Weather and plans in Kazakh
Two colleagues on Friday in Kazakh. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Ертең ауа райы қандай болады?» — What will the weather be like tomorrow?; «Жаңбыр жауады дейді. Салқын болады.» — They say it will rain. It will be cool. Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two colleagues on friday. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Ертең ауа райы қандай болады?What will the weather be like tomorrow?
- Жаңбыр жауады дейді. Салқын болады.They say it will rain. It will be cool.
- Өкінішті. Сенбіде тауға барайық деп едім.A pity. I wanted to go to the mountains on Saturday.
- Жексенбіде күн көзі шығады. Жылы болады.On Sunday the sun will come out. It will be warm.
- Жақсы. Онда жексенбіде кездесеміз бе?Good. Shall we meet on Sunday then?
- Иә. Сағат нешеде?Yes. At what time?
- Онда бірде. Кешікпе!Then at one o'clock. Don't be late!
Lines one by one
| Kazakh | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ертең ауа райы қандай болады? | — | What will the weather be like tomorrow? |
| Жаңбыр жауады дейді. Салқын болады. | — | They say it will rain. It will be cool. |
| Өкінішті. Сенбіде тауға барайық деп едім. | — | A pity. I wanted to go to the mountains on Saturday. |
| Жексенбіде күн көзі шығады. Жылы болады. | — | On Sunday the sun will come out. It will be warm. |
| Жақсы. Онда жексенбіде кездесеміз бе? | — | Good. Shall we meet on Sunday then? |
| Иә. Сағат нешеде? | — | Yes. At what time? |
| Онда бірде. Кешікпе! | — | Then at one o'clock. Don't be late! |
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 it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.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?
“Ертең ауа райы қандай болады?” — What will the weather be like tomorrow?. 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.