How old the children are in Slovenian
A playground in Tivoli, two parents on a bench in Slovenian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Sta to vajina otroka?» — Are these your and his children?; «Ja, fant in punca. Igrata se že celo uro.» — Yes, a boy and a girl. They’ve been playing for a whole hour. 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 playground in tivoli, two parents on a bench. 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.
- Sta to vajina otroka?Are these your and his children?
- Ja, fant in punca. Igrata se že celo uro.Yes, a boy and a girl. They’ve been playing for a whole hour.
- Koliko sta stara?How old are they?
- Fant je star sedem let, punca pa štiri.The boy is seven and the girl is four.
- Moja hčerka je najstnica, njej je tukaj že dolgčas.My daughter is a teenager, she’s already bored here.
- Razumem. Kadar je lepo vreme, greva raje na kolo.I understand. When the weather is nice, the two of us prefer to go by bike.
- Dobra ideja. Naslednji teden gremo vsi na piknik.Good idea. Next week we’re all going on a picnic.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Sta to vajina otroka? | — | Are these your and his children? |
| Ja, fant in punca. Igrata se že celo uro. | — | Yes, a boy and a girl. They’ve been playing for a whole hour. |
| Koliko sta stara? | — | How old are they? |
| Fant je star sedem let, punca pa štiri. | — | The boy is seven and the girl is four. |
| Moja hčerka je najstnica, njej je tukaj že dolgčas. | — | My daughter is a teenager, she’s already bored here. |
| Razumem. Kadar je lepo vreme, greva raje na kolo. | — | I understand. When the weather is nice, the two of us prefer to go by bike. |
| Dobra ideja. Naslednji teden gremo vsi na piknik. | — | Good idea. Next week we’re all going on a picnic. |
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?
“Sta to vajina otroka?” — Are these your and his children?. 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.