Episodio 33: Mixtapes (Mixtapes)

Duolingo English for Spanish Speakers Podcast

De pequeña, lo único que Britta Jorgensen escuchaba en el auto con su papá era “La Cinta”, o The Tape.

The Tape had all of my dad’s favorite songs.

They were old songs — from a long time before I was born.

When one side of The Tape finished playing, we took it out, turned it over, and played the other side.

We listened to The Tape and sang during so many car rides.

“La Cinta” era un casete, lo que se conoce como un mixtape.

Un mixtape es una colección de canciones, normalmente de diferentes artistas, grabadas en una cinta de casete o en un CD.

Es lo que se conocería hoy como un playlist.

El papá de Britta había grabado “La Cinta” y la había hecho muy personalizada.

I knew every word of every song on The Tape.

We called it “The Tape” because it was the only tape in the car.

It was The Tape.

Pero cuando Britta tenía doce o trece años, decidió que ya no quería escuchar la misma música que sus papás.

Compró su propio reproductor de CDs, o discman, que venía con su primer par de auriculares, o headphones.

After I got my discman, I could put on my headphones and listen to my own music all the time.

I remember going on a two-day road trip with my family.

I listened to my new Destiny’s Child album again and again, and looked out the window, thinking about my own teenage problems.

It didn’t seem important at the time, but my dad and I never listened to The Tape together again.

I didn’t know that one day, The Tape was going to become really important to me again.

Welcome, bienvenidos y bienvenidas a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo.

Soy Diana Gameros.

En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes, contadas por las personas que las vivieron.

Los protagonistas hablan en un inglés sencillo y fácil de entender para quienes están aprendiendo el idioma.

En cada capítulo, yo te acompañaré, para asegurarme de que entiendas todo.

En este episodio, escucharás dos historias de mixtapes que conectan a las personas con sus familias y su legado.

Antes de entrar en su historia, una nota sobre el acento de nuestra primera narradora: Britta es de Australia, por eso notarás que no pronuncia la R al final de las palabras, como water: “water”.

También notarás el sonido “ai” en palabras como life suena un poco diferente: “life”.

Britta se crió en las playas de Sydney, en Australia, durante los años noventa.

Pasaba mucho tiempo en la playa con su familia.

Almost every weekend, during the 1990s and early 2000s, my dad drove me and my sister to the beach.

In summer, we played in the sand and swam in the water.

In winter, we explored the cliffs by the ocean.

Then, on the way home, we bought ice cream and ate it in the back seat of the car.

El padre de Britta se había criado en esas playas también y, con su madre, surfeaba en los años setenta.

Por eso muchas de sus canciones favoritas eran de esa época, de bandas como ABBA, o The Animals.

The Tape had a lot of songs from the 70s and 80s.

I think that was a really happy time in my dad’s life.

It was when he was young, in love, and enjoying his life surfing at the beach.

I asked him about every song on The Tape.

Like, for example, why he picked a specific song, or what the lyrics of a song meant.

Una de las canciones favoritas de Britta en La Cinta se llamaba “The Logical Song” de la banda Supertramp.

A su padre le encantaba porque el tema de la canción era cómo pensar por uno mismo.

El padre de Britta odiaba que le dijeran cómo pensar; de hecho, dejó la escuela a los catorce años de edad porque no la soportaba.

I loved “The Logical Song” because it used a lot of big words.

I loved learning new words and what they meant.

I wasn’t like my dad — I loved school! My dad was always so proud of everything I achieved in school.

We spent a lot of time talking about the world and how to think independently.

Britta a menudo le preguntaba a su padre sobre su canción favorita, “House of the Rising Sun”, de la banda The Animals.

En ella, un hombre se arrepiente de haber tomado el camino equivocado en la vida.

My dad wasn’t like the person in the song.

He was grateful for his path in life.

He was 42 when I was born, so he was older than a lot of dads.

Before my sister and I were born, he didn’t know if he would have the opportunity to be a dad, so he enjoyed spending time with us when we were young.

I think he learned a lot during the years when he wasn’t a parent, and he wanted to share that knowledge with us.

Cuando la hermana mayor de Britta entró en la adolescencia, empezó a pasar los fines de semana con sus amigos.

Así que Britta y su padre iban solos a la playa.

Ponían La Cinta y para cenar, compraban algo muy típico de Australia: pescado con papas fritas, o fish and chips.

When it was just me and my dad in the car, I got to sit in the front seat and control The Tape.

I didn’t play the songs I didn’t like.

And when the songs I loved came on, I sang as loud as I could.

I felt lucky to spend that time in the car with my dad.

We played games, and I asked him questions.

I usually had sand on my feet and water from the sea in my hair.

When we bought fish and chips to bring home for dinner, I always ate some of the chips before we got home.

Ya cuando Britta se hizo adolescente comenzó a escuchar música más de su generación, como Beyoncé y Rihanna.

Pero cada vez que escuchaba una canción de La Cinta, en una fiesta, en un supermercado o en la radio, le venían recuerdos de su niñez.

If I was with my sister when I heard one of the songs, we always looked at each other and we knew that we were both thinking: “The Tape!”

Como Britta ya escuchaba su propia música, su papá dejó de poner La Cinta en el carro.

Y pronto compró un carro nuevo con reproductor de CD en lugar de casetes.

Pasaron los años y Britta nunca pensó en preguntarle qué había pasado con La Cinta.

No le parecía algo importante.

Pero a principios de 2021, cuando Britta tenía ya treinta años, su papá falleció después de una larga enfermedad.

I was devastated.

I didn’t get to spend much time with him during the months before he died because I wasn’t allowed to cross the state border during Australia’s strict COVID-19 lockdown.

When I was finally allowed to travel, I went to visit him But he died just a few minutes before I got there.

En los días después de la muerte de su papá, Britta pasó horas y horas viendo viejos álbumes familiares.

I wanted to remember him, but all of the photos I had were old.

I looked annoyed in most of them, and they didn’t bring back any memories of my dad.

In the recent photos of our family, my dad didn’t look well.

His illness made it difficult for him to smile.

Then I remembered The Tape.

Por supuesto, La Cinta había desaparecido hacía tiempo.

Pero Britta se sabía de memoria todas las canciones.

Así que creó un playlist con ellas en su teléfono.

One night, a few days after my dad died, I put on my headphones and went out for a walk in the dark.

While I walked, I listened to all of the songs on The Tape.

The music brought back those memories of singing in the car.

I remembered the beach, the car, the fish and chips, the sand on my feet, and my dad.

When he made The Tape decades earlier, he didn’t know that it was going to mean so much to me one day.

But it means so much.

Para Britta, escuchar las canciones de La Cinta fue una forma de reconectarse con su padre.

Para Sheeba Joseph, un mixtape le permitió conectarse con su legado familiar.

La familia de Sheeba emigró a la ciudad de Nueva York desde India cuando ella aún era una bebé.

All my memories of growing up were from the United States, and I only traveled to India once as a child.

I didn’t have the same connection to India as my parents or my older brother.

Los papás de Sheeba intentaban constantemente que se interesara por la cultura india para que no fuera una extranjera u outsider en su comunidad… pero no les fue fácil.

My parents’ native South Indian language is called Malayalam.

They always tried to speak the language with me, but I didn’t know it well.

So, I always felt super nervous speaking it in front of other people.

It wasn’t fun to feel like an outsider, and I never really connected with that part of my identity.

Aunque Sheeba solo fue a la India una vez cuando era niña, su padre iba con más frecuencia.

Siempre que volvía de sus viajes, él traía a casa regalos para toda la familia.

My dad brought back items that you couldn’t easily find at stores in the U.S.

Clothing like saris, or Indian food and snacks that my parents wanted us to try.

I was always excited when my dad came home because he had a lot of stories about places he went and people he met.

Sheeba tiene un recuerdo particularmente nítido de uno de esos viajes a fines de los noventa.

Tenía trece o catorce años.

Su padre había estado en la India durante dos semanas y volvió a casa en Nueva York un viernes por la noche en otoño.

My dad planned to come home early on a Friday night, but his plane was delayed, so he got home late.

He was really tired when he finally got home, so instead of unpacking his suitcase that night, he decided to unpack it the next morning.

I couldn’t wait to see what my dad brought home for us.

I think I actually woke up early the next day because I was so excited!

Después del desayuno a la mañana siguiente, Sheeba, sus papás y su hermano se reunieron en torno a la maleta en el dormitorio de sus padres.

El hermano de Sheeba fue el primero en recibir su regalo.

I can’t remember what my brother got that year.

But I can remember when I got my gift.

I was so confused and disappointed.

I usually liked my dad’s presents, but in this case, he brought home a cassette tape…

A finales de los noventa, los casetes ya se estaban haciendo antiguos.

Pero aún peor para Sheeba, este era un casete de música india, algo que nunca le había llamado la atención.

I wasn’t very interested in Indian music at the time.

I liked listening to music styles from the U.S., like R&B and pop.

When I was growing up, the only time I heard Indian music was when my parents listened to it.

They liked songs from old Bollywood movies and religious music.

Their music didn’t seem interesting to me, so I didn’t really want to listen to it.

Aunque estaba decepcionada, Sheeba decidió escuchar la cinta al menos una vez.

We were all curious about what we were going to hear.

When the music finally played, I was completely surprised! It wasn’t the old music my mom and dad listened to — it was a mixtape from an Indian hip hop DJ.

En inglés, los mixtape, además de ser cintas con canciones de varios artistas, también tienen raíces en la música hip hop.

En el hip hop, un mixtape es una colección de canciones remezcladas por un joven productor o DJ para mostrar su talento.

I didn’t know who the Indian DJ was, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

But after the second or third song, I was in love with the mixtape! They were hip hop songs, and the lyrics were in English and Hindi.

I couldn’t believe that Indian music sounded so cool!

La decepción inicial de Sheeba se había esfumado.

Le encantaba la cinta y empezó a escucharla todo el tiempo.

Tanto que volvió loca a su familia.

I loved that tape, and I played it all the time! After a while, the tape literally started to break.

Por si no te acuerdas de aquella época, la cinta de un casete puede desgastarse y comenzar a romperse si se reproduce demasiadas veces.

My mom wanted me to get rid of the tape.

But I felt a connection to India when I listened to it, and I didn’t want to lose that.

So instead, I tried to fix it.

Honestly, I didn’t really know how to fix the tape, but I knew that I needed to try.

My dad was really proud that his gift was so important to me.

Después de todo, resultó que el padre de Sheeba sí sabía lo que le gustaba a su hija.

My dad’s gift was more than just a tape full of songs.

He helped me fall in love with my culture.

I began watching a lot of Bollywood movies, but I also became interested in cultures and languages that were not my own.

I started listening to music in Spanish — even though I couldn’t understand the lyrics.

I also started watching a Japanese TV show — with no subtitles!

La cinta ayudó a Sheeba a ser más curiosa y a comprender algo nuevo sobre su experiencia y su identidad como inmigrante.

The tape helped me accept that there are two sides to my identity — I’m Indian and American.

And both sides can live in harmony.

That’s why my identity is beautiful and unique.

Sheeba Joseph es una productora de podcasts que vive en la ciudad de Nueva York.

Nuestra primera narradora, Britta Jorgensen, es periodista e investigadora de podcasts.

Vive en Sydney, Australia.

“Relatos en inglés” es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media.

Puedes seguirnos en Spotify o tu plataforma preferida.

Yo soy Diana Gameros.

Thank you for listening!