It is hard to hear in Russian
A phone call from a noisy place: one of them barely hears the other in Russian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Простите, что вы сказали?» — Sorry, what did you say?; «Наша встреча теперь в три, завтра.» — Our meeting is now at three, tomorrow.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a phone call from a noisy place: one of them barely hears the other. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Простите, что вы сказали?Prostite, chto vy skazali?Sorry, what did you say?
- Наша встреча теперь в три, завтра.Nasha vstrecha teper v tri, zavtra.Our meeting is now at three, tomorrow.
- Извините, я не расслышал. В три?Izvinite, ya ne rasslyshal. V tri?Sorry, I didn't catch that. At three?
- Да, в три, у входа.Da, v tri, u vkhoda.Yes, at three, by the entrance.
- Правильно ли я понял: у входа, в три?Pravilno li ya ponyal: u vkhoda, v tri?Did I understand correctly: by the entrance, at three?
- Да, и рядом со светофором.Da, i ryadom so svetoforom.Yes, and next to the traffic light.
- Ясно, я понял. До встречи!Yasno, ya ponyal. Do vstrechi!Clear, I got it. See you!
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Простите, что вы сказали? | Prostite, chto vy skazali? | Sorry, what did you say? |
| Наша встреча теперь в три, завтра. | Nasha vstrecha teper v tri, zavtra. | Our meeting is now at three, tomorrow. |
| Извините, я не расслышал. В три? | Izvinite, ya ne rasslyshal. V tri? | Sorry, I didn't catch that. At three? |
| Да, в три, у входа. | Da, v tri, u vkhoda. | Yes, at three, by the entrance. |
| Правильно ли я понял: у входа, в три? | Pravilno li ya ponyal: u vkhoda, v tri? | Did I understand correctly: by the entrance, at three? |
| Да, и рядом со светофором. | Da, i ryadom so svetoforom. | Yes, and next to the traffic light. |
| Ясно, я понял. До встречи! | Yasno, ya ponyal. Do vstrechi! | Clear, I got it. See you! |
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?
“Простите, что вы сказали?” (Prostite, chto vy skazali?) — Sorry, what did you say? 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.