I froze the first time. A woman in a Yekaterinburg lift said Здравствуйте, I said it back, and then I panicked and stared at the floor numbers like they owed me money. What I'd never practised was the second beat — the thirty seconds after hello. Greetings get all the attention in courses; the small talk that follows gets none, and that's exactly the part that decides whether you feel like a person or a phrasebook.
This is the mistake most English speakers make. In English, "How are you?" is noise — nobody expects a real answer. In Russian, Как дела? (kak dee-LAH) genuinely asks, and a genuine short answer is welcome. You don't owe anyone your medical history, but a flat "fine" delivered on autopilot can read as cold. Give something true and small: нормально if it's an ordinary day, не очень if it isn't.
The reflex to unlearn: don't answer
Как дела? with
Как дела? the way English speakers ping "good, you?" back instantly. Answer first,
then return the question with
А вы? or
А у тебя?
Three topics that never fail
You don't need a wide net. Pick from three:
1. The weather. Always safe, and in a country where it swings from +30 to −30 it's genuinely worth discussing. Сегодня холодно, да? (it's cold today, right?) or the all-purpose Какая сегодня погода! — "what weather today!" — which works for good and bad alike.
2. Where you're from. Откуда вы? (where are you from?) is a near-guaranteed question the moment your accent lands. Have your answer ready: Я из Англии / из Америки / из Лондона. Then flip it: А вы местный? — "are you a local?"
3. How you're finding it. If you're a visitor, Мне здесь нравится ("I like it here") opens a door every time. People warm up fast when you say something kind about their city.
When they compliment your Russian
This happens more than you'd think, often after a single decent sentence: Вы отлично говорите по-русски! — "you speak Russian brilliantly!" The English instinct is to accept graciously. The Russian instinct is to wave it off. The stock reply is Что вы! (shtoh VYH) — literally "what you!", meaning roughly "oh, stop it." Or the softer Да нет, что вы. If deflecting feels odd, Спасибо, я ещё учу — "thanks, I'm still learning" — is warm and honest and moves things along.
A tiny script to rehearse
Small talk is muscle memory, not vocabulary. String these into one ten-second exchange and say it out loud until it's automatic:
| — Здравствуйте! Как дела? | Hello! How are things? |
| — Хорошо, спасибо. А у вас? | Good, thanks. And you? |
| — Тоже хорошо. Откуда вы? | Also good. Where are you from? |
| — Я из Англии. Мне здесь очень нравится. | I'm from England. I really like it here. |
Four lines. That's a whole social encounter, and it's more Russian than most travellers ever manage. Once it's automatic, swap one detail each day — a different answer, a different city — so the pattern belongs to you rather than to the page. For the wider phrase kit around it, the everyday travel phrases pick up where this leaves off, and the greetings guide covers the hello and goodbye that bracket the whole thing.
Questions people actually ask
How do Russians actually answer Как дела? With a short but real reply — нормально, хорошо, потихоньку, or an honest не очень. The automatic English "fine" isn't the goal; a small true answer is.
What do I say when someone compliments my Russian? Deflect it: Что вы! or Да нет, что вы. A plain Спасибо, я учу works too.
Is the weather really a safe topic? Yes — it's the most reliable opener there is. Сегодня холодно or Какая сегодня погода! never lands wrong.
The goal isn't to be interesting in your first week. It's to keep the exchange alive for thirty seconds without freezing in a lift. Get that, and everything else has room to grow. See what's coming in the Russian course and get a launch update →