How to get to the station in Slovenian
A visitor stops a passerby at an intersection in central Ljubljana in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Oprostite, smem nekaj vprašati?» — Excuse me, may I ask you?; «Seveda, prosim. Poslušam vas.» — Of course, go ahead. I’m listening. 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 visitor stops a passerby at an intersection in central 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.
- Oprostite, smem nekaj vprašati?Excuse me, may I ask you?
- Seveda, prosim. Poslušam vas.Of course, go ahead. I’m listening.
- Kako pridem do avtobusne postaje?How do I get to the bus station?
- Naravnost do konca ulice, potem čez cesto.Straight to the end of the street, then across the road.
- In potem? Je to daleč od tod?And then? Is it far from here?
- Peš kakih deset minut, poleg semaforja zavijte levo.About ten minutes on foot; at the traffic light, turn left.
- Prosim, pokažite na zemljevidu, kje smo.Please show me on the map where we are.
- Tu sva, postaja pa je zadaj za tem parkom.The two of us are here, and the station is behind this park.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Oprostite, smem nekaj vprašati? | — | Excuse me, may I ask you? |
| Seveda, prosim. Poslušam vas. | — | Of course, go ahead. I’m listening. |
| Kako pridem do avtobusne postaje? | — | How do I get to the bus station? |
| Naravnost do konca ulice, potem čez cesto. | — | Straight to the end of the street, then across the road. |
| In potem? Je to daleč od tod? | — | And then? Is it far from here? |
| Peš kakih deset minut, poleg semaforja zavijte levo. | — | About ten minutes on foot; at the traffic light, turn left. |
| Prosim, pokažite na zemljevidu, kje smo. | — | Please show me on the map where we are. |
| Tu sva, postaja pa je zadaj za tem parkom. | — | The two of us are here, and the station is behind this park. |
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?
“Oprostite, smem nekaj vprašati?” — Excuse me, may I ask you?. 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.