Welcome to Unit 7 of the Live Lingua Spanish podcast. In this unit you will learn how to: Ask for some common souvenir items by name. Understand what material an item is made from. Negotiate a lower price. If you want to read along with the text of these episodes, find additional practices exercise or […] Read more
This is a conversation between Mr. Jacobs and a seller in a souvenir shop. Mrs. Jacobs asks about the cost and material used in some of the souvenirs and tries to negotiate a lower price. Steven Jacobs: Buenas noches. ¿Cuánto quiere por la muñeca? Seller: Buenas noches, señor. Doscientos pesos. Mr. Jacobs: ¿Por qué tan […] Read more
Depending on where you go in Latin America, the variety of souvenirs you can get will vary widely in type and quality. Make sure to research what is worth getting from each region before going so that you do not overpay for items that are not worth it. “¿Cuánto quiere?” is only used when asking […] Read more
Let’s start by learning the names of some basic souvenirs you will find in your travels around Latin America. Repeat the following. Let’s get started! ¡Empecemos! La muñeca. Doll. El plato. Plate. La Hamaca. Hammock. Las Huaraches. Sandals. Las Aretes. Earrings. El anillo. Ring. El collar. Necklace. El tapiz. Tapestry. El brazalete. Bracelet. La máscara. […] Read more
When you are interested in buying something, you may also be interested in what the product is made of. The most commonplace situation where this can apply is with jewelry. For example, you may want to know if it is made of gold, silver or some other material. To ask what anything is made […] Read more
Like all things in Spanish, the gender used when negotiating is very important. When you are asking “How much for this?” you would say either “¿Cuánto quiere por ese?” or “¿Cuánto quiere por esa?” depending on the gender of the item. Let’s practice with a few. In the following practice, we will give you […] Read more
In the previous episode you learned how to ask “How much for this?”. Now, we are going to learn how to ask for an item that is farther away from you by asking “How much for that?” In Spanish, you would say either “¿Cuánto quiere por este?” or “¿Cuánto quiere por esta?” depending on the […] Read more
The final thing we need to add, building on the last two episodes, is asking for multiple items, or items that are plural by nature (like shoes or earrings). For feminine words, making them plural in Spanish is the same as in English. Just add an “s” to the end of the word. Esa -> […] Read more
Now that you know how to ask for the price, it is time to start negotiation. The first step in that is to let them know the price is too high. To say that, you would say: ¿Por qué tan caro? For a feminine item: ¿Por qué tan cara? In the following exercise, […] Read more
Now that you learned how to let the salesperson know you think the item is too expensive, let’s start negotiating. For this exercise, the seller is going to give you a price for an item. You should ask for a price 100 pesos less than the one offered. Example: El brazalete cuesta 300 pesos […] Read more