Learn Hardcore Russian: После совещания мне нужно немного тишины, поэтому я остаюсь дома. - After the meeting, I need a bit of silence, so I stay at home.

Совещание is typically a work meeting focused on discussion/coordination (often official or businesslike).
Встреча is more general: any meeting/encounter (business or personal).
So in this sentence, совещание suggests something like a meeting at work that can be tiring.

Why does Russian say мне нужно instead of something like “I need” (я нуждаюсь)?

Russian very commonly expresses “need” with нужно + dative:

мне нужно = “I need” (literally “to me it is necessary”)

Я нуждаюсь exists, but it’s:

more formal/bookish,
often used for stronger needs or “to be in need of” something,
and it requires в + prepositional or в чём-то / sometimes в ком/чём style structures depending on meaning.

For everyday “I need some quiet,” мне нужно is the most natural.

Why is мне in the dative case here?

Because нужно behaves like an impersonal predicative: it marks the person who experiences the necessity in the dative:

кому? → мне So: мне нужно… = “I need…” / “I have to…”

Why is it немного тишины (genitive) and not немного тишина?

After quantity words like немного (“a little”), Russian usually uses the genitive case:

немного чего? → тишины (genitive of тишина)

This is very common with words like много, мало, немного, чуть-чуть:

много времени, мало воды, немного тишины

Is тишина “silence” or “quiet”? Does тишины change the meaning?

Тишина can mean both silence and quiet, depending on context. Here it naturally means “some quiet.”
Тишины is just the genitive form required by немного; it doesn’t add a different meaning by itself.

Why is there a comma before поэтому?

Because поэтому (“therefore/so”) introduces a result clause, and Russian generally uses a comma to separate the two parts:

Cause: После совещания мне нужно немного тишины
Result: поэтому я остаюсь дома

What’s the difference between поэтому and так что?

Both can mean “so/therefore,” but:

поэтому is often a bit more “logical/therefore” and works well in neutral written and spoken Russian.
так что is very common in speech and can sound more conversational (“so, as a result…”).

In this sentence, both can work:

…, поэтому я остаюсь дома.
…, так что я остаюсь дома.

Why is the verb остаюсь (imperfective)? Would останусь work?

Остаюсь (imperfective, present) suggests a current decision, a typical action, or a “present-time” statement: “so I’m staying home.”
Останусь (perfective, future) sounds more like a single future outcome: “so I will stay home (this time).”

Both are possible, but the nuance changes:

поэтому я остаюсь дома = “so I’m staying home (that’s my plan/that’s what I do now)”
поэтому я останусь дома = “so I’ll stay home (as a one-time decision/result)”

Is it остаюсь or оставаюсь? I’ve seen both.

Both are correct but come from different verbs:

оставаться → остаюсь = “to stay/remain” (this is what you have here)
остававаться → оставаюсь is colloquial/nonstandard for “оставаться” in modern standard Russian (you may hear it, but it’s not the standard conjugation)

Standard: я остаюсь, ты остаёшься, он/она остаётся.

Why does Russian say дома and not в доме?

Дома is an adverb meaning “at home” (home as a general place/state).
В доме means “in the house/building” and focuses on the physical building.

So:

я остаюсь дома = “I stay home”
я остаюсь в доме = “I stay in the house (not outside)” (more literal/physical)

Can I drop я and just say поэтому остаюсь дома?

Yes. Russian often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending makes the subject clear:

…, поэтому остаюсь дома. = “…, so I’m staying home.”

Including я adds a bit more emphasis/contrast: I (as opposed to someone else).

What’s the most natural word order here? Can I move parts around?

The given word order is very natural. Russian word order is flexible, but changes emphasis:

Neutral: После совещания мне нужно немного тишины, поэтому я остаюсь дома.
More emphasis on “quiet”: После совещания мне нужно немного тишины — поэтому остаюсь дома.
Emphasis on “after the meeting”: Мне нужно немного тишины после совещания, поэтому я остаюсь дома. (possible, slightly different focus)