Day 18 of 46 · 29 days to departure (July 1)
Today's dialogue
ES — Spanish CA — Catalan PT — Portuguese
1
You
Perdone, ¿cómo se va a la catedral a pie?
pehr-DOH-neh · KOH-moh seh BAH · ah lah kah-teh-DRAL · ah pee-EH
Excuse me, how do I get to the cathedral on foot?
You
Perdoni, com es va a la catedral a peu?
pehr-DOH-nee · kom uhs BAH · ah lah kuh-tuh-DRAL · ah PEH-oo
Excuse me, how do I get to the cathedral on foot?
You
Desculpe, como se vai à catedral a pé?
dush-KOOL-puh · KOH-moo suh VYE · ah kuh-tuh-DRAL · ah PEH
Excuse me, how do I get to the cathedral on foot?
Local
Está a unos diez minutos. Siga todo recto.
ehs-TAH ah OO-nohs · dee-EHTH mee-NOO-tohs · SEE-gah TOH-doh REHK-toh
It's about ten minutes. Keep going straight ahead.
Local
És a uns deu minuts. Vagi tot recte.
ehs ah oons · DEH-oo mee-NOOTS · BAH-zhee tot REHK-tuh
It's about ten minutes. Keep going straight ahead.
Local
É a uns dez minutos. Siga sempre em frente.
eh ah oonsh · DEHSH mee-NOO-toosh · SEE-guh SEM-pruh eng FREN-tuh
It's about ten minutes. Keep going straight ahead.
2
You
¿Giro en la próxima esquina?
HEE-roh en lah · PROHK-see-mah · ehs-KEE-nah
Do I turn at the next corner?
You
Giro a la pròxima cantonada?
ZHEE-roo ah lah · PROHK-see-muh · kahn-too-NAH-duh
Do I turn at the next corner?
You
Viro na próxima esquina?
VEE-roo nuh · PROH-see-muh · ush-KEE-nuh
Do I turn at the next corner?
Local
No, siga recto hasta la plaza.
noh · SEE-gah REHK-toh · AHS-tah lah PLAH-thah
No, keep straight until the square.
Local
No, segueixi recte fins a la plaça.
noh · suh-GEH-shee REHK-tuh · feens ah lah PLAH-suh
No, keep straight until the square.
Local
Não, siga em frente até à praça.
nowng · SEE-guh eng FREN-tuh · uh-TEH ah PRAH-suh
No, keep straight until the square.
3
You
¿Y después?
ee dehs-PWEHS
And then?
You
I després?
ee duhs-PREHS
And then?
You
E depois?
ee duh-POYSH
And then?
Local
Gire a la izquierda y está ahí mismo.
HEE-reh ah lah · eeth-kee-EHR-dah · ee ehs-TAH ah-EE MEEZ-moh
Turn left and it's right there.
Local
Giri a l'esquerra i és just allà.
ZHEE-ree ah luhs-KEHR-ruh · ee ehs zhoost uh-LYAH
Turn left and it's right there.
Local
Vire à esquerda e é mesmo ali.
VEE-ruh ah ush-KEHR-duh · ee eh MEZH-moo uh-LEE
Turn left and it's right there.
4
You
¿Está lejos a pie?
ehs-TAH LEH-hohs · ah pee-EH
Is it far on foot?
You
És lluny a peu?
ehs LYOON · ah PEH-oo
Is it far on foot?
You
É longe a pé?
eh LONG-zhuh · ah PEH
Is it far on foot?
Local
No, muy cerca. Cinco minutos.
noh · mwee THEHR-kah · THEEN-koh mee-NOO-tohs
No, very close. Five minutes.
Local
No, molt a prop. Cinc minuts.
noh · mol ah PROP · seenk mee-NOOTS
No, very close. Five minutes.
Local
Não, muito perto. Cinco minutos.
nowng · MWEEN-too PEHR-too · SEEN-koo mee-NOO-toosh
No, very close. Five minutes.
5
You
Muchas gracias, muy amable.
MOO-chahs GRAH-thee-ahs · mwee ah-MAH-bleh
Thank you very much, very kind of you.
You
Moltes gràcies, molt amable.
MOL-tuhs GRAH-see-uhs · mol uh-MAH-bluh
Thank you very much, very kind of you.
You
Muito obrigado, muito amável.
MWEEN-too oh-bree-GAH-doo · MWEEN-too uh-MAH-vel
Thank you very much, very kind of you.
Local
De nada. Que tenga un buen día.
deh NAH-dah · keh TEHN-gah · oon bwen DEE-ah
You're welcome. Have a good day.
Local
De res. Que tingui un bon dia.
duh REHS · keh TEEN-gee · oon bon DEE-uh
You're welcome. Have a good day.
Local
De nada. Tenha um bom dia.
duh NAH-duh · TEN-yuh · oong bong DEE-uh
You're welcome. Have a good day.
Key vocabulary from today
straight ahead
EStodo recto · TOH-doh REHK-toh
CAtot recte · tot REHK-tuh
PTsempre em frente · SEM-pruh eng FREN-tuh
turn left
ESgire a la izquierda · HEE-reh ah lah eeth-kee-EHR-dah
CAgiri a l'esquerra · ZHEE-ree ah luhs-KEHR-ruh
PTvire à esquerda · VEE-ruh ah ush-KEHR-duh
turn right
ESgire a la derecha · HEE-reh ah lah deh-REH-chah
CAgiri a la dreta · ZHEE-ree ah lah DREH-tuh
PTvire à direita · VEE-ruh ah dee-RAY-tuh
the corner
ESla esquina · lah ehs-KEE-nah
CAla cantonada · lah kahn-too-NAH-duh
PTa esquina · uh ush-KEE-nuh
near / close
EScerca · THEHR-kah
CAa prop · ah PROP
PTperto · PEHR-too
far
ESlejos · LEH-hohs
CAlluny · LYOON
PTlonge · LONG-zhuh
on foot
ESa pie · ah pee-EH
CAa peu · ah PEH-oo
PTa pé · ah PEH
the square
ESla plaza · lah PLAH-thah
CAla plaça · lah PLAH-suh
PTa praça · uh PRAH-suh
Reading the street like a local

Spain (ES): Madrileños gesture as much as they speak — an open hand chopping forward means todo recto. Distances quoted to you ("diez minutos") are cheerful approximations, so confirm with a landmark.

Barcelona (CA): In the Eixample grid, directions come in illes (blocks) — "dues illes més amunt," two blocks up. Locals orient by mar (toward the sea) and muntanya (inland), not north/south.

Lisbon (PT): The city is hills, so a subir (going up) and a descer (going down) carry more weight than block counts. The miradouros (viewpoints) double as the landmarks everyone navigates by.

Rule for the trip: in the old quarters signage is thin — anchor every set of directions to a visible landmark (a church, a square, a viewpoint), not a street name.

Why the three diverge — and where they don't

1. "straight": rēctus vs frontem. ES recto and CA recte both descend from Latin rēctus (straight, upright — also the root of English "rectangle"). European PT prefers the idiom em frente, from Latin frontem (forehead/front, same root as English "front"). Same instruction, different metaphor — "keep it straight" vs "keep it to the front."

2. "left": a shared pre-Roman word. ES izquierda, CA esquerra, and PT esquerda all come from Basque ezkerra — a pre-Latin borrowing that swept across Iberia and replaced Latin sinister (which carried unlucky connotations). CA and PT stayed nearly identical; Spanish tacked on an initial i-.

3. "on foot": Latin pedem, three vowel outcomes. All from Latin pedem (foot). The stressed Latin short e diphthongizes to ie in Spanish (pie) — the same shift behind petram → piedra — while Catalan collapses it to peu and Portuguese to a clean .

Bonus — platea: plaza / plaça / praça all trace to Latin platea (broad street). Watch PT turn the Latin pl- cluster toward pr- (praça), a sound-shift fingerprint that also gives PT prato where ES keeps plato.

Mark what's sticky vs. slippery

Tap to mark. State persists to localStorage. (Server-side persistence and SRS resurfacing will land via the C3 SRS skill in Sprint 4.)

¿Cómo se va a…?
how do I get to… (ES)
Tot recte / em frente
straight ahead (CA / PT)
Gire a la izquierda
turn left (ES)
És lluny a peu?
is it far on foot? (CA)
muito perto
very close (PT)