viaje de 8 horas en bus llegamos finalmente a Firmat.

Estamos muy cansados, pero yo estoy contenta porque vamos a visitar a mi famila y también porque mi novio va a conocer por primera vez a mi familia.

Sebastian: When your partner meets your family for the first time it's always… well, let's just say an interesting experience. This one is going to be even more interesting because Tom doesn't speak much Spanish. So Micaela wonders if her family and Tom will be able to communicate.

Micaela: Esto va a ser una experiencia… ehm… interesante. Tom no habla mucho español y mi familia no habla nada de inglés. ¿Van a poder comunicarse? ¡Vamos a ver!

Sebastian: They take a taxi to Micaela's parents' house, but on the way there she receives a phone call from her mom to let her know that the family gathering will be at her abuelos' place.

Micaela: Tomamos un taxi a casa de mi papá y mamá. En ese momento mi mamá me llama por teléfono.

Mi mamá me dice que el plan es comer en casa de mis abuelos.

Sebastian: Right, ok, well, that's fine. Her abuela is very nice and friendly, her abuelo… although also nice, loves to ask his grandchildren's new partners many questions. He also talks a lot about politics, and has a very thick accent that even Micaela sometimes doesn't understand, so I guess poor Tom will be a bit lost in translation with him.

Micaela: Está bien, mi abuela es muy amable y simpática, mi abuelo… bueno, él también es simpático, pero hace muchas preguntas a las nuevas parejas de sus nietos y nietas, habla mucho de política y tiene un acento muy fuerte.

A veces yo no entiendo muy bien a mi abuelo. Creo que el pobre Tom tampoco va a entender muy bien a mi abuelo.

Sebastian: While Micaela is thinking about this, her mom is explaining the new plan further, and it's not just her parents and her abuelos who are going to be at this gathering, Micaela's granny has invited the WHOLE family.

Micaela: Mientras pienso en esto, mi mamá me dice que mi abuela no solo nos invita a mis papás y a nosotros a la comida: mi abuela hoy invita a toda la familia a comer.

Sebastian: So, maybe you come from a big family yourself, but in Spanish speaking countries, when we speak about the whole family we really mean that. This means that your parents and siblings are invited, of course, but also your abuelos, and don't forget your tíos and tías, uncles and aunts, and all of your primos y primas, cousins. In Micaela's case this means 20 people for lunch at her grandparents'! And everyone wants to meet Tom!

Micaela: En Argentina, cuando decimos toda la familia, significa TODA la familia: tu papá y mamá, tus hermanos y hermanas, tu abuelo y abuela, tus tíos y tías y también tus primos y primas.

Y yo tengo muchos primos y primas. ¡Vamos a ser 20 personas en casa de mis abuelos! ¡Todos quieren conocer a Tom!

Sebastian: Well, if you look on the bright side, after this reunion, Tom won't need any more family introductions! They finally get to her grandparents' house and the whole family is there to welcome them, ¡Qué alegría! Micaela is very happy to see them all.

Micaela: Llegamos a casa de mis abuelos y toda mi familia nos da la bienvenida. ¡Qué alegría poder verlos a todos!

Sebastian: And how do you greet your partner's family? Well, obviously with a kiss on the cheek, la mejilla, and sometimes a hug, un abrazo. This is all news to Tom though, and now 20 people are standing in line to kiss him.

Micaela: Todos nos damos besos. Tom está confundido porque no sabe que en Argentina damos un beso en la mejilla cuando saludamos, a veces también un abrazo.

Miro cómo mis familiares le dan un beso y él está un poco confundido.

Sebastian: And if all those besos y abrazos were not enough, now Micaela's 5 cousins, primos, are surrounding Tom. They ask him many questions about the trip. Ok, this is Tom's first Spanish test of the day!

Micaela: Después mis 5 primos rodean a Tom y le hacen muchas preguntas sobre el viaje. Este es el primer test de su español.

Tom: –Más despacio, por favor… Solo hablo un poco de español. Ah, sí, el viaje, ehmm, muy… largo. Estoy un poco cansado, sí.

Sebastian: Alright, well, for someone who has just travelled 21 hours, that first test didn't go so badly! Micaela's cousins are very amables, nice, and speak slowly with Tom. Everything is going de maravilla, marvelously! And Micaela thinks that Tom has passed his test: ¡test superado!

Micaela: Mis primos son amables y hablan despacio con Tom. Todo va de maravilla. ¡Test superado!

Sebastian: While everyone is talking to each other, one of Micaela's aunts brings out some mate. Do you know what that is? It's a traditional tea from South America, and it's very popular in Argentina.

Micaela: Entonces, mi tía trae mate, una bebida tradicional en Sudamérica, y me pregunta si Tom quiere probar un poco de mate.

Sebastian: Because it's such a common drink, Micaela's aunt wants Tom to try it. But Tom is no longer with her primos. Micaela's abuelo is now somewhere else in the farm with Tom.

Micaela: Pero Tom ya no está con mis primos. Ellos me dicen que está con mi abuelo. ¡Oh, no! Tengo que rescatar a Tom.

Sebastian: So, Micaela is going to the rescue! They are taking a walk around the farm, están dando un paseo por la granja. 

Micaela: Voy a buscar a Tom. Mi abuelo y él están dando un paseo por la granja. Seguro que mi abuelo le está haciendo muchas preguntas a Tom...

Sebastian: When she finds them, she sees that they are both looking at las vacas the cows that her abuelo has on the farm. Her grandpa is making a lot of gestures. And Tom is laughing, se ríe. Well, parece que se entienden muy bien, it seems that they understand each other very well!

Micaela: Cuando llego, veo que están mirando las vacas que tienen mis abuelos. Mi abuelo está haciendo muchos gestos Tom se ríe. Parece… parece que se entienden muy bien.

Sebastian: Micaela asks them if everything is fine, and finds out that Tom is quite happy with her abuelo. Tom tells her that they are talking about Tom's grandmother also having cows back in his country, and that she makes cheese.

Micaela: –¿Todo bien?

Tom: –Sí, todo muy bien. Tu abuelo es muy… simpático y habla despacio para mí.

Micaela: –¿Ah, sí?, ¡Qué bueno! ¿Y de qué hablan?

Tom: –Él me explica sobre las… hmm, ¿los animales grandes?

Micaela: –¿Las vacas?

Tom: –Sí, las vacas. Mi abuela también tiene vacas. Ella hace ehhmm, cheese?

Micaela: –¿Queso?

Tom: –Sí, exacto.

Sebastian: So they continue chatting away in their own mixture of Spanish, English and many hand gestures!

Micaela: Mi abuelo continúa hablando con Tom y hace muchos gestos con las manos. Tom responde en una mezcla de gestos, un poco de inglés y español.

Sebastian: As impossible as it seems, Micaela thinks they are able to understand each other perfectly. They continue with their walk around la granja, the farm, so that her grandpa can show him the rest of it, le muestra el resto de la granja.

Micaela: Es increíble, pero estos dos se entienden perfectamente. Ellos continúan con su paseo, mi abuelo le muestra a Tom el resto de la granja.

Me pregunto si con gestos también van a poder hablar sobre política, o quizás eso será un tema para la próxima visita.

Sebastian: Yeah! I'm also wondering, me pregunto, if gestures will be enough to discuss politics, but I agree with Micaela, maybe that's a topic for their next visit, after Tom works on his Spanish a little more! I always find it fascinating how much we're able to communicate even when we're still at a beginner level! And I'd say Tom made a great first impression on Micaela's family.

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Un día 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!