LingoflyAt the post office in Kazakh
A post office: sending a parcel to Astana in Kazakh. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be)! Астанаға (Astanağa) сәлемдеме (Sälemdeme) жіберемін (zhiberemin).» — Hello! I'm sending a parcel to Astana; «Жақсы (Zhaqsy). Қорапты (Qorapty) таразыға (tarazyğa) қойыңыз (qoiyñyz).» — All right. Put the box on the scale. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a post office: sending a parcel to Astana. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Сәлеметсіз бе! Астанаға сәлемдеме жіберемін.Sälemetsiz be! Astanağa sälemdeme zhiberemin.Hello! I'm sending a parcel to Astana.
- Мына хатқалтаға. Пошта индексін де жазыңыз.Myna khatqaltağa. Poshta indeksin de zhazyñyz.On this envelope. Write the postal code too.
- Индексті білмеймін. Сайттан қарауға бола ма?Indeksti bilmeimin. Saittan qarauğa bola ma?I don't know the postal code. Can I look it up on the website?
- Картамен төлеуге бола ма?Kartamen töleuge bola ma?Can I pay by card?
Lines one by one
| Kazakh | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be)! Астанаға (Astanağa) сәлемдеме (Sälemdeme) жіберемін (zhiberemin). | Sälemetsiz be! Astanağa sälemdeme zhiberemin. | Hello! I'm sending a parcel to Astana. |
| Жақсы (Zhaqsy). Қорапты (Qorapty) таразыға (tarazyğa) қойыңыз (qoiyñyz). | Zhaqsy. Qorapty tarazyğa qoiyñyz. | All right. Put the box on the scale. |
| Міне. Мекенжайды (Mekenzhaidy) қайда (Qaida) жазамын (zhazamyn)? | Mine. Mekenzhaidy qaida zhazamyn? | Here. Where do I write the address? |
| Мына (Myna) хатқалтаға (khatqaltağa). Пошта (Poshta) индексін (indeksin) де (de) жазыңыз (zhazyñyz). | Myna khatqaltağa. Poshta indeksin de zhazyñyz. | On this envelope. Write the postal code too. |
| Индексті білмеймін (Bilmeimin). Сайттан қарауға (qarauğa) бола (bola) ма (ma)? | Indeksti bilmeimin. Saittan qarauğa bola ma? | I don't know the postal code. Can I look it up on the website? |
| Әрине (Ärine). Жеткізу (Zhetkizu) үш (Üsh) күн (Kün) алады (alady). | Ärine. Zhetkizu üsh kün alady. | Of course. Delivery will take three days. |
| Картамен төлеуге бола ма? (Kartamen töleuge bola ma) | Kartamen töleuge bola ma? | Can I pay by card? |
| Болады (bolady). Түбіртекті сақтап қойыңыз (Tübirtekti saqtap qoiyñyz). | Bolady. Tübirtekti saqtap qoiyñyz. | You can. Keep the receipt. |
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 Kazakh in this situation?
“Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be)! Астанаға (Astanağa) сәлемдеме (Sälemdeme) жіберемін (zhiberemin).” (Sälemetsiz be! Astanağa sälemdeme zhiberemin.) — Hello! I'm sending a parcel to Astana. 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.