26 October 2008

Dialog - Ordering a Pizza

In our last dialog, “Returning Home” we left our weary travelers blocked by a passing train as they were almost home. They finally arrived safe and sound, each to his own home. Our favorite character is greeted by his wife who has been waiting anxiously for his return. Let's listen in now as they discuss what they will eat for dinner:

¡Hola mi amor! Ya llegamos.
Hello my love, we're back!

¡Hola cariño. Gracias a Dios llegaste. Te extrañé mucho. ¿Porque tan tarde?
Hello dear. Thank God you're back. I missed you a lot. Why so late?

¿Qué crees? Estuvimos a punto de llegar cuando un tren paró en el crucero y nos hizo esperar casi una hora. ¿Cómo ves?
You'll never guess. We were almost home when a train stopped at the crossing and made us wait almost an hour. How about that?

¿Qué barbaridad! Pues..por lo menos ahora estás aqui sano y salvo.
How awful! Well...at least now you're home safe and sound.

¿Ya tienes lista la comida?
Do you have the food ready?

No mi amor. Estuve esperándote para saber que se antoja de comer.
N
o my love. I was waiting for you to know what food you have a taste for.


Bueno, pero ya estoy aquí y tengo mucha hambre. ¿Que piensas si ordenamos una pizza?
Okay, but now I am here and I am very hungry. What do you think if we order a pizza?

Sí cariño, estoy de acuerdo.
Yes dear, I´m all for it.

Bueno, entonces tu ordena la pizza mientras voy a duchar y cambiar mi ropa. Ordenas cualquier tipo de pizza que tu quieres.
Okay, then you order the pizza while I shower and change my clothes. Order whatever type of pizza that you want.

(La señora buscó el numero de telefono de una pizeria en el directorio y hizo una llamada. El teléfono sonó un señal de llamada en la pizeria y alguien constestó...)
The lady looked up the number in the telephone directory and made a call. The telefphone rang in the pizzaria and someone answered...)

Pizza Lupillos. Buenas tardes, le atiende Paulina.
Lupillos Pizza. Good afternoon, Pauline speaking and ready to take your order.

Gracias Paulina. ¿Qué promociones tiene?
Thank you, Pauline. What specials do you have?

Una pizza grande con cuatro ingredientes por solo doscientos catorce pesos o dos pizzas medianas por ciento noventa y nueve pesos o dos pizzas chicas por ciento treinta y cinco pesos.
A large pizza with four ingredients for only two hundred and fourteen pesos or two medium pizzas for one hundred and ninety-nine pesos or two small pizzas for one hundred and thirty-five pesos.

¿La mediana con cuantos ingredientes?
How many ingredients on the medium?

Con tres ingedientes. Además tenemos;
Three ingredients. Besides that we have;

Hamburguesa especial Lupillos, Lupillos hamburger special,
Espagueti al burro, Spaghetti with butter and parmesan,
Espagueti a la Boloñesa, Spaghetti with tomato and meat sauce
Consomé de pollo, Chicken soup,
Ensalada especial de la casa, Special house salad
Ensalada dulce y essalada césar, Sweet salad and Ceasar salad

Y de nuestra barra de postres ofrecemos;
And from our desert bar we offer;

Flan Napolitano, Neopolitan flan,
Pay de calabaza, Pumkin pie
Pay de manzana y pay de piña con queso, Apple pie and Pineapple/cheese pie
Fresas con crema chantillí, Strawberries with whipped cream,
y fresas con crema natural, and Strawberries with regular cream.

¡Ay! Paulina se te fue el aire al hablar tan rápido y decirme todas las opciones. Ordeno dos pizzas medianas, una de camarón y la otra de especial Lupillos y mándame doble salsa chimichurri.
Wow! Pauline you gave me all of those options so fast and all in one breath! I'll order two medium pizzas, one with shrimp and the other a Lupillos special and send me a double portion of chimichurri sauce.

¿Algo más para acompañar su pizza?
Anything else to go with your pizza?

Sí, un espagueti al burro y un consomé de pollo. Es todo.
Yes, a spaghetti al burro and a chicken soup. That's all.

Muy bien. En total son doscientos setenta y nueve pesos. Son las 4:15 por la tarde. En treinta minutos aproximadamente su pedido está en la puerta de su casa. Rectifico su domicilio: Calzada de los Chinacos No. 5054 en Residencial Eucaliptos. Teléfono 626-5036.
Very well. The total is two hundred seventy-nine pesos. It is 4:15 in the afternoon. In approximately thirty minutes your order will be at your front door. I am confirming your address. 5054 Calzada de los Chinacos Street in the Eucalyptus neighborhood. Telephone is 626-5036.

¿Cómo sabes mis datos?
How do you know my information?

Ya tenemos registrado sus datos en nuestro sistema. Cuando el cliente nos llama, su número de teléfono inmediatamtnte aparecen en la pantalla con los datos mientras lo atendemos telefonicamente. ¿Algo más?
It is already recorded in our system. When a customer calls, their telephone number immediately appears on a screen with their information while we are talking to them on the phone. Anything else?

No, gracias Paulina.
No, thanks Pauline.

Estamos para servirle, gracias por su preferencia.
We are at your service, thank you for your business.

(Pasa el tiempo hasta 4:55 y la señora de casa esta preocupada por que su esposo ya termino duchando y vistiendo y estuvo molesto que la pizza demora en llegar y el tiene mucha hambre. El dijo a su esposa, “Vuelve a llamar” y ella hizo una llamada otra vez.)
(The time goes by until 4:55 and the lady is worried because her husband already finished showering and dressing and was frustrated that the pizza was delayed in arriving and he was very hungry. He said to his wife, “Call again” and she made another call.)

Pizza Lupillos. Buenas tardes, le atiende Alejandra.
Lupillos Pizza. Good afternoon, Alexandra speaking and ready to take your order.

Gracias. ¡Oye Alejandra! Llamé hace cuarenta minutos y Paulina me atendió y me pedido aun no llega. Voy a cancelar.
Thank you. Listen Alexandra! I called forty minutes ago and Pauline took my order and it still hasn't arrived. I am going to cancel.

No, no por favor. Le damos una disculpa por la demora. Su pizza está por llegar.
No, please don't. We apologize for the delay. Your pizza is almost there.

Entonces mi pizza es gratis porque no la entregan dentro de los treinta minutos. ¿Verdad? Then my pizza is free because you didn't deliver it within thirty minutes. Right?

No. Disculpenos pero nosotros no tenemos esta promoción. Está pensando en Pizza Domino's, nuestra competencia.
No. Pardon us but we don't make that offer. You are thinking of Domino's Pizza, our competitor.

¿Entonces porque me dieron ustedes la hora de surtir y la hora de entregar? No entiendo y menos porque tengo mucha hambre.
Then why did you give me the exact time of the order and the time that it should arrive. I don't understand that and much less because I am so hungry.

(En éste momento se escuchan una moto y casi tira la puerta por tocar el timbre muy fuerte.)
(At this moment they heard a motorcycle and the doorbell was rung with such force that it nearly knocked down the door.)

Creo que la pizza llegó y voy a quedarme con ella, ya que tengo hambre y además la pizza de camarón es mi favorita.
I believe that the pizza has arrived and I am going to accept it because I am so hungry and besides that shrimp pizza is my favorite.

Muchas gracias señora.
Thank you very much ma'am.

Note: Some additional comments:

¿Qué crees?....¿Cómo ves? In Mexico, these two phrases either start and/or end many statements. You will hear them quite a bit during everyday conversations between people. The phrase “¿Qué crees?” means literally “What do you believe?” but in the sense that it is most often used it is the rough equivalent to the English “Guess what!” or “You're not going to believe this!” or “Get this!” or "Would you believe?". It normally is used in front of a narrative sentence but it can sometimes come at the end. On the other hand, the phrase, “Cómo ves?” generally comes after a narrative sentence and literally means “How do you see it?” but in the sense that it is normally used it is the roughly the equivalent of the English “How about that?” or “What do you think about that, eh?”.

se antoja de comer - Very comon phrase. It means " have a longing for" or "to have a craving for" or "a taste for".

Espagueti al burro - In Mexico, the word “burro” means “donkey” but this spaghetti has nothing to do with a donkey. In this case the word “burro” is Italian and in Italy the word “burro” means “butter”.

se te fue el aire al hablar tan rápido – This means that the person spoke very fast in rapid fire style all in one breath. It literally means that “You ran out of breath talking so fast and so much”.

chimichurri sauce – Just in case you don't know by now chimichurri sauce is about the best thing that you can put on pizza...much better than ketchup. It is made from garlic, oil, vinegar, chili, and various herbs and spices. Always order extra.

casi tira la puerta por tocar el timbre muy fuerte – This phrase means that the person who rang the bell or knocked on the door did so with great force as if to knock the door down. The verb "tirar" has many many menings. You should study it carefully.

Okay, there you have it. That would be a typical pizza order call. Talking on the telephone can be pretty intimidating for a beginner in Spanish because you can't see the other person's hand movements or facial expressions. It takes a little practice. For that reason I am giving you some homework. I want everyone to call and order a pizza!

7 comments:

Steve Cotton said...

Well, I did as you suggested. I called and ordered a pizza in Spanish. Of course, the Pizza Hut guy could only speak English. I was really smug until he put a Spanish-speaking colleague on the telephone.

Gary Denness said...

Good post, and useful info! Although I have bad hearing and struggle on the phone so I always go and pick up my pizza! Luckily, it's just a couple of minutes up the road.

The best chains in the south of Mexico City, should anyone care or be visiting, are Pizzas Plaza and Benedettis....although Italiannis make some good ones too, if a little pricey.

YayaOrchid said...

I learned something new here. I didn't know what chimichurris meant. Great post!

Frankly Ronda said...

Hmmm. We have not tried Pizza Delivery where I live and not sure it exists. I would be shocked if they had a system that recorded our information but maybe so ...

I also did not know what chimichurri sauce was - I will have to try it some time.

I really, really like your teaching conversations.

Joy said...

This is great. The hardest part for me is asking at the very beginning "do you have delivery?" or "I would like delivery." There doesn't seem to be a clear easy way to request that?

Bob Mrotek said...

Joy,
Just say "¿Me lo manda a mi domicilio?" or ¿Tiene servicio a domicilio?".

Anonymous said...

This really is a great exercise. I found it helps when I use the Spanish version of my middle name (Vicente) when ordering. This saves 5 minutes in spelling and re-spelling Howard. Also, it helps to order something simple such as peperoni. The half the cheese, extra sauce, grilled chicken ends up arriving as a regular peperoni pizza anyway!

Vince

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I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. I have been living in Mexico since January 6th, 1999. I am continually studying to improve my knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican history and culture. I am also a student of Mandarin Chinese.