Una conversa difícil
A short in Catalan text at level B1. The translation sits next to it: reading with a dictionary is still too early at this level, and without support it will not happen at all. Yesterday I had a difficult conversation with my brother about our parents' flat. He cut me off three times, so I told…
Text
- Ahir vaig tenir una conversa difícil amb el meu germà pel pis dels nostres pares. Em va interrompre tres vegades, així que li vaig dir: «Deixa'm parlar, que no he acabat». El cas és que ell volia vendre el pis de seguida i jo creia que calia pensar-ho més. Em vaig esforçar per no cridar: he après que cridar no soluciona res. Al final vam fer un resum: parlarem amb el notari la setmana que ve i, si no ens entenem, ho decidirà una persona neutral. Sense rencores: és el meu germà, i el tema de la conversa no és més important que ell.Yesterday I had a difficult conversation with my brother about our parents' flat. He cut me off three times, so I told him: "Let me speak, I had not finished". The thing is he wanted to sell the flat right away, and I thought we should think longer. I tried not to shout: I have learned that shouting decides nothing. In the end we summed it up: we will talk to a notary next week, and if we do not agree, an outside person will decide. No hard feelings: he is my brother, and the topic of conversation matters no more than he does.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- What was the difficult conversation about?
- How did the brother behave in the conversation?
- What has the narrator learned?
- What did the brothers agree on?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Catalan?
B1. That means: you know the letters and have a stock of everyday words — about two or three hundred.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.