A visit to the doctor in Catalan
We came to the doctor with a sore throat and a fever in Catalan. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Bon dia, doctor. Em trobo malament: em fa mal la gola i tinc febre alta.» — Hello, doctor. I feel unwell: my throat hurts and I have a high fever. 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: we came to the doctor with a sore throat and a fever. 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.
- Bon dia, doctor. Em trobo malament: em fa mal la gola i tinc febre alta.Hello, doctor. I feel unwell: my throat hurts and I have a high fever.
- A veure… La gola la tens molt vermella. Des de quan?I see… Your throat is very red. Since when?
- Des d'ahir al vespre. I ara també em fa mal la panxa.Since yesterday evening. And now my belly hurts too.
- És una infecció petita. Preneu aquest medicament dues vegades al dia.It is a small infection. Take this medicine twice a day.
- Doctor, necessito la baixa per la feina.Doctor, I need a sick leave for work.
- Li escric la baixa d'una setmana i una derivació a l'especialista. Que es posi bé!I will give you a week of sick leave and a referral to a specialist. Get well!
Lines one by one
| Catalan | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Bon dia, doctor. Em trobo malament: em fa mal la gola i tinc febre alta. | — | Hello, doctor. I feel unwell: my throat hurts and I have a high fever. |
| A veure… La gola la tens molt vermella. Des de quan? | — | I see… Your throat is very red. Since when? |
| Des d'ahir al vespre. I ara també em fa mal la panxa. | — | Since yesterday evening. And now my belly hurts too. |
| És una infecció petita. Preneu aquest medicament dues vegades al dia. | — | It is a small infection. Take this medicine twice a day. |
| Doctor, necessito la baixa per la feina. | — | Doctor, I need a sick leave for work. |
| Li escric la baixa d'una setmana i una derivació a l'especialista. Que es posi bé! | — | I will give you a week of sick leave and a referral to a specialist. Get well! |
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?
“Bon dia, doctor. Em trobo malament: em fa mal la gola i tinc febre alta.” — Hello, doctor. I feel unwell: my throat hurts and I have a high fever.. 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.