A medida que hablábamos del viaje, mi madre se fue animando.

As we talked about the trip, my mother gradually got more excited.

Breakdown of A medida que hablábamos del viaje, mi madre se fue animando.

• mi: my
• nosotros: we
• el viaje: the trip
• hablar: to talk

Questions & Answers about A medida que hablábamos del viaje, mi madre se fue animando.

What does a medida que mean here?

A medida que means as or as/while, with the idea that one thing changes gradually at the same time as another.

So in this sentence, it shows that the more we talked about the trip, the more my mother became enthusiastic.

It is a very common structure for describing parallel development:

• A medida que estudiaba, entendía más.
  As I studied, I understood more.

You can think of it as stronger and more gradual than a simple cuando (when).

Why is it hablábamos and not hablamos or hablamos?

Here hablábamos is the imperfect tense of hablar.

The imperfect is used because the talking is presented as an ongoing background action. The sentence focuses on a process:

• A medida que hablábamos... = As we were talking...

If you used the preterite, it would sound more like a completed event, which does not fit as naturally with a medida que, because that expression usually highlights something unfolding over time.

So:

• hablábamos = we were talking / we used to talk
• here: we were talking

Why is it del viaje and not sobre el viaje?