Chew and swallow: Taste and learn /Mastica y traga: Saborea y aprende- 5 minutes of Spanish )English version + Podcast

 Hello! How are you? Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are or the time you are listening to us.

Welcome to this podcast for students of Spanish as a second language and thank you very much for being here. Let's get to the point: what is today's topic?

Today, in podcast 203, we are going to talk about some verbs that represent activities done with the mouth and are related to eating. I imagine we are going to start with a very basic but essential verb: "comer".

 We all know that "comer" means to ingest food. For example, "Me encanta comer pasta los fines de semana."

 We already know that you love eating... many of us enjoy eating... "Comer" is a verb that we all know, but what if we talk about some more specific verbs? For example, "masticar". 

Masticar – to chew 

Los yogis tienen que masticar 30 veces antes de tragar

Yogis say that you have to chew your food 30 times before swallowing. 

Yes, this helps digestion, but in today's fast-paced world, we don't do it.

 Another interesting verb is tragar – to swallow 

Many times, we eat quickly, and it is said "tragó la comida," there's no enjoyment, you eat very fast while doing something else like watching TV or using your phone. 

If you want to practice these two verbs, listen to Shakira's song: "Claramente." It is now on the album "Las mujeres no lloran."

 It couldn't be left out... 

She tells you, well not you, she tells Piqué: "Esto es para que te mortifique mastica y traga, traga y mastica…" 

You're not going to sing, I imagine.

 No, no, it's just that I recommend practicing Spanish with Shakira, one of the famous people from Latin America, besides, you have SpanishUp2U, of course. 

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"Esto es para que te mortifique mastica y traga, traga y mastica…" 

This is to mortify you, chew and swallow, swallow and chew. 

Well, let's get back to food: When we eat, what I love is "saborear". 

Saborear is to enjoy the taste of food in your mouth. It is something you do before swallowing.

 For example, "Me gusta saborear cada bocado de comida y me encanta sentir la combinación de diferentes sabores y texturas."

 Another common verb is morder. Morder – to bite 

You can bite an apple, for example. It is undoubtedly related to eating and chewing.

 But it has other uses: Me mordió un perro, ¡qué dolor y qué susto!

 A dog bit me, what a pain and what a scare! 

At Mexican birthdays, they ask for a "mordida," do you know what it means?

 Pushing the birthday person's head into the cake as a joke, their face gets all dirty.

 And a quarter of the cake is unusable... Sometimes when the traffic police stop you, you can give a "mordida" to avoid the fine, but please don't do it. 

There are fewer "mordidas" now, apparently. In this case, mordida means bribe. 

How about we make a little dialogue using these verbs? 

Great idea! Let's do it.

•  "Edu, ¿qué estás haciendo?" 
• "Estoy masticando mi comida lentamente. ¿Y tú?"
•  "Yo ya terminé de masticar y ahora voy a tragar este delicioso bocado."
•  "¡No tan rápido! Recuerda saborear tu comida antes de tragar. Es parte del placer de comer."
•  Exactly, eating is not just a necessity, it’s an art.

So, eating is something we do every day, but doing it well can make a big difference.

 That's right. Remember to chew well, savor each bite, and not swallow too quickly. And enjoy your food!

 Until next time, and happy Spanish practice! 

Delicious Spanish practice! ¡Sabrosa práctica de español!

 See you soon. Bye bye / Chau, chau