LingoflyX x — ics
«ics» is a consonant of the Catalan script, read as “sh; ks in borrowings”. At the start of a word and after a consonant it is sh: xocolata comes out "shoo-koo-LAH-tuh". In borrowings it is ks: taxi. In ex- before a vowel it is gz: examen — "uhg-ZAH-muhn". For example, in the word “xocolata” — chocolate. The Catalan alphabet has 27 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. Hence xampú — shampoo, and xerès — sherry. It is neither "ex" nor the kh of "loch".
In short
| Character | X x |
| Name | ics |
| Sound | sh; ks in borrowings |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 30th of 35: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are w and y, appears in 211 words of this site.
How it sounds
At the start of a word and after a consonant it is sh: xocolata comes out "shoo-koo-LAH-tuh". In borrowings it is ks: taxi. In ex- before a vowel it is gz: examen — "uhg-ZAH-muhn"
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- xocolatachocolate
The character in the “signs of its own” group
ç is the only letter with a cedilla, l·l the only mid-word dot. The combinations are not letters, but no menu can be read without them.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ics» it is “sh; ks in borrowings”, as in the word “xocolata”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 27 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Catalan character x read?
As “sh; ks in borrowings” — it is a consonant of the Catalan script. At the start of a word and after a consonant it is sh: xocolata comes out "shoo-koo-LAH-tuh". In borrowings it is ks: taxi. In ex- before a vowel it is gz: examen — "uhg-ZAH-muhn". For example, in the word “xocolata” — chocolate.
What is the letter x called?
Ics. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Catalan script: it is called “ics” and reads as “sh; ks in borrowings”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.