Day 2 of 135

Day 2: Gold Foil on a Poet's Budget

At the printing press in Quezon City where Joshua (B) works in prepress, his college friend Paulo (A) brings the files of his first poetry collection, paid for by a small grant, and asks for five hundred hardbound copies with a gold-foil cover.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Tagalog. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day

  1. A

    Pare, heto ang files ng libro ko: limandaang kopya, hardbound, gold foil ang pamagat.

    Here are the files for my book, man: five hundred copies, hardbound, with the title in gold foil.

  2. B

    Hardbound na may gintong letra? Thesis ang kalalabasan niyan, hindi tula.

    Hardbound with gold lettering? That'll come out looking like a thesis, not poetry.

  3. A

    Gusto ko lang namang magmukhang seryoso ang libro. Magkano ba kung foil talaga?

    I just want it to look like a serious book. So how much if it's real foil?

  4. B

    Sa die at setup pa lang ng hot stamping, kalahati na ng grant mo.

    The die and the hot-stamping setup alone would eat half your grant.

  5. A

    Die? Papatayin mo na agad ang libro ko, hindi pa nga naiimprenta.

    Die? You're killing my book off already, and it isn't even printed yet.

  6. B

    Hulmahang metal 'yon, pandiin ng foil sa cover. Isa pa, lampas ka na sa 48 pages, kaya perfect binding na lang tayo.

    It's a metal plate for pressing the foil into the cover. And another thing: you're over 48 pages, so let's just go with perfect binding.

  7. A

    Perfect binding, 'yung nakadikit ang likod? Bakit hindi na lang i-staple?

    Perfect binding, the glued spine? Why not just staple it?

  8. B

    Saddle stitch 'yon, pang-manipis lang. Lagyan mo rin ng bleed ang cover, para walang puting gilid pag-trim.

    That's saddle stitch, and it's only for thin ones. And add bleed to the cover, so no white edge shows when it's trimmed.

  9. A

    Bleed, die, stitch, parang horror movie. Kung walang foil at hardbound, ano'ng kaya ng grant?

    Bleed, die, stitch, it sounds like a horror movie. Without the foil and the hardbound, what can the grant cover?

  10. B

    Dalawang daang kopya para sa zine fair, metallic gold na tinta sa pamagat. Kumikinang pa rin, at mukhang tula na.

    Two hundred copies for the zine fair, with metallic gold ink for the title. It still shines, and now it looks like poetry.

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