The weekend forecast in Slovenian
Two neighbors by the entrance deciding whether to go to the mountains in Slovenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Si videl vremensko napoved za soboto?» — Have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday?; «Zjutraj megla, popoldne pa nevihte.» — Fog in the morning, thunderstorms after lunch. 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 neighbors by the entrance deciding whether to go to the mountains. 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.
- Si videl vremensko napoved za soboto?Have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday?
- Zjutraj megla, popoldne pa nevihte.Fog in the morning, thunderstorms after lunch.
- Škoda. Mislil sem, da bo sončno.A pity. I thought it would be sunny.
- V nedeljo bo bolje, samo malo oblačno.Sunday will be better, just a bit cloudy.
- Potem greva v hribe v nedeljo.Then the two of us will go to the mountains on Sunday.
- Velja. Steza do slapa je zdaj suha.Deal. The trail to the waterfall is dry right now.
- Prejšnjič sva jo komaj našla v megli.Last time the two of us barely found it in the fog.
- Tokrat vzemiva zemljevid in dežnik.This time the two of us will take a map and an umbrella.
Lines one by one
| Slovenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Si videl vremensko napoved za soboto? | — | Have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday? |
| Zjutraj megla, popoldne pa nevihte. | — | Fog in the morning, thunderstorms after lunch. |
| Škoda. Mislil sem, da bo sončno. | — | A pity. I thought it would be sunny. |
| V nedeljo bo bolje, samo malo oblačno. | — | Sunday will be better, just a bit cloudy. |
| Potem greva v hribe v nedeljo. | — | Then the two of us will go to the mountains on Sunday. |
| Velja. Steza do slapa je zdaj suha. | — | Deal. The trail to the waterfall is dry right now. |
| Prejšnjič sva jo komaj našla v megli. | — | Last time the two of us barely found it in the fog. |
| Tokrat vzemiva zemljevid in dežnik. | — | This time the two of us will take a map and an umbrella. |
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?
“Si videl vremensko napoved za soboto?” — Have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday?. 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.