Spanish GCSE Reading and Grammar-Constance e Imran Episode 45 (learn through a novel)
- The story episode in Spanish.
- The translation into English.
- A grammar explanation with examples from the story.
Whitmore estaba corrigiendo trabajos en la sala de profesores cuando Collins dejó una taza de café sobre la mesa y se sentó frente a él.
Whitmore was marking papers in the staffroom when Collins put a cup of coffee down on the table and sat opposite him.
—¿Qué estás leyendo?
“What are you reading?”
—Ensayos de mis alumnos sobre Macbeth.
“My students’ essays on Macbeth.”
—¿Y qué tal?
“And how are they?”
Whitmore levantó uno de los trabajos.
Whitmore held up one of the papers.
—Este alumno supo repetir perfectamente todo lo que dijimos en clase.
“This student managed to repeat perfectly everything we said in class.”
—Entonces deberías estar satisfecho.
“Then you should be pleased.”
—Pero claramente no lo estoy. No sé qué piensa él.
“But clearly I’m not. I don’t know what he thinks.”
Collins sonrió.
Collins smiled.
—Siempre quieres saber qué piensan. A veces basta con que sepan.
“You always want to know what they think. Sometimes it’s enough for them to know things.”
—No es lo mismo.
“It’s not the same.”
—No, pero para pensar sobre algo primero hay que conocerlo. Últimamente parece que hemos olvidado esa parte de la educación.
“No, but before you can think about something, you have to know something about it. Lately, we seem to have forgotten that part of education.”
Whitmore dejó el trabajo sobre la mesa.
Whitmore put the paper down on the table.
—Creo que William Butler Yeats dijo que la educación no consiste en llenar un cubo, sino en encender un fuego.
“I think that William Butler Yeats said that education is not about filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
—Una frase preciosa. Pero un fuego sin combustible se apaga.
“A beautiful quote. But a fire without fuel goes out.”
Whitmore se rio.
Whitmore laughed.
—Eso ha sido bueno.
“That was good.”
—Pues es bastante evidente. No se puede pensar críticamente sobre la Revolución Francesa si no conoces los hechos. Sin conocimiento, el pensamiento crítico puede convertirse simplemente en una colección de opiniones sin ningún fundamento.
“Well, it’s fairly obvious. You can’t think critically about the French Revolution if you don’t know the facts. Without knowledge, critical thinking can simply become a collection of opinions with no foundation whatsoever.”
—De acuerdo. Pero si el alumno aprende fechas, nombres y acontecimientos y después se limita a repetirlos para aprobar, ¿para qué sirve?
“Agreed. But if students learn dates, names and events and then simply repeat them to pass an exam, what’s the point?”
—Para tener una base desde la cual pensar.
“To give them a foundation from which to think.”
—El conocimiento es indispensable. Pero sin pensamiento crítico, la educación produce obediencia ciega y sumisión. Solo repiten como loros.
“Knowledge is essential. But without critical thinking, education produces blind obedience and submission. They just repeat things like parrots.”
—Y sin conocimiento, el pensamiento crítico produce ignorantes con exceso de confianza.
“And without knowledge, critical thinking produces ignorant people with too much confidence.”
Whitmore se quedó callado un instante.
Whitmore was silent for a moment.
—Eso también ha sido bueno.
“That was good too.”
—Hoy estoy inspirado. —Collins bebió un poco de café—. Cuando yo estudiaba, un profesor puso delante de mí un libro sobre Churchill. Hasta entonces, en mi cabeza no cabía la idea de que la historia pudiera ser algo más que memorizar fechas. Aquel libro me fascinó. Por primera vez pude entender cómo las decisiones de una sola persona podían influir en millones de vidas.
“I’m inspired today.” Collins took a sip of his coffee. “When I was at school, a teacher put a book about Churchill in front of me. Until then, I couldn’t imagine history being anything more than memorising dates. That book fascinated me. For the first time, I was able to understand how the decisions of a single person could affect millions of lives.”
—¿Y también te enseñó sobre el papel de Churchill en la hambruna de Bengala?
“And did he also teach you about Churchill’s role in the Bengal famine?”
Collins suspiró.
Collins sighed.
—Sí, me enseñaron sobre el Imperio. Pero no creo que haya que pedir perdón por cada página de la historia británica.
“Yes, I was taught about the Empire. But I don’t think we need to apologise for every page of British history.”
—Yo tampoco he dicho eso. Pero tú cuentas la historia como si Gran Bretaña hubiera salido al mundo a repartir generosamente su civilización en sociedades que no tenían ninguna.
“I didn’t say that either. But you tell history as though Britain had gone out into the world generously distributing its civilisation among societies that had none of their own.”
—Bueno, hay que reconocer que fundó instituciones, construyó ferrocarriles, implementó sistemas jurídicos…
“Well, you have to acknowledge that it established institutions, built railways, introduced legal systems…”
—Sí, pero no te olvides de que hubo sociedades, culturas e instituciones en esos lugares mucho antes de que llegaran los británicos.
“Yes, but don’t forget that there were societies, cultures and institutions in those places long before the British arrived.”
—Por supuesto. No soy un idiota, Whitmore.
“Of course. I’m not an idiot, Whitmore.”
—Nunca he dicho que lo fueras. Lo que discuto es tu interpretación de la historia. En una clase donde hay chicos británicos, musulmanes, hijos de inmigrantes, familias que llegaron de antiguas colonias… ¿Qué significa «nuestra historia»?
“I never said you were. What I’m challenging is your interpretation of history. In a classroom with British children, Muslim children, children of immigrants, families who came from former colonies… What does ‘our history’ mean?”
Collins frunció el ceño.
Collins frowned.
—Pues precisamente por eso necesitan una historia común. Una sociedad no puede sobrevivir si no comparte nada.
“Well, that’s precisely why they need a shared history. A society can’t survive if its members share nothing.”
—¿Y quién decide qué debe compartir?
“And who decides what they should share?”
—Los adultos. Los profesores. Para eso estamos aquí. Educamos, transmitimos conocimientos, inculcamos ciertos valores.
“Adults. Teachers. That’s what we’re here for. We educate, pass on knowledge, instil certain values.”
—Ahí es donde me pierdes. Yo no quiero inculcarles qué tienen que pensar.
“That’s where you lose me. I don’t want to instil in them what they should think.”
—¿De verdad? ¿No les inculcas que el racismo está mal? ¿Que hombres y mujeres deben tener los mismos derechos? ¿Que una democracia es preferible a una dictadura? Todos transmitimos valores. Tú también. La diferencia es que los tuyos te parecen tan evidentes que no te das cuenta.
“Really? Don’t you instil in them the idea that racism is wrong? That men and women should have equal rights? That democracy is preferable to dictatorship? We all transmit values. You do too. The difference is that yours seem so self-evident to you that you don’t even realise it.”
Whitmore se echó hacia atrás.
Whitmore leant back.
—Bien. Te concedo eso. Pero quiero que mis alumnos puedan cuestionarme incluso a mí.
“Fine. I’ll give you that. But I want my students to be able to question even me.”
—Y yo quiero que tengan suficientes conocimientos para hacerlo con argumentos.
“And I want them to have enough knowledge to do it with well-founded arguments.”
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We continue dealing with the so-called strong irregular verbs, which change the verbal stem completely and also have irregular endings. This time, I will show you five verbs that have something in common: the verbal stem takes an “u”. Study them as a group; it will be easier to remember the forms:
SAber, sUpe
CAber, cUpe
HAber, hUbe
POder, pUde
POner, pUse
| Saber | Caber | Haber | Poder | Poner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | supe | cupe | hube | pude | puse |
| Tú | supiste | cupiste | hubiste | pudiste | pusiste |
| Él, ella, usted | supo | cupo | hubo | pudo | puso |
| Nosotros, nosotras | supimos | cupimos | hubimos | pudimos | pusimos |
| Vosotros, vosotras | supisteis | cupisteis | hubisteis | pudisteis | pusisteis |
| Ellos, ellas, ustedes | supieron | cupieron | hubieron | pudieron | pusieron |
A useful tip for you: many students mix up “pude” (I was able to) and “puse” (I put). Think it this way:
🟦 Think of the D in poder to remember pude.
🟦 Think of the S in posición to remember puse.
Look at the episode:
Este alumno supo repetir perfectamente todo lo que dijimos en clase. This student managed to repeat perfectly everything we said in class.
Un profesor puso delante de mí un libro sobre Churchill. A teacher put a book about Churchill in front of me.
Por primera vez pude entender. For the first time, I was able to understand.
Hubo sociedades, culturas e instituciones en esos lugares. There were societies, cultures and institutions in those places.
This is a very commonly used conjunction. The problem is that it can be translated in many different ways. It can also be pronounced in unexpected ways: in Chile, it is shortened to “po”, and people use it constantly. Here are some examples of how it is used:
🔹 Me quedo en casa pues tengo que estudiar. Me quedo en casa porque tengo que estudiar. I am staying at home since I have to study.
🔹 No salí a caminar, pues estaba lloviendo mucho. I didn’t go for a walk because it was raining heavily.
🔹 Pues ya es tarde, mejor lo dejamos para mañana. As it’s already late, we’d better leave it for tomorrow.
It can also link two ideas and can be translated as “well”:
🔹 ¿No te gustó mi regalo? ¡Pues no te vuelvo a dar nada! Didn’t you like my present? Well, I won’t give you anything again!
🔹 —¿Te gusta este vestido? —Pues no mucho… —Do you like this dress? —Well, not too much…
It can also introduce a reply, functioning as an adversative conjunction similar to “but”:
🔹 —¡Qué nombre tan feo! —Pues así se llama mi mamá. —What an ugly name! —Well, that’s my mother’s name!
It can introduce an obvious answer and can be translated as “well, of course”:
🔹 —¿Tienes hambre? —¡Pues claro que sí! —Are you hungry? —Of course I am!
Finally, it can mark a continuation or conclusion and can be translated as “then”:
🔹 Repito, pues, que hace lo que debe. Or Repito, entonces, que hace lo que debe. I repeat, then, that he does what he must do.
We see this in our episode:
Pues es bastante evidente. Well, it’s fairly obvious.
Pues precisamente por eso necesitan una historia común. Well, that’s precisely why they need a shared history.
Find all the episodes here: Contents – GCSE Spanish
We post new episodes every week — keep up with Constance and Imran’s story!
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