First day at the gym in Russian
A gym, a first session with a trainer in Russian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Здравствуйте! Я здесь первый раз. Когда тренировка?» — Hello! It is my first time here. When is the workout?; «Через десять минут. Ты бегать умеешь?» — In ten minutes. Can you run?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a gym, a first session with a trainer. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Здравствуйте! Я здесь первый раз. Когда тренировка?Zdravstvuyte! Ya zdes pervyy raz. Kogda trenirovka?Hello! It is my first time here. When is the workout?
- Через десять минут. Ты бегать умеешь?Cherez desyat minut. Ty begat umeesh?In ten minutes. Can you run?
- Немного бегаю по утрам, но быстро устаю.Nemnogo begayu po utram, no bystro ustayu.I do some running in the mornings, but I get tired fast.
- Хорошо. Сначала идём, потом бежим медленно.Khorosho. Snachala idyom, potom bezhim medlenno.Good. First we walk, then we jog slowly.
- А мяч можно взять? Я люблю играть.A myach mozhno vzyat? Ya lyublyu igrat.Can I take a ball? I love playing.
- Можно. Только сначала разомнёмся: прыжки и бег на месте.Mozhno. Tolko snachala razomnyomsya: pryzhki i beg na meste.You can. But first we warm up: jumps and running in place.
- На прошлой неделе я упал с велосипеда — колено болит.Na proshloy nedele ya upal s velosipeda — koleno bolit.Last week I fell off my bike — my knee hurts.
- Тогда не прыгаем. Если болит — сразу говори, и отдохнём.Togda ne prygaem. Esli bolit — srazu govori, i otdokhnyom.Then no jumping. If it hurts, say so at once and we'll rest.
Lines one by one
| Russian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Здравствуйте! Я здесь первый раз. Когда тренировка? | Zdravstvuyte! Ya zdes pervyy raz. Kogda trenirovka? | Hello! It is my first time here. When is the workout? |
| Через десять минут. Ты бегать умеешь? | Cherez desyat minut. Ty begat umeesh? | In ten minutes. Can you run? |
| Немного бегаю по утрам, но быстро устаю. | Nemnogo begayu po utram, no bystro ustayu. | I do some running in the mornings, but I get tired fast. |
| Хорошо. Сначала идём, потом бежим медленно. | Khorosho. Snachala idyom, potom bezhim medlenno. | Good. First we walk, then we jog slowly. |
| А мяч можно взять? Я люблю играть. | A myach mozhno vzyat? Ya lyublyu igrat. | Can I take a ball? I love playing. |
| Можно. Только сначала разомнёмся: прыжки и бег на месте. | Mozhno. Tolko snachala razomnyomsya: pryzhki i beg na meste. | You can. But first we warm up: jumps and running in place. |
| На прошлой неделе я упал с велосипеда — колено болит. | Na proshloy nedele ya upal s velosipeda — koleno bolit. | Last week I fell off my bike — my knee hurts. |
| Тогда не прыгаем. Если болит — сразу говори, и отдохнём. | Togda ne prygaem. Esli bolit — srazu govori, i otdokhnyom. | Then no jumping. If it hurts, say so at once and we'll rest. |
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?
“Здравствуйте! Я здесь первый раз. Когда тренировка?” (Zdravstvuyte! Ya zdes pervyy raz. Kogda trenirovka?) — Hello! It is my first time here. When is the workout? 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.