Wi-fi at the cafe in Hebrew
A coffee house in Tel Aviv, a guest with a dead phone in Hebrew. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «סליחה, יש כאן וויי פיי?» — Excuse me, is there wi-fi here?; «בטח. הסיסמה על החשבונית.» — Of course. The password is on the receipt.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a coffee house in Tel Aviv, a guest with a dead phone. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- סליחה, יש כאן וויי פיי?слиха, йеш кан вай фай?Excuse me, is there wi-fi here?
- בטח. הסיסמה על החשבונית.бэтах. ха-сисма аль ха-хешбонит.Of course. The password is on the receipt.
- תודה. הסוללה נגמרה, יש מַטְעֵן?тода. ха-сулла нигмэра, йеш матэн?Thank you. The battery died, is there a charger?
- יש שקע ליד הכיסא. מַטְעֵן אין לי, סליחה.йеш шека леяд ха-кисэ. матэн эйн ли, слиха.There is a socket by the chair. I have no charger, sorry.
- לא נורא. אין קליטה במקום הזה.ло нора. эйн келита ба-маком хазэ.No problem. There is no signal in this spot.
- עכשיו יש קליטה. בבוקר תמיד יש הרבה אנשים פה.ахшав йеш келита. ба-бокер тамид йеш харбэ анашим по.There is signal now. In the morning there are always many people here.
- מצוין. אני שולח הודעה ובא.мецуйан. ани шолеах ходаа ве-ба.Great. I will send a message and come.
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| סליחה, יש כאן וויי פיי? | слиха, йеш кан вай фай? | Excuse me, is there wi-fi here? |
| בטח. הסיסמה על החשבונית. | бэтах. ха-сисма аль ха-хешбонит. | Of course. The password is on the receipt. |
| תודה. הסוללה נגמרה, יש מַטְעֵן? | тода. ха-сулла нигмэра, йеш матэн? | Thank you. The battery died, is there a charger? |
| יש שקע ליד הכיסא. מַטְעֵן אין לי, סליחה. | йеш шека леяд ха-кисэ. матэн эйн ли, слиха. | There is a socket by the chair. I have no charger, sorry. |
| לא נורא. אין קליטה במקום הזה. | ло нора. эйн келита ба-маком хазэ. | No problem. There is no signal in this spot. |
| עכשיו יש קליטה. בבוקר תמיד יש הרבה אנשים פה. | ахшав йеш келита. ба-бокер тамид йеш харбэ анашим по. | There is signal now. In the morning there are always many people here. |
| מצוין. אני שולח הודעה ובא. | мецуйан. ани шолеах ходаа ве-ба. | Great. I will send a message and come. |
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?
“סליחה, יש כאן וויי פיי?” (слиха, йеш кан вай фай?) — Excuse me, is there wi-fi here? 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.