At grandma’s about the old days in Slovenian
A grandson questions grandma about how people lived in the village half a century ago in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Babica, kako je bilo tu v tistih letih?» — Grandma, what was it like here in those years?; «Vse po starem, dokler ni prišla elektrika.» — Everything as before, until electricity came. 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: a grandson questions grandma about how people lived in the village half a century ago. 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.
- Babica, kako je bilo tu v tistih letih?Grandma, what was it like here in those years?
- Vse po starem, dokler ni prišla elektrika.Everything as before, until electricity came.
- Kdaj se je to zgodilo, v katerem desetletju?When did it happen, in which decade?
- Sredi šestdesetih. To je bil prelomni trenutek za našo vas.In the mid-sixties. It was a turning point for our village.
- Po ljudskem izročilu naj bi tu stal grad.By folk legend a castle supposedly stood here.
- Ruševine so še vidne, arheologi so tam kopali.The ruins are still visible; archaeologists dug there.
- Zakaj so o tem pisali v samostanski kroniki?Why did they write about it in the monastery chronicle?
- Ker je bila vas takrat pomembnejša kot dandanes.Because the village mattered more then than it does today.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Babica, kako je bilo tu v tistih letih? | — | Grandma, what was it like here in those years? |
| Vse po starem, dokler ni prišla elektrika. | — | Everything as before, until electricity came. |
| Kdaj se je to zgodilo, v katerem desetletju? | — | When did it happen, in which decade? |
| Sredi šestdesetih. To je bil prelomni trenutek za našo vas. | — | In the mid-sixties. It was a turning point for our village. |
| Po ljudskem izročilu naj bi tu stal grad. | — | By folk legend a castle supposedly stood here. |
| Ruševine so še vidne, arheologi so tam kopali. | — | The ruins are still visible; archaeologists dug there. |
| Zakaj so o tem pisali v samostanski kroniki? | — | Why did they write about it in the monastery chronicle? |
| Ker je bila vas takrat pomembnejša kot dandanes. | — | Because the village mattered more then than it does today. |
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?
“Babica, kako je bilo tu v tistih letih?” — Grandma, what was it like here in those years?. 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.