Thread: слева/справа/налево /направо

Hello,just "finally" finishing section 1 on "Loras Dialogs",and I have stumbled across слева (on the left) and справа (on the right).
Before today I have allways used налево / направо...in what situation would you change the phrases for Left and Right,or can either be used?

Thanks to all as usual for your help,and thanks to "Auntie Lora`s" site,a brilliant way to learn some basics.

"налево" and "направо" mean "[to go to the] left/right [side]", when
"слева" and "справа" mean "[to be at the] left/right [side]".

I always thought of them in terms of the preposition - "на" meaning "to" and "с" meaning "from." This is helpful when they talk about who is who on a photo, since they use слева and справа, just like we do("third from the right").

There's interesing usage of these words: слева направо и справа налево (from the left to the right and from the right to the left). It shows all the difference.
Евреи и арабы пишут справа налево, европейцы и американцы слева направо. Японцы могут писать слева направо, справа налево и сверху вниз.

Don't forget about сбоку, сверху... and so on.