Fins a la plaça, a poc a poc in Catalan
Passers-by talk in the street of the old town in Catalan. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Perdó, sóc nou al barri: per on s'hi va a la plaça del casc antic?» — Excuse me, I am new to the quarter: how do I get to the old town square? The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: passers-by talk in the street of the old town. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Perdó, sóc nou al barri: per on s'hi va a la plaça del casc antic?Excuse me, I am new to the quarter: how do I get to the old town square?
- Fàcil: de camí a la torre, creua el carrer i gira al següent gir. Són dos passos, gairebé.Easy: on the way to the tower cross the street and turn at the next turn. It is two steps away, almost.
- I l'oficina de canvi, és a l'altra banda de la plaça o per aquí?And the currency exchange — on the other side of the square or somewhere here?
- A la dreta de l'església, al costat de la taquilla del circ. Hi ha un rètol gran: no el perdràs.To the right of the church, next to the circus ticket office. There is a big signboard there: you cannot miss it.
- Moltes gràcies. I de nit, és tranquil el barri? Els fanals s'encenen, oi?Many thanks. And is the quarter calm at night? The lamp posts light up there, do they?
- Molt tranquil: al vespre només hi ha silenci i els nens que juguen als jardins fins que els pares els porten a casa.Very calm: in the evening there is only silence and the children playing in the small park until their parents take them home.
Lines one by one
| Catalan | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Perdó, sóc nou al barri: per on s'hi va a la plaça del casc antic? | — | Excuse me, I am new to the quarter: how do I get to the old town square? |
| Fàcil: de camí a la torre, creua el carrer i gira al següent gir. Són dos passos, gairebé. | — | Easy: on the way to the tower cross the street and turn at the next turn. It is two steps away, almost. |
| I l'oficina de canvi, és a l'altra banda de la plaça o per aquí? | — | And the currency exchange — on the other side of the square or somewhere here? |
| A la dreta de l'església, al costat de la taquilla del circ. Hi ha un rètol gran: no el perdràs. | — | To the right of the church, next to the circus ticket office. There is a big signboard there: you cannot miss it. |
| Moltes gràcies. I de nit, és tranquil el barri? Els fanals s'encenen, oi? | — | Many thanks. And is the quarter calm at night? The lamp posts light up there, do they? |
| Molt tranquil: al vespre només hi ha silenci i els nens que juguen als jardins fins que els pares els porten a casa. | — | Very calm: in the evening there is only silence and the children playing in the small park until their parents take them home. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Catalan in this situation?
“Perdó, sóc nou al barri: per on s'hi va a la plaça del casc antic?” — Excuse me, I am new to the quarter: how do I get to the old town square?. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.