The new girl in class in Russian
Before a lesson: the class meets the new pupil in Russian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Привет! Ты у нас новенькая? Садись за эту парту.» — Hi! Are you the new girl here? Take this desk; «Спасибо. А что у вас сейчас будет?» — Thanks. And what do you have now?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: before a lesson: the class meets the new pupil. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Привет! Ты у нас новенькая? Садись за эту парту.Privet! Ty u nas novenkaya? Sadis za etu partu.Hi! Are you the new girl here? Take this desk.
- Спасибо. А что у вас сейчас будет?Spasibo. A chto u vas seychas budet?Thanks. And what do you have now?
- Математика. Смотри, правила записаны на школьной доске.Matematika. Smotri, pravila zapisany na shkolnoy doske.Math. Look, the rules are written on the school board.
- А где можно повесить куртку?A gde mozhno povesit kurtku?And where can I hang my jacket?
- Вот у двери. Звонок через две минуты.Vot u dveri. Zvonok cherez dve minuty.Here by the door. The bell is in two minutes.
- А что делают на переменке?A chto delayut na peremenke?And what does one do at the break?
- Гуляем во дворе и болтаем. Пойдём вместе.Gulyaem vo dvore i boltaem. Poydyom vmeste.We walk in the yard and chat. Let's go together.
- Пойдём. Кажется, здесь мне понравится.Poydyom. Kazhetsya, zdes mne ponravitsya.Let's go. It seems I will like it here.
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Привет! Ты у нас новенькая? Садись за эту парту. | Privet! Ty u nas novenkaya? Sadis za etu partu. | Hi! Are you the new girl here? Take this desk. |
| Спасибо. А что у вас сейчас будет? | Spasibo. A chto u vas seychas budet? | Thanks. And what do you have now? |
| Математика. Смотри, правила записаны на школьной доске. | Matematika. Smotri, pravila zapisany na shkolnoy doske. | Math. Look, the rules are written on the school board. |
| А где можно повесить куртку? | A gde mozhno povesit kurtku? | And where can I hang my jacket? |
| Вот у двери. Звонок через две минуты. | Vot u dveri. Zvonok cherez dve minuty. | Here by the door. The bell is in two minutes. |
| А что делают на переменке? | A chto delayut na peremenke? | And what does one do at the break? |
| Гуляем во дворе и болтаем. Пойдём вместе. | Gulyaem vo dvore i boltaem. Poydyom vmeste. | We walk in the yard and chat. Let's go together. |
| Пойдём. Кажется, здесь мне понравится. | Poydyom. Kazhetsya, zdes mne ponravitsya. | Let's go. It seems I will like it here. |
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! Ты у нас новенькая? Садись за эту парту.” (Privet! Ty u nas novenkaya? Sadis za etu partu.) — Hi! Are you the new girl here? Take this desk. 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.