Che! Dame los cinco - #4

Che! Cómo andas?

Welcome to the “Che! Dame los cinco” newsletter.

For the new folks joining us, I send these 5 things for you every Monday morning:

1. a new word

2. a piece about Argentinian culture

3. a new expression

4. a piece of content I recommend

5. an exercise for improving your Spanish

📖 Palabra - vieja

This confused me the first time I heard but it’s a way of referring to your mom/mother. And it’s not an insult or bad thing - it has a good connotation!

Mi vieja cocina riquísimo!
Si si, mi vieja se la pasa lavando los platos.

🧉 Cultura - empanadas

A staple in Argentine cuisine, empanadas are something you must-try at least once in your life. I prefer the pollo ones because the ones de carne have green olives in them. Hopefully wherever you live, you can find a bakery or shop that sells them! For example, I found some in Arizona where I live and bought them at a local farmer’s market. Or, if you’re adventurous, you can bake some at home!

🗨️ Expresión - ¿me entendés? 

Very common to hear used by Argentinians. It roughly translates to “did you get it?” or “you know what I mean?” Here’s an example to hear how it’s pronounced by a native speaker.

🔗 Contenido - Salud Mental con Alan Disavia

Salud Mental con Alan Disavia is an awesome podcast about mental health. I like that is has a variety of episode types like 5 hours of positive affirmations or sleep hypnosis or 4 hours of study music. Great background music for work too! I’m a big fan.

💪🏼 Ejercicio - Call a local shop

Alright, I won’t lie this one is a little scary because phone calls are one of the hardest things to do as a non-native speaker in my opinion. But, chances are there is at least once shop/store in your city run by a native Spanish speaker.

In my case, I called a Mexican bakery and asked if they had medialunas. You’ll see in the video I struggled quite a bit but this is a great way to level up your listening and speaking skills IRL. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Thanks for reading! Espero que disfrutes la semana 😄

Abrazo desde tu amigo,
- Joe