Beti konektatuta
A short in Basque 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. At seven in the morning the alarm on my phone wakes me, and my first look is at the screen: a new code from an SMS…
Text
- Goizean zazpietan telefonoaren alarmak esnatzen nau eta lehen begirada pantailan jartzen dut: SMS kode berri bat, posta elektronikoko hiru mezu eta taldeko txatan berrogeita hamar mezu. Kodeak idatzi, saioa hasi, eta hala hasten da eguna: beti konektatuta. Lanerako bidean musika entzuten dut haririk gabeko entzungailuekin, baina mezu guztiei ere garaiz erantzuten diet. Arratsaldeetan bideo-deiak izaten ditut: lehenik mikrofonoa piztu eta esku librea jarri, gero hitz egin. Arazoak ere izaten dira: behin telefonoa kargan ahaztu nuenean alarma ez zen entzun; beste batean pantaila apurtu zen eta telefonoaren konponketa astebete iraun zuen. Asteburuan, ordea, beste erabaki bat hartu dut: saioa itxi, telefonoa kargan jarri eta atera kalera entzungailurik gabe. Lehen ordua aspergarria da; hurrengoetan, ordea, parkea, liburua eta lagunak konturatzen zaizkit: konektatu gabe ere, eguna ondo doa.At seven in the morning the alarm on my phone wakes me, and my first look is at the screen: a new code from an SMS, three emails and fifty messages in the group chat. I enter the codes, log into the account — that is how the day begins: always connected. On the way to work I listen to music on wireless earphones, but I answer all the messages on time too. In the evenings there are video calls: first I turn on the microphone and the speakerphone, then I speak. There are troubles too: once I forgot to put the phone on the charger, and the alarm did not ring; another time the screen broke, and the phone repair took a week. But on the weekend I made a different decision: log out of the account, put the phone on the charger and go outside without earphones. The first hour is boring; but then I notice the park, a book and friends: and without connection the day goes excellently.
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 does the narrator do first of all after the alarm?
- What trouble happened to the phone once?
- What did the narrator decide to do on the weekend?
- What was the first hour without the phone like?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Basque?
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.