Discussing the news in Catalan
We go through the headlines at breakfast in Catalan. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Has vist les notícies d'avui?» — Have you seen today's news?; «Sí, el titular promet molt: han anunciat que el metro arriba a la nostra ciutat.» — Yes, the headline promises a lot: they announced the subway will come to our town. 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 go through the headlines at breakfast. 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.
- Has vist les notícies d'avui?Have you seen today's news?
- Sí, el titular promet molt: han anunciat que el metro arriba a la nostra ciutat.Yes, the headline promises a lot: they announced the subway will come to our town.
- Diu que les obres acaben el juny que ve.They say the works will finish in June of next year.
- Ja ho sento dir cada any… Al diari hi ha una entrevista sobre això.I hear that every year… There is an interview on the topic in the paper.
- Jo no llegeixo el diari: només miro el fil de notícies al telèfon.I do not read the paper: I only look at the news feed on my phone.
- Cura amb això: comprova la informació abans de compartir-la.Be careful with that: verify the information before sharing.
Lines one by one
| Catalan | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Has vist les notícies d'avui? | — | Have you seen today's news? |
| Sí, el titular promet molt: han anunciat que el metro arriba a la nostra ciutat. | — | Yes, the headline promises a lot: they announced the subway will come to our town. |
| Diu que les obres acaben el juny que ve. | — | They say the works will finish in June of next year. |
| Ja ho sento dir cada any… Al diari hi ha una entrevista sobre això. | — | I hear that every year… There is an interview on the topic in the paper. |
| Jo no llegeixo el diari: només miro el fil de notícies al telèfon. | — | I do not read the paper: I only look at the news feed on my phone. |
| Cura amb això: comprova la informació abans de compartir-la. | — | Be careful with that: verify the information before sharing. |
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?
“Has vist les notícies d'avui?” — Have you seen today's news?. 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.