Urteak kontatzen in Basque
Two old friends count the years on a bench in Basque. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Zenbat urte daramatzat elkar ikusi gabe? Hamar? Hamabi?» — How many years have we not seen each other? Ten? Twelve?; «Hamabi urte daramatzat kontatzen: azkenekoz zure ezkontan egon nintzen.» — I count twelve years: the last time was at your wedding. 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: two old friends count the years on a bench. 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.
- Zenbat urte daramatzat elkar ikusi gabe? Hamar? Hamabi?How many years have we not seen each other? Ten? Twelve?
- Hamabi urte daramatzat kontatzen: azkenekoz zure ezkontan egon nintzen.I count twelve years: the last time was at your wedding.
- Aro bat da: seme-alabak hazi ditugu, eta etxez aldatu gara biak.An epoch: we raised children, and we both changed homes.
- Denbora azkar doa: hamarkada bat daramatzat lan horretan, lehen egunaren zain nengoela dirudi.Time flies: it has been a decade at that job, as if I were waiting for the first day.
- Zure bizitzan zer izan da bira punturik handiena?In your life, what was the biggest turning point?
- Hirira joatea: hemendik atera nintzen eta berriro hasi behar izan nuen, adin hartan bertan.Moving to the city: I left here and had to start over, at that very age.
Lines one by one
| Basque | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Zenbat urte daramatzat elkar ikusi gabe? Hamar? Hamabi? | — | How many years have we not seen each other? Ten? Twelve? |
| Hamabi urte daramatzat kontatzen: azkenekoz zure ezkontan egon nintzen. | — | I count twelve years: the last time was at your wedding. |
| Aro bat da: seme-alabak hazi ditugu, eta etxez aldatu gara biak. | — | An epoch: we raised children, and we both changed homes. |
| Denbora azkar doa: hamarkada bat daramatzat lan horretan, lehen egunaren zain nengoela dirudi. | — | Time flies: it has been a decade at that job, as if I were waiting for the first day. |
| Zure bizitzan zer izan da bira punturik handiena? | — | In your life, what was the biggest turning point? |
| Hirira joatea: hemendik atera nintzen eta berriro hasi behar izan nuen, adin hartan bertan. | — | Moving to the city: I left here and had to start over, at that very age. |
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 Basque in this situation?
“Zenbat urte daramatzat elkar ikusi gabe? Hamar? Hamabi?” — How many years have we not seen each other? Ten? Twelve?. 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.