Understanding Spoken Russian

Understanding Spoken Russian

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Understanding Spoken Russian episodes

  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 20

    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    This

    is it, guys. Episode 20… the final exam of Understanding Spoken
    Russian. As a warm up, we’re going to start by listening to a long
    monologue from Alex. There won’t be any follow up questions. This is
    just to listen to and follow along.

    –

    – –

    It’s

    a cool feeling, isn’t it, to listen to a long passage entirely in
    Russian and understand everything the person is saying? Anyway, let’s
    get to our first test. Try to say the following…

    Mom

    works in a store.

    Tomorrow

    I’m going to work. (on foot)

    Is

    there milk in the refrigerator?

    Anton

    is going to a cafe. (on foot)

    Maria

    is heading to the university. (by vehicle)

    Greg

    is now at a concert.

    Oleg

    is traveling to Moscow.

    I

    was watching a video on youtube.

    I

    was in the gym.

    During

    this episode, to break things up, I’ll be putting in random music
    quizzes. Here’s the first one:

    Can

    you say, in Russian, the name of this instrument?

    Это

    было Нил Пирт на барабанах.

    Next…Listen

    to these Russian phrases and translate into English..

    –
    – –

    Привет
    Дарина. Мне сказали что ты играешь на
    гитаре.

    Да.
    И на бас-гитаре. Смотри…

    Back
    to it. Try your best to translate the following phrases into
    Russian…

    Yesterday
    I saw grandma in the library.

    Yesterday
    in the park I saw your dog.

    I
    was on the balcony, reading a book.

    In
    August, in Berlin, my brother bought a new Volkswagen.

    I
    gave Anton the T-shirt.

    Svetlana
    gave James your number.

    Galya
    gave Mom the telephone.

    Today
    in the supermarket I saw your mom.

    I
    read the recipe in the magazine Cosmopolitan.

    At

    the disco I saw Svetlana.

    I

    was on the couch, reading a magazine.

    Grandpa
    worked as a manager in a supermarket.

    –

    – –

    Я

    люблю эту музыку, Марк. На каком инструменте
    он играет?

    Это

    банджо. Музыка называется блюграсс. .

    Back

    to biz. Let’s again try to translate into English….

    –

    – –

    Привет,

    Алексей. Что ты делаешь?

    Ничего,

    просто слушаю музыку и отвечаю имейлы.

    Это

    красивая музыка.

    Ну,

    да. Я люблю Рахманинова.

    Next:
    Translate the following into Russian…

    He

    tried the pelmeni.

    They

    watched (and finished watching) the new film of James Cameron.

    In

    August I am traveling to Moscow.

    Are

    you traveling to London?

    Your

    brother is traveling to Rome?

    They

    didn’t want to wait.

    Are

    you going to the pharmacy?

    Dad

    gave Erik all our documents. Use все for
    the word all

    Greg

    cant wait. For him its time to go to work.

    I’m

    cold.

    I

    like your guitar.

    At

    the office party, tell your boss: Try the cake.

    Oleg,

    give me the Scotch tape.

    Tell

    me, please…Where is the Bolshoi Theater?

    I

    have a motorcycle.

    Galina

    has a cat.

    –

    – –

    И,

    Дарина…У тебя есть балалайка, да? Будешь
    играть?

    Хорошо.

    The

    balalaika is, of course, a popular Russian folk instrument.

    Before

    getting to our last round, let’s listen to another monologue, like we
    did at the start today. No pressure, no questions. Just the fun of
    listening…

    –

    – –

    Alright…for

    our final round, let’s listen again to Alex’s monologue, and try to
    translate line by line. You ready?

    Привет.

    Меня зовут Олег.

    Hi.

    My name is Oleg. Literally…what? Me they call Oleg.

    Я

    живу в Киеве.

    I

    live in Kiev.

    Я

    работаю менеджером в супермаркете.

    I

    work as a manager in a supermarket.

    Есть

    стресс на работе, но что делать?

    At

    work there’s stress, but what to do? meaning…What can ya do about
    it?

    У

    меня есть брат и сестра.

    I

    have a brother and a sister.

    Брата

    зовут Михайл.

    My

    brother’s name is Mixhail. lit: Brother…they call..Mixhail.

    Он

    живёт в Одессе.

    He

    lives in Odessa.

    Он

    музыкант, и играет джаз и блюз на гитаре,
    в ресторане.

    He’s

    a musician and plays jazz and blues on the guitar, in a restaurant.

    Мою

    сестру зовут Таня.

    My

    sister’s name is Tanya.

    Она

    живёт в Германии…в Франкфурте.

    She

    lives in Germany, in Frankfurt.

    Она
    работает в банке.

    She

    works in a bank.

    У

    Тани есть сын и дочка.

    Tanya

    has a son and a daughter.

    Я

    их очень люблю.

    I

    really love them.

    В

    мае, Таня купила мне новый ноутбук…Дэлл.

    In

    May Tanya bought for me a new laptop. A Dell.

    Теперь

    я могу говорить с ними через Скайп.

    Now

    I can talk with them via Skype.

    В

    августе, я еду в Одессу.

    In

    August I’m going to Odessa.

    Я

    хочу видеть Михайла и–(telephone
    rings)

    I

    want to see Mixhail and…

    Ой,

    простите. Мне пора…Михайл звонит.

    Oi,

    forgive me. It’s time for me to go…Mixhail is calling.

    Time for us to go, too. If you enjoyed this series, please give it a brief review on whatever platform you found it. I look forward to welcoming you to my Russian Accelerator course.

    29 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 19

    Full Episode Audio

    Exercises Only Audio

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    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome to Ep 19.Today’s episode will focus on one of the most intimidating aspects of the Russian language: The notorious Verbs of Motion. It’s a topic worthy of it own podcast, and in my Accelerator course there are ten in-depth lessons—two full weeks of material—dedicated to mastering them. So what, you might be wondering, can we possibly hope to cover in one little podcast? Well, let’s just see.

    For

    now, repeat after the speaker…Я еду

    Without

    any setup, I still wonder if you can get the meaning. Can you
    translate these phrases?

    В

    мае я еду в Лондон.

    В

    августе я еду в Москву.

    He

    said: In May, ya yedu to London.

    And

    she said: In August, ya yedu to Moscow.

    So

    what’s your best guess on я еду? It
    translates as I’m going, I’m heading to, I’m traveling to

    Like:

    In May, I’m going to London…or…In August, I’m
    traveling to Moscow

    Let’s

    turn those into questions. Just for fun—again, making your best
    guess—How would you ask a friend: You’re traveling to London?

    Ты

    едешь в Лондон?

    You’re

    traveling to Moscow?

    Ты

    едешь в Москву?

    Your

    brother is traveling to Rome?

    Твой

    брат едет в Рим?

    Your

    sister is traveling to Paris?

    Твоя

    сестра едет в Париж?

    I’m

    traveling, you’re traveling, he’s traveling.

    Я

    еду, ты едешь, он едет

    You

    know the drill. File it away and let’s do some review. Imagine your
    daughter comes out of her grandparents home carrying a balloon and
    some gifts, and it wasn’t even her birthday. Ask:

    “They

    made a surprise for you?” Lit: They made for you a surprise?

    Они

    сделали тебе сюрприз?

    Tell

    your friend: Your drums are in the podval.

    Твои

    барабаны в подвале.

    Ask:

    Where are my guitars?

    Где

    мои гитары?

    …did

    you get that “ee” sound at the end of guitars…to make it
    plural?

    Try

    to say: They didn’t want to wait.

    Они

    не хотели ждать.

    They

    said that you worked in a bank.

    Они

    сказали, что ты работал в банке.

    You

    get those? Good job. Ok..back to our main topic…

    Imagine

    Vlad is on a business trip. A friend calls and asks about his travel
    plans. So Vlad tells him…

    Я

    сейчас в Бостоне, но завтра я еду в
    Питсбург.

    What

    do you think he said? I’m now in Boston but zaftra I’m heading to
    Pittsburgh.

    You

    probably got that…it translates as tomorrow.

    Try

    to say the opposite. I’m now in Pittsburgh, but tomorrow I’m heading
    to Boston.

    Я

    сейчас в Питсбурге, но завтра я еду в
    Бостон.

    Let’s

    run through some common constructions with these. In this first
    round, imagine you’re stepping to the door with a suitcase in hand.
    You roommate asks where you’re going. Say…

    I’m

    traveling to Minsk….to Portland…to Berlin.

    Я

    еду…в Минск. / …в Портленд. / …в Берлин.
    /

    Anton

    is traveling to Sydney….to San Diego…to Sevastopol

    Антон

    едет …в Сидней….в Сан Диего…в Севастополь

    Quick

    question..In English, is there any real difference between saying,
    I’m going to Las Vegas?

    vs…I’m

    traveling to Las Vegas? Well, for one, the word ‘going’ is way more
    common. But is there a difference in meaning? Imagine you step
    to the door, your roommate asks where you’re going, and you say: “I
    am traveling to the grocery store.” — “Oh? Fare thee
    well, young explorer. Godspeed on your journey.” Right?
    “traveling” is a pretty dramatic word just for some trip
    across town.

    Well,

    in Russian, я еду means I’m traveling
    **in some vehicle**.

    As

    soon as someone hears it, they envision a long trip. Depending on how
    far you’re going, they will envision you either inside a car, a
    train, a plane…maybe a bus. And that comes to them in an instant as
    soon as they hear еду. It comes to them
    before you even say your destination.

    English

    doesn’t work like that. If I open the door and I tell my roommate,
    I’m going to ******

    Whoops…

    he didn’t catch my last word. He has no idea, now, if I’m going just
    around the corner, or if I’m flying across the country. Because in
    English, the word ‘going’ doesn’t tell us much.

    But

    in Russian, the verb of motion that you use conveys TONS of
    information. It’s incredible.

    (music)

    Let

    me really test your memory. This is from Episode #4. Can you
    translate these two phrases?

    Я

    сейчас в парке.

    Я

    иду в парк.

    Since

    we didn’t hear a ‘yeh’ at the end, we assume that second one means:
    I’m going to the park.

    Which

    it does. But, being a verb of motion, it means a lot more than just
    “going.” It means, in fact, ‘going on foot.’ It’s the
    walking version of я еду

    Let’s

    practice spotting them. Just say whether the person is going on foot
    or by vehicle. Ready?

    –

    – –

    So,

    as you open the door, if you tell your Russian roommate: Я
    иду
    в Москву.

    He

    might joke with you…”Seriously? You’re going there on foot?”

    Серьёзно?

    Ты идёшь туда пешком?!

    So,

    again: я иду means I’m going on foot

    …but

    it also means you’re on your way there…that you’re en
    route

    English

    makes this difference, too. A kid says…I go to school. He means,
    He’s old enough, now, and he goes to school. vs a kid hefting his
    school bag…Mom, I’m going to school. He means he’s on his way
    there right now. I go…vs I’m going…

    In

    Russian, you’d need a totally different verb. Think of it this way.
    You’re on the phone with a Russian friend, and at some point you
    mention: Я иду в спортзал.

    You

    think you’re telling them…I go to the gym.

    But

    what does your Russian friend think? They’ll say something like,
    “Shoot, I didn’t realize. I’ll let you go.” Because what
    you actually said is, “I’m going to the gym..” or “I’m
    heading to the gym.”

    If

    you want to convey that you go to the gym in general, like the kid
    who “goes to school”…you need a totally different verb in
    Russian. Я хожу в спортзал.

    No

    need to learn that right now. Like I said, there are ten video
    lessons in Russian Accelerator that will lead you through all these
    versions. And really, video is the only way to explain it anyway,
    because we’re describing motion…It’s so much easier to grasp when
    you can see it.

    But

    for now, just know: Russian conveys much more information with its
    verbs than English does.

    Earlier,

    you listened to phrases and had to say whether the person was going
    by foot or by vehicle. Let’s see if you can say similar
    phrases now. First, say just the word ‘library’:

    библиотека

    Now

    say: I’m heading to the library…implying, on foot. Heading there
    counts as doing something to the library, so its ending changes to an
    ”u” sound. Listen again.

    Я

    иду в библиотеку.

    Do

    you recall the word for pharmacy?

    аптека

    Now

    say: I’m heading to the pharmacy.

    Я

    иду в аптеку.

    And

    discotheque is a cognate. Like the other two, it’s feminine. Listen.
    дискотека

    Я

    иду на дискотеку.

    Ask

    your friend: Are you going to Starbucks?

    Ты

    идёшь в Старбакс?

    Are

    you going to the store?

    Ты

    идёшь в магазин?

    Are

    you going to the concert?

    Ты

    идёшь на концерт?

    We

    used the ‘on foot’ versions, because those are places about town. But
    now say…

    I’m

    going to Kiev…I’m going to St. Petersburg…I’m going to Odessa

    Я

    еду в Киев…в Санкт Петербург…в Одессу

    We

    had to use the ‘by vehicle’ forms for those. And with these next
    ones, too. Try to ask…

    Are

    you going to the seminar? Are you going to a conference?

    Ты

    едешь…на семинар?…на конференцию?

    Why

    are some of these getting ‘V’ (в) and
    others get ‘Na’ (на) ?

    Like,

    why is it: Я иду в магазин.

    but

    Я

    иду на концерт.

    I

    could give you the textbook explanation about ‘enclosed spaces’
    versus ‘open air’ locations, but there are just too many exceptions.
    The way I learned them was to assume I needed to use ‘V’–because
    it’s the more common one–and then compile a list in my head of
    locations that actually require Na. It’s such a small thing, please
    don’t let it keep you from using your Russian.

    Alright….Russian

    Immersion time….

    <<

    TIP OF THE DAY >>

    Despite

    my dire warning at the start of today’s episode—that the Russian
    Verbs of Motion are notoriously intimidating—you probably don’t
    feel that yet. But let me lead you a bit deeper in. Imagine you’re
    traveling with friends and someone calls asking you what everyone’s
    up to. In English, we can use the verb “went” for almost
    everything…

    Jim

    went to the pharmacy. Sara went to the mall. Roger went to a fair.

    Oh,

    but in Russian…? In Russian, before you say a single word, you need
    to decide: How did Jim go to the pharmacy…On foot or by vehicle?
    …and then….Is he still out, or did he get back?

    That’s

    four possibilities, each needing a different verb. Listen…

    Джим

    пошёл в аптеку.

    That

    means: Jim headed off to the pharmacy on foot and he is not back yet.

    Джим

    ходил в аптеку.

    That

    one means: Jim went to the pharmacy and he’s back home.

    Джим

    поехал в аптеку.

    Jim

    headed to the pharmacy by vehicle. He is not back yet.

    Джим

    ездил в аптеку.

    Jim

    went to the pharmacy and is back now. He went by vehicle.

    In

    English, we say “went” without even thinking. Jim went to
    the pharmacy. In Russian, in that same microsecond before I answer my
    friend’s question, I have four combinations that I have to I
    have to consider.

    So

    what’s the tip? Well, the trick is to assign those four
    possibilities to people’s actions as they happen. If Jim
    leaves on foot, I tell myself..Джим пошёл…I
    hold onto that right until he gets back, when I adjust it to: Джим
    ходил. (Meaning he left and returned). This way you’re
    doing all that calculating long before anyone anyone ever asks you a
    question about who went where. It’s one of the tricks we cover in
    Russian Accelerator. So don’t let the verbs of motion scare you.
    Believe me, with the right exercises, they will absolutely become
    second nature for you.

    <<

    TIP OUT >>

    Ok…time

    for our final exam. I’ll prompt you to
    recite today’s three dialogs. You wont know all the words. It’s ok.
    After a replay or two you’ll get them all. You ready?

    Hi

    Andrei, are you going to the pharmacy?

    Привет,

    Андрей. Ты идёшь в аптеку?

    Can

    you buy me aspirin?

    Можешь

    купить мне аспирин?

    Of

    course.

    Конечно.

    Hi

    Galina. Are you going now to McDonalds?

    Привет,

    Галина. Ты идёшь сейчас в Макдоналдс?

    Can

    you buy me a double-cheeseburger and potato-fries?

    А

    можешь купить мне дабл-чизбургер…и
    картошку-фри?

    Of

    course.

    Конечно.

    Wow…Passport,

    suitcase…Where are you going?

    Ого…Пасспорт,

    чемодан…Куда ты едешь?

    I’m

    going to Munich, to a conference.

    Я

    еду в Мюнхен, на конференцию.

    But

    you were in Munich in August, no?

    А

    ты была в Мюнхене в августе, нет?

    No.

    I was in Berlin. I bought a car.

    Нет.

    Я была в Берлине. Машину купила.

    Alright.

    Great job. The next episode, #20, is our last one. Our final exam.
    See you there!

    29 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 18

    Full Episode Audio

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    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome

    to Ep18. Let’s start with a brief conversation. Along with trying to
    get the gist of what they’re saying, try to listen for words that end
    with an “и” sound. Ready?

    Где

    мама и папа?

    Они

    пошли в магазин. (door opens) О!
    Вот они. Привет мама, привет папа. Что
    купили?

    Мы

    купили игрушки.

    Let’s

    listen again…This time, try to translate after each line.

    Где

    мама и папа?

    Where

    are mom and dad?

    Они

    пошли в магазин.

    We

    heard the word магазин,
    which is a store. In fact, we heard в
    магазин…so they must be going there. After all, if
    they were in the store, it’d be в магазине
    right? Anyway…

    (door
    opens) О! Вот они.

    Oh,

    There they are.

    I

    get into this in great detail in Russian Accelerator, but вот
    doesn’t actually mean “there”…

    What

    it is is a way of calling attention to someone or something.
    But the word I want to focus on today is that word они.
    Вот они…I’m
    calling your attention to….they.

    Or

    that earlier phrase: Они
    пошли в магазин… they headed off
    to the store.

    Let’s

    keep going…

    Привет

    мама, привет папа. Что купили?

    Hi

    mom, hi dad. What did you buy?

    Мы

    купили игрушки.

    We

    bought toys.

    So….I

    asked you to keep an ear out for И sounds.
    Let me point them out…

    Они

    пошли

    Вот

    они.

    Что

    купили?

    Мы

    купили игрушки.

    What

    does it signify? Well, that’s the topic of today’s lesson. Let’s try
    this…How would you say:

    He

    bought a laptop. <—- In Russian, they say ‘notebook’ (ноутбук)

    Он

    купил ноутбук.

    She

    bought an i-Phone.

    Она

    купила ай-фон.

    They

    bought a printer.

    Они

    купили принтер.

    Let’s

    try another round…He bought corn.

    Он

    купил кукурузу.

    She

    bought pelmeni (little Russian raviolis).

    Она

    купила пельмени.

    They

    bought wine.

    Они

    купили вино.

    Look….more

    rhyming. She bought….она купила….THEY
    bought…ОнИ купилИ

    Let’s

    try a different verb. How would you say…He worked in Rome.

    Он

    работал в Риме.

    She

    worked in Paris.

    Она

    работала в Париже.

    Now

    ask: Where did they work?

    Где

    они работали?

    There’s

    our И … И rhyme again. Где
    они
    работали?

    Another

    one: He tried the pelmeni.

    Он

    попробовал пельмени.

    She

    tried the corn.

    Она

    попробовала кукурузу.

    Now

    ask: What did they try…or sample?

    Что

    они попробовали?

    As

    that sinks in, let’s review the core material from the last episode.
    Our speakers are going to say who they were speaking with. I’d like
    you to say the person’s name in its most basic form. Ready?

    –

    – –

    Good

    job.

    Alright,

    back to our main topic…Try to say: They read (and finished reading)
    my book.

    Они

    прочитали мою книгу.

    They

    watched (and finished watching) your video.

    Они

    посмотрели твоё видео.

    They

    gave me your rucksack.

    Они

    дали мне твой рюкзак.

    This

    one’s a little tougher. They wanted to buy for me a saxophone.

    Они

    хотели купить мне…саксофон. / … барабан.
    / … гитару. /

    Try

    that again. They wanted to buy for me a drum. One more,…change drum
    to guitar

    But

    wait…Who buys just one drum? Who even says, “I play the drum?”
    Right? “I play the drums…”

    Listen

    to this phrase: I love the drums.

    Я

    люблю барабаны.

    Our

    ‘ee’ sound is back. Listen again: drum…drums

    барабан…барабаны

    Book….books

    Книга…книги

    watermelon…watermelons

    (remember that from the Hoho Panda cartoon?)

    арбуз…арбузы

    Remember

    how, at the very start of today’s lesson, I had you keep an ear out
    for those ‘и’ sounds.

    First

    we concentrated on words like они…and….купили

    But

    it was there at the end, too. The parents bought TOYS…plural…and
    that word ended with an ‘И

    Listen:

    toy….toys

    игрушка….игрушки

    That

    ‘ee’ sound at the end of words often—but certainly not
    always—indicates more than one. In fancy grammar terms? It
    indicates plurality. Think about it. THEY is more than one person,
    right?

    Они.

    So it has an ‘ee’ sound at the end.

    It’s

    a bit like saying, the ‘s’ sound at the end of English words
    often—but certainly not always—indicates more than one.
    book…books. drum….drums

    Imagine

    this scenario. My kids are sorting through a pile of books in the
    playroom. When Andrei tries to take one from Sophia’s pile, Sophia
    hunches over her books and says simply: They are mine.

    Они

    мои.

    Then

    Andrei looks at William, who doesn’t seem to have collected any
    books. Andrei asks him…

    Уильям,

    где твои?

    William,

    where are yours?

    Your

    turn. Imagine you’re divvying up a bag of potato chips. With just two
    words, say:

    They…

    are yours.

    Они

    твои.

    Next…try

    to translate what the speaker is saying…

    Где

    мои…чипсы? / …пельмени? / …конфеты? /

    Where

    are my chips? Where are my pelmeni–raviolis? Where are my candies?

    Где

    твои…барабаны? / …джинсы? / …документы?
    /

    Where

    are your drums? Where are your jeans? Where are your documents?

    If

    you’re getting all these, you’re doing great.

    <<

    (tip of the day) >>

    Today’s

    tip is just four words: You. Can. Do. This. You can become
    conversational in Russian. You know how I know? Because you’re still
    here. You’ve made it through eighteen of these podcasts, full of some
    very complex material, high speed audio clips, long Russian Immersion
    sections…and you are still here. That is an awesome
    display of will power on your part. And to quote Andy Dufresne, from
    Shawshank Redemption: If you’ve come this far, maybe you’re
    willing to come a little further.

    Because

    with all you’ve put in, what’s a few more months of learning? I’ve
    had students finish my Accelerator course in four months. But even if
    it takes you six, that’s nothing. Six months are going to pass in any
    case. And at the end, imagine being conversational in Russian. Think
    of the opportunities that would give you. Think of the value of
    adding that to your resume:

    Additional

    Skills: Speaks Russian.

    You’ve

    made it this far. I know you can do this. And I look forward
    to helping you get there.

    <<

    END TIP >>

    Alright,

    time for our Russian Immersion.

    –

    – –

    Alright,

    for our final exam, I’m going to prompt you to say almost all
    of that conversation we just heard. I realize there are words we
    don’t know. That’s ok….I’ll give those to you. Let’s do it…

    Say:

    Hi, Neal.

    Tell

    me: These drums are yours? use…эти for
    ‘these’

    Yes.

    They’re mine.

    Then

    she says: Значит, ты умеешь играть
    на барабанах?

    Literally:

    That means, you know how to play the drums?

    Then

    she adds: I didn’t know.

    He

    answers: I play not very well…

    Играю

    не очень хорошо…

    but

    I love to play

    но

    люблю играть.

    She

    commands him: Play!

    Играй.

    Now?

    Сейчас?

    She

    says: Почему бы и нет?

    That

    translates as: Why not?

    Да

    ладно. …Ok, fine.

    The

    word for ‘sticks’ is палочки…of
    course ending with our plural ‘и’…So
    with two words, tell her:

    Give

    the sticks.

    Дай

    палочки.

    На….she

    says, as she hand them to Neal.

    He

    asks: А какую песню тебе играть?

    So,

    which song for you to play?

    Say:

    I don’t know. How you want. meaning: Play whatever you want to.

    Не

    знаю. Как хочешь.

    Hmm…ok.

    Хммм….Хорошо.

    She

    must’ve made a weird expression, because he stops and says:

    You

    what, don’t know Led Zeppelin?

    Ты

    что, не знаешь Лед Зе́ппелин?

    Don

    t know John Bonham.

    Не

    знаешь Джона Бонэма?

    Did

    you put those ‘a’s at the end…because John Bonham is a person…we
    need our cool, animate accusative ending.

    She

    asks: Who?

    Кого?

    Oh,

    gosh…

    О

    боже…

    Alright.

    I hope you enjoyed that one. And I hope you did well. I’ll see you in
    Ep 19…

    28 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 17

    Full Episode Audio

    Exercises Only Audio

    Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

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    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome

    to Ep. 17. Glad you tuned in because I think this episode will prove
    to be instrumental to your success in Russian. Yeah, I know…You’re
    thinking: Why did he use that particular word, instrumental?
    You guys are on to me. Hang around and you’ll see. For now, listen as
    our speaker tells you who he was talking with…

    Я

    говорил…с Владом. / …с Марком. / …с
    доктором. / с Толиком.

    A

    lot of “Oms” there. You catch that? And that ‘C’ by the way
    translates as “with”. Anyway, you try it. Say: Mom was
    talking with Chris.

    Мама

    говорила…с Крисом.

    You

    added that ‘s’ sound before the name, right? S krisom

    Say:

    Mom was talking with Andrei…with William…

    Мама

    говорила с Андреем. Мама говорила с
    Уильямом.

    Now

    you might be wondering: Wait…Doesn’t ‘talking with someone’ count
    as doing something to them? Why aren’t we saying:
    Криса…Андрея…Уильяма

    Well,

    because we’re not talking at them. We’re talking with
    them. In Russian that makes a big difference. Here’re some more
    examples…Some female names now…

    I’m

    talking with Karina….with mom…with Nina.

    Я

    говорю…с Кариной. / …с мамой. / …с Ниной.
    /

    Interesting

    sound there at the end. That ой sound.
    Let’s do more…

    I

    work with Franklin….with John….with Christina….with Olga.

    Я

    работаю с Франклином. / …с Джоном. / …с
    Кристиной. / …с Ольгой /

    I

    live with Greg…with a musician….with grandpa…with Yana

    Я

    живу с Грегом. / …с музыкантом. / …с
    дедушкой. / с Яной. /

    So

    far so good? Now let’s listen to some more complex phrases that use
    these new forms. See if you can get the gist…

    Я

    говорил с официанткой, и сказал что ты
    ещё ждёшь омлет.

    I

    was speaking with the waitress, and said that you are still waiting
    for the omelet.

    Я

    говорила с барменом, и сказала что ты
    ещё ждёшь вино.

    I

    was speaking with the bartender—lit: barman—and said that you are
    still waiting for the wine.

    Это

    моя мама и это мой папа. Сегодня я говорил
    с ними через Скайп.

    This

    is my mom and this is my dad. Today I was talking with them via
    Skype.

    Это

    моя сестра Сара, и мой брат Эрик. Сегодня
    я говорила с ними через Фейстайм.

    This

    is my sister Sara, and my brother Erik. Today I was talking with them
    via Facetime.

    с

    ними…with them One more:

    Это

    мой друг Чарли и моя подруга Настя. Я
    жила с ними в Лондоне.

    This

    is my friend Charlie, and my female friend Nastya. I was living with
    them in London.

    You

    try it. Say…I lived with them in Moscow.

    Я

    жил с ними в Москве.

    I

    worked with them in Epicenter.

    Я

    работал с ними в Эпицентре.

    Next,

    let’s listen to our speakers. They’re going to pretend to be my kids.
    First, Alex will say:

    “Mom,

    Andrei hit me with…”

    Then

    see if you can guess what he was hit with. It’ll be the
    last word each time.

    Мама!

    Андрей ударил меня…телефоном. / …рюкзаком.
    / …магнитом / Вини-пухом

    Mom,

    Andrei hit me with a telephone…with a rucksack…with a
    magnet…with Winnie the Pooh

    Same

    “om” ending we heard earlier. Like: I was talking with
    John. Я говорил с Джоном.

    One

    more round…

    Папа!

    София ударила меня…книгой / …игрушкой.
    / …вилкой. /

    Dad!

    Sophia hit me with a book…with a toy…with a fork

    Those

    were all feminine objects…книга игрушка
    вилка…and they got that ОЙ ending
    we heard earlier with feminine names. So, what’s going on here?

    Well,

    those endings—OM with masculine nouns and ОЙ with
    feminine ones—those are “instrument markers.” They tell a
    Russian person how something was done.
    If English did this, it would sound like this:

    What

    did Andrei hit you with? – A pillow-om

    How’d

    you open that rusty door? – A crowbar-om

    What’d

    you use to smash the glass? – A hammer-om

    What’d

    you use to wash away the chalk? – SodOI

    To

    bust out another fancy grammar term, words with these endings are in
    their instrumental form. Or the instrumental case. No need to
    memorize that, but I wanted to toss it out there.

    And

    when we say who we did something with…that person’s name
    also goes into its instrumental form. That’s what we were doing at
    the start of the lesson. In both situations, there’s this idea of
    “with.” I broke it with a brick. I was talking with Jim.

    Try

    to say: I was working with the manager.

    Я

    работал с менеджером.

    I

    was working with a client.

    Я

    работала с клиентом.

    I

    was playing with grandma.

    Я

    играл с бабушкой

    I

    was playing with Maxim.

    Я

    играла с Максимом.

    I

    was waiting with Vladimir.

    Я

    ждал с Владимиром.

    I

    was waiting with Larrisa.

    Я

    ждала с Ларисой.

    This

    stuff is starting to get pretty advanced, so if you’re hanging in
    there….that’s really impressive.

    So

    let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. Specifically, the
    different endings of people’s names
    that we’ve encountered so far. There’s been a lot. Listen. I wont
    translate for now.

    Это

    Полина.Это Джон.

    Я

    знаю Полину.Я вижу Джона.

    У

    Полины есть кошка.У Джона есть собака.

    Я

    дал книгу Полине.Я дал журнал Джону.

    Я

    говорил с Полиной.Я играл с Джоном.

    In

    these last ones, a паук is a spider…

    Есть

    паук на Полине. Есть паук на Джоне!

    Incredible,

    isn’t it? All those forms of the same name? And what’s even more
    incredible is, now you understand them. You understand what
    each version means, and how it functions. I say incredible, because
    it’s so foreign to how we think in English. And yet you’re getting
    it.

    Of

    course, now it’s your turn. I’ll prompt you to say those same
    phrases. Ready?

    This

    is Polina. This is John. I know Polina. I see John. Polina has a cat.
    John has a dog.

    I

    gave the book to Polina. I gave the magazine to John. I was talking
    with Polina.

    I

    was playing with John. There’s a spider on Polina. There’s a spider
    on John.

    <>

    Today’s

    tip is simple, yet challenging. Try to run other names through all
    the forms that we just covered. And here’s a tip: A lot of names
    won’t work,especially non-Russian girls names.

    Jennifer,

    Sally, Michele…pretty much any female name that doesn’t end with an
    ‘a’ sound won’t change. And guy’s names that end, for ex, with an
    O….Pablo…also wont change. Or an ‘E’ sound, like Harry. But
    still, give it a try. Start with Darina and James.

    In

    fact, one second…Andrei, иди сюда. Say
    hi everyone.

    ANDREI:

    Hi, everyone.

    How

    would you say in Russian…This is Yana. Say: I know Yana. Yana has a
    son. I said to Yana Hi! There’s a spider on Yana!

    Ok…now

    it’s your turn, guys…

    (END

    TIP)

    Time

    for our Russian Immersion section.

    –

    – –

    What

    do you think С кем means?

    C….translates

    as ‘with’

    кем

    is ‘who’…(in its instrumental form.)

    Ask

    me: Mark, who were you talking with?

    Марк,

    с кем ты говорил?

    Ok…sorry

    for the interruption. Back to our immersion…

    –

    – –

    Чай

    с лимоном…What does that mean? Tea s lemon-om.

    Tea…with…lemon.

    So

    what’s the basic form of the word lemon? Take your time on that one.
    It must be just: лимон

    But

    that little word ‘C’…with…forced it into which form? Its
    instrumental form. If you got that, you’re doing awesome. Ok, one
    more….

    –

    – –

    So,

    that word кукуруза…What is it? I
    actually did define it for you way back in Episode 11, but I never
    tested you on it, so I’m guessing you don’t know what it means. But
    here’s a really important point…Perhaps the most important thing I
    can convey to you in this whole course. In language, meaning isn’t
    all or nothing. What I mean is, It’s not like you either know what
    the word means or you don’t. That’s not how language works, and
    that’s not how the brain organizes information.

    Tell

    me. Is кукуруза the word for
    “fuzzy”? It’s not? I thought you didn’t know what the word
    meant. Is it the word for ‘winter’? No? How about ‘clock’? How do you
    know?

    You

    know it’s none of those things because in the last conversation, Mom
    made tort with kukuruzoi.

    So

    you know it’s some kind of food. And so, you know a whole lot more
    about kukuruza than “absolutely nothing.” Right? Because
    meaning is a continuum. From having zero clue what a word might mean,
    to knowing it so precisely, you could draw a picture of it.

    For

    so many words—even in our native language, okay—meaning is hazy.
    We kind of know what certain words mean. And not knowing them
    precisely…it’s no big deal. Can you precisely define the word
    capitulate? Like, The other side capitulated. I’m not saying it’s not
    useful to know the definition. Of course it is. But it doesn’t stop
    us from speaking English, right?

    So,

    what’s кукуруза? I’ll give you a
    hint:
    It’s the most important crop in Nebraska. And you usually eat it on
    the cob.

    Here,

    translate this phrase: Я
    люблю кукурузу.

    I

    love…..corn.

    Want

    a way to remember the word? You’d have to be cuckoo
    not to love corn. Maybe that’ll help you remember it.

    Alright,

    you ready for our final exam? As always, there will be words here we
    haven’t covered. Just try to get the gist.

    –

    – –

    Alright…how’d

    you do? Hopefully you’re still doing great. So keep it up and I’ll
    see you in the next episode.

    33 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 16

    Full Episode Audio

    Exercises Only Audio

    Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

    Download Exercises

    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome

    to Episode 16. Before you started this course, you probably
    encountered the phrase: My name is…For ex: My name is Steve.
    Меня
    зовут Стив. We’ve
    used it quite a bit in these podcasts, but I never actually broke
    that down for you.

    Now,

    despite what you may have heard online, меня
    зовут does not translate as “My name is…”

    Not

    even close. Yes, it is the Russian equivalent of that phrase.
    It’s indeed a way of telling someone your name. But the word меня
    does not mean “my”. And зовут
    doesn’t mean “name.”

    When

    you say: Меня зовут….you’re
    literally saying: “Me they call….”

    Here’s

    the important part…the topic, in fact, of this whole episode:
    “calling” someone—as in, they call me Mark—counts as
    doing something to someone. So, imagine you’re telling someone the
    names of people in your family.

    Mom

    they call Linda.

    Маму

    зовут Линда.

    See

    how Mama changed to Mamu? How might you say: My sister they call
    Michele. (We’ll leave off the word “my” because it’s
    understood.)

    Сестру

    зовут Мишель.

    Сестра

    changed to сестру

    Do

    you recall how to say ‘dog’ in Russian?

    Собака

    So

    try to say: The dog is called Fido.

    Собаку

    зовут Файдо.

    Again,

    we see that sobaka has changed to sobakU.

    So

    far so good? Now here’s something interesting about
    Russian…something I’ve gone out of my way to avoid during this
    entire course. But we’re ready for it, now: When we do
    something to a man his name will change.

    For

    ex, take the names: Steve, Jeff, Marvin

    Стив,

    Джеф, Марвин

    The

    speaker will say: I know Steve. I saw Jeff. I love Marvin.

    Listen

    to how their names change.

    Я

    знаю Стива. Я увидела Джефа. Я люблю
    Марвина.

    Did

    you hear those ‘a’s at the end? Стива,
    Джефа,
    Марвина?

    Your

    turn. Try to say…”I know Anton.”

    Я

    знаю Антона.

    I

    saw Maxim.

    Я

    увидел Максима.

    She

    loves Greg.

    Она

    любит Грега.

    That

    doesn’t happen to masculine objects, right? I love your phone: Я
    люблю твой телефон.

    No

    change. The phone’s not alive. And actually, it goes beyond people.
    Any masculine creature that is
    animate will change. So, not plants. They’re alive, but don’t move
    about on their own.

    But

    a giraffe is animate…Жираф

    I

    saw a giraffe.

    Я

    увидела жирафа.

    Let’s

    say you’re in a rock band and before a big gig, the guitarist falls
    ill. гитарист is the word for
    guitarist. So you say, Hey…I know a guitarist.

    Я

    знаю гитариста.

    So,

    jumping back to when we were naming the people in our family. Now we
    point to a picture of our brother and say: My brother they call Erik.
    (Again, we leave off ‘my’. It’s understood.)

    Брата

    зовут Эрик.

    Брат

    becomes брата because
    calling him counts as doing something to him.

    Let

    that sink in as we review some main points from the last episode. Can
    you translate the following phrases?

    –

    – –

    We

    got our grammar point out of the way, next up is our official new
    word for the lesson.

    ждать

    So,

    you’ve got a train to catch. Meanwhile, your mom says, “Don’t go
    yet. Aunt Yana wanted to say goodbye.” But you look at your
    watch and shake your head…

    Мама…Я

    не могу ждать.

    So

    you pick up your suitcase and step outside, then Mom tugs your coat
    from behind. She’s pointing to Yana’s car pulling up.

    Жди,

    жди! Видишь? Яна приехала.

    So,

    he said: Я не могу ждать.

    I

    can not wait…as in, I’m unable to wait. So what kind of word is it?

    ждать

    is a verb infinitive. We hear that T+soft sign.
    And what was mom saying as Yana pulled up?

    Жди!

    is the command form. She was saying, Wait!

    Let’s

    say you go to a restaurant and they tell you it’ll be an hour before
    you get a table. Tell your friend: I don’t want to wait.

    Я

    не хочу ждать.

    Imagine

    you’re in a cafe and you still haven’t gotten your food. Listen as
    the speaker tells the waitress…Девушка…

    I’m

    waiting for my salad.

    Я

    жду салат.

    My

    brother is waiting for his soup.

    Мой

    брат ждёт суп.

    And

    you, Darina. You’re waiting for pizza, yes?

    А

    ты, Дарина…Ты ждёшь пиццу, да?

    Let’s

    hear those again: I’m waiting…You’re waiting…He’s waiting…

    Я

    жду, ты ждёшь, он ждёт

    Since

    ‘waiting for something’ counts as doing something to it, we notice
    that the feminine word ‘pizza’ changed to ‘pizzu.’ Whereas things
    like soup and salad didn’t change because they’re inanimate masculine
    nouns. But how would you say: I’m waiting for Jeff.

    Я

    жду Джефа.

    The

    word for a client in Russian is a cognate. Listen: клиент

    Ask

    your friend: Are you waiting for a client?

    Ты

    ждёшь клиента?

    No.

    I’m waiting for Yana.

    Нет.

    Я жду Яну.

    Out

    of curiosity…Can you guess what the past tense might be? How would
    a guy say:

    I

    was waiting and waiting…

    Я

    ждал и ждал…

    How

    would a woman say that?

    Я

    ждала и ждала..

    Before

    the break…this is just for fun…the name for this pattern is the
    Animate Accusative.

    You

    don’t have to learn it. Heck, forget I even told you. You guys know I
    loathe grammar terms.

    But

    this one’s fun to toss around. So the next time you’re hanging with
    some friends and they ask what you’ve been up to, just say…”Eh,
    same old stuff. Just getting a handle on Russian’s animate accusative
    rule. What about you?” Then look at your watch and say, For me
    it’s time…

    Мне

    пора.

    <>

    I’m

    sure you’ve noticed…since the midterm episode, we’ve been doing
    more and more speaking. Compare that to the early episodes, where
    almost all we did was listen. It’s because our model through all of
    this has been my kids, and the way they so efficiently are learning
    three totally different languages. At first, they listened, picking
    up the patterns. Like….’Whenever someone says Я
    there’s a word that ends either with an L sound, or an U. Я
    ждал…or…Я жду. Я
    смотрел….or…Я смотрю.
    Again, they had little idea what the things meant, but
    they were categorizing like crazy. That’s some kind of action.
    That’s some kind of location. клиент must
    be a person, because it changed to клиента
    and so on.

    But

    then came their first trials at speaking. As I write, William is far
    ahead of his sister Sophia who still mostly listens quietly. But
    she’s on the verge now. Words are starting to come.

    As

    they are with us. So let them flow. Use all the Russian you know.
    Please don’t worry about making mistakes. My kids sure don’t. Heck,
    I’m a native speaker of English and I make mistakes. We all do. Who
    hasn’t said: There’s lot of cars in the garage.

    That’s

    wrong. It should be: There ARE lots of cars…not There is…

    Don’t

    let the fear of mistakes stop you from practicing your Russian, okay?

    And

    if you’re looking for a course that will help you with that…that
    will do all the work for you, and turn you into a confident
    conversational Russian speaker, then I hope you check out Russian
    Accelerator. It’s my premium course…All video, with over a dozen
    native speakers. Videos that really clarify the meaning of things.
    It’s all there, in ninety lessons. Plus a podcast I made exclusively
    for Russian Accelerator members.

    You’ve come this far, and we’ve got a few more episodes left. But after that, I hope you’ll join my Accelerator course. I think you’ll love it.

    (TIP

    OUT)

    Alright…let’s

    do our Russian Immersion section. So, Irina comes into the mall and
    sees me sitting on a bench…

    –

    – –

    In

    today’s tip I mentioned how, as we progress in the language, we
    inevitably begin speaking more and more…just as kids do. So for
    today’s final, let’s practice some of our recent vocab.

    Try

    to say the following phrases….

    –

    – –

    If

    you got most of those, you’re doing awesome. Keep up the great work
    and I’ll see you in the next episode.

    24 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 15

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    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome

    to Ep15. Straight to business today. How would you translate the
    following phrase:

    Папа

    дал мне ключ.

    Dad

    gave me the key.

    So

    that little word мне translates as “to
    me.” We’ve heard it a lot throughout the course, but I’d like,
    now, to work specifically with it in some cool new constructions.
    Listen to these four short phrases…

    Мне

    холодно.

    Мне

    интересно.

    Мне

    нравится твоя гитара.

    Мне

    пора.

    Let’s

    hear that first one again…Мне холодно.

    Холодно

    translates as cold. Maybe you know the word холодильник
    which is a refrigerator. Anyway, the phrase: мне
    холодно translates literally as: To me….cold.

    In

    English, we’d phrase it as either: I’m cold…or: It’s
    cold in here….but we might use the same construction as
    Russian. Your roommate says: “Are you crazy? It’s hot in here.”
    And you say: “It’s cold to me.”

    Then

    we heard: Мне интересно.

    You’re

    in a museum with some friends, in the ancient pottery wing, and they
    all leave. “It’s boring.” And you tell them: А
    мне интересно.

    Well,

    to me it’s interesting.

    Next

    one: Your friend made a guitar in wood-shop. Not the prettiest one
    ever made, but you encourage him…Мне нравится
    твоя гитара.

    Literally:

    TO ME is pleasing your guitar.

    Of

    course, in normal English we’d say: ‘I like your guitar.” But
    you have to think the way Russians do. Literally: The guitar
    is pleasing to me.

    And

    here you might call out…Wait! Why didn’t гитара
    change to гитару? Doesn’t
    liking it count as doing something to it? No. Not in the literal
    Russian version. That’s why I’m making such a huge point about
    that…about thinking and translating literally. In Russian, things
    are pleasing to us.

    It’s

    the guitar that
    is doing the action…pleasing
    me. Yes, in Russian, loving
    something…that counts as doing something. So…I love the guitar.
    Я
    люблю гитару.

    But

    not liking. Russians don’t really have the verb ‘like.’ Things are
    pleasing to us. We’ll come back to that in a minute. The last phrase
    we heard was: Мне пора

    You’re

    with a friend and realize you’re late for a meeting. Glance at your
    watch, then pack up your things, explaining: Мне
    пора.

    Literally

    just: For me…it’s time. (For me it’s time to go, or to leave.”

    Let’s

    listen to those again in slightly longer phrases. Can you translate?

    –

    – –

    So

    that whole liking vs loving issue. Let’s work with that. Because if
    you get that down, you’ll really be
    thinking the way Russians do. Try to say the following in Russian:

    Pizza?

    I love pizza!

    Пицца?

    Я люблю пиццу!

    I’m

    doing the action…loving the pizza.

    I

    like your T-shirt.

    Мне

    нравится твоя футболка.

    The

    T shirt is doing the action…pleasing me.

    Nina?

    I love Nina!

    Нина?

    Я люблю Нину!

    I’m

    doing the action. I’m loving Nina.

    I

    like your car.

    Мне

    нравится твоя машина.

    The

    car is doing the action….it’s pleasing me.

    –

    – –

    Speaking

    of music…the basic form of the word is feminine. Listen: музыка

    I

    like music.

    Мне

    нравится музыка.

    Whereas

    I love music.

    А

    я люблю музыку.

    Now

    here’s where it gets cool. You can use these new constructions with
    all those forms we learned way back in Episode 6. Remember that
    “recipient ending” stuff? Try to say…

    I

    told Alina no.

    Я

    сказала Алине нет. Lit: I said TO
    ALINA…no.

    I

    told George no.

    Я

    сказал Джорджу нет. I said TO
    GEORGE

    In

    Paris, I bought Mom chocolate.

    В

    Париже я купила маме шоколад. I
    bought FOR MOM

    Dad

    bought Maxim a new Toyota.

    Папа

    купил Максиму новую Тойоту. Dad
    bought FOR MAXIM

    Джорджу

    and Алине…To
    George, and To Alina…those are the same recipient forms as мне.

    So

    how would you translate the following phrases?

    –

    – –

    Another
    flashback, this time to Episode 8, and those clips from SAM &
    CAT. Remember these…

    Кто
    тебе сказал что я работаю телохранителем?!

    Кто
    тебе дал эту информацию?

    Кто
    тебе сказал?

    Who
    told you? Literally: Who said TO YOU?

    Кто
    тебе дал?

    Who
    gave it to you?

    тебе
    is the recipient form of “ты”…And
    of course, it rhymes with the “to me” version

    Мне?

    Тебе.

    Ask

    a friend: Do you like borscht?

    Тебе

    нравится борщ?

    Are

    you cold?

    Тебе

    холодно?

    Or,

    if you’re surprised that they’re wearing only a T shirt and shorts,
    you might ask:

    You’re

    not cold? Lit…what? TO YOU not cold?

    Тебе

    не холодно?

    You’re

    watching a show about Indonesian grubworms…and your roommate leaves
    to his room.

    You

    ask: It’s not interesting to you?

    Тебе

    не интересно?

    Andrusha,

    it’s time for you to sleep.

    Андрюша,

    тебе пора спать.

    So

    in this next exercise, what I’d like you to try to do is guess the
    basic, dictionary form of the final word. Ready?

    Я

    люблю твою майку.

    We’re

    doing the action…loving the майку…so
    it must be a feminine noun

    майка…твоя

    майка

    Кларе

    нравится твоя кукла.

    твоя

    кукла is doing the action, so it’s already
    in its basic form

    Я

    люблю Галину.

    I

    am doing the action…so the woman’s name must be Galina

    Есть

    суп в холодильнике.

    There’s

    soup in the refrigerator. The basic form of refrigerator is:
    холодильник

    Толику

    не нравится каша

    The

    kasha is doing the action…it’s not pleasing Tolik. So it’s
    already in its basic form

    Кто

    купил тебе эту игрушку?

    Buying

    something counts as doing something to it, so игрушка
    must be a feminine noun.

    That’s

    a challenging exercise, so if you did well, you should feel
    very good about your progress. And if it was hard, no problem. I
    think if you listen to the whole episode again, you’ll do better with
    it the second time. Alright, on to our Russian Immersion section.
    Listen to the speakers, and answer when prompted…

    –

    – –

    Hey…What

    do you think ему
    translates as?
    Note that it rhymes with кому…and
    Марку.
    Because it has
    that recipient marker. It simply means, “to him.”
    So she was asking, “Is he cold?” Lit: TO HIM cold? Ему
    холодно?

    –

    – –

    <>

    I

    got an email the other day from a listener about reading Russian. Hey
    Mark, Loving your podcast. I think I’m ready for your Accelerator
    course, but I don’t know how to read Russian..or if I need to.

    That’s

    a great question. The short answer is: No, you don’t need to read
    Russian to speak it. My kids speak Russian and English great,
    but trust me, they can’t read a letter yet. So it’s pretty obvious
    you don’t need to read to be able to speak. But….

    …If you want to read Russian, that’s great. And it’s actually much easier than you’d think. In fact, I have a free app you can get, called Russian Alphabet Mastery – 3 Hour Cyrillic. Free on iTunes and Google Play. Also comes with my Russian Accelerator course. It’s a great app because as you learn each letter, I show you photos of signs that you can then read and understand.

    Anyway,

    I hope that answers that very common question. You don’t need to read
    in order to speak.

    But

    if you want to, you can learn it in a few fun days. Again, the app is
    called: Russian Alphabet Mastery – 3 Hour Cyrillic

    I

    think you’ll really enjoy it.

    <>

    Alright….time

    for our final exam.

    –

    – –

    Great job, guys! Maybe I’ll see you in my Russian Alphabet Mastery app. And if not, I’ll see you in the next episode!

    26 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 14

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    Exercises Only Audio

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    *
    NOTE *

    All
    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome to Episode 14. Today we’re going to listen to a slew of clips from Russian cartoons. Before getting to that, though, let’s review the previous episode with my little boy William. Bear in mind, at this recording, he’d just turned three…

    “William
    can you say in Russian things like Give me…”

    Ummm…Дай
    мне!

    Иди
    сюда!

    uhh…Смотри!

    Кушай!

    uhh…Делай!

    Не
    делай!

    That
    was unscripted and unprompted, which is why he used some commands we
    haven’t learned. Let me re-play and hit pause. So…Дай
    мне we know. Try to say: Give me the key.

    Дай
    мне ключ.

    Next
    he said…Иди сюди.

    That
    makes me smile because it’s probably the most common command a child
    will hear. But it didn’t occur to me to show you guys. What
    does it mean? Well…If your kid is in the next room and you need him
    to come to you, you’d call out:

    Уильям,
    иди сюда!

    Or
    this example. Andrei goes to Mom and tells her…..

    Мама,
    София играет на балконе.

    Mom,
    Sophia is playing on the balcony.

    Since
    Sophia should not be playing there, Mama calls out…

    София,
    иди сюда!

    Sophia,
    come here! Literally: walk….to here

    Back
    to the recording….Hmm…That one was hard to hear, actually. He
    said: Смотри!

    Look!
    (That’s a hard one for for him to pronounce.)

    Next
    one: Кушай! I’m laughing
    again…That’s another one kids hear all the time. What does it mean?
    Imagine your kid is sitting in front of his untouched dinner. You
    instruct him: Уильям, кушай!

    Often
    at our table, Andrei will be too busy playing with his Lego and has
    to be prodded:

    Андрюша,
    пожалуйста…Кушай.

    Кушай
    is a command to children to eat. Not something
    you use with adults, except maybe grandma might say it at the family
    dinner table.

    Back
    to William’s recording…Делай!

    That
    one we can get. Because you know this: Что ты
    делаешь?

    What
    are you doing?

    So,
    “Делай!”
    is the command form. “Do it!”

    And
    finally William said: “Не делай!”
    – “Don’t
    do that!”

    That’s
    also funny. He realized that he hears the Don’t
    do that version a whole lot more often.

    Don’t
    draw on the walls, don’t
    eat with your hands. Don’t
    take Sophia’s toys.

    Not
    vital, but if you want to learn one of those new commands, make it:

    Иди
    сюда.

    Come
    here.

    Even
    just иди is useful. It means: Go
    or Walk, depending on the situation. Imagine you’re out with a
    Russian friend. He needs to run to the bank, so he sends you on
    ahead. For ex: Go to the library…

    Иди
    в библиотеку.

    Go
    to the garage.

    Иди
    в гараж.

    Go
    to the store.

    Иди
    в магазин.

    On
    to today’s lesson. Again, this is going to be mostly listening
    practice. So, in this first clip can you spot the command? The two
    main characters are Krotik (a mole) and Hoho (a panda). Listen as
    Krotik says the command twice.

    Давай
    Хохо…лево, право…давай.

    Hoho
    the Panda is training for a race. So the command was: давай…Which
    means, Let’s go. Let’s do it. Come on! (A command of encouragement,
    usually.)

    See
    if you can spot it in this next clip. A fireman is saving his friend
    Edgar from a dangling truck…

    Давай,
    Эдгар, прыгай!

    He
    said two commands, actually: Come on, Edgar, jump!

    Listen
    for it in this next one, too. A fox is bullying a hedgehog, rooting
    through his bag…

    Всё
    вкусное оставишь мне. Давай!

    All
    tasty things leave for me. Do it!

    Now,
    what would be the formal version of that?

    Hit
    pause. Think it over…

    Давайте!

    So,
    later, the fox is commanding the wise old monkey to push something…

    Давайте…Давайте,
    Давайте!

    See
    how he used the respectful version. Do it! Do it, do it!

    Next,
    let’s listen for a verb we learned back in Episode 8. A woman sees
    her friend Milo at night, going up in an air balloon, and she asks
    him…

    Что
    ты делаешь Майло?

    What
    are you doing, Milo?

    Same
    episode, a man sees Cody, his younger brother, hiding and asks the
    kid….

    Коди,
    что ты делаешь?

    Cody,
    what are you doing?

    Quick
    explanation before getting to the next clip. Imagine we’re sitting in
    a pizzeria, and I say:

    Я
    хочу пиццу.

    I
    want pizza.

    Nothing
    new there. But if I’m at your house and I say, “You know, on
    Tuesday, я был в пиццерии и я хотел
    пиццу.”

    ….what
    do you think that means? Я был…I was
    in a pizzeria and I wanted pizza. Past tense.

    Try
    to say: I wanted to try the cake.

    Я
    хотел попробовать торт.

    How
    would a woman say: I wanted to watch basketball.

    Я
    хотела смотреть баскетбол.

    With
    that in mind…Let’s go back to that show with the panda. Hoho wants
    to know why Krotik is acting weird. Krotik explains…

    Я
    хотел сделать сюрприз.

    How
    would you translate that? Listen again…

    I
    wanted to do a surprise. He used the perfective, сделать,
    because he wanted to do one surprise and finish doing
    it. And HoHo responds…

    Я
    тоже люблю делать сюрпризы.

    I
    also love to do (in general) surprises.

    He
    used the imperfective, делать, because
    he loves to make surprises in general.

    –
    – –

    We
    talked about the two forms of commands. Like: Offering cake to a
    friend…

    Попробуй.

    Then
    offering it to your boss: Попробуйте.

    So,
    that formal version…Попробуйте…is
    what you use when talking to two or more people.

    They
    could be my three year old twins. Doesn’t matter. Kids or
    friends….two or more, you need the formal version. So, if
    I’m pointing out something for my friends Yana and Oleg…”Look!”

    I’d
    have to use: “Смотрите!”

    What’s
    interesting is, if I just said: “Смотри!”
    they wouldn’t know who I’m talking to. Both might look, neither might
    look. So…Two or more, you’ve got to use the formal version.

    With
    that in mind: Krotik is telling Hoho the Panda…

    Хохо,
    ты очень любишь арбуз. Смотри…Вот
    арбузы.

    арбуз
    is watermelon

    Hoho,
    you really love watermelon Look, there’s the watermelons

    He
    used смотри because it’s friend to
    friend. Later, the fox is showing the two of them how he paints with
    his tail, and says…

    Смотрите!…Смотрите!…Смотрите!

    He’s
    talking to two friends. He has to use the formal version.

    Another
    example. Imagine you accidentally step on your friend’s foot. You
    touch his shoulder perhaps, and then say: Ой,
    прости.

    But
    accidentally bump a stranger out in public, we’d say…

    Простите.

    Forgive
    me.

    Again…with
    that in mind: In this next cartoon, the Mayor is acting strangely,
    looking all around for alien invaders, and the police chief tells
    him:

    Простите,
    Мэр, но там никого нет.

    Forgive
    me, Mayor, but there’s no one there.

    Same
    episode, the boy Cody explains to his family why he was hiding

    Простите,
    просто я был один.

    Forgive
    me, simply, I was alone. He uses the formal version with his family?
    Yes, because he’s talking to all of them. If he was talking to just
    his dad, he would’ve said: Прости, Пап.

    Two
    more before the break. How would you translate this?

    У
    меня есть идея.

    I
    have an idea. Lit: At me there is an idea. Listen again…

    And
    this one?

    Где
    ты был весь день, Кротик?

    весь
    день translates as “all day.” Listen
    again…Where were you all day, Krotik?

    <>

    Today’s
    tip is about imagery. As much as you’re able, try to associate an
    image in your mind with each new word or expression. For ex: Do you
    recall what Простите means? You
    accidentally bump someone on the street. Простите!
    Forgive me. To me, a good image for that is of someone
    stepping back, hands up. A universal apologetic stance.

    How
    about this one…Do you recall when to use: Иди
    сюда!

    To
    call over a friend or a child. Come here. So what would be a good
    image for that?

    I
    envision a parent pointing to the ground in front of them, with their
    child across the room.

    How
    about Давай! What did that mean? It’s
    usually a phrase of encouragement. It translates as Let’s go! Come
    on! Let’s do it! You’ll hear this a zillion times at any Russian
    soccer match. So a good image is of a fan in the stands, fists
    clenched, leaning over and imploring the guy with the ball…Давай!

    Or
    this…Imagine a person holding out a forkful of some food. What will
    they tell you?

    Попробуй.
    Try it. That’s a good image for that…the
    extended fork.

    If
    you can consistently link the same image to a word or phrase, it will
    help you greatly to translate it on the spot. You’ll essentially see
    the answer. I’m pretty sure this is what’s going on in kids’ minds,
    too.

    <<
    END TIP >>

    Next
    let’s play: Spot the Infinitive. That’s all I want you to listen for:
    A verb infinitive. Ready?

    Дедушка
    объезяна! Как научиться рисовать?

    So
    an обезьяна is a monkey…this one is like the wise old
    monkey in Lion King.

    Дедушка
    объезяна!

    Grandpa
    monkey.

    Как
    научиться рисовать?

    How
    to learn *to draw?*

    Technically
    there are two infinitives in a row there, but we’re after that last
    one… рисовать

    After
    the monkey explains how he draws, Hoho tells him…

    Дедушка,
    я попробую…

    No
    infinitive there. He said: Grandpa, I will try…

    Next
    they ask the fox, who says:

    Как
    рисовать? So there’s our infinitive
    again…How to draw?

    And
    when the fox shows them how, with his painted tail, Hoho says…

    Ну-ка…Я
    попробую.

    Well,
    uh…I’ll try!

    Next
    they ask the turtle…who of course speaaaks verrry slowly…

    Научиться
    рисовать?

    I
    like that one because you can really hear the “Ть”
    soft-sign end

    Ok…In
    this last round before the final, each phrase has an unfamiliar
    command.

    See
    if you can spot it, and tell me if it’s formal or informal.

    Ready?

    The
    Police chief answers the phone…

    Служба
    спасения. ГоворИте.

    Safety
    service. Talk. …FORMAL

    Krotik
    is telling the Hedgehog…

    Пожалуйста,
    не говори Хохо.

    Please,
    don’t be telling Hoho…

    The
    fox lowers his tail, trying to save Krotik…

    Кротик,
    держи меня!

    Krotik,
    hold on to me! INFORMAL

    The
    Mayor is ranting to the Police Chief about supposed aliens…

    Что?
    Они повсюду…Уходите!

    What?
    They’re everywhere. Go! (Leave) FORMAL

    Police
    Chief to his son Cody—сынок is a
    cutesy form of the word сын….son

    Спасибо,
    сынок. Помоги нам найти Грама.

    Thanks,
    Son. Help us to find Graham. INFORMAL

    Krotik
    and Panda roll past the fox. Krotik says hi…

    Привет,
    Лис!

    …and
    the fox commands them…

    Подождите
    меня!

    Wait
    for me! FORMAL…because it’s his two friends

    Later,
    the fox is yelling up a tree at the hedgehog…

    А
    ну…Слезай!

    Well!
    Climb down! INFORMAL

    An
    engineer is explaining to a reporter how to use the satellite
    booth…

    А
    потом просто слушайте

    And
    then simply listen. FORMAL, because they’re colleagues

    –
    – –

    Ok,
    final exam. Let’s see how many of today’s new words and commands you
    recall. Since I barely even pointed them out, it’s no worry if you
    recall none of them. Next time you go through, you’ll recall a few
    more. Ready?

    –
    – –

    I
    hope you had fun with all that. See you in the next episode!

    34 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 13

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    *

    NOTE *

    All

    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome

    to Episode 13. So, you’re visiting a Russian family. Dedushka has
    been in the kitchen, preparing
    something. Finally he comes out carrying a tray of little meat
    slices, and he tells you: Попробуй.

    Not

    hungry, you wave it off. So dedushka turns to you, Melissa, and again
    offers…

    Мелисса,

    пожалуйста…попробуй.

    Hmm….What

    could that mean: попробуй

    Well,

    we know this form of the word: Хочешь
    попробовать?

    So,

    попробуй is what’s known as the
    command form. Dedushka is commanding us to try the meat.

    Listen

    to just the ending of the word: –буй

    In

    these podcasts we’ve heard at least one other command form…just
    briefly. In that episode of Sam and Cat, Cat made a big breakfast and
    tells Sam: “Смотри!”
    It’s a command to “Look!”

    Let’s

    have you try those. Hold out a food item and tell your friend: Try
    it!

    Попробуй!

    Next,

    you’re about to demonstrate something for your friend. Tell them:
    “Watch!”

    Смотри!

    Imagine,

    now, that Melissa
    is in the kitchen making something for her Russian hosts. So she
    comes out with a tray of veges and hummus, and offers it to Babushka.
    Listen to what Melissa says: Бабушка,
    попробуйте.

    Michael,

    too, was making crackers and Cheeze Whiz. And he holds the tray to
    dedushka. Listen…

    Дедушка,

    попробуйте.

    Listen

    to that ending again…уйте

    Hmm.

    Why does grandma get to say just попробуй
    to us, but we have to say попробуйте
    to her?

    I’ll

    tell you why: Respect.

    Lots

    of languages use different word forms depending on the person you’re
    speaking with. In Japanese, for example, speakers must often use a
    totally different word to express the exact same idea, depending on
    how respectful they need to be. We have to do this in English, too,
    of course, but we do it with tone and with an added Sir or Ma’am.
    Like…”Hey, Billy, wanna try some cake?”

    vs

    “Mr. President, would you like to try some cake?”

    Russian

    shows respect via the word ending.

    You’re

    turn. Offer your vege platter to my boy Andrusha….

    Андрюша,

    попробуй.

    Now

    offer it to Vladimir Ivanovich…

    Владимир

    Иванович, попробуйте.

    You’re

    at the beach when you see some dolphins. Tap little Sophia on her
    shoulder and say:

    Sophia,

    look!

    София,

    смотри! Дельфины.

    Then

    take Babushka’s hand and point for her…Grandma, look. Dolphins.

    Бабушка,

    смотрите! Дельфины.

    Seemingly

    random quiz here. How would a guy say: I gave the T-shirt to Fred.

    Я

    дал футболку Фреду.

    And

    a woman would phrase that…

    Я

    дала футболку Фреду.

    That

    was from Episode 6, of course. Well, let’s learn the command
    form of that verb.

    Listen

    as our speaker asks Jim to give him various things…

    Джим,

    дай мне…книгу. / …воду / …ключ

    Here

    they are again: Jim, give to me the book…give to me the
    water…give to me the key

    So

    the word was “дай”

    It

    sounds very much like the English word “die” doesn’t it?
    Let’s listen to a few more.

    Маша,

    дай мне…фотоаппарат. / …телефон / …нож

    Masha,

    give me the camera (lit: foto-apparatus), give me the phone, give me
    the knife.

    So,

    the million ruble question: What do you think the formal version
    would be? Like:

    Vladimir

    Mixailovich, give me the key, please.

    Hit

    pause and think about it.

    Think

    you got it?

    Here,

    listen…

    Владимир

    Михайлович, дайте мне ключ, пожалуйста.

    So

    the word was: Дайте.

    For

    this next exercise, instead of the idea of “formal” vs
    “informal” speech, let’s think of the division as Friend
    vs Stranger. That is, we can speak informally with friends,
    but need to speak respectfully with strangers. So try to translate
    the following phrases, and say out loud: Friend or Stranger. Ready?

    –

    – –

    <>

    Today’s

    tip is simple: Get into the habit of playing with the
    language…playing with the Russian you know. By playing, I mean
    using without trying to express a real truth. We
    learned in the previous episode a construction that’s perfect for
    playing. Do you remember it? Try to say: I have a dog.

    У

    меня есть собака.

    Now,

    here’s what I might do. What my kids would do. I’ll demonstrate in
    English…I have a dog. Do you have a dog? Does George have a dog?
    No. George has a cat. Do you have a cat?

    With

    just that one simple construction, you could play for a long
    time. I wasn’t trying to make sense, or say true things. It was just
    speaking for the fun of it. Here’s the same kind of thing in
    Russian….

    У

    меня есть собака. У тебя есть собака? У
    Джорджа есть собака? Нет. У Джорджа есть
    кошка. У тебя есть кошка?

    It’s

    another parallel with learning guitar. I remember learning something
    called ‘two hand tapping’ when I was just getting started. Eddie Van
    Halen was the master of this…(demo)

    Anyway,

    the original phrase I learned was these three notes. And immediately
    I played with it. (demo) I didn’t care if I was making “musical
    sense” or not. It didn’t even seem like practice. That’s really
    important. It was fun.

    That’s

    what we want to do with our Russian. Have fun with it. Not all the
    time. But some times.

    <>

    Ok,

    let’s do our Russian Immersion section now.

    –

    – –

    Ok…on

    to our final. Try to translate the gist of these phrases:

    –

    – –

    How’d

    you do? Keep those emails coming, and I’ll see you in the next
    episode.

    23 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 12

    Full Episode Audio

    Exercises Only Audio

    Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

    Download Exercises

    *

    NOTE *

    All

    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome

    to Episode 12. We’ll review the previous episode a little later. For
    now let’s jump to today’s new construction.

    У

    меня есть

    That’s

    three separate words. Listen again.

    With

    the help of our speakers and some sound effects, I wonder if you can
    figure out the meaning.

    –

    – –

    (popcorn

    sounds, microwave ding) Стоп! Стоп! Стоп! Что
    это?

    Я

    сделала попкорн. Хочешь попробовать?

    Хорошо.

    Попробую (crunch) Ммм! Вкусный!
    Спасибо.

    У

    меня есть попкорн.

    У

    меня есть кола.

    У

    меня есть is often translated as I
    have. That’s certainly a good
    translation, but for us it’s not the best way to think of it. Because
    what у меня есть literally means
    is: At me there exists…

    Take

    that last word…есть.
    Again,
    literally it means “there is” or “there exists.”

    For

    example, let’s say you’re wanting to bake a cake but you’re not sure
    you have all the ingredients. So you tap the pantry door and ask your
    roommate: Is there sugar?

    Есть

    сахар?

    Есть.

    Is

    there salt?

    Есть

    соль?

    Есть.

    Is

    there butter?

    Есть

    масло?

    Есть.

    У

    меня есть literally translates as: At me there
    is, or there exists.

    So

    now it’s your turn. I’ll feed you the things that are “at you.”
    And notice that feminine nouns don’t change because nothing
    is being done to them. They are simply “at us.”

    The

    first time through you might not know many of the words, so let’s
    note this point in the episode. You can then rewind to this spot and
    try again. Ready?

    –

    – –

    File

    that away for a second. Now let’s do a quick review. Try to say:

    –

    – –

    Next

    I’m going to play for you three brief music clips. None of these
    singers are destined to become Grammy winners, but that’s okay.
    They’re each using today’s new phrase. Just listen and try to spot
    it. I’ll play each one twice…

    So,

    that first one, she said:

    У

    меня есть только ты! Остальное не
    считается.

    At

    me there is only you. The rest don’t count.

    The

    next one, the proud Papa sang…

    А

    у меня есть дочка, весёлая, смешная.

    And

    at me there is a daughter…happy and funny.

    We

    note, by the way, how those adjectives—happy and funny (весёлая,
    смешная)—rhyme
    with дочка. Listen again…

    And

    then we heard this little kid singing about grandma…

    У

    меня есть Бабушка, бабушка родная,
    бабушка родная, очень молодая

    At

    me there is Grandma…grandma by birth or relation (she means, as
    opposed to some elderly lady who might just be a family friend)…and
    “очень молодая”
    translates as “very young.”

    Again,

    we note how those adjectives родная and
    молодая rhyme with бабушка.

    So,

    here’s what’s interesting: That little word ‘У’
    has a big effect on the words that follow. For example, the word for
    I is Я. But you put the word ‘У’
    in front of it: У меня

    The

    word for ‘you’, when talking with friends or family, is Ты.
    Again, you put У in front of it: У
    Тебя.

    That

    little ‘У’ changes the ends of people’s
    names, too. Listen…

    Джордж….У

    Джорджа

    Франк….У

    Франка

    Might

    as well try to guess these next ones.

    What

    about girl’s names, you ask. Let’s listen…

    Светлана…У

    Светланы

    Мама….У

    Мамы

    Катрина….У

    Катрины

    Hey,

    your turn now:

    All

    those literally translate as, At George, or At Svetlana…meaning
    that they have something.

    Heck,

    that little word ‘У’ even changes the word
    ‘who’. Listen…

    It

    changed кто to кого.
    Literally: At who, or At whom…

    So

    let’s make that the topic of our Russian Immersion section. You’ll be
    told told who has what.

    Then

    you’ll be asked about it. As always, if you don’t know, just say so.
    Ready?

    –

    – –

    Three

    more new words I’d like to learn today. большой
    хороший очень

    You

    probably know them already, but just in case, here they are in
    context.

    My

    grade school was small, but…мой университет
    очень большой.

    In

    Jurassic Park, the velociraptors were small, but…Тиранозавр
    Рекс очень большой.

    So,

    очень большой translates as
    very big.

    If

    you ask me, Led Zeppelin…очень хорошая группа

    Мерседес

    – очень хорошая машина.

    So

    хороший translates as “good.”
    Again, you probably already knew those. And there’s certainly no need
    to actively learn or recall them. You’ll hear them so many times,
    they will sink in naturally.

    But

    one thing to note: Since очень is what
    we call an adverb, it never changes its form. Ever. Yay for adverbs!

    <>

    You

    know, one of these days you need to reward yourself for your success.
    What I did very early on, maybe a month or two into my studies…was
    learn how to make blini…Russian crepes. It took some practice, but
    when I finally got it, they were great. Doing that made me feel just
    a little Russian, and it was a treat to myself for having learned my
    first few hundred words. A few months later, when I was able to
    recite a paragraph I’d written abut myself, I took some friends to a
    Russian cafe…nearly an hour drive away, but still. Those poor
    waitresses, having to suffer through my recitation. Then, after my
    first full year, I treated myself again with a two week trip to
    Russia, to St. Petersburg.

    And

    given that you’ve made it this far and can translate most of
    what you’re hearing, you’re doing awesome. So reward yourself. If not
    blini, if not a trip, then maybe just buy something Russian
    online…a Russian T-shirt or poster or book. You can find tons of
    cool stuff on eBay. But something. Because you’re doing great and you
    deserve it. You got that?

    <>

    …but

    don’t get a matryoshka doll (матрёшка).
    One of those cheesy nesting dolls that stack smaller and smaller
    wooden babushkas one inside the other? Don’t get that. There’s not a
    single Russian person who owns one. Literally.

    Иван

    купил матрёшку.

    Боже.

    Зачем?

    Не

    знаю. Но сейчас, у Ивана есть матрёшка.

    Did

    you catch most of that? Can you translate this time?

    Иван

    купил матрёшку.

    Ivan

    bought a matryoshka…that nesting doll we were just talking about.

    Боже.

    Зачем?

    Gosh.

    What for? (Remember that word from the song in the midterm?)

    Не

    знаю. Но сейчас, у Ивана есть матрёшка.

    I

    don’t know. But now, Ivan has a matryoshka…lit: at Ivan there is a
    matryoshka.

    Anyway,

    getting back to business…How would you translate this?

    –

    – –

    Getting

    back to our main new phrase of the day—у меня
    “at me” – isn’t just used to indicate the things
    we possess, but is also used to describe our mood or situation.

    For

    ex: I have a good mood.

    У

    меня хорошее настроение.

    Lit:

    At me good mood. No need for есть here

    Or

    the opposite: I have a bad mood. Listen…

    У

    меня плохое настроение.

    Remember

    I mentioned that it’s good to watch dubbed cartoons? Well, here’s
    Buzz in Toy Story, after Woody accuses him of not thinking straight.
    Listen…

    So
    Woody says: У тебя видно каша в голове.

    At you,
    obviously, kasha in the head. That’s a common Russian phrase: you got
    porridge in your head. In normal English we’d just say: “You’re
    not thinking straight.”

    And Buzz tells
    him…

    Нет, Woody.
    У меня впервые ясность в голове.

    No,

    Woody. At me for the first time clarity
    in my head.

    That

    is: For the first time I’m thinking clearly…

    There

    was no “есть” in those. They
    were temporary conditions.

    A

    few lines later, Woody encourages Buzz…

    У

    тебя есть крылья. Ты можешь светиться.

    You

    have wings. You can light up.

    Woody

    included есть because Buzz has wings
    permanently.

    Anyway,

    let’s listen to two more song clips. Again, they’ll be using у меня
    to describe their mood or situation. And again, no one’s at
    risk of winning a Grammy here.

    So

    he said: У меня всё окей….At
    me all okay.

    And

    the other one: А у меня всё хорошо…мне
    не нужно ничего.

    At

    me all good….I don’t need anything.

    Quick

    break, then back with our final exam…

    –

    – –

    For

    today’s final exam, we’re going to hear what various people have, and
    each time we’ll hear a version of either хороший
    or большой. You remember
    those, right? There’ll be a lot of new cognates here, too. See if you
    can translate these. You ready?

    –

    – –

    Alright,

    great job, guys. Remember what I said about treating yourself to
    something. Make that your goal for this week, okay? Meantime, I’ll
    see you in the next lesson.

    33 min
  • Understanding Spoken Russian – Learn Russian Ep. 11

    Full Episode Audio

    Exercises Only Audio

    Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

    Download Exercises

    *

    NOTE *

    All

    phrases intended for translating/listening practice have been
    deleted.

    Welcome to Episode 11. Before we get started, I just wanted to say: If you’re feeling more confident now and are ready to start actively speaking Russian, I encourage you to get my Russian Made Easy podcast. I promise, it’ll have you talking right from the start.

    Anyway…here’s

    our new word for this episode.
    попробовать

    Let’s

    see if we can get it from these Russian conversations.

    (cooking

    sounds)…Mom’s in the kitchen…Andrei comes in…

    Привет,

    Мама. Что ты готовишь?

    Я

    готовлю спагетти.

    А

    это соус?

    Да,

    это соус. Хочешь попробовать?

    Да.

    (slurp) Mmmm! Вкусный!

    Now

    Dad is in the kitchen when Sophia wanders in…

    Привет,

    Папа. Что ты готовишь?

    Я

    готовлю гамбургеры.

    А

    это рис?

    Да.

    Хочешь попробовать?

    Да.

    (crunch chew) Mmmm! Вкусный!

    So

    попробовать
    is a verb, and it
    translates as “to
    try,” or “to sample”

    Can

    you guess how the past tense would sound? Let’s say babushka is
    making a salad. Perhaps венегрет, which
    in Russian is a salad, not a dressing. She sees you, and lifts
    a spoonful. Listen to Alex say, I already tried some.

    Я

    уже попробовал.

    Literally

    just: I already tried.

    Then

    Nastya walks by. Again, grandma and her spoon…

    Спасибо,

    Бабушка. Я уже попробовала.

    Let’s

    say you’re curious to sample some. Say: “I want to try.”

    Я

    хочу попробовать.

    To

    help you recall the word, try to make this connection: When you try
    something, you’re essentially PROBING it, seeing if you like it. The
    word “probe” leads us to попробовать

    File

    that away for a minute and let’s talk about today’s main topic. Let’s
    imagine you own a Russian/English dictionary and are
    trying to look up a word. Maybe, “to give.”

    You

    flip thru the pages. There it is: дать

    Now

    we learned that verb in Episode 6. Try to say: Jeff gave the key to
    Clark.

    Джеф

    дал ключ Кларку.

    But

    the dictionary is telling us the word is дать.
    It sounds like it ends with a weird T, doesn’t it?

    That’s

    what we call the infinitive of the verb. Its most basic form.

    Take

    the English verb “to be.” That’s the infinitive. And then
    you have the conjugations:

    I

    am. You are. He is.

    And

    in the past tense: I was. You were.

    Well,

    the verb we learned today was in its infinitive form. Do you recall
    it? Say…

    I

    want to try.

    Я

    хочу попробовать.

    See

    how it ends with that odd T sound? Not all, but almost all
    Russian verbs end with this odd T sound in their infinitive form.
    What’s making it sound odd is something called a “soft sign”
    at the very end. It looks like a tiny, lowercase English b.

    попробовать

    <—The last
    letter is not a letter at all, but what’s called a “soft sign.”
    Like a pronunciation instruction to Russian speakers.

    To

    help you hear it, I’ll have Alex say the last three letters without
    the soft sign, and then with.

    ват…вать

    Darina,

    can you do the same thing?

    ват….вать

    I’m

    not a stickler on pronunciation. My thoughts, which are echoed by
    others like Tim Ferris and Benny the Polyglot, are that you just need
    to say it well enough to be understood. But here, getting that weird
    ending, it will definitely help native speakers understand you. And
    it’s really not that tough. Let’s listen to another pair. We’ll hear
    D-A-T …first as is, and then with a soft sign at the end.

    дат….дать

    мат…..мать

    Let’s

    try a different vowel.

    рит….рить

    I’ll

    test you on these some more in a moment. For now, let’s return to our
    new verb. Imagine Vova doesn’t want to try Grandma’s pie. How would
    Grandma say: “Vova doesn’t want to try?”

    Вова

    не хочет попробовать?

    So

    let’s listen to that construction as our speakers insert other verbs
    we know, but now in their infinitive forms. See if you can guess the
    translation. Ready?

    –

    – –

    We

    actually did a bunch of these in Ep. 9, but I didn’t explain that we
    were using the infinitive. I just kind of snuck it in there. But
    hopefully you’re starting to hear it, now.

    As

    a warm-up for our Russian Immersion section, let’s listen again to
    those opening conversations in the kitchen. This time you’ll be asked
    some questions. As always, if you don’t know, just say so…

    (cooking

    sounds first)…Mom’s in the kitchen…Andrei comes in…

    –

    – –

    This

    last one will have lots of words we don’t know, but many are
    cognates, and the rest you can probably get from context. So, Babu –
    babushka– has just made a rather unpleasant smelling pirog, which is
    a Russian pie.

    (oven

    dings)

    Кто

    хочет попробовать мой пирог? (тишина)
    Вова? Иди сюда.

    Ээээ…не

    я, Бабу. Я не очень люблю пироги.

    Вова,

    перестань.

    Хорошо.

    Попробую.

    Ну,

    как?

    Здесь

    есть брокколи? И киви? И карамель?

    Да.

    И бекон. На. Возьми ещё кусочек.

    Спасибо.

    Я дам папе.

    For

    a transcript of that, and a good laugh, head over to the site and you
    can read the whole thing. You can even get grandma’s recipe…

    Random

    grammar quiz. Quick, tell me: What is a verb infinitive?

    If

    you said it’s an ingredient in grandma’s pies, you’re close. But
    here’s the answer I was looking for:

    The

    infinitive is the basic, unconjugated form of a verb.

    In

    English, we use two words for the infinitive: To cook, to eat, to
    gag, and so on. In Russian, it’s just one word, but they—almost
    always—have a recognizable ending. That —ть
    that we listened to. And that I’m going to test you on now.
    All I want you to do is tell me ДА or
    НЕТ…Did the speaker use a verb
    infinitive?

    –

    – –

    <<

    tip of the day>>

    If

    there’s one thing worse than a Russian teacher who forces you to
    memorize grammar charts and declension tables, it’s one who drowns
    you in rules and grammar jargon. The following is from an actual
    online Russian lesson aimed at beginners. I kid you not.

    <<Passive

    participles can be used to modify persons or objects but only if the
    nouns they are modifying are in the accusative case. Present passive
    participles are formed from some transitive imperfective verbs. To
    form the present passive participle using the one-stem system, add
    “em” and the adjectival ending to the stem…>>

    That

    kind of quote-unquote “teaching” literally sickens me. It’s
    lazy. It’s thoughtless. It’s presumptuous. And ultimately, it’s not
    only unhelpful, it is detrimental to the student’s success. It
    doesn’t just frustrate the student, it puts them down. And that was
    light on the jargon. There is so much out there far, far
    worse. It pains me. Russian should be a joy to learn. Not a nightmare
    of complex, confusing grammar terminology and rules.

    What’s

    the tip? There are times when grammar terms are inescapable.
    Today, I had to bust out the word “infinitive.” But I tried
    to explain the meaning. And I tried to keep it at that. But if your
    teacher spouts grammar terms and rules without end…it’s probably
    time to look elsewhere.

    <<

    end tip >>

    Hey,

    another random question: What do you think the word вкусный
    means? We heard it in our opening dialogs. Listen again…

    Да,

    это соус. Хочешь попробовать?

    Да.

    Mmmm! Вкусный!

    Да.

    Хочешь попробовать?

    Да.

    Mmmm! Вкусный!

    Вкусный

    translates as tasty
    or delicious.

    Imagine

    you’re with some Russian friends having dinner in a restaurant. About
    your soup, try to say: “Delicious! Want to try?”

    Вкусный!

    Хочешь попробовать?

    You’ll

    often hear it shortened to вкусно! It
    just depends on exactly what the speaker is describing…the food, or
    the taste. Don’t worry about it. It’s just cool to spot it.

    So

    let’s end with a fun quiz. You’ll hear the speakers describe various
    things as tasty. Notice how the word вкусный
    changes to match the noun. And see if you can translate…

    Вкусное…вино.

    /…пиво. /…молоко.

    Вкусный…пирог.

    /…венегрет. /…паштет

    Вкусная…каша.

    /…кукуруза. /…колбаса.

    Вкусные…блины.

    /…грибы. /…помидоры.

    Alright.

    That was a fun lesson. See you in Episode 12!

    25 min

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