The job interview in Slovenian
An HR office in a small firm near Ljubljana in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Izvolite, sedite. Se lahko na kratko predstavite?» — Please, sit down. Can you briefly tell me about yourself?; «Seveda. Pet let sem delal v podobnem oddelku.» — Of course. I worked in a similar department for five years. 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: an hr office in a small firm near ljubljana. 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.
- Izvolite, sedite. Se lahko na kratko predstavite?Please, sit down. Can you briefly tell me about yourself?
- Seveda. Pet let sem delal v podobnem oddelku.Of course. I worked in a similar department for five years.
- Zakaj ste dali odpoved pri prejšnjem delodajalcu?Why did you leave your previous employer?
- Iskal sem večjo odgovornost in bolj zahtevne naloge.I was looking for more responsibility and harder tasks.
- Imate priporočilo prejšnjega šefa?Do you have a reference from your previous boss?
- Imam, poslal sem ga skupaj z življenjepisom.I do, I sent it together with my résumé.
- Poskusna doba traja tri mesece. Vam to ustreza?The probation period lasts three months. Does that suit you?
- Ustreza. Kdaj bi lahko začel?It does. When could I start?
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Izvolite, sedite. Se lahko na kratko predstavite? | — | Please, sit down. Can you briefly tell me about yourself? |
| Seveda. Pet let sem delal v podobnem oddelku. | — | Of course. I worked in a similar department for five years. |
| Zakaj ste dali odpoved pri prejšnjem delodajalcu? | — | Why did you leave your previous employer? |
| Iskal sem večjo odgovornost in bolj zahtevne naloge. | — | I was looking for more responsibility and harder tasks. |
| Imate priporočilo prejšnjega šefa? | — | Do you have a reference from your previous boss? |
| Imam, poslal sem ga skupaj z življenjepisom. | — | I do, I sent it together with my résumé. |
| Poskusna doba traja tri mesece. Vam to ustreza? | — | The probation period lasts three months. Does that suit you? |
| Ustreza. Kdaj bi lahko začel? | — | It does. When could I start? |
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?
“Izvolite, sedite. Se lahko na kratko predstavite?” — Please, sit down. Can you briefly tell me about yourself?. 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.