zail egiten zait
“zail egiten zait” — it's hard for me in Basque. Phrase, level B1, topic — talking about the language. Literally 'hard to-me it makes itself': zait — 'it happens to me', the same as in Ulertzen zaitut. The difficulty isn't mine — it happens to me. In a live sentence: “Zenbakiak buruz ikastea zail egiten zait beti” — Learning numbers by heart is always hard for me. One of 52 words in the set “talking about the language” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | zail egiten zait |
| Translation | it's hard for me |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'hard to-me it makes itself': zait — 'it happens to me', the same as in Ulertzen zaitut. The difficulty isn't mine — it happens to me
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Zenbakiak buruz ikastea zail egiten zait betiLearning numbers by heart is always hard for me
Nearby words: talking about the language
“I'm learning”, “I don't speak it”, “I understand a little”. Admitting that your command of the language is still poor almost always makes the other person more patient.
- euskaraBasque (language)The language's own name. Euskera is also in use, eskuara in the dialects: the language's name is alive. The country is Euskal Herria — 'the land of the Basque language'
- ikasilearnLearning it yourself is ikasi; teaching someone else is irakatsi — the split English makes with learn and teach. A student is ikasle, school is eskola
- ikastaroakcoursesLiterally 'learnings' goings': ikasi — 'to learn' + ibili — 'to go about'. A course is 'a learning walk', a path a season long
- lineako ikastaroaonline courseLiterally 'the line course': lineako — from linea — 'line', a loan, admitted. Lineako means 'through the net': from home, whenever
- entrenatzaileacoachA loan from the Spanish entrenador, openly admitted. The same person in the gym and on the conversation-practice course
- ikastaroan izena emanenroll in a courseLiterally 'on the course to give the name': izena eman — 'to give one's name'. To enroll is to hand the course your name
- hizkuntza-mailalanguage levelLiterally 'the language's step': hizkuntza — 'language' + maila — 'step, level'. The levels have names: A1, A2, B1… — like this course's
- apunteaklecture notesA loan from the Spanish apuntes — 'notes', openly admitted. Always plural here: apunteak kopiatu — 'to copy out the notes'
- klasea galdumiss a classLiterally 'to lose the class': galdu — 'to lose'. Missing a class is losing it, like keys: it was — and it's gone
- bakarkaon one's ownLiterally 'single-ly': bakar — 'alone' + -ka, manner. Bakarka ikasi — to study by oneself: without a teacher, but not without a book
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “talking about the language”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “it's hard for me” in Basque?
Literally 'hard to-me it makes itself': zait — 'it happens to me', the same as in Ulertzen zaitut. The difficulty isn't mine — it happens to me
- How do you say “language level” in Basque?
Literally 'the language's step': hizkuntza — 'language' + maila — 'step, level'. The levels have names: A1, A2, B1… — like this course's
- How do you say “courses” in Basque?
Literally 'learnings' goings': ikasi — 'to learn' + ibili — 'to go about'. A course is 'a learning walk', a path a season long
- How do you say “on one's own” in Basque?
Literally 'single-ly': bakar — 'alone' + -ka, manner. Bakarka ikasi — to study by oneself: without a teacher, but not without a book
- How do you say “enroll in a course” in Basque?
Literally 'on the course to give the name': izena eman — 'to give one's name'. To enroll is to hand the course your name
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “it's hard for me” in Basque?
«zail egiten zait». In a live sentence: “Zenbakiak buruz ikastea zail egiten zait beti” — Learning numbers by heart is always hard for me. Phrase, level B1, from the set “talking about the language”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'hard to-me it makes itself': zait — 'it happens to me', the same as in Ulertzen zaitut. The difficulty isn't mine — it happens to me. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.