Cooking dinner in Slovenian
The kitchen of a rented apartment, two roommates at the stove in Slovenian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Kaj bova nocoj kuhala?» — What should the two of us cook today?; «Imava krompir, čebulo in korenje. Juho?» — The two of us have potatoes, onions and carrots. Soup? 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: the kitchen of a rented apartment, two roommates at the stove. 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.
- Kaj bova nocoj kuhala?What should the two of us cook today?
- Imava krompir, čebulo in korenje. Juho?The two of us have potatoes, onions and carrots. Soup?
- Lahko. Moram najprej narezati čebulo?Sure. Do I need to cut the onion first?
- Ja, na ponev. Olje je že vroče.Yes, into the pan. The oil is already hot.
- Kje imava sol? Juha je premalo slana.Where do we keep the salt? The soup is undersalted.
- V omari nad štedilnikom. Začimbe so zraven.In the cupboard above the stove. The spices are nearby.
- Poskusi. Se ti zdi dobra?Taste it. Does it seem tasty to you?
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Kaj bova nocoj kuhala? | — | What should the two of us cook today? |
| Imava krompir, čebulo in korenje. Juho? | — | The two of us have potatoes, onions and carrots. Soup? |
| Lahko. Moram najprej narezati čebulo? | — | Sure. Do I need to cut the onion first? |
| Ja, na ponev. Olje je že vroče. | — | Yes, into the pan. The oil is already hot. |
| Kje imava sol? Juha je premalo slana. | — | Where do we keep the salt? The soup is undersalted. |
| V omari nad štedilnikom. Začimbe so zraven. | — | In the cupboard above the stove. The spices are nearby. |
| Poskusi. Se ti zdi dobra? | — | Taste it. Does it seem tasty to 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 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?
“Kaj bova nocoj kuhala?” — What should the two of us cook today?. 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.