How much to order in Slovenian
At the café they count how many supplies to order for the week in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Koliko kave naročimo, če je zaloga skoraj pri koncu?» — How much coffee should we order if the supply is almost out?; «Prejšnji teden je šlo za tretjino več kot običajno.» — Last week a third more than usual went. 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: at the café they count how many supplies to order for the week. 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.
- Koliko kave naročimo, če je zaloga skoraj pri koncu?How much coffee should we order if the supply is almost out?
- Prejšnji teden je šlo za tretjino več kot običajno.Last week a third more than usual went.
- Potem vzemiva dvojno količino, z rezervo.Then let’s take twice as much, with a margin.
- Mleko pa prodajajo na kos, ne na debelo.And milk is sold by the piece, not wholesale.
- Preštej, koliko litrov porabimo na dan.Count how many liters we use a day.
- Na oko petnajst, natančno na liter pa ne vem.Off the top of my head, fifteen; to the exact liter I don’t know.
- Skupno število naj bo za petino višje kot lani.Let the total number be a fifth higher than last year.
- Prav, naročilo razdeliva na enake dele po dnevih.Fine, the two of us will split the order evenly across the days.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Koliko kave naročimo, če je zaloga skoraj pri koncu? | — | How much coffee should we order if the supply is almost out? |
| Prejšnji teden je šlo za tretjino več kot običajno. | — | Last week a third more than usual went. |
| Potem vzemiva dvojno količino, z rezervo. | — | Then let’s take twice as much, with a margin. |
| Mleko pa prodajajo na kos, ne na debelo. | — | And milk is sold by the piece, not wholesale. |
| Preštej, koliko litrov porabimo na dan. | — | Count how many liters we use a day. |
| Na oko petnajst, natančno na liter pa ne vem. | — | Off the top of my head, fifteen; to the exact liter I don’t know. |
| Skupno število naj bo za petino višje kot lani. | — | Let the total number be a fifth higher than last year. |
| Prav, naročilo razdeliva na enake dele po dnevih. | — | Fine, the two of us will split the order evenly across the days. |
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 Slovenian in this situation?
“Koliko kave naročimo, če je zaloga skoraj pri koncu?” — How much coffee should we order if the supply is almost out?. 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.