What do you do? in Valencian
Asking an acquaintance about work and the choice of a trade in Valencian. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Tants d'anys sense veure't! Explica'm: a què et dediques ara?» — So many years without seeing each other! Tell me: what do you do now? 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: asking an acquaintance about work and the choice of a trade. 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.
- Tants d'anys sense veure't! Explica'm: a què et dediques ara?So many years without seeing each other! Tell me: what do you do now?
- Vaig canviar de feina: ara sóc lampista i arreglo aixetes tot el dia.I changed jobs: now I am a plumber and fix taps all day.
- I t'agrada el nou ofici? Sempre m'has dit que volies treballar pel teu compte.And do you like the new trade? You always told me you wanted to work for yourself.
- Justament: ara sóc el meu propi cap i tinc dos subordinats.Exactly: now I am my own boss and have two subordinates.
- El meu cosí busca feina: és treballador i sap una mica de tot.My cousin is looking for work: he is hard-working and knows a bit of everything.
- Passa-li el meu telèfon: si sap muntar una aixeta, el contracto demà mateix.Give him my phone: if he knows how to fit a tap, I hire him tomorrow itself.
Lines one by one
| Valencian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Tants d'anys sense veure't! Explica'm: a què et dediques ara? | — | So many years without seeing each other! Tell me: what do you do now? |
| Vaig canviar de feina: ara sóc lampista i arreglo aixetes tot el dia. | — | I changed jobs: now I am a plumber and fix taps all day. |
| I t'agrada el nou ofici? Sempre m'has dit que volies treballar pel teu compte. | — | And do you like the new trade? You always told me you wanted to work for yourself. |
| Justament: ara sóc el meu propi cap i tinc dos subordinats. | — | Exactly: now I am my own boss and have two subordinates. |
| El meu cosí busca feina: és treballador i sap una mica de tot. | — | My cousin is looking for work: he is hard-working and knows a bit of everything. |
| Passa-li el meu telèfon: si sap muntar una aixeta, el contracto demà mateix. | — | Give him my phone: if he knows how to fit a tap, I hire him tomorrow itself. |
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?
“Tants d'anys sense veure't! Explica'm: a què et dediques ara?” — So many years without seeing each other! Tell me: what do you do now?. 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.