Telling a Story in Spanish
Telling a story in Spanish is a wonderful way of practising different verb tenses. Besides, some variety of vocabulary is also required and that is why many teachers require that their students learn how to develop this skill. Here you can read a short anecdote in Spanish and in English. This anecdote is part of a book with 15 conversations in Spanish: Más conversaciones en español. When you read a book in Spanish or just an anecdote, please try to take notes because the goal is not only to understand the content. On top of that, we should be able to tell the story. As you may know, to do that it is very helpful to write a summary of the story without using the same words.
Los entrenadores de fútbol: Pancho y Pedro
Un relato en español y en inglés.
A short story in Spanish and in English.
Listen to the audio here: AUDIO EPISODIO 212
En el año 2001 yo era profesor de Español en un instituto en Goldsboro, Carolina del Norte.
In 2001 I was a Spanish teacher at a high school in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
Un día, el director del instituto me dijo: “Tenemos un problema gordo.
One day, the principal of the high school told me: “We have a big problem.
No tenemos entrenador de fútbol. Como eres de España, seguro que sabes mucho de fútbol.”
We need a soccer coach. Since you are from Spain, you must know a lot about soccer.”
En Estados Unidos llaman “soccer” al fútbol europeo. El director quería que yo fuera el entrenador de soccer.
In the United States they call European football “soccer”. The principal wanted me to become the soccer coach.
Telling a Story and Learning Spanish: Why don´t you try to summarize in Spanish what you have just read?
Le dije que sí, que me parecía una buena idea. No me atreví a decirle que no.
I told him that I agreed with him, that it was a good idea. I didn´t dare to say no to him.
¿Cuál fue la solución? Hablé con Pancho, un cocinero mexicano, y él se convirtió en mi ayudante.
What was the solution? I talked to Pancho, a Mexican cook, and he became my assistant.
Pancho tampoco sabía mucho de fútbol, pero por lo menos sabía las reglas.
Pancho didn’t know much about soccer either, but at least he knew the rules.
A very important question and the ending of the anecdote
At this point, it can be useful to ask ourselves this important question: Can we make a short list of very useful words? Although I present here some ideas, you are responsible for your own list. The following words are just some that I find interesting: seguro que sabes, quería que yo fuera, no me atreví a, se convirtió, por lo menos. If you can memorize their meaning, you will be able to use them in your own anecdotes.
Nuestro equipo jugó 14 partidos. No ganamos ningún partido, o sea, los perdimos todos.
Our team played 14 games. We didn’t win any game, which means that we lost all of them.
Sin embargo, lo pasamos muy bien. Pancho y yo nos reímos mucho, y los jugadores también.
However, we had a great time. Pancho and I laughed a lot, and the players too.
Después de terminar la temporada, el director del colegio buscó a otro entrenador. Me pareció muy bien.
After the season was over, the school principal looked for another coach. I thought it was a great idea.
And now it is your time to tell this story. However, remember to write down first a short summary and use your own words. After that, explain the story to yourself and to others. Finally, you may want to come up with your own anecdote.