May 05, 2019

Learn Russian Pronunciation Podcast Ep. 5

11 minutes

Full Episode Audio

Exercises Only Audio

Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

Download Exercises

Welcome

to episode 5 of Learn Russian

Pronunciation. A lot of pronunciation courses, at some point, teach

you tongue twisters. Although there’s some value in trying to

pronounce them, they’re usually not very useful phrases. Right? I

mean, how often do you find yourself saying, Rubber baby buggy

bumpers. Or: She sells seashells by the seashore.

So,

instead of a tongue twister, let’s try to master the longest word in

conversational Russian. This is an actual word, used all the

time…especially in the domain of Russian tourism. Listen:

достопримечательности

For

the record that word has twenty-one letters. Here are just the first

two syllables:

до-сто

(“duh-stuh”)

We’re

going to learn it in four small chunks like that. And to make it sink

in, I’m going to mix in review from previous episodes. Because that’s

how memory works. You need delays between re-testing of new material.

Before getting to that review, though…What were those first two

syllables?

Started

with a ‘D’…..до-сто

Good.

And here are the next two:

при-ме

(“pre-myeh”)

putting the first two parts together we have: до-сто–при-ме

And

to get it fast, we can use the Consonant-vowel separation technique

from the previous episode.

Right?

We flatten all the vowels: duh-stuh-pruh-muh

Hit

pause. Try to get that fast. Now let’s alternate. Just the

consonants, and then we’ll being in the vowels.

duh-stuh-pruh-muh

duh-stuh-pre-myeh

Excellent.

Okay, now here’s our review. So…Imagine you’ve just woken

up. How should you greet your roommate?

Доброе

утро.

You’re

just had lunch with a friend and are parting ways. What’s the Russian

equivalent for “See you later?”

До

встречи.

Literally…what?

Until the meeting.

And

getting back to today’s new word…What did we learn of it so far? It

started with a “duh” sound.

досто-приме

review. Quick, what’s the Russian word for toy?

Игрушка

And

again, today’s new word? The first half of it, anyway.

досто-приме

Alright.

Now here’s the next part: ча-тель (“chah-til”)

And

the final two syllables are: но-сти

the second half was: чатель–ности

Let’s

again focus on the consonants by flattening the vowels:

chuh-tuh-nust-uh

Hit

pause and try that on your own.

Notice

just for fluency purposes I’m dropping the “L” from

чатель….

anyway, let’s get that going….chuh-tuh-nust-uh…then let’s bring

in the vowels…чательности

And

what was the first half again?

достоприме…….

And

the second half:

….чательности

So,

altogether now: достопримечательности

Phew!

Now, what in heck does that word mean? Well, in New York City, the

Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central

Park…those are just some of that city’s достопримечательности.

Can

you tell me what the достопримечательности are

in London? You have Buckingham palace, the Tower of London, Big Ben,

the parliament building.

So,

how would you translate the word достопримечательности?

It’s “the main tourist sites”

Quick

sidetrack here. The word meaning “center” as in, the city

center, the downtown area of a city…that word in Russian is a

cognate. But it starts with a “ts” sound like at the end of

the word “hits.” Listen?

центр

And

to say “in the center” it’s this: в

центре

There’s

a little “yeh” sound at the end.

So,

with that in mind, imagine I’ve told the desk clerk in my hotel that

I intend to see all the sights today. Сегодня

я собираюсь увидеть все достопримечательности.

She

might tell me…

Все

достопримечательности находятся в

центре.

Can

you translate what she said? Listen again:

All

the main tourist sites are located in the center.

Let’s

do some more translating.

мальчик.

boy

игрушка

toy

доброе

утро

Good

morning

добрый

день

Good

day

Where

is the cashier located?

Где

находится касса?

Меня

зовут Полина.

they call Polina…in normal English: My name is Polina.

Tell

her: Very pleasant…as in, It’s very pleasant to meet you.

Очень

приятно

You

need to go but you’ll see her later. What do you say?

До

встречи

And

finally, in Moscow: Lenin’s tomb, Red Square, St. Basil’s

church….these are some of the…

what’s

the word?

достопримечательности

Alright, I’ll see you in the next episode. And in the meantime, if you want to focus on your conversational Russian skills, be sure to get my Russian Made Easy podcast.

...more

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By Learn Russian Pronunciation

77 ratings

May 05, 2019

Learn Russian Pronunciation Podcast Ep. 5

11 minutes

Full Episode Audio

Exercises Only Audio

Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

Download Exercises

Welcome

to episode 5 of Learn Russian

Pronunciation. A lot of pronunciation courses, at some point, teach

you tongue twisters. Although there’s some value in trying to

pronounce them, they’re usually not very useful phrases. Right? I

mean, how often do you find yourself saying, Rubber baby buggy

bumpers. Or: She sells seashells by the seashore.

So,

instead of a tongue twister, let’s try to master the longest word in

conversational Russian. This is an actual word, used all the

time…especially in the domain of Russian tourism. Listen:

достопримечательности

For

the record that word has twenty-one letters. Here are just the first

two syllables:

до-сто

(“duh-stuh”)

We’re

going to learn it in four small chunks like that. And to make it sink

in, I’m going to mix in review from previous episodes. Because that’s

how memory works. You need delays between re-testing of new material.

Before getting to that review, though…What were those first two

syllables?

Started

with a ‘D’…..до-сто

Good.

And here are the next two:

при-ме

(“pre-myeh”)

putting the first two parts together we have: до-сто–при-ме

And

to get it fast, we can use the Consonant-vowel separation technique

from the previous episode.

Right?

We flatten all the vowels: duh-stuh-pruh-muh

Hit

pause. Try to get that fast. Now let’s alternate. Just the

consonants, and then we’ll being in the vowels.

duh-stuh-pruh-muh

duh-stuh-pre-myeh

Excellent.

Okay, now here’s our review. So…Imagine you’ve just woken

up. How should you greet your roommate?

Доброе

утро.

You’re

just had lunch with a friend and are parting ways. What’s the Russian

equivalent for “See you later?”

До

встречи.

Literally…what?

Until the meeting.

And

getting back to today’s new word…What did we learn of it so far? It

started with a “duh” sound.

досто-приме

review. Quick, what’s the Russian word for toy?

Игрушка

And

again, today’s new word? The first half of it, anyway.

досто-приме

Alright.

Now here’s the next part: ча-тель (“chah-til”)

And

the final two syllables are: но-сти

the second half was: чатель–ности

Let’s

again focus on the consonants by flattening the vowels:

chuh-tuh-nust-uh

Hit

pause and try that on your own.

Notice

just for fluency purposes I’m dropping the “L” from

чатель….

anyway, let’s get that going….chuh-tuh-nust-uh…then let’s bring

in the vowels…чательности

And

what was the first half again?

достоприме…….

And

the second half:

….чательности

So,

altogether now: достопримечательности

Phew!

Now, what in heck does that word mean? Well, in New York City, the

Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central

Park…those are just some of that city’s достопримечательности.

Can

you tell me what the достопримечательности are

in London? You have Buckingham palace, the Tower of London, Big Ben,

the parliament building.

So,

how would you translate the word достопримечательности?

It’s “the main tourist sites”

Quick

sidetrack here. The word meaning “center” as in, the city

center, the downtown area of a city…that word in Russian is a

cognate. But it starts with a “ts” sound like at the end of

the word “hits.” Listen?

центр

And

to say “in the center” it’s this: в

центре

There’s

a little “yeh” sound at the end.

So,

with that in mind, imagine I’ve told the desk clerk in my hotel that

I intend to see all the sights today. Сегодня

я собираюсь увидеть все достопримечательности.

She

might tell me…

Все

достопримечательности находятся в

центре.

Can

you translate what she said? Listen again:

All

the main tourist sites are located in the center.

Let’s

do some more translating.

мальчик.

boy

игрушка

toy

доброе

утро

Good

morning

добрый

день

Good

day

Where

is the cashier located?

Где

находится касса?

Меня

зовут Полина.

they call Polina…in normal English: My name is Polina.

Tell

her: Very pleasant…as in, It’s very pleasant to meet you.

Очень

приятно

You

need to go but you’ll see her later. What do you say?

До

встречи

And

finally, in Moscow: Lenin’s tomb, Red Square, St. Basil’s

church….these are some of the…

what’s

the word?

достопримечательности

Alright, I’ll see you in the next episode. And in the meantime, if you want to focus on your conversational Russian skills, be sure to get my Russian Made Easy podcast.

...more