The night of the storm in Valencian
Exchanging stories about the storm in Valencian. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «L'avi promet contar la nit del gran temporal: «la cosa va anar així», diu sempre, i fa una pausa llarga. Comença, avia!» — Grandpa promises to tell the night of the great storm: "here is how it happened", he always says, and takes a long pause. Tell us, grandpa! 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: exchanging stories about the storm. 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.
- L'avi promet contar la nit del gran temporal: «la cosa va anar així», diu sempre, i fa una pausa llarga. Comença, avia!Grandpa promises to tell the night of the great storm: "here is how it happened", he always says, and takes a long pause. Tell us, grandpa!
- Tot va començar per un tro a les tres del matí. En aquell moment, el riu ja entrava al camp i el gat dormia dins del rebost, tranquil.It all started with a thunder at three in the morning. At that moment the river was already entering the field, and the cat slept in the pantry, calm.
- Per ordre, avia, per ordre: primer el tro, després? I com va acabar tot?In sequence, grandpa, in sequence: first the thunder, and then? And how did it all end?
- Va caure un llamp a la plaça i tot seguit va marxar la llum. En plena foscor, la veïna va començar a cantar, molt baixet.A lightning struck the square and right after that the light went out. In the full darkness, the neighbor started to sing, very softly.
- Suposadament cantava per calmar el gat. Si no ho hagués sentit jo també, no m'ho creuria.Supposedly she sang to calm the cat. If I had not heard it myself, I would not have believed it.
- I he sentit dir que la cançó se li va quedar dins: encara la canta quan plou. Val la pena veure-ho en viu.And I have heard that the song stuck with her: she still sings it when it rains. It is worth seeing live.
Lines one by one
| Valencian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| L'avi promet contar la nit del gran temporal: «la cosa va anar així», diu sempre, i fa una pausa llarga. Comença, avia! | — | Grandpa promises to tell the night of the great storm: "here is how it happened", he always says, and takes a long pause. Tell us, grandpa! |
| Tot va començar per un tro a les tres del matí. En aquell moment, el riu ja entrava al camp i el gat dormia dins del rebost, tranquil. | — | It all started with a thunder at three in the morning. At that moment the river was already entering the field, and the cat slept in the pantry, calm. |
| Per ordre, avia, per ordre: primer el tro, després? I com va acabar tot? | — | In sequence, grandpa, in sequence: first the thunder, and then? And how did it all end? |
| Va caure un llamp a la plaça i tot seguit va marxar la llum. En plena foscor, la veïna va començar a cantar, molt baixet. | — | A lightning struck the square and right after that the light went out. In the full darkness, the neighbor started to sing, very softly. |
| Suposadament cantava per calmar el gat. Si no ho hagués sentit jo també, no m'ho creuria. | — | Supposedly she sang to calm the cat. If I had not heard it myself, I would not have believed it. |
| I he sentit dir que la cançó se li va quedar dins: encara la canta quan plou. Val la pena veure-ho en viu. | — | And I have heard that the song stuck with her: she still sings it when it rains. It is worth seeing live. |
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 Valencian in this situation?
“L'avi promet contar la nit del gran temporal: «la cosa va anar així», diu sempre, i fa una pausa llarga. Comença, avia!” — Grandpa promises to tell the night of the great storm: "here is how it happened", he always says, and takes a long pause. Tell us, grandpa!. 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.