Beginners series 1

Beginners 3: Transport

Learn about different types of transport in Spanish, including a few methods which are unique to Colombia! You’ll learn:
  • Different methods of transport
  • The cardinal numbers (first, second, third, etc)
  • The “masculine problem” (you’ll see what we mean)
  • Problems of transport
Lis Salinas

Lis Salinas

Colombiana

Rob

Rob

Inglés

Contents

Transcript

Hello everyone, hola a todos and welcome to beginners podcast number three y bienvenidos a podcast tres de beginners, hoy estoy con Lis, today I’m with Lis. Hola Lis ?¿cómo estás?
Hola Rob, hola a todos, muy bien, gracias tú cómo estás? [Hi Rob, hi everyone, very good thanks, how are you?]
También muy bien, gracias [Also very good thanks] and today what are we going to talk about?
El transporte
yes! today we are going to talk about el transporte – transport and los medios de transporte, diferent types of transport, so it is medios and not métodos, medios de transporte. So we are going to talk about different types of transport, we are also going to talk about different problems related to transport and we’re also going to talk about what’s the most popular kind of transport, both in London where we are and in Colombia where it’s quite diferent as you’ll see. So then, Lis cuál es primer tipo de transporte, cuál es primer medio de transporte – what’s the first kind of transport?
En Colombia el primer o más utilizado es el carro o automóvil
!! so you’ve got el carro
El carro
El carro and that’s in Colombia or South America, they said el carro but in Spain they don’t say el carro, what do they say in Spain?
El coche
El coche. Y ¿cuál es el segundo medio de transporte? What’s the second type of transport?
El segundo medio de transporte es la bicicleta, la bicicleta
Yes, the second type es la bicicleta, which means bicycle, obviously, but you can also say la bici, you don’t have to say bicicleta you just can say bici and this is a feminine noun so la bicicleta. El carro  is masculine, la bici. Lis ¿cuál es el tercer medio de transporte?
El autobús, el autobús
Yes, so the third one is el autobús, which means the bus. ¿Cuál es el cuarto medio de transporte?
El cuarto medio de transporte es el tren. El tren.
El tren, so this is really easy, exactly the same as English, el tren, the train. Lis, ¿En Colombia hay tren? [Are there trains in Colombia?]
Sí, hay algunos trenes, pero no se utilizan desafortunadamente. [Yes, there are some trains, but unfortunately they’re not used]
¿Y cuál es el quinto metodo , I got it wrong! ¿Cuál es el quintomedio de transporte? What’s the fifth type of transport?
El quinto es el metro. El metro. [The fifth is the metro.]
¿En Colombia hay metro? [Is there a metro in Colombia?]
Sí, en la ciudad de Medellin hay un metro, pero es como “overground” [Yes, in the city of Medellin there is a metro, but it’s like the overground]
So in Medellin they have a metro , but it’s overground. ¿Cuál es el sexto medio de transporte? [What’s the sixth method of transport?]
El sexto es el taxi. El taxi. [The sixth is the taxi.]
Again, really easy, el taxi, exactly the same in English, taxi. And the next one, I think is special just to Colombia, or maybe South America. ¿Cuál es el séptimo medio de transporte? [What’s the seventh type of transport?]
 El mototaxi [“Moto-taxi”]
So a mototaxi, which is something I think that is special just to Colombia, or South America, you certainly don’t get them in England, is a combination of a motorbike and a taxi, and it’s really fun, you just… It costs about a third the price of a normal taxi, you just jump on the back of someone’s motorbike and they take you wherever you want to go. I think we need them in London. And I think the next one, we definitely need more of in England. Lis, ¿cuál es el octavo medio de transporte? [What’s the eighth type of transport?]
El octavo medio de transporte es el burro [The eighth type of transport is the donkey?]
El burro. And what’s el burro? ¿Qué significa? [What does it mean?]
El burro es donkey, pero es utilizado en las regiones del campo para trasladar vegetales, comida, es un poco divertido, no es el más común, pero aún se utiliza. [El burro is a donkey, but it’s used in the countryside regions to transport vegetables, food, it’s quite fun, it’s not the most common, but it’s still used]
So they use it quite a lot in the country to transport vegetables and things like that, but you don’t use donkeys in cities.
No
Unfortunately. Ok, so those are eight different types of transport, I’m sure there’s a few more we could talk about as well, but for now we’re going to move on to different problems with transport. And Lis, in Colombia are there lots of problems with transport?
Sí, muchos problemas de transporte en Colombia y en Sudamérica  [Yes, many problems of transport in Colombia and South America]
Ok, so ¿cuál es el primer problema de transporte? [What’s the first transport problem?]
El trancón, y se presenta en las principales ciudades de Colombia. [The traffic jam, and it shows up in the main cities of Colombia].
Ok, thank you, so el trancón, which means traffic jam, which as Lis said se presenta en las ciudades de Colombia, which is found in Colombia’s cities, and also definitely in London and lots of English cities as well. Do you think there are more traffic jams, ¿hay más trancónes en Colombia o en Londres? [Are there more traffic jams in Colombia or in London?]
En Colombia, definitivamente en Colombia [In Colombia, definitely in Colombia]
¿Y cuál es el segundo problema con transporte? [And what’s the second problem with transport?]
Los semáforos. Los semáforos. [The traffic lights]
Ok, the second one, not exactly a problem as such, but maybe a cause of some problems, los semáforos. And what does semáforo mean?
Change… I’ve forgotten!
Lis has forgotten! So semáforo is traffic light.
Yes, traffic light, traffic light
In fact in English we used to have, or we still do for planes, you have people doing semaphore, which I believe are people who guide the planes in the airports and wave the signs around, I’m not sure about that but it might be a good way of remembering. Semaphore, semáforo. And finally, ¿cuál es el tercer problema con transporte? [What’s the third problem with transport?]
Las vías en construcción. [Road works]
Thank you, so the third one is las vías en construcción. Las vías en construcción means roads under construction, which happens a lot in Colombia, and can happen quite a lot in England as well, and is another cause for trancónes, is another cause for traffic jams. So now we’ll move away from los problemas con transporte, and don’t forget that problema, even though it ends in “a”, is actually masculine, so you say el problema, but you don’t say la problema. Ok, and we have some more problems with transport, or maybe causes. So what’s the next cause of problems of transport?
Los chupas, or policia de transporte. [The “traffic cops”, or Transport Police]
So we’ve got two ways of saying the same thing here, one is informal, and one is formal. So what’s the informal way?
Los chupasLos chupas.
And the formal way?
Policia de transporte
So we’ve got los chupas and la ¿cómo es?, what is it?
Policia de transporte [Transport police]
La policia de transporte. So, in England we have, I suppose transport police, not really traffic wardens, so you can say los chupas which is the informal way, and la policia de transporte, which is the formal way.
So if you are in Colombia you can’t call them hey chupa, you can’t do that because it’s quite rude. But between people we can say los chupas.
Ok, and then one final question. Lis, ¿cuál es el medio de transporte más popular en Colombia? [What’s the most popular type of transport in Colombia?]
En Colombia, entre ciudades, el carro, y el autobús. Pero en Bogotá, cual es la capital, el medio de transporte más popular es Transmilenio. [In Colombia, between cities, the car and the bus. But in Bogota, which is the capital, the most popular means of transport is the Transmilenio]
And the most popular type of transport in Bogotá is the Transmilenio, which is like a network of buses , similar to a metro, but instead of being underground, it’s overground, and instead of being trains, it’s a series of buses. It’s very useful. Y Lis, ¿cuál es el medio de transporte que a ti te gusta? [And Lis, what’s the means of transport that you like?]
Me gusta la bici, pero en London prefiero utilizar el Tube, o el tren. [I like the bike, but in London I prefer to use the Tube, or the train]
¿El metro?
El metro
Gracias, Lis
Gracias a ti
Ok everyone, thank you very much for listening, you can find the notes for this podcast just another the episode. From me, hasta luego, and from Lis
Adiós, y feliz día [Bye, and [have a] happy day]

Review


Los medios de transporte

SpanishEnglish
el carroCar (South America)
el cocheCar (Spain)
la bicicletaBicycle
La biciBike
el autobusBus
El trenTrain
el metroMetro/underground
el taxiTaxi
el mototaxiMotorbike-taxi
el burroDonkey

Problemas de transporte

SpanishEnglish
El trancónTraffic jam (You may also hear atasco quite frequently to mean “traffic jam”, particularly in Spain. In fact, trancón is quite specific to Colombia…!)
Un semáforoTraffic light
Las vías en construcciónRoadworks

Exercises

Downloads