First time in the gym in Hebrew
The gym, a first session with a trainer in Hebrew. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «שלום, פעם ראשונה פה. מתי מתחיל האימון?» — Hello, it is my first time here. When does the training start?; «בעוד יומיים... לא, בעוד עשר דקות.» — In two days... no, in ten minutes.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the gym, a first session with a trainer. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- שלום, פעם ראשונה פה. מתי מתחיל האימון?шалом, паам ришона по. матай матчиль ха-имун?Hello, it is my first time here. When does the training start?
- בעוד יומיים... לא, בעוד עשר דקות.ба-од йомайим... ло, бе-од асар дакот.In two days... no, in ten minutes.
- אני רץ קצת, אבל אחר כך עייף מאוד.ани рац кцат, аваль ахар ках аеф меод.I run a little, but then I get very tired.
- לא נורא. קודם הולכים, אחר כך רצים לאט.ло нора. кодэм холхим, ахар ках рацим леат.No problem. First we walk, then we run slowly.
- בשבוע שעבר נפלתי מהאופניים.ба-шавуа шэ-авра нафальти ме-ха-офанаим.Last week I fell off a bicycle.
- אז אל תקפוץ. אם כואב, שב.аз аль тикфоц. им коэв, шев.Then don't jump. If it hurts — sit down.
- בסדר. לדעתי מספיק להיום.бэсэдер. ле-даати маспик ла-хайом.All right. In my opinion, that is enough for today.
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| שלום, פעם ראשונה פה. מתי מתחיל האימון? | шалом, паам ришона по. матай матчиль ха-имун? | Hello, it is my first time here. When does the training start? |
| בעוד יומיים... לא, בעוד עשר דקות. | ба-од йомайим... ло, бе-од асар дакот. | In two days... no, in ten minutes. |
| אני רץ קצת, אבל אחר כך עייף מאוד. | ани рац кцат, аваль ахар ках аеф меод. | I run a little, but then I get very tired. |
| לא נורא. קודם הולכים, אחר כך רצים לאט. | ло нора. кодэм холхим, ахар ках рацим леат. | No problem. First we walk, then we run slowly. |
| בשבוע שעבר נפלתי מהאופניים. | ба-шавуа шэ-авра нафальти ме-ха-офанаим. | Last week I fell off a bicycle. |
| אז אל תקפוץ. אם כואב, שב. | аз аль тикфоц. им коэв, шев. | Then don't jump. If it hurts — sit down. |
| בסדר. לדעתי מספיק להיום. | бэсэдер. ле-даати маспик ла-хайом. | All right. In my opinion, that is enough for today. |
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 noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.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 Hebrew in this situation?
“שלום, פעם ראשונה פה. מתי מתחיל האימון?” (шалом, паам ришона по. матай матчиль ха-имун?) — Hello, it is my first time here. When does the training start? 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.