Summary: The
Bus to Bilbao
A boy and a girl are
just about to get on a
bus to Bilbao when they
bump into a friend. The
boy goes to buy some
water and he misses the
bus. The two girls go
off to Bilbao together.
Bikote gazte bat Bilbora
joan da autobusa
hartzera. Autobus
geltokian lagun batekin
egin dute topo. Mutilak,
bidaiarako botila bat ur
erostera joan, eta
autobusa galdu du. Bi
neskak autobusera igo
eta bai Bilbo, bai
mutila, atzean utzi
dituzte.
El autobús
Un chico y una chica
están a punto de subir a
un autobús a Bilbao
cuando se encuentran con
una amiga. El chico va a
comprar agua y pierde el
autobús. Las chicas
parten sin él.
Cultural notes:
Typical exchanges
between sales staff and
customers, friends
greeting one another and
the anxiety that
impunctuality creates in
Basque society.
Language notes:
Simple language used for
the purchase of bus
tickets and personal
exchanges. Tenses used
include the present,
present continuous and
future. The sentences
are affirmations and
interrogatives. Two of
the actors are native
Basque speakers and two
are students of the
language; there are
noticeable differences
in pronunciation.
Summary:
The Hair Dressing Salon
A hair dresser on her
first day on the job
gets her wires crossed
and leaves three
customers without any
hair to dress.
Ile-apaintzaile bat,
bere lehen lan-egunean,
hiru bezerori ilea
apaintzen ari da.
Zoritxarrekoak hiru
bezeroak,
ile-apaintzailea ez
baitago lanerako
tresnekin ohituta.
La peluquería
Una peluquera en su
primer día de trabajo se
equivoca y les deja
pelados a tres clientes.
Cultural notes:
Typical exchanges
between a service
provider and customers.
Ironic comments from two
more traditional members
of Basque society
regarding the appearance
of a younger customer.
Language notes:
Simple everyday language
employed when requesting
and providing service.
The characters use the
present tense almost
exclusively. Both the
indicative and
imperative modes are
used. Two of the actors
are native Basque
speakers and two are
students of the
language; there are
noticeable differences
in their pronunciation.
Content / topic:
Transactional language
Duration: 2:29 Level (listening
level required): A2
Summary:
The Mobile Phone Shop
A sales assistant has to
deal with a difficult
customer who is unaware
of the ins and outs of
mobile phones.
Saltzaileak lan zaila
dauka, bezeroak ez
baitaki sakelako
telefonoek zer erabilera
dituzten.
La tienda de móviles
Un dependiente tiene que
atender a una clienta
difícil que entiende
bastante poco de los
teléfonos móviles.
Cultural notes:
Typical exchanges
between a sales person
and a more traditional
member of Basque
society. References to a
popular seaside resort
outside the Basque
Country but within the
Spanish state.
Language notes:
Simple everyday language
employed when requesting
and providing service.
Technical jargon
employed by the
salesperson. Language
required to temper the
customer's impatience
and inability to
concentrate. The
characters employ the
present tense almost
exclusively. There are
examples of affirmations
and questions. Two of
the characters are
native Basque speakers
and two are students of
the language; there are
noticeable differences
in their pronunciation.
Summary:
Café Marugame
Two friends meet in
café; one of the girls
is looking for a flat
and her friend offers to
help. Later they go off
to have lunch with a
group of friends.
Café Marugame
Bi lagun kafetegi batean
bildu dira; nesketako
bat etxebizitza bila ari
da eta besteak laguntza
eskaini dio. Gero,
bazkaltzera joan dira
lagun-taldearekin eta
bazkalondoan gauean
berriz ere elkartzeko
geratu dira. Lagunetako
bi piercing direlakoak
egitea zenbat kostatzen
den galdetzera joan dira.
Cafetería Marugame
Dos amigas quedan en el
café Marugame; una busca
piso y su amiga se
ofrece para ayudarle.
Posteriormente asisten a
una comida con el resto
del grupo de amigos.
Cultural notes:
This presentation
touches on the
exorbitant price of
accommodation in Euskadi
and the importance of
the ritual of the meal
in Basque society
.
Language notes:
The presentation uses
the simple language
required for ordering in
bars, offering to help,
viewing premises for
rent and arranging to
meet friends
Copyright:
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Content / topic:
Relational and
transactional language
Duration: 2.33 Level (listening
level required): B1
Summary:
Piercings
Two friends ask for
information about
piercings and tattoos,
go to a bar to have
something to eat and
drink and then decide to
spend the evening
together until the disco
opens.
Bi lagun piercing
direlakoei eta tatuajeei
buruzko informazio bila
joan dira elkarrekin.
Gero, taberna batean
sartu dira, zerbait
hartzera, eta
arratsaldea elkarrekin
pasatzea erabaki dute,
diskoteka irekitzen
duten arte.
Piercings
Dos amigos recogen
información sobre
piercings y tatuajes,
van a un bar a tomar
algo y quedan para pasar
la noche hasta que se
abra la discoteca.
Cultural notes:
This presentation
examines one of the
latest trends in youth
culture - bodypiercing.
Language notes:
The characters in this
presentation use the
language required to
make enquiries about a
product or service, in
this case body piercing.
Summary:
A policemen stops a
motorist who has
committed numerous
traffic infringments at
the same time.
Polizia batek aldi
berean trafiko-lege
ugari urratu dituen
motozale bat geldiarazi
du.
Cultural notes:
The points system for
traffic infringements
has recently been
introduced in Spain. The
sketch presents an
extreme case in which a
driver loses his licence
on the spot for multiple
infringements.
Language notes:
The characters in the
sketch use the formal
language required in
such situations: the
police officer to inform
the driver of his
penalty and the driver
to show respect for an
officer of the law.
Summary:
A presentation on
contemporary eating
disorders, their nature,
causes, effects and
cures.
Gaur egungo elikadura
nahasteak:
Izaera, arrazoiak,
ondorioak eta
sendabideak
Cultural notes:
The increasing incidence
of eating disorders,
especially amongst
adolescents, in a
country that takes food
very seriously, is
disturbing and
demonstrates the effects
of society's demands on
sufferers' fragile egos.
Elikadura nahasteak gero
eta ohikoagoak dira,
batez ere nerabeen
artean, eta hori jatekoa
oso serioski hartzen den
herri batean.
Kezkagarria da eta
nahaste horiek jasaten
dituztenen ego ahuletan
gizartearen exijentziek
dituzten ondorioak
erakusten ditu.
Language notes:
The speaker uses formal
language densely packed
with data and technical
terms related to the
topic
Hizlariak hizkuntza
formala darabil, gaiaren
inguruko informazio eta
hitz teknikoz josia.
Content / topic:
A shopping excursion and
an arrest.
Duration: 1:26
Level (listening
level required):
Summary: Two
friends decide to go
looking for bags. Shop
prices are prohibitively
high but the local
weekly market proves to
be much more reasonable.
Unfortunately the vendor
is unlicensed and a
zealous local policeman
arrests him.
Cultural notes:
This presentation offers
a brief glimpse at the
immigrants' struggle for
survival in the Basque
Country.
Language notes:
Transactional language
used in customer
enquiries and service.
Content / topic:
A friend requests a
favour; colours and
make-up.
Duration: 1:31
Level (listening
level required):
Summary: Ane's
got to go to a wedding
and asks her friend,
Miriam, for some help
with her make-up. They
decide on some basic
guidelines and then
Miriam goes to work.
Cultural notes:
Basques are highly
strung and suffer from
stress in certain
situations where others
wouldn't. Fortunately
friends are always ready
to lend a helping hand.
Weddings are important
occasions and hosts
demand appropriate dress
standards.
Language notes:
The characters list a
variety of colours and,
using an informal
register, negotiate some
basic procedures for the
task at hand.
Summary: Bea,
Miriam and Izaro arrange
to go and see their
friend Maider. They're
not absolutely sure of
how to find her college
but they manage it in
the end. They
subsequently arrange to
meet later that
afternoon to see a film.
Cultural notes:
Basque people often
prefer larger groups for
any sort of social
activity.
Language notes:
Language required to
make arrangements, give
directions and negotiate
group outings.
Content / topic:
The transactional
language used by a sales
person and a customer
during the purchase of a
mobile phone.
Duration: 2:02
Level (listening
level required): A2
Summary: A
sales person assists a
customer in choosing an
appropriate mobile
phone.
Cultural notes:
The role and
relationship of the two
characters are clearly
defined and each one is
careful to use language
appropriate to the
situation.
Language notes:
The dialogue uses
strictly transactional
language and many of the
typical courtesies
employed in such
situations. Tenses used
are the present, present
perfect, future and past
and there are some
conditional forms.
Content / topic:
Informal exchanges of
information about past
and present weekend
activities and the
sometimes difficult
relations between sons
and mothers-in-law..
Duration: 1:38
Level (listening
level required):
Summary: Javi
meets his friend Igor at
the coffee machine. He
complains about his
mother-in-law and then
the two exchange
anecdotes about the past
weekend and how they
intend to spend the
following one.
Cultural notes:
A very typical example
of how Basque people
spend their Saturday
nights as well as
references to how
intrusive a Basque
mother-in-law can be.
Language notes:
The idiomatic and
informal language used
between two friends in
exchanging information
about their weekend
activities.
Content / topic:
The recovery of a watch
lost in bar.
Duration: 1:06 Level (listening
level required):
Summary: Izaro
loses her watch in a
bar, Javi, her friend
finds it but presumably
doesn't know it's hers.
He gives to a mutual
friend, Egoitz, who,
unaware it's hers, shows
it to Izaro. Surprised
and delighted, she
claims it.
Cultural notes:
The "cuadrilla" or group
of friends is a
phenomenon unique to the
Basque Country. Its
members are friends for
life and care for each
other as if they were
brothers and sisters.
Language notes:
Concise exchanges
between the characters
in an exclusively
informal register.
Copyright:
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Content / topic:
A meal at a restaurant
shared by four friends.
Duration: 3:19
Level (listening
level required):
Summary: Four
friends go to a
restaurant, decide on
the menu, order and then
try a couple of
different bottles of
Txakolí, a local,
slightly effervescent
white wine.
Cultural notes:
Food and drink and their
enjoyment are the
passions of Basque
society. Txakolí is the
only wine produced in
the Basque province of Gipukoa.
Language notes:
Informal language used
amongst friends to make
suggestions and
negotiate a menu at a
restaurant. The formal
language used to make
and receive orders.
Content / topic:
Transactional language
employed in making and
addressing complaints
Duration: 1:42
Level (listening
level required):
Summary:
Egoitz returns a
defective mobile phone
to the shop where he
bought it and takes
advantage of the visit
to look up a friend who
works there.
Cultural notes:
Service style in the
Basque Country and the
excessively bureaucratic
procedures required when
returning defective
goods
Language notes:
The linguistic formulas
required when making
requests and attending
to them contrast with
the informal language
used by two friends
arranging a rendezvous.
Content / topic:
Appropriate procedures
and formulas to be used
by students when
arriving late and
requesting permission to
take their place in
class.
Duration: 1:35
Level (listening
level required): B2
Summary: Enara and
Esther both arrive late
for class; Enara fails
to make the appropriate
apology and the teacher
refuses to let her
remain in the classroom.
Esther, on the other
hand, is appropriately
apologetic and her
teacher allows her to
take her place in class.
Cultural notes:
Whilst placing possibly
less importance than
other societies on the
traditional formulas
associated with good and
bad manners, Basques do
insist on certain
minimum standards; they
tend to be punctual and
expect others to be so
too.
Language notes:
The formulas used to
express disapproval of
and offer apologies for
unacceptable behaviour
like impunctuality.
Summary: Step
by step instruction on
how to wire a plug. The
plug used is a British
type with a fuse
Cultural notes:
Instructional video
which may be suitable
for all vocations
Language notes:
Typical instructions.
Intermediate
Copyright:
CopyLeft
Summary: Step
by step instruction on
how to wire a plug. The
plug used is a British
type with a fuse
Cultural notes:
Instructional video
which may be suitable
for all vocations
Language notes:
Typical instructions.
Simplified version.
Copyright:
CopyLeft
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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