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Conversaciones Reales en Inglés
Series 1: Workbook 1
Beach Life: La Vida en La Playa

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SOBRE EL WORKBOOK (LIBRO DE EJERCICIOS)

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Mark y Tom

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Transcripción de la conversación
TOM: Hi, my name’s Tom and I’m sitting here with Mark. Hi Mark.
MARK: Hi Tom.
TOM: Today, we’re sitting… on a lot of rocks going out to sea on Barceloneta 1 beach in
Barcelona, Spain. And, what can we see around us?
MARK: Well, it’s a very sunny day today, clear blue sky, crystal water and we’re sitting not
too far from the iconic Arts Hotel and the Mapfre Tower…
TOM: Yeah, and just behind Mark, where he’s sitting, uh…I’m facing the beach…are…a
whole load of 2 families and people swimming cos3 it’s now the school holidays in Spain, isn’t
it? There were tons of 4 people coming on the train…
MARK: Yeah, it was very full.
TOM: So to begin with we’re gonna 5 talk a little bit about our travels…uh…because we’ve
been to beaches in lots and lots of countries, haven’t we?
MARK: Yes, we have!
TOM: And where have you been, for example Mark?
MARK: Um… apart from the normal European destinations, um…spent time on beaches in
Central America, Australia, Fiji and North Africa, where I spent a summer in Morocco.
TOM: Yep 6, and I’ve also been to Central America, with Mark, in 1993 wasn’t it?
MARK: Yes, yes I think it was…
TOM: Where we went to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize and I’ve spent three years in
Thailand, and I’ve been to Goa, in India, various beaches around Europe, Australia as well; I
was there for a couple of years, and the Middle East…a few places in the Middle East.
MARK: Umm…quite a wide selection I think we’ve got there…
TOM: Yep, so that’s why we feel qualified to talk about beaches. Now, what out of all the
beaches you’ve been to are probably your favourite beaches?
MARK: Umm, I think for me, Caye Caulker 7 in Belize where we lived for about ten days was
amazing because it was my first real experience of the white sand, the deep blue… ocean
around, while we were living on an island, and we could see other islands. That was the
typical… desert island image for me. But since then I’ve been to Jervis Bay in… New South
Wales, just south of Sydney, which was very amazing also; a very enclosed bay, white sand,
palm trees and wild kangaroos coming down to the beach to investigate…
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TOM: Yeah, I went to Jervis Bay as well and thought it was incredible and saw loads of pods
of dolphins swimming there, and you could go kayaking in the bay and…very, very
spectacular place, but for me in Australia my favourite beach was Whitehaven 8, in
Queensland…
MARK: Ah yes, Whitehaven…
TOM: It’s a very famous beach in Australia. You…there are no…uh…there’s no development,
it’s a totally undeveloped beach and you have to get a yacht there and we slept the night in
a yacht just off the beach, swam to the beach at dawn, and it’s a kind of five kilometer long,

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perfect, perfect white sand beach and the sand is just like snow – it crunches 9 when you
walk on it…
MARK: My God!
TOM: And they even make…uh…lenses for contact lenses and glasses out of the sand
because the silica content is so high, so a perfect beach that one. But apart from that
probably my favourite beaches have to be in Thailand…uh…because I’ve spent so long there
and again, there’s lots of classic desert island beaches there on some of the islands around
the Koh Chang area…
MARK: Tell us about a couple of the favourites…
TOM: Oooh, I think probably Koh Lipe 10 in the south of Thailand, although it’s become a bit
overdeveloped now…uh…it’s right on the Malaysian border and it’s - ooh, big wave – and it’s
just a beautiful, white sand island…uh…and you…there are no cars, no motorbikes and you
just walk between the different beaches going through small island trails11 and yeah it’s
fantastic, very relaxing, a very chilled out 12 place. So, beach activities. How do we spend our
time on beaches, or at least how did you used to spend your time, Mark?
MARK: Ahh, I didn’t really used to spend much time on beaches. I used to go to them, walk
along them, take lots of photographs, but I wasn’t really a person who liked sitting in the
sun… doing… nothing, so I always had to find something to do. But now as I’ve got older I’m
quite happy to sit in the sun, reading a good book, but normally not too far from a beach bar
so can get out of the sun from time to time and always have a cold beer.
TOM: So you’re not really into 13 sunbathing14?
MARK: No, not really. I prefer to do more…
TOM: But you did enjoy that the… the hammock life 15 in Mexico didn’t you?
MARK: Yes…
TOM: Especially at Zipolite 16 beach I remember…
MARK: Yeah, that was quite spectacular, but again there were many things to see there. The
beach was so long that we could go walking for an hour… change of scenery, if not come
back to our hammocks under the palm trees. A combination of activities.
TOM: Yeah, I used to spend a lot more time sunbathing than nowadays. I tend to 17 get quite
bored after a couple of hours now, but I do love watersports and I love to…to swim and
snorkel and particularly in Australia I did a lot of surfing and in…uh…when I was in Nicaragua
I did surfing as well, a lot of surfing. Umm…but nowadays yeah I tend to not enjoy spending
six hours lying in the sun roasting18 and becoming a ‘lobster’ 19 as we say in English…
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MARK: Yes….
TOM: Anyway, shall we talk a little bit more about Spain, seeing as we’re here and we’re
both living in Spain?
MARK: Yes, a good idea!
TOM: So, do we know how many tourists Spain has every year, approximately?
MARK: Well, when I was doing some research I found it was the third most popular tourist
destination in the world…

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TOM: Really?
MARK: Yeah. Recent figures suggest 52 million tourists a year come to Spain for their
holidays…
TOM: So that’s actually more than the entire population of Spain, isn’t it?
MARK: Yes, I think by quite some way - maybe about 20% more!
TOM: And Spain has a claim to fame. What is it?
MARK: It’s the country in the world with the most Blue Flag beaches20…
TOM: What on earth is a Blue Flag beach?
MARK: Well a Blue Flag beach is an international recognition, an award, given to beaches
that are very clean, with a high quality of the water, no litter on the beach, there are regular
patrols and very well maintained beaches, and Spain is the country with the most of them in
the world…
TOM: And how many are there?
MARK: 522 I believe…
TOM: Yeah, we did a bit of research on this and there’s about 3000 around the world, and
there are actually 87 in Cataluña where we are now, which is quite a surprise because we
only really know about four or five beaches here, but I guess it’s on the pos…Costa Brava, a
lot of them?
MARK: Yeah, a lot of very clean beaches up there because there is a…a big…a big tourist
industry based around diving and snorkeling, so the water obviously has to be clear if many
people are going to take advantage of the facilities…
TOM: Mmm. My favourite beaches are down in Andalucia 21. There are also…uh…60 or 70
Blue Flag beaches down there and I spend a lot of time down there because my family has a
house near…uh…near Cadiz.
MARK: In the south of Spain?
TOM: Yeah in the south, and my favourite beach is probably Bolonia 22, which is a very
special beach. It’s a huge crescent of golden sand and very greeny bluey water 23 and at one
end of the beach there’s a gigantic sand dune about 400 metres high with views all the way
down the coastline. And there’s also some Roman ruins there cos it used to be a Roman
settlement…uh…2000 years ago, so it’s quite an interesting place and a lot of history
MARK: It sounds great! So it’d be ideal for someone like me? So you have the beach, you
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have the dunes, you have the history…

TOM: And a couple of beach bars…
MARK: Fantastic (Ha ha!) Lots of activities, not just lying on the beach…
TOM: So finally, we’re just gonna talk about beach dangers. What do you think…what
springs to mind 24 as a…as a danger that might befall 25 someone whilst they’re on a beach?
MARK: Um…if they’re swimming and they might get caught in an underwater current and
taken out of their depth 26 and possibly drown 27?

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TOM: Yep, that’s one of the main dangers. And we actually witnessed a…a near drowning28
in Zipolite in Mexico, didn’t we?

MARK: Yeah, that was quite scary…

TOM: With ferocious Pacific currents there and there were very strong rip tides29 that took
people out; and actually while we were living on the beach two people did drown, out of
about 150 people, so quite frightening currents. Um…what else is a danger on beaches?
MARK: Depending on where you are I would say sharks, jellyfish 30, any stingrays 31, any
other dangerous wildlife you might encounter?
TOM: Yeah, I got…uh…savagely 32 stung by a Portuguese Man o’ War 33 jellyfish in Australia,
that nearly…probably nearly put an end to me 34.
MARK: Ha ha! Doesn’t sound very pleasant!
TOM: What else? Sunstroke 35. In…in Australia, the English are famous for c…arriving in
Australia and drinking so much beer they fall asleep on the sand and then…uh…end up 36 in
hospital and end up being repatriated back to England having just arrived. You must have
witnessed a few…uh…Irish and English people drunk and asleep and very red on beaches?
MARK: Yes, and more or less, any place we’ve been to. It’s very common in Spain where
parties of people come over to cities like Barcelona because of the beach but for stag
weekends 37 or hen weekends38 before su…their friends get married, and it’s basically an
excuse to get drunk for three days. But they will then go to the beach, fall asleep, and
whereas in English I think we’ve mentioned we refer to someone being ‘as red as a
lobster 39’ an interesting linguistic point, in Spain they refer to them as prawns 40…
TOM: (laughs)
MARK: …so there is a strange ‘seafood connection’ between the two languages, referring to
English people who don’t know how to moderate their behaviour in the sun…
TOM: And on that note shall we go and hide in the shade 41 in a nice beach bar and grab a
nice, icy cold beer?
MARK: That sounds great! It’s very hot here, why not?
TOM: Bye!
MARK: Bye!
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Clase Centrada en el Lenguaje

Hola. Me llamo Rosario, y en la clase de inglés de hoy vamos a centrarnos en un par de
expresiones muy útiles de la conversación de Tom y Mark.

Cuando hablaban de “Beach dangers”, Mark dijo que era un peligro que la gente “might get
caught in an underwater current and taken out of their depth”.

Vamos a centrarnos en la parte en la que Mark dijo “out of their depth” (literalmente en
español, esto sería fuera de su profundidad). En este caso, significa que el agua les cubriría la
cabeza estando de pie.

Sin embargo hay un segundo uso idiomático de esta expresión que es muy común en inglés.
Se usa para decir que no se tiene el conocimiento, experiencia o habilidad para tratar un
tema o situación en concreto. Aquí hay algunos ejemplos:

TOM: “My new job is so difficult, I’m totally out of my depth.”

TOM: “Mark felt so out of his depth in his advanced Spanish class, that he changed to
intermediate.”

TOM: “We went to a party last weekend and everyone was talking about Spanish politics –
we were completely out of our depth.”

La construcción de esta expresión es:

“TO BE out of” + pronombre posesivo + “depth”.

Repite los siguientes ejemplos durante las pausas.

TOM: “I’m out of my depth.”

TOM: “You were out of your depth.”

TOM: “She’ll be out of her depth.”

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ROSE: “We hope you’ve found this useful, and you’re no longer out of your depth with this
expression!”

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Notes & Additional Vocabulary

1
Barceloneta - La Barceloneta es un barrio marinero del distrito de Ciutat Vella de
Barcelona - http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barceloneta_%28Barcelona%29
“A whole load of” – (Colloquial) A lot of
2

3
Cos – (Abbreviation, Colloquial) Because
4
“Tons of” – (Colloquial) A lot of
5
Gonna – (Abbreviation, Colloquial) Going to
6
Yep – (Colloquial) Yes
7
Caye Caulker - Cayo Corker (también conocido en castellano como Cayo Hicaco o Cayo
Caulker es una pequeña isla coralina ubicada en el mar del Caribe que pertenece
políticamente a Belice en Centroamérica).
8
Whitehaven beach – More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehaven_Beach
9
To Crunch – Hacer Crujir
10
Koh Lipe – See some of Tom’s photos of Koh Lipe here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthoria/sets/72157603653712512/
11
Trails – Paths - Senderos
“Very chilled out” – (Colloquial) Very relaxed
12

13
“you’re not really into” (Colloquial) – you don’t really like.
14
Sunbathing – To lie in the sun in order to go brown - tomar el sol
“Hammock life” – A very relaxed time spent laying in hammocks
15

16
Zipolite – A beach in Oaxaca province, South West Mexico on the Pacific coast, where
Mark and Tom spent some time during their travels in Central America in 1993. Es la playa
nudista más famosa de México. (more: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipolite)
17
“I tend to…” Suelo (hacer algo). Example uses: “I tend to stay in during the week”, “I tend
to drink wine with my meals”
18
To roast – To cook with a lot of heat in an oven - Asar
19
Become a lobster – To lie in the sun until you burn and go very red in colour
20
Blue Flag Beaches – Read more: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandera_Azul
21
Andalucia - Andalucía es una comunidad autónoma española.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andaluc%C3%ADa
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22
Bolonia – La playa de Bolonia es una playa situada en el término municipal de Tarifa, en la
comarca del Campo de Gibraltar en Andalucía, España More:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_de_Bolonia
23
Greeny bluey water – Water that is green/blue in colour
24
“To spring to mind” – (Literalmente) saltar a mente– A common phrase used to answer a
question without having much time to consider the answer
25
Befall – To happen (usually negative)

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“Out of their depth” – To go out too far in the sea, where the water is too deep
26

27
To drown – To die in water as a result of breathing in water
28
Near Drowning – When someone almost or nearly drowns
29
Rip tides – Very Strong and dangerous underwater currents
30
Jellyfish - Medusas
31
Stingray - Raya
32
Savagely - (Colloquial) Extreme adverb used for emphasis - “very, very” or “extremely”
Example uses: “It’s savagely hot in Sevilla in August!”, “My friend often gets savagely
drunk!”
33
Portuguese Man o’ War - La carabela portuguesa, también conocida como fragata
portuguesa, agua mala o botella azul, es una especie de hidrozoo sifonóforo de la familia
Physaliidae. Se suele encontrar en mar abierto en todas las aguas cálidas del planeta, en
especial en las regiones tropicales y subtropicales de los océanos Pacífico e Índico, así como
en la Corriente del Golfo atlántica. Su picadura es peligrosa y muy dolorosa. More:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalia_physalis
34
“Nearly put an end to me” – (Colloquial) Nearly killed me.
35
Sunstroke – When people have too much sun and become very ill - Insolación
36
“To end up” – The result was that…
37
Stag Weekend – A weekend away before someone gets married (men) – Despedida de
soltero
38
Hen Weekend – A weekend away before someone gets married (women) - Despedida de
soltera
39
Red as a lobster – potential language point, similies, ‘drunk as a skunk’, ‘mad as a hatter’,
‘high as a kite’ etc
”In Spain they refer to them as prawns” – When someone is very red from too much sun,
40

we use ‘lobster’ (langosta) to describe them in English. In Spanish the word is gamba
(prawn)
41
Shade – Sombra
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