It's frustrating, to know a language to the point where single words stand out and can be recognized but the concept of a sentence is too complicated for that word to give it meaning. Ivan keeps smiling anyway and switches to the basic English that he knows, trying to steer the conversation into a direction where he can control the context so the content will be clear more easily.

"I'm Ivan Timoevich. It's a pleasure to meet you." It's a string of words that he has learned like this, a simple introduction that was drilled into him as being polite and how he should introduce himself, and surely it can't get him in trouble if the person bringing him to this place took such pains to properly instill it in him? And also, it is a self-introduction, so it should set off an unser built on that, and that would get him some information abou this place. And make him understand more.