What work do you do in Russian
Two neighbors talking on the staircase in Russian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Привет! Как дела?» — Hi! How are you?; «Хорошо! Я работаю удалённо, из дома.» — Good! I work remotely, from home.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two neighbors talking on the staircase. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Привет! Как дела?Privet! Kak dela?Hi! How are you?
- Хорошо! Я работаю удалённо, из дома.Khorosho! Ya rabotayu udalyonno, iz doma.Good! I work remotely, from home.
- А какая у тебя профессия?A kakaya u tebya professiya?And what is your profession?
- Я программист. Рабочий день — восемь часов.Ya programmist. Rabochiy den — vosem chasov.I'm a programmer. The workday is eight hours.
- А отпуск у тебя есть?A otpusk u tebya est?And do you get a vacation?
- Да, в январе — едем на море.Da, v yanvare — edem na more.Yes, in January — we are going to the sea.
- Отлично! Хорошего отпуска!Otlichno! Khoroshego otpuska!Great! Have a good vacation!
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Привет! Как дела? | Privet! Kak dela? | Hi! How are you? |
| Хорошо! Я работаю удалённо, из дома. | Khorosho! Ya rabotayu udalyonno, iz doma. | Good! I work remotely, from home. |
| А какая у тебя профессия? | A kakaya u tebya professiya? | And what is your profession? |
| Я программист. Рабочий день — восемь часов. | Ya programmist. Rabochiy den — vosem chasov. | I'm a programmer. The workday is eight hours. |
| А отпуск у тебя есть? | A otpusk u tebya est? | And do you get a vacation? |
| Да, в январе — едем на море. | Da, v yanvare — edem na more. | Yes, in January — we are going to the sea. |
| Отлично! Хорошего отпуска! | Otlichno! Khoroshego otpuska! | Great! Have a good vacation! |
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 Russian in this situation?
“Привет! Как дела?” (Privet! Kak dela?) — Hi! How are you? 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.