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Newbie - Call back later

Lesson Introduction

Mauricio doesn't have a cell phone with voice mail, so we have to call his home phone to try to find him. The only problem is that he's not home right now! In this lesson, we'll hear how to ask for Mauricio on the phone... or anyone else, for that matter, and how to tell someone to call back later.

Comments (41)

oolung says

No challenge for today? Oh, well, it's probably because of the Christmas holiday :) Entonces: feliz Navidad a todos!

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

rodneyp says

Great lesson. Sometimes I get calls for the guy who used to have my number, who, ironically, was hispanic, Mexican I think. How do I tell them that this isn't his number anymore, or maybe simpler, you have the wrong number?

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

rodneyp says

Llámalo - Means "call him back later". So would "llama más tarde" be "call back later"?

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

fudawei says

rodney ... "Llámalo" just means "call him": Lláma + lo (using the imperative form of llamar).

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

fudawei says

I'm wondering ... when you guys record these lessons, are the .pdf transcripts written in advance or afterwards? I'm curious because it seems that there was some quality vocab in the recording that didn't make it into the .pdf. Granted, I know you can't shove every little thing into the transcript -- nor would you necessarily want to -- but there was some good stuff that flew by in the banter.

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

Team

jpvillanueva says

Challenge? You guys seem to be doing just fine without a challenge! : ) Ok ok, two questions: 1) ¿A quién sueles llamar por teléfono? 2) Y, ¿quién suele llamarte a ti? Yo, por ejemplo, suelo llamar a mi amigo Mark. A mí me suele llamar mi papá por Skype. (I, for example, often call my friend Mark. My dad often calls me using Skype).

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

Team	jpvillanueva says Ways to answer the phone: ¿Aló? ¿Hola? ¿Bueno? Dime. Dígame. Diga. Me, if I'm answering the phone in Spanish, I use either ¿bueno? or Dígame. December 21, 2007 from the Web.

fudawei says

Quiero comenzar llamar por Skype en español, pero no soy listo.

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

fudawei says

(Oh, and don't forgot: "¡Dimelo!", JP ... )

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

Team

jpvillanueva says

FuDaWei, We try to keep the PDFs to the dialog, some of the expansion sentences that we use in the Fix, and then some supplementary vocab. You're actually right on the mark when you say that we don't necessarily want to put everything in the PDF. In my method, it's actually very important that the teacher not drop everything into the students' laps for free. The acts of wondering about a question, theorizing the answer, actually asking a question, and then negotiating the answer are all very important cognitive acts that help the learner focus on and retain the information better. The moral of the story: if you want to know about something, ask for it! If I just give it to you without your asking, you're less likely to retain it. I used to tell my advanced classes: if I'm just giving you answers to questions without making you work a little bit for it first, you're less likely to retain it. If I give you an answer too easily, you should feel cheated. You should complain.

December 21, 2007 from the Web.

tim111 says

Mucho gracius.....y feliz navidad

December 22, 2007 from the Web.

Team	lilianamata says RodneyP When you want to tell someone they have the wrong number you can say "está equivocado." December 22, 2007 from the Web.

kikuyu says

I don't understand the difference between using "lo" and "le". For instance in the "where is emilio" dialogue, the expression "llamele a la casa de su tia" is used and in this dialogue "llamlo mas tarde" is used. How would the two phrases differ if we were referring to a lady in these two dialogues?

December 24, 2007 from the Web.

yardbird says

1. FuDaWei, are you sure you meant to say that you would like to begin speaking Spanish on Skype, but you aren't clever by nature? That's what you said because you used "soy." If you meant you aren't ready, then it's "no estoy listo." 2. I would love to hear a bit of a lecture about the way pronouns are chosen between lo and le, also. I think, and I say this just to show where I'm at so far, that lo is used when you need a direct object, meaning (do something to) it or him. Call him. Fine. But when you use "le" in what looks like a similar context, I think maybe it indicates that there's an indirect object relationship there. Like, let's see a phrase I do feel safe with. Cuando visitas Raul esta tarde, dale mis saludos. When you see Raul this afternoon, give him my regards. Here, the "le" indicates that it's, you know, regards is the direct object and le (Raul) is the indirect object. Well, I've exhausted my comprehension. Please explain more. thanks. Especially in light of the question asked above, which is all to do with "llamr" plus lo or le.aobfe,quesion

December 24, 2007 from the Web.

fudawei says

YB ... appreciate the correction. Maybe JP can use it as fodder for a future lesson. In the meantime, I guarantee I'll keep making mistakes -- keep pointing them out. Only way to learn.

December 25, 2007 from the Web.

yardbird says

Hi Fu Da Wei, I hope you didn't think I was being critical of you. I didn't mean it that way. I was making one of the few sorts of corrections I'm qualified to make, just trying to be helpful. Hope that's clear. May I ask a personal question? I've puzzled over your "handle" or "nickname" you use here, and I can't imagine its origin. Is it a phonetic rendering of a Chinese name (just a guess because of the "wei")?" I keep trying to figure out if it's a real name or if it's supposed to mean something else, and nothing comes to my mind. thanks.

December 25, 2007 from the Web.

Team

jpvillanueva says

yardbird and kikuyu, I've been working on this one for a while, but I think I have an answer for "llámale“ versus "llámalo." (disclaimer: this is a 'standard' Spanish answer; assuming neither speaker is a leísta. ) Llamar means "to call." It can take a direct object. "Llámalo" means "call him," but manner is not specified. You can just stand up and shout his name, and that would be "llamar." (in French, this would be appeler.) On the other hand, we have llamar por teléfono, which always takes an indrect object; "Llámale por telephone." (In French, this would be téléphoner and you're obliged to use the indirect object as well.) So two verbs: llamar (1) is a generic "to call" which takes a direct object (lo), and llamar (2) which means "to telephone" and takes indrect objects (le) with all it's trappings (the preposition "a"). So in these two sentences, we're actually using two different versions of llamar. (deep breath) So the follow up question is: "so how do I know which llamar to use?" The answer is: when you want a generic "to call" use llamar (1) with a direct objects. However when you want to say "to telephone," use llamar (2) and its indirect-object accoutrements. The final question is "when do you use to call and when do you use to telephone? What's the difference? My answer: That's a question about English, and therefore outside of my job description! : )

December 25, 2007 from the Web.

kikuyu says

Thanks J.P. I get the gist of it now. Its nice to have a little more clarity on how and when to use the different pronouns. I'm going to Chiapas, Mexico in March for a holiday and I'm really excited about learning all that I can.

December 25, 2007 from the Web.

Team	jpvillanueva says kikuyu, if you mix up "llámale" and "llámalo" in Chiapas, I'd be surprised if anyone would even hear that it's a mistake. It's so not a big deal! December 25, 2007 from the Web.

Team	estibalitz says "Leísmo" is a very commom mistake in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries, so don´t worry much about it. December 26, 2007 from the Web.

fudawei says

yardbird I have no problem with people correcting mistakes. Indeed, the one you pointed out was a rather big one -- and one I would have been likely to repeat. Much better to correct it here, where other people can benefit as well. If I didn't need correction, I'd already speak Spanish and I wouldn't even be here, no? When it comes to language acquisition, it's ALWAYS better to make the attempt and be corrected, than to sit back passively and learn nothing. As for my name -- it's simply a Chinese name ( 付大卫 ) given to me by someone on the CPOD staff. Beyond the meaning of the words, DaWei is commonly used by people named "David". And many foreigners use the first syllable of their surname as well ("Fu" in my case). I came to SPOD via CPOD. My language passion at the moment is Mandarin. My motivation for learning Spanish is entirely different. Surprisingly -- and I mean no disrespect to anyone -- I have no deep desire to speak Spanish. But I have very real-world PRAGMATIC reasons for pursuing it (my neighborhood is rapidly turning Spanish, and I'm starting to feel like an outsider). As a fan of general linguistics, I'm intrigued by the question: Which is a better motivator when learning a language; an abstract intellectual curiosity (Mandarin, in my case) or genuine real-world usefulness (Spanish, in my case).

December 26, 2007 from the Web.

ewong says

¿Aló? sounds really cute

January 22, 2008 from the Web.

lailaash says

What's the difference between renta and alquiler?

January 23, 2008 from the Web.

Team	jpvillanueva says lailaash, "alquilar" is the word you'll learn in Spanish class, "rentar" is the word you'll use with your Mexican pals! At least that's how I use those words : ) January 23, 2008 from the Web.

nerraw says

Is llamalo the "tu" form of the imperative? isn't llamelo the "usted" form of the imperative? Wouldn't you use the latter with someone that you don't know?

April 11, 2008 from the Web.

Team	lilianamata says nerraw "Llámalo" is the imperative of "tu" and "llamele" and "llamelo" are also imperatives of usted. April 22, 2008 from the Web.

Team	jpvillanueva says corrections made to PDF June 15, 2009 from the Web.

evandar says

No suelo llamar a ninguno (nadie?). Usualmente, envío mensajes de texto o hablo con mis amigos en WLM (Windows Live Messenger). Si alguien (alguno?) suele llamarme a mi, tiene qué ser mi mamá.

Ok, that was a ***** to write. I probably have a bunch of errors in that text of mine, so someone please correct me. And the whole ninguno/nadie and alguien/alguno business completely confuses me, but that is perhaps explained in another lesson on this site.

November 4, 2009 from the Web.

evandar says

Btw, I found an error in the Expansion section!:

No estoy en la oficina.
He is not in the office. 1 (He is not in the office.)

November 4, 2009 from the Web.

marcobestgen says

No llamo mucho por telefono, sino con Skype que tengo en mi movil (bale, es tambien llamar por telefono). Utilizo muchisimo para comunicar Facebook y Twitter. Mas con texto que hablando, quiero decir.

November 6, 2009 from the Web.

donperigo says

marcobestgen

bale = "bleat! como una oveja "baaa" (balar) o I he/she/it may bleat ¿quisiste escribir vale? es v de vaca no b de burro ;-) pero lo interesante es que, cuando se hablan, ¿como saben los españoles que el verbo es valer y no balar?

November 6, 2009 from the Web.

cobre says

Quizá se bala del celular de Marco, pues mina empieza a ladrar.

maybe his phone bleats. mine barks.

November 6, 2009 from the Web.

marcobestgen says

Hola Donperigo, Cobre. Queria escribir "vale" gracias para sus comentarios. Me gustaria escribir mas pero no veo nada, es muy tarde, poco luz y leo sobre la pantalla del Iphone del sitio movil Spanishpod que es super bien hecho (pero tan pequeño para mis ojos tan y tan ancianos ,,, ;)) un buen finde. MarcoOoO

November 6, 2009 from the Web.

marcobestgen says

¿ Pero que modelo de celular tiene el chico en la foto de la leccion ? Con una antena tan grande ¿ es un satphone ? (pregunta muy muy importante para practicar el español) xD

November 6, 2009 from the Web.

evandar says

Jeje, quizás es un modelo viejo..it sure looks like it. :)

November 8, 2009 from the Web.

marcobestgen says

si, ¿ o algo que permite hablar con otras civilisaciones en la galaxia no ? Jaja Yo vi a un modelo de satphone con lo cual se puede ir en el agua (no mucho tiempo pero si estas en un barco y que unas olas lo mojan, no pasa nada), y que tambien puede ir en la ajena, en condiciones dificiles, muy parecido, quizas es un ultimo modelo carisimo

November 8, 2009 from the Web.

tunchen says

What is different "llamalo mas tarde." and " llamale mas tarde." ??

Which is better?

November 10, 2009 from the Web.

evandar says

tunchen, jp responded to the difference between llámalo and llámale earlier in the discussion.

November 12, 2009 from the Web.

cobre says

Posting tip:

evandar says <<<<<<<< this bubble
1 hour ago

tunchen, jp responded to the difference between llámalo and llámale earlier in the discussion.

If you want to send somebody to a specific post clicking on the little cartoon dialog bubble next to that authors name will register it at the top of the screen and put that address into address bar of your browser, or you can right click on it and copy the link to your clipboard so you can paste it into your post.

November 12, 2009 from the Web.

donperigo says

does that still work?? i just get the same adress as the page these days. perhaps its a IE thing

nah, top of the page for me. :-(

November 12, 2009 from the Web.

evandar says

Gracias, cobre, I'll try that next time, and see if it works in Firefox

November 16, 2009 from the Web.

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