Cassette tapes, replays, and multi-functional verbs

Hello friend,

This week we're feeling nostalgic about cassette tapes as we listen to a tale of a Chilean family split by exile but connected through analog media. After a quick explanation of the snail icon in the Jiveworld player, we dive into five Spanish verbs with multiple meanings, and answer a question from our community about pasar.

Featured story
Los Cassettes del Exilio

A few years ago, Dennis Maxwell went to Chile to help his brother move. Among the boxes they found 20 cassette tapes where much of his childhood was recorded. His father lived in exile for a decade, and these cassettes were their main form of communication. Soundbites from Los Cassettes del Exilio explore how to exaggerate like a comedian, make assumptions about the past, and talk about new beginnings.

Want to listen to the full story? Subscribe to unlock the entire catalog of Stories and Soundbites. 

Artwork by Samuel Castaño

Jiveworld tip of the week
Replay vs Slow Replay

When you pause in the Study Mode player, you'll see two buttons appear above the play button. Both of them will replay the current sentence, but one of them does it in super-slow mode. Can you guess which one? (Spoiler: it's the snail. Tap the snail icon to replay the current sentence slowed down.)

ICYMI: 5 Spanish verbs with multiple meanings

Learning these five verbs is the equivalent of having 100+ different tools in your conversation kit — that's what we call a vocab bargain! Watch this video for practical advice on when and how to use these high-impact words in a variety of situations.

Questions from subscribers

We love getting questions and feedback about the educational content that accompanies the stories in Jiveworld. If something is confusing or doesn't line up with your experience, let us know — and we just might feature it in a future newsletter. Thanks for this week's question, Mimi!

Question: In the Chapter 1 Grammar Soundbite for Miedo, you identify pasar as a word that can be used like experimentar, but isn't pasar part of the phrase, te lleva a pasar?

Answer: Yes, pasar can mean experimentar, among other things. When it is part of the phrase te lleva a pasar it still means experimentar, but what te lleva a is doing is modifying the event a bit. You can see how we translated it to "leads you to experience," where "leads you to..." would be a translation of "te lleva..." You can have it with other verbs, too, like: te lleva a dudar de todo (it makes you doubt everything) or nos lleva a concluir que... (it leads us to the conclusion that...).

Soundbites are moving into Stories

Just a reminder, the introductory period for Soundbites, featuring the free Daily Soundbite, ends on December 17. You will still have access to any Soundbites you've unlocked since launch.

Based on feedback from our subscribers, we will be moving Soundbites into the stories they were excerpted from, creating a unified study flow. You'll still be able to solve Soundbites on their own - or skip them while listening to a story - but now it'll be easier to find and access all of your content right from the Dashboard.

Thanks for reading,

Team Jiveworld