LingoflyOver lunch in Basque
Two colleagues have lunch at a café by the market in Basque. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Gose handia dut: goizean kafe bat besterik ez dut hartu.» — I am very hungry: in the morning I only had a coffee; «Orduan azkar bazkaldu behar dugu. Nik haragi xehatua nahi dut; zuk zer gomendatzen didazu?» — Then let us have lunch fast. I want minced meat; and what do you advise me? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two colleagues have lunch at a café by the market. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Thanks! I am full and content: in the morning I only ate a bun with jam.
Lines one by one
| Basque | Translation |
|---|---|
| Gose handia dut: goizean kafe bat besterik ez dut hartu. | I am very hungry: in the morning I only had a coffee. |
| Orduan azkar bazkaldu behar dugu. Nik haragi xehatua nahi dut; zuk zer gomendatzen didazu? | Then let us have lunch fast. I want minced meat; and what do you advise me? |
| Izokina ona da hemen, baina eskatu gatzik gabe: sukaldariak gatz gehiegi botatzen du. | The salmon is good here, only ask for it without salt: the cook salts too much. |
| Ongi. Eta edaririk? Gaur bero dago: ur minerala eta limonada hotz bat. | Good. And the drinks? It is hot today: mineral water and cold lemonade. |
| Gaur nik ordaintzen dut, txartelaz: ostegunetan beti nik gonbidatzen dut. | Today I pay, by card: on Thursdays I always treat. |
| Eskerrik asko! Aseta nago eta pozik: goizean opila eta marmelada besterik ez dut jan. | Thanks! I am full and content: in the morning I only ate a bun with jam. |
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 noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.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 Basque in this situation?
“Gose handia dut: goizean kafe bat besterik ez dut hartu.” — I am very hungry: in the morning I only had a coffee. 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.