LingoflyFirst day at work in Ukrainian
Meeting a colleague in the office in Ukrainian. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Доброго ранку (dobroho ranku)! Ви (vy) новий (novyi) програміст (prohramist)?» — Good morning! Are you the new programmer?; «Так (tak), мене звати (mene zvaty) Остап. А (a) ви (vy)?» — Yes, my name is Ostap. And you?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: meeting a colleague in the office. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Dobroho ranku! Vy novyi prohramist?Good morning! Are you the new programmer?
- О десятій. Робочий день до шостої, обід о першій.O desiatii. Robochyi den do shostoi, obid o pershii.At ten. The workday runs until six, lunch at one.
Lines one by one
| Ukrainian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Доброго ранку (dobroho ranku)! Ви (vy) новий (novyi) програміст (prohramist)? | Dobroho ranku! Vy novyi prohramist? | Good morning! Are you the new programmer? |
| Так (tak), мене звати (mene zvaty) Остап. А (a) ви (vy)? | Tak, mene zvaty Ostap. A vy? | Yes, my name is Ostap. And you? |
| Олена, я (ya) з (z) бухгалтерії. Ваш (vash) стіл (stil) біля (bilia) вікна (vikna). | Olena, ya z bukhhalterii. Vash stil bilia vikna. | Olena, I'm from accounting. Your desk is by the window. |
| Дякую (diakuiu). О котрій годині (o kotrii hodyni) нарада (narada)? | Diakuiu. O kotrii hodyni narada? | Thanks. What time is the meeting? |
| О (o) десятій (desiatii). Робочий день до шостої (Robochyi den do shostoi), обід (obid) о (o) першій. | O desiatii. Robochyi den do shostoi, obid o pershii. | At ten. The workday runs until six, lunch at one. |
| Зрозуміло (zrozumilo). Якщо (yakshcho) щось (shchos) не знаю (ne znaiu) — питати вас (vas)? | Zrozumilo. Yakshcho shchos ne znaiu — pytaty vas? | I see. If I don't know something — do I ask you? |
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 noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.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 Ukrainian in this situation?
“Доброго ранку (dobroho ranku)! Ви (vy) новий (novyi) програміст (prohramist)?” (Dobroho ranku! Vy novyi prohramist?) — Good morning! Are you the new programmer? 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.