The difference between a holiday and a house
In a hotel half a sentence is enough because someone helps anyway. A house brings conversations nobody interprets for you: the plumber who does not speak your language, the agent on the phone, the neighbour who needs something.
And there is a second cost. If you do not ask, you do not find out what is happening in the place. You have driven there for years and still know nobody.
The conversations a house brings with it
They are always the same ones. Learn them once and they serve you every season.
- Tradesmen and repairs: what is broken, since when, when someone can come.
- Garden, pool, heating: what needs doing and what it costs.
- Neighbours: greeting, inviting, giving something back, asking for help.
- Shops and market: what you need, when they open, how it works here.
- Letting: meeting guests, keys, the rules of the house.
- Offices and paperwork: appointments, forms, post. Here you learn the sentences for the conversation, not the rules.
How to prepare for the season
Before you set off, write down the sentences you will need there, with the name of your village, your house, your problems. SprechoMio translates them into the local language and says them to you. Notes in brackets such as “(woman)” or “(man)” fit the form to you.
Listen on the way down in Drive Mode, offline with the screen locked. Once you are there you need no extra time: the trip to the market and the evening walk already do it.
What it does with the neighbours
Your neighbours will treat you differently the moment you manage two sentences in their language. Not out of politeness, but because a guest has turned into a neighbour.
It is useful too. Someone who talks to the people in the village finds out who the good electrician is and when the water is being switched off.
What is realistic
At around 30 minutes a day, your first 50 sentences sit after one month. After about three months you hold short everyday conversations, after about six months you reach A1. Guide values, faster or slower depending on the language and your practice.
For a house you need less. The sentences for repairs, shopping and neighbours take a few weeks, and you can do them between two visits.
Sentences you will learn for this
You write them in your own language, SprechoMio translates them and speaks them for you.
- “The water isn't draining, could you come round?”The repair that will not wait
- “We've taken over the house, we're new here.”The first contact in the village
- “Could you say that again more slowly?”Buying time without going small
- “Could you keep an eye on the house while we're away?”Organising an absence
- “May I invite you for a coffee?”How neighbours become acquaintances
- “What does this usually cost around here?”Negotiating without guessing
- “I'd like to let the house for a few weeks.”When the holiday home becomes a business
How you learn with SprechoMio
Your own sentences, translated naturally and spoken aloud. Recall instead of rereading, spaced repetition, speaking along: methods proven by learning research. 30 minutes a day, even in the car with your screen locked.
More about the method →Frequently asked questions
I am only there six weeks a year. Is it worth it?
For six weeks with tradesmen, neighbours and offices, exactly the things you say there are worth learning. You are not studying literature, you are studying your stay.
Can't I just take someone to translate at the office?
Sometimes, yes. But you can have the sentences for appointments, post and follow-up questions yourself. This teaches the conversation, not the regulations.
I understand almost everything but never say anything.
Then speaking is all that is missing. Saying it aloud in the car is a good way out of passive understanding.
Which languages can I choose?
Croatian, Serbian, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, English, Dutch and Greek.
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