Who was that in Slovenian
Two colleagues in the hallway, one trying to recall the new person in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Kdo je bil tisti moški v pisarni?» — Who was that man in the office?; «Srednje visok, plešast, s sivo brado?» — Medium height, bald, with a gray beard? 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 colleagues in the hallway, one trying to recall the new person. 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.
- Kdo je bil tisti moški v pisarni?Who was that man in the office?
- Srednje visok, plešast, s sivo brado?Medium height, bald, with a gray beard?
- Ne, ta je bil mlajši in zelo kodrast.No, that one was younger and very curly-haired.
- Aha, novi sodelavec. Zelo družaben je.Ah, the new colleague. He’s very outgoing.
- Se mi je zdelo. Je tudi delaven?That’s what I thought. Is he hardworking, though?
- Zelo. In potrpežljiv, kar je pri nas redkost.Very. And patient, which is rare around here.
- Prejšnji je bil precej vzkipljiv.The previous one was quite hot-tempered.
- Res je. Ta pa se lepo obnaša do vseh.True. And this one treats everyone well.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Kdo je bil tisti moški v pisarni? | — | Who was that man in the office? |
| Srednje visok, plešast, s sivo brado? | — | Medium height, bald, with a gray beard? |
| Ne, ta je bil mlajši in zelo kodrast. | — | No, that one was younger and very curly-haired. |
| Aha, novi sodelavec. Zelo družaben je. | — | Ah, the new colleague. He’s very outgoing. |
| Se mi je zdelo. Je tudi delaven? | — | That’s what I thought. Is he hardworking, though? |
| Zelo. In potrpežljiv, kar je pri nas redkost. | — | Very. And patient, which is rare around here. |
| Prejšnji je bil precej vzkipljiv. | — | The previous one was quite hot-tempered. |
| Res je. Ta pa se lepo obnaša do vseh. | — | True. And this one treats everyone well. |
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?
“Kdo je bil tisti moški v pisarni?” — Who was that man in the office?. 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.