Russian Lesson 2
Второй Урок
| Chapters | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
Russian Lesson 2 introduces new Russian words; the Russian Alphabet - alphabets that look and sound like English, alphabets that look like English but represent a different sound and alphabets that look different than English. Be sure to listen to the recordings very carefully. Repeating aloud as often as possible.
Contents on this lesson:
Диалог — Dialogue
- Диалог А: Здравствуй! Как дела? — Hi! How's it going?
Диалог — Dialogue
Диалог А: Здравствуй! Как дела? — Hi! How's it going?
Click the play button to playback the recording.
You can also download the recording to your computer by clicking
on the downward triangle and choose Save As Source...
| Speaker | Line | Russian Phrase | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Вера | 1 | Здравствуй, Миша! Как Дела? [Zdrastvuy, Misha! Kak dela?] |
Hi, Misha! How's it going? |
| Миша | 2 | Прекрасно! А у тебя? [Prekrasna! A y tebya?] |
Great! How about you? |
| Вера | 3 | Неплохо. [Neplokho.] |
Not bad. |
| Миша | 4 | Извини, мне некогда. Пока. [Izvini, mne nekogda. Paka.] |
Sorry, I'm in a hurry (I have no time). Later. |
| Вера | 5 | Ну, ладно, до свидания. Нахал! [Nu, ladna, da svidanniya. Nakhal!] (Misha walks away) |
Well, OK, see you later. (Misha walks away) Jerk! |
Словарь [slavar'] — Vocabulary
| Line | Russian Vocabulary | Transliteration | Translation Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | здравствуй | zdrastvuy (first в [v] is silent) | привет |
| 2 | прекрасно | prekrasna | great; superb(ly) |
| 3 | неплохо | neplokho | not bad |
Russian Spelling & Sounds
2A. The Russian Alphabet - Part 1
All of the following descriptions of Russian pronunciation are approximations. First and formost, listen carefully to the recordings and do your best to imitate the speakers.
2A1. Group 1: Letters that look and sound (roughly) the same as in English
Listen and repeat:
| Russian Letter | Approximate Sound |
|---|---|
| А а | a as in father |
| Е е | e as in bed ye as in yes (You will learn how to predict which to use later) |
| К к | k as in skin |
| М м | m as in mom |
| О о | o as in born |
| Т т | t as in stop (with the tongue against the upper teeth) |
* Two Important Russian Notes on Stress:
- Unstressed vovels: When О/о and A/a are not stressed, their pronunciation gets 'reduced' to the sound roughly the same as the last sound in sofa. Unstressed E/e gets reduced to the [ee] as in keep, but slightly shorter. You will see more examples of vowel reduction on Lesson 9.
- Word-Initial E/e: At the beginning of the word (and a few other places) E/e is pronounced [ye] as in yet. Much more on this later.
Now for some real Russian words (don't worry about their meanings at this time, though you may recognise some of them as they are cognates). Listen and repeat, keeping in mind the above notes.
акт (act), там (there), кто (who), кем (by whom), тем (by that), кот (male cat), мат (checkmate), том (tome is a large and scholarly book or volume), мама (mom), кома (coma), кота (of a male cat), ем (I eat), томе (in a volume), токе (about electric current), маме (about mother), томат (tomato), тема (theme), комета (comet)
* note that all single vowel words will be stressed except o which may or may not be stressed in these words. An example would be до свидания [da svidaniya], where the o is not stressed.
2A2. Group 2: Letters that look like English but represent a different sound
Listen and repeat:
Lesson 2 - Russian Sounds Group 2 (02-3-1.mp3)| Russian Letter | Approximate Sound |
|---|---|
| В/в | v as in victory |
| Н/н | n as in no |
| Р/р | r as in run (but trilled - rolling rrrrs) |
| С/с | s as in set (also: c as in ice) |
| У/у | u as in lunatic |
| Х/х | no exact English equivalent (roughly ch as in Bach or
Scottish Loch) actually it sounds more like kha, produced from the back of the throat |
- В/в
- вот (here is), век (century), вата (cotton padding), вам (to you), веко (eyelid), вето (veto), Ева (Eve - the one who ate the apple)
- Н/н
- Нет (no), Анна (Anna - as in Anna Karenina), окно (window), вена (vein or Vienna), она (she /it), тонна (ton), Монтана (Montana - the state), Нева (the Neva Riva in St. Petersburg)
- Р/р
- река (river), Торонто (Toronto - the city), Вера (Vera - also means faith), кроме (except), рот (mouth), роман (romance; novel), ракета (rocket), вор (thief)
- С/с
- секрет (secret), сок (juice), нос (nose), Москва (Moscow), сенат (Senate), север (north), Маркс (as in Karl Marx), сорок (forty), совет (Soviet; advisory council)
- У/у
- уксус (vinegar), утка (duck), трус (coward), рука (arm), ура (hurrah), тут (here), мука (flour), мука (torture), курс (course)
- Х/х
- хор (choir), ухо (ear), хвост (tail), сухо (dry), Техас (Texas), монах (monk), мох (moss), хата (hut), хомут (horse collar), хрен (horse radish)
2A3. Group 3: Letters that look different than English - part 1, part 2 to follow...
Listen and repeat:
Lesson 2 - Russian Sounds Group 3 (02-4-1.mp3)| Russian Letter | Approximate Sound |
|---|---|
| Б/б | b as in bed |
| Г/г | g as in gun v as in victory (only in the combinations -ого / -его, which is a grammatical ending. We saw this in ничего.) |
| Д/д | d as in day (with the tongue against the upper teeth) |
| Ё/ё | o as in born yo as in your You will learn how to predict this later in this chapter. |
| Ж/ж | zh as in Zhivago (also s as in pleasure) |
| З/з | z as in zoo |
| И/и | i as in machine |
| Й/й | y as in toy |
| Л/л | l as in leave |
| П/п | p as in spin |
- Б/б
- брат (brother and not 'brat', though depending on your brother), бомба (bomb), табак (tobacco), Бах (Bach), брак (marriage; junk), банан (banana), бар (bar - place to drink), собака (dog), Небраска (the state)
- Г/г
- грех (sin), гром (thunder), ген
(gene), губа (lip), грубо
(rudely, coarsely), нога (leg /foot),
Вагнер (the composer),
Конго (Congo), Орегон
(Oregon), рагу (stew)
Pronounced as v in the combinations -его / -ого at the end of the word:
его (him /his), того (of that), громкого (of loud noise), бетонного (of concrete - adjective), него (him) - Д/д
- дом (house; building), мода (fashion; style), Адам (Adam, Eve's partner), драма (drama), Канада (Canada), Денвер (Denver), дно (bottom), дерево (tree), доктор (doctor), вода (water), два (two)
- Ё/ё (this letter is always stressed in the word)
- нёс (carried), тёте (to aunt), сестёр (of sisters), стёр
(wiped off), врёт (is lying), Гёте
(Goethe), ковёр (carpet), овёс (oats), монтёр (electrician),
отвёртка (screwdriver)
Examples with a preceding [y] sound:
моё (my), твоё (yours), своё (one's own), её (her) - Ж/ж
- жена (wife), жук (beetle), Женева (Geneva), жён (of wives), жара (heat), ужас (horror), уже (already), жертва (victim), жетон (subway token), жанр (genre), жаба (toad), важно (important)
- З/з
- зебра (zebra), коза (goat), Канзас (Kansas), зона (zone), закон (law), занавес (curtain), казак (Cossack), Гудзон (Hudson), звезда (star), зонт (umbrella)
- И/и
- Иран (Iran), Ирак (Irak), Аризона (Arizona), вампир (vampire), тигр (tiger), вариант (version), виски (whiskey), Аргентина (Argentina), нитка (thread), Никсон (Nixon)
- Й/й
- йод (iodine), Йорк (York), Йокогама (Yokohama), йога (yoga), мой (my), май (May), ковбой (cowboy), русский (Russian), Рейган (40th US President), Кувейт (Kuwait), Детройт (Detroit)
- Л/л
- лимон (lemon), Клинтон (Clinton), Ленин (Lenin), Сталин (Stalin), ёлка (fir or Christmas tree), лето (summer), журнал (magazine), солдат (soldier), Алабама (Alabama), Колорадо (Colorado)
- П/п
- Пётр (Peter), труп (corpse), Пикассо (the artist), Платон (Plato), Пастернак (Pasternak, the author of Доктор Живаго), пункт (point), псих (psycho), правда (truth; the Russian newspaper), Пакистан (Pakistan), пасха (Easter dessert)
Russian - Star Wars Connection?
Some people with way too much time on their hands have noticed some "secret" connections between Russian and several Star Wars characters:
- The robot C3PO is derived from CCCP (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик), the Russian spelling of USSR - though this doesn't explain the 'O' at the end.
- Chewbacca is a variant of собака, the Russian word for dog.
- Jabba (the Hutt) is a variant of жаба, the Russian word for toad.
And of course, there's the whole "evil empire" theme.
Homework — Russian Oral Exercises
Exercise 1 Circle the word you hear:
Lesson 2 - Exercise 1 (02-6-HW1.mp3)| 1 | нос | сон | сан | сун |
| 2 | номент | мумент | мемант | момент |
| 3 | мука | мука | мока | муку |
| 4 | реактор | раката | ракета | ракету |
| 5 | нута | ната | ноту | нота |
| 6 | хунта | хорват | кунта | сунта |
| 7 | Ава | Еву | Ева | Ова |
| 8 | Марс | Маркс | наркс | Марх |
| 9 | усах | осех | усех | усак |
| 10 | срок | сурок | сорок | сарак |
Click here for Russian Homework answers
Exercise 2 Circle the word you hear:
Lesson 2 - Exercise 2 (02-6-HW2.mp3)| 1 | ванан | банун | банан | баман |
| 2 | Оредон | Орегон | Урегон | Орегун |
| 3 | доктор | дохтор | дактор | годтор |
| 4 | сабава | забова | забава | забава |
| 5 | бампир | вампир | вампер | вамрир |
| 6 | сигарета | сидарета | гигарета | сигарита |
| 7 | Домер | Гомур | Гомер | Гумер |
| 8 | тёте | тете | тото | тёта |
| 9 | зазда | жажда | жажта | жежда |
| 10 | Вруклин | Броклин | Брухлин | Бруклин |
| 11 | Платон | Рлатон | Плитон | Платун |
| 12 | Зупнал | жорнел | журнал | жупнал |
| 13 | бодема | богема | бохема | вогема |
| 14 | Аризона | Аризуна | Аризена | Апизона |
| 15 | Борес | Борас | Ворис | Борис |
Click here for Russian Homework answers
Exercise 3 Write the English equivalents to the following Russian words. (Hint - many are proper nouns)
| No. | Russian Word | English | No. | Russian Word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | атака | 11 | пеликан | ||
| 2 | Толстой | 12 | Женева | ||
| 3 | хулиган | 13 | Никсон | ||
| 4 | Техас | 14 | баскетбол | ||
| 5 | момент | 15 | Айдахо | ||
| 6 | Бруклин | 16 | теннис | ||
| 7 | караван | 17 | Рембрандт | ||
| 8 | зодиак | 18 | журнал | ||
| 9 | Бетховен | 19 | спагетти | ||
| 10 | Наполеон | 20 | джаз |
Click here for Russian Homework answers
Answers to Russian Homework
Exercise 1
сон, момент, мука, ракета, нота, хунта, Ева, Марс, усах, сорок
Exercise 2
банан, Орегон, доктор, забава, вампир, сигарета, Гомер, тёте, жажда, бруклин, Платон, журнал, богема, Аризона, Борис
Exercise 3
| No. | Russian Word | English | No. | Russian Word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | атака | attack | 11 | пеликан | pelican |
| 2 | Толстой | Tolstoy | 12 | Женева | Geneva |
| 3 | хулиган | hooligan | 13 | Никсон | Nixon |
| 4 | Техас | Texas | 14 | баскетбол | basketball |
| 5 | момент | moment | 15 | Айдахо | Idaho |
| 6 | Бруклин | Brooklyn | 16 | теннис | tennis |
| 7 | караван | caravan | 17 | Рембрандт | Rembrandt |
| 8 | зодиак | zodiac | 18 | журнал | magazine |
| 9 | Бетховен | Beethoven | 19 | спагетти | spaghetti |
| 10 | Наполеон | Napoleon | 20 | джаз | jazz |
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