Lojban Through Dialogues

Lesson 2. Do You Speak Lojban?

Lifri wants to know if Mentu has any Lojban at all. Watch how she asks yes/no questions and how Mentu answers — full lines, the way people actually reply, not bare go'i floating on its own.

Lojban	English
la lifri coi do .i xu do se bangu la .lojban.	Hi — do you speak Lojban?
la mentu go'i .i mi milxe se bangu	Yes. I speak it a little.
la lifri xu do milxe se bangu la .lojban.	Only a little Lojban?
la mentu go'i	Yes — still just a little.
la lifri xu do na se bangu la .lojban.	(teasing) So you don't speak Lojban?
la mentu na go'i	I do not.

New words

Lojban	Meaning
mi	I / me
xu	yes/no question marker — put it before any sentence to ask whether it is true
se bangu	to speak / know a language (lit. "to be a language-user of")
go'i	yes / that's right (echoes the previous sentence as true)
na	not — negates what follows
milxe	mildly, a little, somewhat

Grammar note:

xu at the start of a sentence turns it into a yes/no question.

go'i by itself means "yes, the last thing said is true."

na go'i answers "no" to a plain yes/no question like xu do se bangu la .lojban. — it takes the same shape as the last sentence and adds not.

milxe softens what follows: milxe se bangu = "speaks a language a little."

mi is "I" — you already know do from Lesson 1; mi is its mirror.

xu do na se bangu la .lojban. asks whether "you don't speak Lojban" is true. go'i agrees with that whole line. na go'i here does not swap the meaning to "I speak Lojban" — it still lines up with I do not in the dialogue above. To say you do speak, answer with a full line you already have in this lesson, e.g. mi milxe se bangu or go'i .i mi milxe se bangu.

In the practice table, mi na cliva uses cliva from Lesson 1: na sits right before cliva ("I'm not leaving").

Practice dialogue

Mentu keeps Lifri talking.

Lojban	English
la mentu coi do .i xu do se bangu la .lojban.	Hi — do you speak Lojban?
la lifri go'i .i mi milxe se bangu	Yes. I speak it a little.
la mentu xu do cliva	Are you leaving?
la lifri na go'i .i mi na cliva	No. I'm not leaving.

Anticipation prompts

Prompt	Lojban
Can you speak Lojban?	xu do se bangu la .lojban.
Yes. I can speak a little.	go'i .i mi milxe se bangu
No.	na go'i
Can you speak Lojban a little?	xu do milxe se bangu la .lojban.

Spaced recall — Lessons 1–2

Lojban	English
coi .i mi'e la lifri	Hello. I'm Lifri.
coi .i mi'e la mentu .i mi cliva co'o	Hello. I'm Mentu — I'm off, bye!

Challenge

Prompt	Lojban
Hello. I'm Mentu. Can you speak Lojban?	coi .i mi'e la mentu .i xu do se bangu la .lojban.

Lojban Through Dialogues

Lesson 2. Do You Speak Lojban?#

Practice dialogue#

Anticipation prompts#

Spaced recall — Lessons 1–2#

Challenge#

Lesson 2. Do You Speak Lojban?

Practice dialogue

Anticipation prompts

Spaced recall — Lessons 1–2

Challenge