What happened on the street in Slovenian
Two neighbors discuss an incident that one saw and the other knows by hearsay in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Si slišal, kaj se je zgodilo pred trgovino?» — Have you heard what happened in front of the shop?; «Samo iz druge roke. Povej po vrsti.» — Only by hearsay. Tell it in order. 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: two neighbors discuss an incident that one saw and the other knows by hearsay. 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.
- Si slišal, kaj se je zgodilo pred trgovino?Have you heard what happened in front of the shop?
- Samo iz druge roke. Povej po vrsti.Only by hearsay. Tell it in order.
- Bilo je takole: ravno sem šel mimo, ko je počilo.It went like this: I was just walking by when it went off.
- In kaj takoj zatem? Je bil kdo poškodovan?And then what? Did anyone get hurt?
- Nihče. Ampak jaz tega res nisem pričakoval.Nobody. But I really didn’t expect it.
- Po besedah očividca naj bi šlo za plinsko jeklenko.According to a witness, it was supposedly about a gas cylinder.
- Kolikor sem razumel, so jo že odpeljali.As I understand, it has already been taken away.
- Upam, da se to ne bo ponovilo.I hope nothing like this happens again.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Si slišal, kaj se je zgodilo pred trgovino? | — | Have you heard what happened in front of the shop? |
| Samo iz druge roke. Povej po vrsti. | — | Only by hearsay. Tell it in order. |
| Bilo je takole: ravno sem šel mimo, ko je počilo. | — | It went like this: I was just walking by when it went off. |
| In kaj takoj zatem? Je bil kdo poškodovan? | — | And then what? Did anyone get hurt? |
| Nihče. Ampak jaz tega res nisem pričakoval. | — | Nobody. But I really didn’t expect it. |
| Po besedah očividca naj bi šlo za plinsko jeklenko. | — | According to a witness, it was supposedly about a gas cylinder. |
| Kolikor sem razumel, so jo že odpeljali. | — | As I understand, it has already been taken away. |
| Upam, da se to ne bo ponovilo. | — | I hope nothing like this happens again. |
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?
“Si slišal, kaj se je zgodilo pred trgovino?” — Have you heard what happened in front of the shop?. 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.