Day 110: Cutting Her Husband's Memoir
At a small publishing house in Malate, Manila, editor Randolf (A) meets Tessie (B), a widow who has written a six-hundred-page memoir about her late husband.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense.
- 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
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A
Napakaganda po ng mga alaala ninyo tungkol sa yumao ninyong asawa. Kaya lang, medyo mahaba pa po.
Your memories of your late husband are beautiful. It's just that it's still a little long.
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B
Anim na raang pahina 'yan, iho. Diretsahin mo na ako: ilan ang dapat mawala?
It's six hundred pages, iho. Be straight with me: how many have to go?
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A
Mga kalahati po sana. Hindi po dahil hindi maganda, kundi para hindi mapagod ang mambabasa.
About half, ideally. Not because it isn't good, but so the reader doesn't get tired.
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B
Kalahati? Dalawang taon kong isinulat 'yan mula nang pumanaw si Vicente.
Half? I spent two years writing that, ever since Vicente passed away.
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A
Hindi po mawawala ang mga iyon. Maaari po nating itabi para sa ikalawang aklat.
Those pages won't be lost. We could set them aside for a second book.
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B
Kung ganoon, umpisahan mo sa pangingisda niya. Siyamnapung pahina 'yon ng mga isdang hindi naman niya nahuli.
Then start with his fishing. That's ninety pages of fish he never even caught.
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A
Sigurado po ba kayo? Akala ko po, iyon ang pinakamahalaga sa kaniya.
Are you sure? I thought that mattered most to him.
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B
Sa kaniya, oo. Pero apatnapung taon akong nakinig sa mga kuwentong 'yon, sapat na.
To him, yes. But I listened to those stories for forty years. That's enough.
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A
Siyamnapung pahina na po agad. Dalawandaan at sampu na lang po ang hahanapin natin.
That's ninety pages right there. Only two hundred and ten more to find.
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