In this Spanish lesson we will practice using the Spanish Past Simple grammar tense: El Pretérito Imperfecto. As usual, first we will review some relevant grammar and vocabulary and then see if you can follow a short listening.

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This lesson is part of a Spanish course that practices the grammar and vocabulary first introduced in my beginner Spanish course posted here on the Transparent Language blog. Let’s test your listening comprehension and see if you can understand a short audio in Spanish. The transcript to the audio will be given at the end of the post but please try not to look at it until you have tried playing and understanding the audio a few times.

Use the following link to watch the corresponding video lesson of the original course:

Beginner Spanish Lesson 40 El Pretérito Imperfecto

Please familiarise yourself with the following words and phrases before listening to the audio below:

Cacahuetes: peanuts
Alimentos: food
Tal vez: Maybe
En vez de: Instead of
De pequeño: As a child
Por lo menos: at least

Now play the audio to listen a conversation between two friends. Can you understand what they are saying? Play the audio a few times before you look at the transcript. Don’t worry if you don’t understand every single thing the two people are saying. Try to catch whichever words you can and then try to piece things together to work out what is being said.

(Play the audio a few times before you scroll down and look at the transcript)

Transcript:

Elisa: Hola Peter. ¿Quieres algo para comer?
Peter: Bueno vale. ¿Qué tienes?
Elisa: Unos cacahuetes.
Peter: Oh no. No como cacahuetes.
Elisa: ¿Tienes alergia?
Peter: Ahora no, pero cuando era pequeño tenía alergia a los cacahuetes.
Elisa: Yo cuando era pequeña comía muchos alimentos con gluten (pan, espaguetis, pizza…) y luego me dolía mucho la tripa.
Peter: ¿Tal vez tenías alergia al gluten?
Elisa: Sí, más o menos. Tenía intolerancia al gluten. Y todavía la tengo.
Peter: Oh, ¿Y qué comes en vez de pan?
Elisa: Pues hace unos años comía pan sin gluten y pasta sin gluten, pero ya no. No me gustan nada. Prefiero comer arroz y quinoa.
Peter: Mmm.. Me encanta el arroz. El risotto es mi plato favorito. De pequeño no me gustaba, pero ahora me gusta muchísimo.
Elisa: Yo prefiero la paella. Como paella tres veces a la semana por lo menos.
Peter: A mí me gusta la paella también.

So, how did you get on? How much did you understand of the listening? Please let me know in the comments section below…

Don’t worry if you didn’t understand that much, keep reviewing the vocabulary and phrases and you will soon be up to speed and ready for the next lesson in this course. See you next time!