Understanding Spoken Russian

* 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? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?????????. Next…Listen to these Russian phrases and translate into English.. – – – ?????? ??????. ??? ??????? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ??????. ??. ? ?? ???-??????. ??????… 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. – – – ? ????? ??? ??????, ????. ?? ????? ??????????? ?? ??????? ??? ??????. ?????? ?????????? ????????. . Back to biz. Let’s again try to translate into English…. – – – ??????, ???????. ??? ?? ???????? ??????, ?????? ?????? ?????? ? ??????? ??????. ??? ???????? ??????. ??, ??. ? ????? ???????????. 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 ??? 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. – – – ?, ??????…? ???? ???? ?????????, ??? ?????? ??????? ??????. 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? ??????. ???? ????? ????. Hi. My name is Oleg. Literally…what? Me they call Oleg. ? ???? ? ?????. I live in Kiev. ? ??????? ?????????? ? ????????????. I work as a manager in a supermarket. ???? ?????? ?? ??????, ?? ??? ??????? At work there’s stress, but what to do? meaning…What can ya do about it? ? ???? ???? ???? ? ??????. I have a brother and a sister. ????? ????? ??????. My brother’s name is Mixhail. lit: Brother…they call..Mixhail. ?? ????? ? ??????. He lives in Odessa. ?? ????????, ? ?????? ???? ? ???? ?? ??????, ? ?????????. He’s a musician and plays jazz and blues on the guitar, in a restaurant. ??? ?????? ????? ????. My sister’s name is Tanya. ??? ????? ? ????????…? ??????????. She lives in Germany, in Frankfurt. ??? ???????? ? ?????. She works in a bank. ? ???? ???? ??? ? ?????. Tanya has a son and a daughter. ? ?? ????? ?????. I really love them. ? ???, ???? ?????? ??? ????? ???????…????. In May Tanya bought for me a new laptop. A Dell. ?????? ? ???? ???????? ? ???? ????? ?????. Now I can talk with them via Skype. ? ???????, ? ??? ? ??????. In August I’m going to Odessa. ? ???? ?????? ??????? ?–(telephone rings) I want to see Mixhail and… ??, ????????. ??? ????…?????? ??????. 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.

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 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…? ??? Without any setup, I still wonder if you can get the meaning. Can you translate these phrases? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??????. ? ??????? ? ??? ? ??????. He said: In May, ya yedu to London. And she said: In August, ya yedu to Moscow. So what’s your best guess on ? ???? 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? ?? ????? ? ??????? You’re traveling to Moscow? ?? ????? ? ??????? Your brother is traveling to Rome? ???? ???? ???? ? ???? Your sister is traveling to Paris? ???? ?????? ???? ? ?????? I’m traveling, you’re traveling, he’s traveling. ? ???, ?? ?????, ?? ???? 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? ??? ??????? ???? ???????? Tell your friend: Your drums are in the podval. ???? ???????? ? ???????. Ask: Where are my guitars? ??? ??? ??????? …did you get that “ee” sound at the end of guitars…to make it plural? Try to say: They didn’t want to wait. ??? ?? ?????? ?????. They said that you worked in a bank. ??? ???????, ??? ?? ??????? ? ?????. 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… ? ?????? ? ???????, ?? ?????? ? ??? ? ????????. 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. ? ?????? ? ?????????, ?? ?????? ? ??? ? ??????. 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. ? ???…? ?????. / …? ????????. / …? ??????. / Anton is traveling to Sydney….to San Diego…to Sevastopol ????? ???? …? ??????….? ??? ?????…? ??????????? 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, ? ??? 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 ???. 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? ? ?????? ? ?????. ? ??? ? ????. 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 ? ??? 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: ? ??? ? ??????. He might joke with you…”Seriously? You’re going there on foot?” ????????? ?? ????? ???? ???????! So, again: ? ??? 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: ? ??? ? ????????. 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. ? ???? ? ????????. 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’: ?????????? 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. ? ??? ? ??????????. Do you recall the word for pharmacy? ?????? Now say: I’m heading to the pharmacy. ? ??? ? ??????. And discotheque is a cognate. Like the other two, it’s feminine. Listen. ????????? ? ??? ?? ?????????. Ask your friend: Are you going to Starbucks? ?? ????? ? ????????? Are you going to the store? ?? ????? ? ???????? Are you going to the concert? ?? ????? ?? ???????? 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 ? ??? ? ????…? ????? ?????????…? ?????? 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? ?? ?????…?? ????????…?? ???????????? Why are some of these getting ‘V’ (?) and others get ‘Na’ (??) ? Like, why is it: ? ??? ? ???????. but ? ??? ?? ???????. 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… ???? ????? ? ??????. That means: Jim headed off to the pharmacy on foot and he is not back yet. ???? ????? ? ??????. That one means: Jim went to the pharmacy and he’s back home. ???? ?????? ? ??????. Jim headed to the pharmacy by vehicle. He is not back yet. ???? ????? ? ??????. 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..???? ?????…I hold onto that right until he gets back, when I adjust it to: ???? ?????. (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? ??????, ??????. ?? ????? ? ??????? Can you buy me aspirin? ?????? ?????? ??? ???????? Of course. ???????. Hi Galina. Are you going now to McDonalds? ??????, ??????. ?? ????? ?????? ? ??????????? Can you buy me a double-cheeseburger and potato-fries? ? ?????? ?????? ??? ????-?????????…? ????????-???? Of course. ???????. Wow…Passport, suitcase…Where are you going? ???…????????, ???????…???? ?? ?????? I’m going to Munich, to a conference. ? ??? ? ??????, ?? ???????????. But you were in Munich in August, no? ? ?? ???? ? ??????? ? ???????, ???? No. I was in Berlin. I bought a car. ???. ? ???? ? ???????. ?????? ??????. Alright. Great job. The next episode, #20, is our last one. Our final exam. See you there!

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 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 “?” sound. Ready? ??? ???? ? ????? ??? ????? ? ???????. (door opens) ?! ??? ???. ?????? ????, ?????? ????. ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ???????. Let’s listen again…This time, try to translate after each line. ??? ???? ? ????? Where are mom and dad? ??? ????? ? ???????. We heard the word ???????, which is a store. In fact, we heard ? ???????…so they must be going there. After all, if they were in the store, it’d be ? ???????? right? Anyway… (door opens) ?! ??? ???. Oh, There they are. I get into this in great detail in Russian Accelerator, but ??? 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 ???. ??? ???…I’m calling your attention to….they. Or that earlier phrase: ??? ????? ? ???????… they headed off to the store. Let’s keep going… ?????? ????, ?????? ????. ??? ??????? Hi mom, hi dad. What did you buy? ?? ?????? ???????. We bought toys. So….I asked you to keep an ear out for ? sounds. Let me point them out… ??? ????? ??? ???. ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ???????. 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’ (???????) ?? ????? ???????. She bought an i-Phone. ??? ?????? ??-???. They bought a printer. ??? ?????? ???????. Let’s try another round…He bought corn. ?? ????? ????????. She bought pelmeni (little Russian raviolis). ??? ?????? ????????. They bought wine. ??? ?????? ????. Look….more rhyming. She bought….??? ??????….THEY bought…??? ?????? Let’s try a different verb. How would you say…He worked in Rome. ?? ??????? ? ????. She worked in Paris. ??? ???????? ? ??????. Now ask: Where did they work? ??? ??? ????????? There’s our ? … ? rhyme again. ??? ??? ????????? Another one: He tried the pelmeni. ?? ?????????? ????????. She tried the corn. ??? ??????????? ????????. Now ask: What did they try…or sample? ??? ??? ???????????? 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. ??? ????????? ??? ?????. They watched (and finished watching) your video. ??? ?????????? ???? ?????. They gave me your rucksack. ??? ???? ??? ???? ??????. This one’s a little tougher. They wanted to buy for me a saxophone. ??? ?????? ?????? ???…????????. / … ???????. / … ??????. / 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. ? ????? ????????. Our ‘ee’ sound is back. Listen again: drum…drums ???????…???????? Book….books ?????…????? watermelon…watermelons (remember that from the Hoho Panda cartoon?) ?????…?????? Remember how, at the very start of today’s lesson, I had you keep an ear out for those ‘?’ sounds. First we concentrated on words like ???…and….?????? But it was there at the end, too. The parents bought TOYS…plural…and that word ended with an ‘? Listen: toy….toys ???????….??????? 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? ???. 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. ??? ???. Then Andrei looks at William, who doesn’t seem to have collected any books. Andrei asks him… ??????, ??? ????? William, where are yours? Your turn. Imagine you’re divvying up a bag of potato chips. With just two words, say: They… are yours. ??? ????. Next…try to translate what the speaker is saying… ??? ???…?????? / …????????? / …???????? / Where are my chips? Where are my pelmeni–raviolis? Where are my candies? ??? ????…????????? / …??????? / …?????????? / 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…??? for ‘these’ Yes. They’re mine. Then she says: ??????, ?? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????????? Literally: That means, you know how to play the drums? Then she adds: I didn’t know. He answers: I play not very well… ????? ?? ????? ??????… but I love to play ?? ????? ??????. She commands him: Play! ?????. Now? ??????? She says: ?????? ?? ? ???? That translates as: Why not? ?? ?????. …Ok, fine. The word for ‘sticks’ is ???????…of course ending with our plural ‘?’…So with two words, tell her: Give the sticks. ??? ???????. ??….she says, as she hand them to Neal. He asks: ? ????? ????? ???? ??????? So, which song for you to play? Say: I don’t know. How you want. meaning: Play whatever you want to. ?? ????. ??? ??????. Hmm…ok. ????….??????. She must’ve made a weird expression, because he stops and says: You what, don’t know Led Zeppelin? ?? ???, ?? ?????? ??? ?????????? Don t know John Bonham. ?? ?????? ????? ??????? 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? ????? Oh, gosh… ? ????… Alright. I hope you enjoyed that one. And I hope you did well. I’ll see you in Ep 19…

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 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… ? ???????…? ??????. / …? ??????. / …? ????????. / ? ???????. 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. ???? ????????…? ??????. You added that ‘s’ sound before the name, right? S krisom Say: Mom was talking with Andrei…with William… ???? ???????? ? ???????. ???? ???????? ? ????????. Now you might be wondering: Wait…Doesn’t ‘talking with someone’ count as doing something to them? Why aren’t we saying: ?????…??????…??????? 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. ? ??????…? ???????. / …? ?????. / …? ?????. / Interesting sound there at the end. That ?? sound. Let’s do more… I work with Franklin….with John….with Christina….with Olga. ? ??????? ? ??????????. / …? ??????. / …? ?????????. / …? ?????? / I live with Greg…with a musician….with grandpa…with Yana ? ???? ? ??????. / …? ??????????. / …? ????????. / ? ????. / 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… ? ??????? ? ???????????, ? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?????. I was speaking with the waitress, and said that you are still waiting for the omelet. ? ???????? ? ????????, ? ??????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????. I was speaking with the bartender—lit: barman—and said that you are still waiting for the wine. ??? ??? ???? ? ??? ??? ????. ??????? ? ??????? ? ???? ????? ?????. This is my mom and this is my dad. Today I was talking with them via Skype. ??? ??? ?????? ????, ? ??? ???? ????. ??????? ? ???????? ? ???? ????? ????????. This is my sister Sara, and my brother Erik. Today I was talking with them via Facetime. ? ????…with them One more: ??? ??? ???? ????? ? ??? ??????? ?????. ? ???? ? ???? ? ???????. 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. ? ??? ? ???? ? ??????. I worked with them in Epicenter. ? ??????? ? ???? ? ?????????. 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. ????! ?????? ?????? ????…?????????. / …????????. / …???????? / ????-????? 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. ? ??????? ? ??????. One more round… ????! ????? ??????? ????…?????? / …????????. / …??????. / Dad! Sophia hit me with a book…with a toy…with a fork Those were all feminine objects…????? ??????? ?????…and they got that ?? ending we heard earlier with feminine names. So, what’s going on here? Well, those endings—OM with masculine nouns and ?? 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. ? ??????? ? ??????????. I was working with a client. ? ???????? ? ????????. I was playing with grandma. ? ????? ? ???????? I was playing with Maxim. ? ?????? ? ????????. I was waiting with Vladimir. ? ???? ? ??????????. I was waiting with Larrisa. ? ????? ? ???????. 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. ??? ??????.??? ????. ? ???? ??????.? ???? ?????. ? ?????? ???? ?????.? ????? ???? ??????. ? ??? ????? ??????.? ??? ?????? ?????. ? ??????? ? ???????.? ????? ? ??????. In these last ones, a ???? is a spider… ???? ???? ?? ??????. ???? ???? ?? ?????! 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. <<TIP OF THE DAY>> 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, ??? ????. 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 ? ??? means? C….translates as ‘with’ ??? is ‘who’…(in its instrumental form.) Ask me: Mark, who were you talking with? ????, ? ??? ?? ???????? Ok…sorry for the interruption. Back to our immersion… – – – ??? ? ???????…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: ????? 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 ????????…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 ???????? 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 ????????? 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: ? ????? ????????. 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.

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. ???? ????? ????. 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, ???? ????? 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 ???? does not mean “my”. And ????? doesn’t mean “name.” When you say: ???? ?????….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. ???? ????? ?????. 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.) ?????? ????? ??????. ?????? changed to ?????? Do you recall how to say ‘dog’ in Russian? ?????? So try to say: The dog is called Fido. ?????? ????? ?????. 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 ????, ????, ?????? The speaker will say: I know Steve. I saw Jeff. I love Marvin. Listen to how their names change. ? ???? ?????. ? ??????? ?????. ? ????? ???????. Did you hear those ‘a’s at the end? ?????, ?????, ???????? Your turn. Try to say…”I know Anton.” ? ???? ??????. I saw Maxim. ? ?????? ???????. She loves Greg. ??? ????? ?????. That doesn’t happen to masculine objects, right? I love your phone: ? ????? ???? ???????. 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…????? I saw a giraffe. ? ??????? ??????. Let’s say you’re in a rock band and before a big gig, the guitarist falls ill. ???????? is the word for guitarist. So you say, Hey…I know a guitarist. ? ???? ?????????. 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.) ????? ????? ????. ???? becomes ????? 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. ????? 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… ????…? ?? ???? ?????. 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. ???, ???! ??????? ??? ????????. So, he said: ? ?? ???? ?????. I can not wait…as in, I’m unable to wait. So what kind of word is it? ????? is a verb infinitive. We hear that T+soft sign. And what was mom saying as Yana pulled up? ???! 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. ? ?? ???? ?????. Imagine you’re in a cafe and you still haven’t gotten your food. Listen as the speaker tells the waitress…???????… I’m waiting for my salad. ? ??? ?????. My brother is waiting for his soup. ??? ???? ???? ???. And you, Darina. You’re waiting for pizza, yes? ? ??, ??????…?? ????? ?????, ??? Let’s hear those again: I’m waiting…You’re waiting…He’s waiting… ? ???, ?? ?????, ?? ???? 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. ? ??? ?????. The word for a client in Russian is a cognate. Listen: ?????? Ask your friend: Are you waiting for a client? ?? ????? ???????? No. I’m waiting for Yana. ???. ? ??? ???. Out of curiosity…Can you guess what the past tense might be? How would a guy say: I was waiting and waiting… ? ???? ? ????… How would a woman say that? ? ????? ? ?????.. 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… ??? ????. <<TIP OF THE DAY>> 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 ? there’s a word that ends either with an L sound, or an U. ? ????…or…? ???. ? ???????….or…? ??????. 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. ?????? must be a person, because it changed to ??????? 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.

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 Ep15. Straight to business today. How would you translate the following phrase: ???? ??? ??? ????. Dad gave me the key. So that little word ??? 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… ??? ???????. ??? ?????????. ??? ???????? ???? ??????. ??? ????. Let’s hear that first one again…??? ???????. ??????? translates as cold. Maybe you know the word ??????????? which is a refrigerator. Anyway, the phrase: ??? ??????? 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: ??? ?????????. You’re in a museum with some friends, in the ancient pottery wing, and they all leave. “It’s boring.” And you tell them: ? ??? ?????????. 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…??? ???????? ???? ??????. 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 ?????? change to ??????? 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. ? ????? ??????. 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: ??? ???? You’re with a friend and realize you’re late for a meeting. Glance at your watch, then pack up your things, explaining: ??? ????. 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! ?????? ? ????? ?????! I’m doing the action…loving the pizza. I like your T-shirt. ??? ???????? ???? ????????. The T shirt is doing the action…pleasing me. Nina? I love Nina! ????? ? ????? ????! I’m doing the action. I’m loving Nina. I like your car. ??? ???????? ???? ??????. The car is doing the action….it’s pleasing me. – – – Speaking of music…the basic form of the word is feminine. Listen: ?????? I like music. ??? ???????? ??????. Whereas I love music. ? ? ????? ??????. 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. ? ??????? ????? ???. Lit: I said TO ALINA…no. I told George no. ? ?????? ??????? ???. I said TO GEORGE In Paris, I bought Mom chocolate. ? ?????? ? ?????? ???? ???????. I bought FOR MOM Dad bought Maxim a new Toyota. ???? ????? ??????? ????? ??????. Dad bought FOR MAXIM ??????? and ?????…To George, and To Alina…those are the same recipient forms as ???. So how would you translate the following phrases? – – – Another flashback, this time to Episode 8, and those clips from SAM & CAT. Remember these… ??? ???? ?????? ??? ? ??????? ???????????????! ??? ???? ??? ??? ??????????? ??? ???? ??????? Who told you? Literally: Who said TO YOU? ??? ???? ???? Who gave it to you? ???? is the recipient form of “??”…And of course, it rhymes with the “to me” version ???? ????. Ask a friend: Do you like borscht? ???? ???????? ????? Are you cold? ???? ???????? 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? ???? ?? ???????? You’re watching a show about Indonesian grubworms…and your roommate leaves to his room. You ask: It’s not interesting to you? ???? ?? ?????????? Andrusha, it’s time for you to sleep. ???????, ???? ???? ?????. 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? ? ????? ???? ?????. We’re doing the action…loving the ?????…so it must be a feminine noun ?????…???? ????? ????? ???????? ???? ?????. ???? ????? is doing the action, so it’s already in its basic form ? ????? ??????. I am doing the action…so the woman’s name must be Galina ???? ??? ? ????????????. There’s soup in the refrigerator. The basic form of refrigerator is: ??????????? ?????? ?? ???????? ???? The kasha is doing the action…it’s not pleasing Tolik. So it’s already in its basic form ??? ????? ???? ??? ???????? Buying something counts as doing something to it, so ??????? 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 ??? translates as? Note that it rhymes with ????…and ?????. Because it has that recipient marker. It simply means, “to him.” So she was asking, “Is he cold?” Lit: TO HIM cold? ??? ???????? – – – <<TIP OF THE DAY>> 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. <<TIP OUT>> 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!

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 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…??? ???! ??? ????! uhh…??????! ?????! uhh…?????! ?? ?????! That was unscripted and unprompted, which is why he used some commands we haven’t learned. Let me re-play and hit pause. So…??? ??? we know. Try to say: Give me the key. ??? ??? ????. Next he said…??? ????. 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: ??????, ??? ????! Or this example. Andrei goes to Mom and tells her….. ????, ????? ?????? ?? ???????. Mom, Sophia is playing on the balcony. Since Sophia should not be playing there, Mama calls out… ?????, ??? ????! Sophia, come here! Literally: walk….to here Back to the recording….Hmm…That one was hard to hear, actually. He said: ??????! Look! (That’s a hard one for for him to pronounce.) Next one: ?????! 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: ??????, ?????! Often at our table, Andrei will be too busy playing with his Lego and has to be prodded: ???????, ??????????…?????. ????? 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…?????! That one we can get. Because you know this: ??? ?? ???????? What are you doing? So, “?????!” is the command form. “Do it!” And finally William said: “?? ?????!” – “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: ??? ????. Come here. Even just ??? 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… ??? ? ??????????. Go to the garage. ??? ? ?????. Go to the store. ??? ? ???????. 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. ????? ????…????, ?????…?????. Hoho the Panda is training for a race. So the command was: ?????…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… ?????, ?????, ??????! 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… ??? ??????? ???????? ???. ?????! All tasty things leave for me. Do it! Now, what would be the formal version of that? Hit pause. Think it over… ???????! So, later, the fox is commanding the wise old monkey to push something… ???????…???????, ???????! 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… ??? ?? ??????? ?????? What are you doing, Milo? Same episode, a man sees Cody, his younger brother, hiding and asks the kid…. ????, ??? ?? ???????? Cody, what are you doing? Quick explanation before getting to the next clip. Imagine we’re sitting in a pizzeria, and I say: ? ???? ?????. I want pizza. Nothing new there. But if I’m at your house and I say, “You know, on Tuesday, ? ??? ? ???????? ? ? ????? ?????.” ….what do you think that means? ? ???…I was in a pizzeria and I wanted pizza. Past tense. Try to say: I wanted to try the cake. ? ????? ??????????? ????. How would a woman say: I wanted to watch basketball. ? ?????? ???????? ?????????. 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… ? ????? ??????? ???????. How would you translate that? Listen again… I wanted to do a surprise. He used the perfective, ???????, because he wanted to do one surprise and finish doing it. And HoHo responds… ? ???? ????? ?????? ????????. I also love to do (in general) surprises. He used the imperfective, ??????, because he loves to make surprises in general. – – – We talked about the two forms of commands. Like: Offering cake to a friend… ????????. Then offering it to your boss: ??????????. So, that formal version…??????????…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: “????????!” What’s interesting is, if I just said: “??????!” 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… ????, ?? ????? ?????? ?????. ??????…??? ??????. ????? is watermelon Hoho, you really love watermelon Look, there’s the watermelons He used ?????? because it’s friend to friend. Later, the fox is showing the two of them how he paints with his tail, and says… ????????!…????????!…????????! 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: ??, ??????. But accidentally bump a stranger out in public, we’d say… ????????. 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: ????????, ???, ?? ??? ?????? ???. Forgive me, Mayor, but there’s no one there. Same episode, the boy Cody explains to his family why he was hiding ????????, ?????? ? ??? ????. 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: ??????, ???. Two more before the break. How would you translate this? ? ???? ???? ????. I have an idea. Lit: At me there is an idea. Listen again… And this one? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????, ??????? ???? ???? translates as “all day.” Listen again…Where were you all day, Krotik? <<tip of the day>> 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 ???????? means? You accidentally bump someone on the street. ????????! 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: ??? ????! 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 ?????! 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…?????! Or this…Imagine a person holding out a forkful of some food. What will they tell you? ????????. 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? ??????? ????????! ??? ????????? ????????? So an ???????? is a monkey…this one is like the wise old monkey in Lion King. ??????? ????????! Grandpa monkey. ??? ????????? ????????? How to learn *to draw?* Technically there are two infinitives in a row there, but we’re after that last one… ???????? After the monkey explains how he draws, Hoho tells him… ???????, ? ????????… No infinitive there. He said: Grandpa, I will try… Next they ask the fox, who says: ??? ????????? So there’s our infinitive again…How to draw? And when the fox shows them how, with his painted tail, Hoho says… ??-??…? ????????. Well, uh…I’ll try! Next they ask the turtle…who of course speaaaks verrry slowly… ????????? ????????? I like that one because you can really hear the “??” 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… ?????? ????????. ????????. Safety service. Talk. …FORMAL Krotik is telling the Hedgehog… ??????????, ?? ?????? ????. Please, don’t be telling Hoho… The fox lowers his tail, trying to save Krotik… ??????, ????? ????! Krotik, hold on to me! INFORMAL The Mayor is ranting to the Police Chief about supposed aliens… ???? ??? ???????…???????! What? They’re everywhere. Go! (Leave) FORMAL Police Chief to his son Cody—????? is a cutesy form of the word ???….son ???????, ?????. ?????? ??? ????? ?????. Thanks, Son. Help us to find Graham. INFORMAL Krotik and Panda roll past the fox. Krotik says hi… ??????, ???! …and the fox commands them… ????????? ????! Wait for me! FORMAL…because it’s his two friends Later, the fox is yelling up a tree at the hedgehog… ? ??…??????! Well! Climb down! INFORMAL An engineer is explaining to a reporter how to use the satellite booth… ? ????? ?????? ???????? 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!

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 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: ????????. Not hungry, you wave it off. So dedushka turns to you, Melissa, and again offers… ???????, ??????????…????????. Hmm….What could that mean: ???????? Well, we know this form of the word: ?????? ???????????? So, ???????? is what’s known as the command form. Dedushka is commanding us to try the meat. Listen to just the ending of the word: –??? 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: “??????!” It’s a command to “Look!” Let’s have you try those. Hold out a food item and tell your friend: Try it! ????????! Next, you’re about to demonstrate something for your friend. Tell them: “Watch!” ??????! 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: ???????, ??????????. Michael, too, was making crackers and Cheeze Whiz. And he holds the tray to dedushka. Listen… ???????, ??????????. Listen to that ending again…???? Hmm. Why does grandma get to say just ???????? to us, but we have to say ?????????? 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…. ???????, ????????. Now offer it to Vladimir Ivanovich… ???????? ????????, ??????????. You’re at the beach when you see some dolphins. Tap little Sophia on her shoulder and say: Sophia, look! ?????, ??????! ????????. Then take Babushka’s hand and point for her…Grandma, look. Dolphins. ???????, ????????! ????????. Seemingly random quiz here. How would a guy say: I gave the T-shirt to Fred. ? ??? ???????? ?????. And a woman would phrase that… ? ???? ???????? ?????. 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… ????, ??? ???…?????. / …???? / …???? Here they are again: Jim, give to me the book…give to me the water…give to me the key So the word was “???” It sounds very much like the English word “die” doesn’t it? Let’s listen to a few more. ????, ??? ???…???????????. / …??????? / …??? 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… ???????? ??????????, ????? ??? ????, ??????????. So the word was: ?????. 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? – – – <<tip of the day>> 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. ? ???? ???? ??????. 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…. ? ???? ???? ??????. ? ???? ???? ??????? ? ??????? ???? ??????? ???. ? ??????? ???? ?????. ? ???? ???? ?????? 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. <<end tip>> 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.

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. ? ???? ???? 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) ????! ????! ????! ??? ???? ? ??????? ???????. ?????? ???????????? ??????. ???????? (crunch) ???! ???????! ???????. ? ???? ???? ???????. ? ???? ???? ????. ? ???? ???? 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 ? ???? ???? literally means is: At me there exists… Take that last word…????. 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? ???? ?????? ????. Is there salt? ???? ????? ????. Is there butter? ???? ?????? ????. ? ???? ???? 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: ? ???? ???? ?????? ??! ????????? ?? ?????????. At me there is only you. The rest don’t count. The next one, the proud Papa sang… ? ? ???? ???? ?????, ???????, ???????. And at me there is a daughter…happy and funny. We note, by the way, how those adjectives—happy and funny (???????, ???????)—rhyme with ?????. Listen again… And then we heard this little kid singing about grandma… ? ???? ???? ???????, ??????? ??????, ??????? ??????, ????? ??????? 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 “????? ???????” translates as “very young.” Again, we note how those adjectives ?????? and ??????? rhyme with ???????. So, here’s what’s interesting: That little word ‘?’ has a big effect on the words that follow. For example, the word for I is ?. But you put the word ‘?’ in front of it: ? ???? The word for ‘you’, when talking with friends or family, is ??. Again, you put ? in front of it: ? ????. That little ‘?’ changes the ends of people’s names, too. Listen… ??????….? ??????? ?????….? ?????? Might as well try to guess these next ones. What about girl’s names, you ask. Let’s listen… ????????…? ???????? ????….? ???? ???????….? ??????? Hey, your turn now: All those literally translate as, At George, or At Svetlana…meaning that they have something. Heck, that little word ‘?’ even changes the word ‘who’. Listen… It changed ??? to ????. 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. ??????? ??????? ????? You probably know them already, but just in case, here they are in context. My grade school was small, but…??? ??????????? ????? ???????. In Jurassic Park, the velociraptors were small, but…?????????? ???? ????? ???????. So, ????? ??????? translates as very big. If you ask me, Led Zeppelin…????? ??????? ?????? ???????? – ????? ??????? ??????. So ??????? 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 ????? is what we call an adverb, it never changes its form. Ever. Yay for adverbs! <<tip of the day>> 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? <<end tip>> …but don’t get a matryoshka doll (????????). 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. ???? ????? ????????. ????. ?????? ?? ????. ?? ??????, ? ????? ???? ????????. Did you catch most of that? Can you translate this time? ???? ????? ????????. Ivan bought a matryoshka…that nesting doll we were just talking about. ????. ?????? Gosh. What for? (Remember that word from the song in the midterm?) ?? ????. ?? ??????, ? ????? ???? ????????. 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—? ???? “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. ? ???? ??????? ??????????. Lit: At me good mood. No need for ???? here Or the opposite: I have a bad mood. Listen… ? ???? ?????? ??????????. 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: ? ???? ????? ???? ? ??????. 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… ???, Woody. ? ???? ??????? ??????? ? ??????. 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 “????” in those. They were temporary conditions. A few lines later, Woody encourages Buzz… ? ???? ???? ??????. ?? ?????? ?????????. You have wings. You can light up. Woody included ???? because Buzz has wings permanently. Anyway, let’s listen to two more song clips. Again, they’ll be using ? ???? to describe their mood or situation. And again, no one’s at risk of winning a Grammy here. So he said: ? ???? ??? ????….At me all okay. And the other one: ? ? ???? ??? ??????…??? ?? ????? ??????. 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 ??????? or ???????. 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.

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. ??????????? Let’s see if we can get it from these Russian conversations. (cooking sounds)…Mom’s in the kitchen…Andrei comes in… ??????, ????. ??? ?? ????????? ? ??????? ????????. ? ??? ????? ??, ??? ????. ?????? ???????????? ??. (slurp) Mmmm! ???????! Now Dad is in the kitchen when Sophia wanders in… ??????, ????. ??? ?? ????????? ? ??????? ??????????. ? ??? ???? ??. ?????? ???????????? ??. (crunch chew) Mmmm! ???????! So ??????????? 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 ????????, which in Russian is a salad, not a dressing. She sees you, and lifts a spoonful. Listen to Alex say, I already tried some. ? ??? ??????????. Literally just: I already tried. Then Nastya walks by. Again, grandma and her spoon… ???????, ???????. ? ??? ???????????. Let’s say you’re curious to sample some. Say: “I want to try.” ? ???? ???????????. 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 ??????????? 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: ???? Now we learned that verb in Episode 6. Try to say: Jeff gave the key to Clark. ???? ??? ???? ??????. But the dictionary is telling us the word is ????. 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. ? ???? ???????????. 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. ??????????? <—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. ???…???? Darina, can you do the same thing? ???….???? 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. ???….???? ???…..???? Let’s try a different vowel. ???….???? 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?” ???? ?? ????? ???????????? 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) ??? ????? ??????????? ??? ?????? (??????) ????? ??? ????. ????…?? ?, ????. ? ?? ????? ????? ??????. ????, ?????????. ??????. ????????. ??, ???? ????? ???? ????????? ? ????? ? ????????? ??. ? ?????. ??. ?????? ??? ???????. ???????. ? ??? ????. 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 —?? that we listened to. And that I’m going to test you on now. All I want you to do is tell me ?? or ???…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 ??????? means? We heard it in our opening dialogs. Listen again… ??, ??? ????. ?????? ???????????? ??. Mmmm! ???????! ??. ?????? ???????????? ??. Mmmm! ???????! ??????? 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?” ???????! ?????? ???????????? You’ll often hear it shortened to ??????! 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 ??????? changes to match the noun. And see if you can translate… ???????…????. /…????. /…??????. ???????…?????. /…????????. /…?????? ???????…????. /…????????. /…???????. ???????…?????. /…?????. /…????????. Alright. That was a fun lesson. See you in Episode 12!

Hi, guys. No transcript today. Remember, the whole focus of this course is to have you listen closely and do your best to make sense of what the speakers are saying. There’s not much point, then, in writing everything out for you. But, since you’re here, let me list the various songs and artists you heard throughout the midterm. Ani Lorak: ? ? ????? – (I’m With You) Klara Koka: ??? – (the month of May) St1m: ????????? – (Little sister) (Note: Not sure how to pronounce the artist’s name, but it is indeed spelled “St1m”.) ???????-????????: “????? ?????” ?? ????? “?????? ? ???? ???????” Rimsky Korsokov: “Flight of the Bumblebee” from the opera, “A Story About the Tsar Sultan.” ?????????? (Rachmaninov): Piano Concerto #2 5sta Family: ?????? (Why / What for?) (Note: Once again, unsure of how to pronounce their name.)

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 9. You may have noticed that in the last episode we heard a bunch of phrases that I never actually translated for you. All these… ?? ????????? ? ??????????? ???. ????? ???????? ? ??????????. I didn’t translate because we were simply listening for our verb patterns: Tee…something…ish. Michael…something…et. Jessica…something…eet. The verbs, though, that we heard were all in the top ten most commonly used verbs in Russian…in any language, really. And today, we’re going to work with four of them. Can you translate them? (vege chopping sounds) ??????, ??????. ??? ?? ???????? ? ????? ?????. “Hi Polina. What are doing?” “I’m making a salad.” Hmmm..the same verb—?????? can translate as doing and making? Yup. If I walk into my son’s room and I see he’s stacking all his furniture against the wall, building a fort or something, I’d yell…??????! ??? ?? ???????! Andrei, what are you doing? He says: ? ????? ????. I’m making a fort. Later, if he’s at the table drawing a picture and putting sprinkles on it and such, I’d ask again: ?? ??????, ??? ?? ???????? What are you making? ? ????? ???????? ????. I’m making a picture for mom. The translation just depends on context. Imagine I’m putting together little William’s birthday present. A bicycle. He wants to come into the room, but Andrei stops him. Listen.. ???? ?????? ???? ???????. Dad is making a surprise for you. Ask your friend,who has flour and sugar and butter all over the place…Are you making a cake? How about this next one? Again, one of the most common verbs in any language… (sound of soda can) ????, ?????? ????? ???? ?????, ??????, ???. ???, ???????. ? ?? ???? ????. Do you want a cola? (soda) No. I don’t want. I’m trying to feed our kids, when my wife calls. I tell her… ??????? ?? ????? ???. ? ??? ?? ?????? Andrusha doesn’t want soup. So, what does he want? Try to say: I don’t want pizza. – – – You’re eating potato chips when a friend walks in. Jiggle the bag and ask, with one word: Want? – – – Let’s do some review, now, from the last episode. Ask a friend, “You wouldn’t happen to know where my telephone is?” Literally: You don’t know where my telephone is? – – – Ok, now let’s review what we’ve worked on so far in today’s episode. Can you translate the gist of the following phrases? – – – So far so good? Let’s try two more verbs…again, we heard them in the last episode, now we’ll take a closer look. Imagine you friend calls and asks if you’re up for basketball. But that afternoon, you sprained your ankle. So you say.. ? ?? ???? ??????. ???? ?????. I can’t play. My leg hurts. Someone calls asking to speak to your roommate But he’s in the shower. So you say… ?? ?? ????? ????????. He can’t talk. Your mom’s about to head to the store and you’re feeling thirsty for something sweet. So you ask… ????, ?? ?????? ?????? ??? ???????? Mom, can you buy me lemonade? Let’s try those again. I can. You can. He can. ? ????. ?? ??????. ?? ?????. And our last verb. Remember, in one of the first episodes, we listened to my 3 yr old son William using a construction? Well, here’s what he said…translated into Russian. Listen… ? ?????….????. /…????. /…???????. /…???????. /…??????? I love Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa and Andryusha. And why all those “u”endings? Mamu, Papu, Babushku? Because loving something counts as doing something to it Here’s the “you” form of the verb. Imagine that, while your significant other is away, you remodel their room with bookshelves stacked with books. You explain… ? ????, ??? ?? ?????? ??????. I know, that you love to read. And the he/she form. Listen… ???? ????? ???????? ???????. Dad loves to watch baseball. Let’s hear those again…I love, you love, he loves… ? ?????, ?? ??????, ?? ????? So now…let’s put all four of those verbs together. Again, just try to get the gist of these phrases. At a minimum, try to get, like, “he wants” or “Grandma loves”…Ready? <<tip of the day>> A lot of people have been writing in, asking about additional listening practice. Obviously, Russian songs are a great place to start. What I would do is Google “famous Russian singers” and then click on whoever interests you. In fact, in the next episode—the USR Midterm—I’ll be playing cuts from a variety of Russian and Ukrainian singers. So, songs are one source. The other obvious choice is Russian movies…which I don’t really recommend. Oh, it’s a popular suggestion online, on sites like reddit and Quora…”Watch Russian movies with subtitles.” I appreciate that they’re trying to help, but it’s a thoughtless suggestion. Russian movies, written, acted, directed by Russians…use an extremely challenging register of Russian speech. Moreover, they’re talking about things—aspects of life in Russia—which would be alien to you. Do you know what ZAGs and Ovir are? What a podval looks like…to say nothing of a cherdak. Do you know what it’s like to shop in the ??????????? ?????…the old ones, where the stands are barely ten feet wide and the alleys crammed with shoppers who rode in from the celo? It’s just…it’s too much. Instead, I recommend watching dubbed cartoons. Peppa Pig. Robocar Poli. Super Wings. Peppa Pig is great because each episode is so short. Five minutes…maybe seven? But more importantly, it deals with things we understand well. Going to the store. Cooking dinner. Going to the playground. A trip to the lake. And to really get your money’s worth, watch the episode in English first, then the same one in Russian. And don’t bother with the closed captioning to read along…its ability to transcribe is laughably bad. Just relax, and listen. You could also watch feature-length cartoons dubbed into Russian. Toy Story, Frozen, Tangled, Lion King…whatever. Choose whichever you’ve seen and know well, and then search for the Russian dubbed version. We do quite a bit of that in my Russian Accelerator podcast, and it’s fascinating. Whoever Disney and Pixar are using for translating the scripts…they’re geniuses Really, amazingly good work. Because especially trying to translate songs? So so hard. And they always nail it.

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 8. In the last episode we learned to pick out two important verb patterns in Russian…the first was for when a speaker is talking about themself in the present tense—like, ? ??????? ? ???? ? ?????? …and we also learned to pick out when they’re talking about you. Like: ??? ?? ?????????? ??? ?? ??????? In today’s lesson we’ll add a new form. But first let’s review what we learned. All I want you to say is whether ? or ?? is the subject of the sentence…the one doing the action. Ready? – – – Alright, on to today’s main topic which is the “he/she” form of verbs…again, in the present tense. No rules or conjugation charts…just a super easy pattern that we’ll practice spotting. In the following exchanges, Katya is sitting with Anton and some friends who don’t speak Russian. So, Katya will ask Anton…for ex: Do you want pizza? And he’ll answer: No, Tony wants pizza….each time, using a different name. Just listen… – – – So we had: ????? ????????, ????? ??????, ?????? ?????, ???????? ?????, ??????? ?? ????? Those were the he and she forms of those verbs. And we heard an “et” sound at the end of each one. Let’s do nearly the same thing, using those same verbs, but this time it’ll go: Does Anton work…No, I work… – – – Not all he and she forms end with that “et” sound. It can be ??… …The ending can also be ??… …but there’s always that ‘T’ at the end. So in this first exercise, you now need to choose between three possible subjects. Are we hearing the ? form of the verb, the ?? form, or the ?? ???-He/She form. Let’s give it a try… – – – As for that word ‘???????’ …think of the clip on a gun, which is called a magazine…it stores bullets. ??????? = store So from all of that, the one phrase I want to be our official new word of the day is this: ? ????. We’ve heard it quite a few times already in this episode, so let me give you a few chances to use it in context. Imagine you’re outside with some friends, and Sara slips away into a shoe store. Someone asks…??…??? ????? Say: I know. She’s in the store. Maybe someone’s searching for the box of Halloween decorations you put in the basement last year. Where are they? someone asks. ??? ???? Say: I know. In the podval. If someone tells you something you already know, you can confirm without saying “ya.” Just… ??, ????. Yeah, I know. It’s probably more common used in the negative. That is, saying: I don’t know. Imagine you’ve just woken up and your roommate is searching for something. He peeks in your room: ??, ??? ??? ???????? Shrug your shoulders and tell him: I don’t know. ? ?? ????. It’s also a polite way of asking if they know something. For example, in English we might say, “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where my rucksack is?” In Russian, literally: You don’t know where my rucksack? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ??????? Try that again. Ask: You wouldn’t happen to know where my book is? Alright, so now…let’s try our all-Russian section. Someone will talk, and then you answer the Yes or No questions that follow. If you don’t know the answer, then say: I don’t know. NOTE: The Russian Immersion section has been deleted from this transcript. This is because the entire focus of this course is listening and understanding. <<Tip of the day>> Do you know what a cognate is? If you’re going through my Russian Made Easy podcast, or my Russian Accelerator course, then you’ve heard me talk a lot about cognates. Apologies for the repetition, but it’s such a key strategy to employ. Cognates are words that sound very similar between two languages and have the same meanings. Can you tell what these are? ??????? ??????? ?????? ???????? ???????? ????? ????? Why are they so important? Well, when used properly, cognates let the student focus on the other things within an unfamiliar Russian phrase. You’re not stressing about the meaning…you already know it. Instead, you can target the word endings and spot the patterns…so you understand the word’s function in the sentence. Take that word ‘engineer’. (???????) How is it being used in the following sentence? ? ??? ????? ????????. I gave the plans to the engineer. Engineer has that recipient marker on the end..that U sound. Or this example with the word client: ?????? ? ??????? ???????, ??? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??????. I told the client that you don’t know his address. But you have to use the right cognates. Because a lot of cognates—since they were borrowed from other languages–don’t follow standard Russian patterns. Their word endings often don’t change. That can lead to confusion. So in this course—in all my courses—I’m using plenty of cognates, but believe me, they are carefully chosen. Not so much a tip, I suppose, but an insider’s view into the making of an effective language course. << end tip>> Next, let’s listen to clips from the Russian version of SAM & CAT..the show that made Ariana Grande famous. And I should add…like the Thunderman’s episodes we’ve listened to, I’m not cherry picking here. What I mean is, this is literally the first episode of SAM and CAT I came across. And yet there’s plenty here you can grasp. So in this episode, Sam and Cat learn that their friend is a bodyguard for their favorite rock star, Dell DeVille. Just listen and see what you can pick out… ??? ?? ?????! (???! there it is again) ??….? ?? ???? ?????????? ?????? ??? ??? ??????. ???????! ? ?? ???? ???????? ? ??????. ????? ??????? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ? ??????? ???????????????! ?? ?????????????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??????????? Ok, so…Cat has a blanket over her head, which is why she says…”??? ?? ?????.” Lit: “For me not visible.” In normal English: “I can’t see.” And of course, our core word from Episode 5 was there: ??? So their goofy friend says, “I cant tell because it’s a secret.” “Seriously. I cant talk about work.” The kid says: “New job?” Goofball says: “Who told you that I work as a bodyguard?” “You’re a bodyguard?” “Who gave you this information?” ‘Giving’ information counts as doing something to it, so ??? ?????????? changed to ??? ?????????? So they learn he’s the bodyguard to Dell Deville. Listen… (kid) ?? ????????? ?? ?????-???????? (Cat) ? ????? ?????-???????! (Goomer) ???. ? ?? ???? ????? ???????! There were three present tense verbs in there from today’s podcast. Listen again… So the kid said…You work for Dell DeVille? Then Cat says: I love Dell DeVille. And their friend says…No, I can’t do this. So they try to meet this Dell DeVille guy at his favorite Burrito stand and Cat is standing with a big balloon. Off of Sam’s annoyed glance, Cat explains,… ? ????? ??????. I love balloons…then she looks around and says…. ????! ? ??? ?????? Stop! So, where’s Goomer? Then they show Goomer searching for the rock star guy. What does Goomer say? ???! ? ????? ???? ??????! Dell! I bought for you a burrito! A series of misfortunes and the rock star ends up in their home. Sam comes out and sees this massive breakfast that Cat made. And Cat tells her… ??????! ? ??????? ??????? ??? ?????-???????. ? ????. Remember, ? ??????? ?????????? I was watching basketball? Well, ?????? is the command form. So she’s telling her, Look! And what does Sam say? ? ????. I see. Sam comes over to free Dell’s hand. They have him temporarily restrained. He asks… ??? ?? ???????? What are you doing? She brought him coffee, but he insults her and so she leaves his hands locked…and the coffee just out of reach. ?….? ?? ???? ??????????. He’s reaching as far as he can…I…I can’t ??????????..I cant reach it. Listen to him as she walks away: ??? ??? ??? ???? ???? ????…? ???? ?????! no no no….stay stay stay….I want a latte! I know, they all speak really fast in these clips, but that’s the point. I’m trying to get you used to hearing real speech, right from the beginning. So hang in there. As we progress, you’ll get more and more comfortable with the way native speakers really talk. – – – Before our final exam of this episode, let’s do a little speaking practice with words we’ve officially learned. Try to say… – – – Alright, enough pressure for today. Now just sit back and see if you can translate the gist of these phrases. Remember, if there’s a word you don’t know…no biggie. Just toss it into your translation. Like…???? ????? ??? ???????. Just say….Dad bought for me a galstuk. Ready? – – – My email is Mark @ understandingspokenrussian com I hope to hear from you, and how you’re doing with all this. And in the meantime, I’ll see you in Podcast #9.

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 7 of Understanding Spoken Russian. To start with today, Alex is going to ask me a question. Listen? – – – Depending on where you’re at in your studies, you might’ve understood all of that, or almost none of it. Either way, in today’s episode we’re going to discover a key pattern in there and put it to work for us. The sound I want to extract from that for now—the sound I want slipping deep into your subconscious—is: ??? As that reverberates through your mind, let’s do some review. In these complex phrases, can you spot who did what to whom? – – – What was that little word we started the lesson with? ???. Let’s see if we can get it from context. In every action movie, there’s a scene where the hero gets badly hurt. His buddy pushes away the rubble, finds the guy, and asks him: ????! ?? ??? ???? (dyin’) ??…. What do you think he asked him? Tony, are you still alive? So ??? translates as “alive” or “living.” It’s not all that common on its own, but it’s the root of one of the most common verbs in conversational Russian. Let’s listen again to the opening conversation, and translate as we go. ????, ??? ?? ??????? – Mark, where do you live? ? ???? ? ?????. – I live in Kiev. ??????, ??? ?? ??????? – Polina, where do you live? ? ???? ? ???????. – I live in Donetsk. ? ??, ???????? ??? ?? ??????? – And you, Alex? Where do you live? ? ???? ? ??????. – I live in Moscow. So, ? ???? translates as “I live.” ?? ?????? translates as “You live.” Those are our new words for this lesson. We’ll work with them in a second, but here’s an important sidenote. In Russian, as in many languages, depending on who you’re speaking to there are different words you use to say the same thing. There are two categories that we put people in: Is the person someone you can speak friendly with, like a friend or family member? Or…Is it a person you need to speak politely with, like your boss, or any adult you don’t know. We’ll cover this in detail a bit later in the series, but the main point is that the same exact thought will be expressed two different ways. For ex: Let’s say I’m talking with my buddy: “Yo, dude what’s up? Hey, I wanted to ask..??? ?? ???????” That was informal speech. Now I’m with my boss, who’s also bilingual. “Ahem, hello sir….I was wanting to ask: ??? ?? ???????” That’s the same exact question: “Where do you live?” But with different words. Another ex: To a friend who’s just gotten a new job, you might ask: “Where do you work?” ??? ?? ?????????? To a stranger on a train, you’d ask that same question like this: ??? ?? ?????????? Just know that for today, we’ll be speaking informally, as if to friends. Try to say… – – – And now try it with wherever you live. If you’re not sure how to pronounce your city in Russian, or whether you’re getting the ending right—because there are exceptions to that “yeh” ending—just go to the website, UnderstandingSpokenRussian.com and leave a comment at the bottom of Episode 7. So, in this first exercise, all I want you to do is tell me if the person is speaking in the present tense, or the past. If you can translate, great, but if not..just past or present. Ready? – – – Let’s add another verb into the mix. ?????? Imagine you’re searching for your suitcase. Finally your roomate spots it and he says… ??, ??????? ???? ??????? ?? ???????. Or he’s looking for his ????????… ??? ??? ????????? ??????? ?? ?? ?????. ??????? they ask, pointing. Do you see? ???-???…has our core word from Episode 5: ??? But now we’re hearing it in the present tense. Listen to him say, Yes, I see. ??. ????. She would say it the same way… ??. ????. It’s only the past tense where the gender of the subject is reflected. Last one: ???????? You walk into the living room and your roomate Vadim is watching TV. The commercials are running, so you ask him… ?????, ??? ?? ????????? Whenever I’m outside with my kids when they’re playing, they always want to know… ????, ?? ????????? Dad, are you watching? So let’s do that same exercise from before, but include these other verbs…seeing and watching. Again, translate if you can, but otherwise just say: past or present. – – – ? ???????. ? ????. ? ??????. ? ????. When speaking in the present tense—about where they work,or where they live—a Russian speaker starts with “ya” (?) and then uses a verb ending in an ‘U’ sound. It might be “? or ?” but the ‘u’ sound is always there. There are so few exceptions to this, it’s scarcely worth noting. ?? ?????????. ?? ??????. ?? ????????. ?? ??????. Similarly, when speaking in the present tense about where you work, where you live, and so on—a Russian speaker starts with ?? and then uses a verb ending in an ‘ish’ sound. It might be ?? ?? ?? but the “sh” sound is always there. Again, this is when “you” is a friend or a kid. So all I want to do here is spot these patterns. Just tell me if it’s you or I doing the action. And we’ll mix in some unfamiliar verbs. Ready? – – – In this next exercise, pretend you are the person speaking. He’ll start by saying his name. Literally: Me they-call Anton. Then he’ll talk a bit about himself. Just listen… NOTE: The episode’s Russian Immersion section has also been deleted from this transcript. Again, this is because the entire focus of this course is listening and understanding. People don’t (yet) come with subtitles. That one had some new words in it. What do you think this means? ?? ??????? ??????. You are reading a magazine. And this? ?? ??????? ?????. You are reading a book. Remember ????? from Episode 5? ? ???????? ??????…I read the recipe… So these are the present tense forms of that verb, “to read.”. Listen again… I’m reading a funny email ? ????? ??????? ?????. Or simpler. Just: I am reading. ? ?????. Are you reading my blog? ?? ??????? ??? ????? Try to translate these… << tip of the day>> Even in a course like this, where the entire focus is on listening and getting the gist of what native speakers are saying, it’s still a good idea to do interactive exercises…the way we just did. I like it because it forces you to kind of sit straight and listen closely. Which is why we’ll be doing more of that in future lessons. The tip here is, if you’re using this course in conjunction with some other resource—you have to choose carefully. I remember back when I was first getting started in Russian, I looked for that kind of interactive listening stuff online and it was so frustrating. Because even when they spoke slowly, they weren’t using the vocab I’d learned. It made feel like I wasnt making progress. So what I did, believe it or not, was hire native speakers in my area—this was in Mesa, Arizona—and had them make up simple but realistic dialogs like that…and I recorded them. I basically created my own course material. That’s when my progress in Russian really started to accelerate…because the exercises were at just the right level. Which is why I added what I call my ‘Russian Immersion’ podcast to my online, Russian Accelerator course. There, each podcast episode uses only the vocabulary you’ve learned up to that point. So you’re suddenly having these long exchanges all in Russian and without that frustration of feeling lost. Like I said, if you’re supplementing, choose your resources carefully. <<end tip>> So, let’s try one more interactive listening exercise. Again, just answer ?? or ???… Bonus question here. Even if you dont understand, see if you can answer… ??? ? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ??????. Any guess on what that means? ?? ?????? ?? ??????. You’re sitting on the couch. Next, let’s listen to some clips from Russian TV. Again, I’ll use that show, the Thundermans, about a family of superheros. This first snippet starts with “???????, ?????,”…”of course, sweety.” Then what does the mother say? That was of course ridicuously fast. See if you can spot the two verbs. One in the present tense, then one in the past…. She said: ???????, ?????. ? ????? ???? ????. ?????? ??? ????????? Of course, dear. I read your blog. Did you see my comments? In this next one do you hear a ? verb or a ?? verb? ?????? ?? ????????…Now you’re gonna get it…Lit: Now you will receive This next one starts with the word ??…Which is the informal you. Is the mother speaking in the past tense or present? ?? ???????????? ???? ?????-???? ????? ?????????…past Again..past tense or present? ??? ??????… ? ???? ?? ? ??????????? As you see, we’re figuring this out…??? ??????….present Quick break, and then our final exam…. We dont know all the words, but can you translate the gist of these phrases? – – – Alright, great job, guys. If you’re starting to feel more confident and feel ready to try a conversational course along with this, I hope you’ll check out my Russian Made Easy podcast. And in the meantime, I’ll see you in the next lesson.

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 6 of Understanding Spoken Russian. (sound of crying girl) Because she was crying, I gave Sophia a doll. That’s an odd way to start the lesson. And yet, allow me to repeat that: Because she was crying, I gave Sophia a doll. Odder still, I’d like you to repeat that out loud. Say it with me: “Because she was crying, I gave Sophia a doll.” Ok, what is this guy up to? Well, hopefully you trust me by now. I promise, in a minute you’ll see why I had you repeat that sentence. But first, let’s review what we learned in Episode 5. Try to translate the following phrases, and explain what kind of verb was used…perfective or imperfective. – – – Alright, so…what was that phrase I had you repeat? “Because she was crying, I gave Sophia a doll.” Listen to this Russian word: ??? A woman would pronounce it: ???? What kind of word do you think it is? With those L endings, it’s probably a verb in the past tense, right? Let’s hear it in context: (cell phone ringing)… (Andrei) “Here Mommy, take your phone.” ??????? ??? ???? ???????. (sound of fork dropping to the floor) “Oh, I dropped my fork. Sophia, could you get me one from the kitchen?” “Yes, Daddy.” ????? ???? ???? ?????. Both ??? …and… ???? translate as “gave”. And ??? sounds a lot like the English word ‘doll’, doesn’t it? So that phrase I told you in the beginning…What was it again? Sophia was crying so I gave her a doll. That phrase should help you recall it. In Russian, giving something counts as doing something to the object. For ex: ? ??? ?????? ????????. I gave Anton a T-shirt. The word futbolka changed to futbolku, with that ‘u’ ending. Or this… ???? ???? ??? ?????. Mom gave me a book. Again, kniga (?????) changed to knigu (?????). The verb to give is obviously very useful to know, which is why it’s our official new word of the lesson. But today’s real topic is what happened to the words Mama and Papa and Anton when they received those things. Listen again… ??????? ??? ???? ???????. – Mama became Mam-yeh ????? ???? ???? ?????. – Papa became Pap-yeh ? ??? ?????? ????????. – Anton became Antonu Interesting. Let’s listen to some more examples. Can you translate these? – – – Let’s run through those again with the name Jeff. So he’ll start by saying, This is Jeff… ??? ????. ? ?????? ????? ???. ? ????? ????? ????? ???????. ? ??? ????? ????. What do you think that ‘U’ sound at the end of Jeff’s name is signifying? Another way to ask that is: What does the ‘U’ sound tell the listener? That ‘u’ sound added to the end of a guy’s name is a recipient marker. It tells the listener that, in this case Jeff, is receiving something. So: ? ?????? ????? ???. …I said to Jeff no. Jeff was receiving the words. ? ????? ????? ????? ???????. I bought for Jeff a new phone. Jeff was the recipient of a phone. ? ??? ????? ????. I gave (to) Jeff a chance. Again, Jeff was the person who received the chance. For female names, the ending is “yeh”…same sound as the location marker. So let’s do a few more with the name Polina. So he’ll start by saying, This is Polina… ??? ??????. ? ?????? ?????? ???. ? ????? ?????? ????? ???????. ? ??? ?????? ????. Polina changed to Polinyeh in each one because she was the recipient. This is a major chunk of Russian grammar right here. Think of how often we say things like, “I called her, I sent him an email, I sent her a text, I gave her the money, I told him I’d be there.” In each of those…I called, I sent, I gave, I told…there’s a recipient. If the recipient is guy, you’ll hear an U at the end of his name: Mark becomes Marku…John becomes Johnu. If it’s a woman, a ‘yeh’ sound. Yana becomes Yanyeh. Darina becomes Darinyeh. – – – (telephone ring) ????? ??????, ????. ??????, ?????. ????! ???? ????????. ?? ????? ?????. What do you think this means: ???? ????????. Do you hear the word “phone” in there, kind of? puh-zvon-EEL…zvon…phone? ???????? means called on the phone. And it’s the perfective form of the verb. No need to actively learn that one. You’ll use it a few million times, so it’ll sink in naturally. And we’ll be hearing it quite a few times in just a minute. But here’s the thing about this recipient ending: It allows Russian to use a more flexible word order than English. In English, you have to put the recipient right after the verb. For ex: I called Mom this afternoon. Mom comes right after called. I gave Chris the money. Chris comes right after gave. Yes, you could perhaps say: Chris I gave the money…but it’s awkward, and much less common. But in Russian, we’re more flexible. So tell me…Who called who? ????? ???????? ????. Greg called Mark. Right? Mark had the recipient “u” ending. And Greg was in his basic form, meaning he did the action. Weird, isn’t it? And you might think, “C’mon…Do Russians really phrase it that way?” Absolutely. It all depends on the question that prompted the statement. If someone asks: Who did Greg call? Then ‘Mark’ would go at the end of the sentence: ???? ???? ????????? ???? ???????? ?????. But if the question is: Who called Mark? ??? ???????? ?????? Then we’d use this one: ????? ???????? ????. So it simply depends on the question. And I can’t help but point out the rhyme here: The question word: Whom…????? ?????. …rhymes with the masculine answer. To whom? To Mark. Let’s do some more. Again, Who called who? – – – These recipient endings are used even when the verb is unspoken. Just this morning, Dedushka—our kid’s grandfather—was feeding the twins kasha (????), which is porridge. William was being silly and insisting that Ded feed his toy dinosaur instead. As Ded pretended to feed a spoonful to the dinosaur and then to William, here is exactly what he said: ???? ????? ???????????, ???? ???????. Literally: One spoon to the little dinosaur, one to William. The words: ??????????…and… ?????? …became…. ??????????? …and….???????. because they were the recipients of the spoonfuls. Let’s translate other phrases like that, with no verbs in them. Just say who gets what, even if you’re not sure what the item is. – – – Listen to the masculine words client ?????? and travel agent ???????? ? ?????? ???????, ??? ?? ?????? ????????? ?????????. I said to the client, that he should call a travel agent. I said to the client…???????….he should call to the travel agent…????????? ? ?????? ??????????, ??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?????. I told the waitress that we need one more spoon. ?????????? with that basic ‘a’ ending, became ??????????…with the recipient “yeh” ending because she was the recipient of what he said. Listen to this phrase: Is he your partner? (like…business partner) ?? ???? ???????? ? ???? ??? ????????? ?????? ????????. I gave all the documents to your partner. And notice that now the words “your” and “partner” rhyme. ?????? ???????? Gotta love it. <<< Tip of the day…..>>> In the last podcast, the tip was how useful Google’s exact match function is, as well as its image search. Those are great because they don’t rely on the computer having to understand anything. It’s simply showing you what native speakers are doing. That’s great. What’s not so great is how computers themselves understand and translate language. During the 2019 Superbowl Google had an ad: We translate one billion words every day. Yeah, and about four hundred million of those translations are horribly mangled. The problem is, computers translate by statistical analysis. They simply do not understand language. At all. For one thing, they’re infamously bad with expressions. For ex: I feel like a milkshake. in American English, that means I feel like having a milkshake. Ok? Languages do that sometimes…they leave off words which are understood between native speakers. But poor Google just doesn’t get it. Here’s how it translates that… ? ???????? ???? ??? ???????? ????????. ..which, to a Russian speaker, is like saying: I feel the way a milkshake feels. We can go the other way. A very common expression in Russian is to tell someone: ????, ?? ?????. There’s a multitude of ways you might translate that, depending on the context, and what prompted the person to say that. But it’s an expression of comical exasperation. Like, Only you could be like that. Only you could do something like that. So, what’s Google’s gloriously translation? “Mark, you give.” I didn’t see that one in the Superbowl commercial. One more: “Dude, you’re driving me up a wall.”…comes out in Russian as… ?????, ?? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ?????. Instead of giving an equivalent expression in Russian—some version of ‘you’re making me crazy’, the computer goes word by word: Dude, you’re leading me by vehicle upwards along a wall. Do you think your Russian friend reading that is going to have the slightest clue what you mean? They also do terribly with slang. I talked to my buddy in the U.S. last night, and at one point he said, and I quote: “My new laptop has a bad-ass processor.” I couldn’t help myself. I typed it into Google translate. Now here’s the Russian version… People, the Russian word ?????? is the word for terrible, horrible. It got the translation 100% wrong. The exact opposite of what he meant. This is a very important tip, okay? Please don’t rely on and don’t trust any computer translation. They’re just not there yet. <<< tip end >>> Let’s see if we remember our one new word from this lesson. Try to say… – – – When Svetlana was the recipient, did you say Svetlan-yeh? And when James was the recipient, did you say James-u? If so, you’re doing great. In this next exercise, all I want you to do is say who did what to whom. – – – Alright, let’s go on to our final exam…Can you translate the gist of these phrases? As always, if you don’t know a word, it’s no biggie. Just add it into your translation. Like for this… ???? ???? ???? ?????. If you don’t recall what a veelka (?????) is, just say: “Masha gave Dad a veelku (?????) ….which happens to be a fork. Ok? No pressure. Just try your best. – – – Great job, guys. And on a sidenote..Have any of you noticed that every single phrase we’ve translated has been in the past tense? Dad bought, Mom gave, Alina called…Well, that’s about to change. And it’ll happen—present tense—in the next episode. See you there. Before we go, I gotta have a little more fun with Google translate. Here’s some Cardi B for you guys. Let’s run the lyrics through Google… So, Here’s how Google translated that into Japanese… Let’s translate those Japanese words into Danish… …and Danish back to English I put a stone in the clock. Google, I like it like that.

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 #5 of Understanding Spoken Russian. If you’re new to the series, I recommend starting from the first episode, because the lessons are cumulative, and in each one I assume you’re comfortable with the material learned in all prior episodes. Let’s get to it. I’ll start by rattling off a few related words…View, vista, visual…??? Listen again: ??? It translates as “view”..like, Our hotel room has a great ???…a great view. And it’s the root of our new word for this lesson. Listen? ??????? So I’d like you to connect that core sound—???—to those three English words which also begin with a “V” sound. What were they again? Now, ??????? is the dictionary form of the verb, but we’ll be working with the past tense today. Here it is in context… He said: Yesterday I saw Grandma in the library. And she said: When I was in Hollywood, I saw Angelina Jolie. So, the verb ??????? translates as “to see.” And did you notice that Babushka and Angelina changed to Babushku (???????) and Angelinu (?????????) because seeing them counts as doing something to them? How would you translate this? – – – What were those three English words that we want to connect to the word ???? They begin with a V sound… Alright, let’s review some of the key points from the last episode. How would you translate these phrases? – – – For today’s main topic, I want to talk about something called verb aspect. So, we’re going to hear phrases where the same action is described by seemingly different verbs. Listen and I’ll translate: ? ?????? ???????. I bought a sandwich. ? ???????? ??? ??? ???????? ? ???????, ????? ????? ???????. I bought all these souvenirs in London, except for this magnet. Hmm. Both sentences translate as “I bought…” but she used different verbs. ? ?????? in the first, and ? ???????? in the second. Now why would she do that? Let’s listen to a simpler example… ? ??????? <???.> That was: I said no. ?? ???????? ? ??????. We were talking about music. Here’s the Big Question: What’s the difference between I said…and I was talking? With “said” you get this sense of the whole thing. You said it, and you were done. But with talking…you envision this ongoing conversation. And in that first example: ? ?????? ???????. Hearing that, a Russian person envisions the whole transaction. She stood in line, paid the guy, and walked away with her sandwich. But that other phrase: ? ???????? ??? ??? ???????? I bought all these souvenirs in London… There, we see her going from shop to shop, maybe over the course of a week…it’s about the process of her shopping. Books have been written exclusively on the topic of Russian verb aspect, but what’s nice is that, in this course, we don’t have to worry about the rules. We just want a general understanding. And for now, all I want to say is this: Verbs that we call perfective emphasize the result. Verbs we call imperfective emphasize the process. Take the idea of reading. Here are the two forms in the past tense ????? / ???????? See if you can determine which one emphasizes result, and which emphasizes process. Imagine you’re a creative writing teacher and you tell a student: Hey, Jimmy..I just ???????? your story and I thought it was excellent. I loved the ending. …versus…. Last night I settled into my armchair and ????? The Shining by Stephen King. I was so into it, I nearly jumped out of my chair when the phone rang. ? ???????? your whole story. There’s a result. We read it from start to finish. ? ????? the book for a while…is about the process. He was reading it and then something happened. He clearly did not finish it. So… ? ???????? is perfective. ? ????? is imperfective. With that verb pair, the difference between perfective and imperfective is pretty clear. But with other verbs, it’s less so. Like today’s verb ???????. Do you think it’s the perfective or imperfective form? Listen… Today in the supermarket I saw your mom. Yesterday in the park I saw your dog. Those are perfective. They’re emphasizing that they saw your mom or saw your dog…and that’s pretty much it. Compare that with the imperfective… In the podval I was seeing only books and photographs. You get the sense that they were looking around for a while, probably trying to find something, but all they saw were books and pics. (The word was ?????? without that ‘u’ sound in front.) Again, verb aspect is a big deal when you’re trying to speak Russian. We work with it in great detail in my conversational Russian courses. It’s actually really interesting. But in this podcast, we just need to be aware that Russian uses two different verbs to convey these two aspects of any action. That’s my main objective here. Because I don’t want you saying,”Wait, why is he saying ?????????I thought the verb “to read” was ?????.” Now you know. They’re two versions, two aspects, of the same verb. Next: Can you translate this brief exchange? – – – Now imagine you’re the teacher, and your student says…Hey, wait…I thought ????? was the verb meaning “to buy.” Suddenly it’s ???????? What do you tell them? Hit pause and give it a shot. I’d tell them: Russian uses pairs of verbs to describe the same action. ????? means he bought the coffee and that’s that. Whereas ???????? conveys the process of shopping—she was looking and buying some things and not buying others. The two forms are an aspectual pair, ????? is the perfective form, emphasizing result. ??????? is the imperfective and emphasizes the process. Let’s look at another aspect pair. In earlier episodes we encountered the verb ???????. Can you take a stab at translating it? Andrusha is supposed to be doing his homework, but when I listen at his door, it doesn’t seem like he is. (TV sounds, then door opens…and TV clicks off) ???????! ?? ??????? ?????????? He says…???, ????. ????? ?????. So how would you translate: ?? ??????? ?????????? Were you watching television? Which form is that? Perfective or imperfective? The question was all about the process….about what Andrusha was doing. So it’s…imperfective. Compare that with this situation: I know my sister has been sitting in her room for over three hours. I hear this music, and her gentle weeping…then she comes out and explains… ? ?????? ??? ?????????? <???????>. I just watched Titanic. Here, it’s clear she watched the whole thing. By choosing the perfective form, she’s emphasizing the result. In English we’d say, “Wow, I just watched Titanic.” On his birthday, Alex comes home just as his wife pulls a dessert from the oven. Can you translate their exchange? So he said…”Wow, crème brulee?” And she said…”Yes. I read the recipe in the magazine Cosmopolitan.” So we say recipe and in Russian it’s: ??????. And we say magazine or journal, and Russian pronounces it: ?????? But the real question is: Which verb aspect did she use? Listen again… ????????? is the perfective. She used that because she read the recipe, the entire thing,obviously, in the journal. <<TIP OF THE DAY…>> Do you know how to use Google’s “exact match” function? If you put a search term in quotes, you’ll get results with that exact phrase. For fun, I just searched for exact matches of the Russian phrases “????????? ??????”… And ?????? ??????. Remember, the difference is that ?????? translates as was reading. I searched because, you gotta figure ????????? would far outweigh ??????. Right? I mean, how often would you say, I was reading a recipe in a magazine…versus, I read the recipe in a magazine. Sure enough…????????? ?????? got over 20,000 matches…and ?????? a mere five thousand. Curious on how they used it, I read some of the results that contained ??????. Here are two. Listen…? ? ????? ?????? ?????? ? ?????? ???????????? I, for a long time, was reading the recipe and the list of ingredients. The writer used ?????? because she’s emphasizing the process..she was reading it for a long time. This next phrase also stood out… ???? ? ?????? ??????, ?????? ?????????? ??????. ???? which we think of as a friendly ‘Goodbye’ in Russian, literally translates as “for the time being” or “while.” So she said: “While I was reading the recipe, I drooled on the keyboard.” She had to use the imperfective ??????…had to use it…because she was saying what happened during that process. Where’s the language tip in all this? Well, although computers are still pretty lousy at language, they’re still very useful tools. And that exact phrase match is one way I use my computer. Another tool I used to use a lot was Google’s image search. If you’re not sure of the difference between two concrete objects—for example a ????? and an ?????????—do a search of Google images, and you’ll see right away. I remember when I first read the word ????? and was confused, because one of my dictionaries defined it as a tow truck, which in the context of where I read it, didn’t make sense. So I did an image search of the word….bingo.. A ????? is the front part of an 18-wheeler…the truck part, with the engine. I was pretty sure a tow truck was an ????????? an “evacuator”…and again, a quick search on Google images brought up a hundred images of your classic tow truck. Long story short: The Google translate function is unreliable, but the image search is a very useful function. Let’s get back to it. How would you translate this… – – – And what aspect are those verbs? The perfective. We saw the person…and that’s about it. Next, let’s listen to a some clips in Russian. All I want you to do is listen for the past tense verb. She’s about to tell her viewers: “What I read in the month of June.” ?????????…is which verb form? Perfective. She’s saying she read all of them, start to finish. Next, this song… ? ?????? ??? ? ??????? ??? ?????? ???? I saw a dream in which she kisses you. That’s how Russians talk about dreams. In English we say ‘I had a dream’ in Russian, ? ????? ??? I saw a dream. And she chose the imperfective form, because it’s not important that she saw an entire dream…what’s important is what she saw during the dream. Compare that to this next one… ? ??????? ???? ?? ???? I saw you in my dreams. She uses the perfective to emphasize that she saw you, and not someone else. What’s this guy saying? It’s just three words. Listen again? He said: “I read a book.” Perfective, right? Compared to this next woman, he’s not exactly an over-achiever. Listen… ? ????????? 125 ????. I read—and finished reading—125 books. (during the past year) Last one…Listen to this kid… ?????? ??????, ????????? ????? ???. And a girl would say it like this… ?????? ??????, ?????????? ?????. Alright, let’s go on to our final exam. Can you translate the gist of these phrases? Bonus points for shouting out the aspect of each verb. – – – How’d you do? Please let me know. Send an email to: mark @ understandingspokenrussian dot com In the meantime, I’ll see you in the next episode where—just by spotting a certain sound at the end of someone’s name—you can get the gist of the entire sentence. See you there! ????!

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 #4 of Understanding Spoken Russian. Let’s jump right to our new word for today. ??? We’ve heard versions of it in prior episodes, but today we’ll officially add it to our core vocabulary. Let’s look at it in context. If Sophia is eating popcorn, and you try to take it away from her, she’ll scream… If William is playing with his toy cars, just try taking one away from him! And if Andrei, our five yr old, is drinking milk…well, don’t take it from him, either. Or else… So the words ??? ??? ???…they’re all forms of the same word…and they all translate as My. Imagine Sophia has lost two of her toys. Her… ?????????? which is a “little dinosaur,” and her ??????? which is a toy. As she wanders the apartment looking for them, what do you think she’s saying? – – – Or maybe she’s lost some clothing. Her wool ?????? and her short-sleeved ????????. Listen to those again. What are the genders? Okay, so… what’s Sophia saying here? – – – In Russian, the words for “my” and “your”—like, this is my salad, and that’s your salad—they’re adjectives. And because they’re adjectives, they, too, have to rhyme or “agree” with the noun. Granted, the masculine ??? doesn’t really rhyme with the nouns ?????????? ?????? ?????????, but the other forms rhyme. Even the plural. So, we got ???…Let’s see if we can guess what this word means: ???? Imagine William is sitting in front of a mound of toys and is sorting them into two piles as Sophia watches. Let’s stand in the doorway and listen… – – – So, what do you think ???? and ???? mean? They’re forms of “your.” And notice how ??? rhymes with ????…just as ??? rhymes with ???? and ??? with ???? Anyway, now Sophia will go through the two piles and confirm whose toy is whose. This time, try to translate what she says. And if you’re not sure what the toy is, just say something like: “And this is your…masculine noun.” Ready? – – – Although they have a lot of forms, these adjectives for my and your are so common, you won’t need to actively study them. They’ll sink in naturally with lots of exposure. So, how would you translate the following two phrases… – – – Easy enough, right? Now brace yourself. Here comes a massive grammar point. Listen to this… (monster movie scream) Now wait a second! I was positive that the word for guitar was ??????. Alexei, can you please say: This is my guitar. ??? ??? ??????. And I’m positive the word for car is just ??????. Alex, how do you say: Is this your car? ??? ???? ??????? So what’s going on here? Well, as we already know, the ends of Russian words change depending on how they’re used. We know that from the very first lesson. Take the word ???? (a park). If you’re headed towards it, it keeps its basic form. ? ??? ? ????. But if you’re located in the park, it has to change its ending: ? ?????? ? ?????. Well, in Russian, whenever you do something to a feminine noun, its “ah” ending changes to an “u” sound. I don’t normally request this, but would you mind repeating that point with me? In Russian, whenever you do something to a feminine noun, its ‘a’ ending changes to an ‘u’ sound. Listen as the speaker says: Anton bought a car. Buying something counts as ‘doing something’ to the car, and so it had to change its ending. Or this.. Galina bought a guitar. Again, ????? has to change to ??????. And if you add “my” in there—Anton bought my car—the word ??? has to change to rhyme with ??????. Listen…Anton bought my car. Or this: Galina bought my guitar. In fact, all the adjectives that describe the object would change. And they’d all rhyme. Here. Listen….A “biblioteka” (??????????) is a library. Think of the word bibliography, right? So she’ll say: This is our new, big, beautiful library. And now she’ll say: In the center I saw a new, big, beautiful library. Did you hear all those feminine adjectives rhyming with ??????????? ?????, ???????, ???????? So what else counts as “doing something” to a word? Taking it, putting it, seeing it, eating it, opening or closing it, throwing or catching it…the list goes on. Hey Alex, did you see the library? Listen to his response… He says ?????????? at first, because he’s just naming the place. But when he says that he saw it, “seeing something” counts as doing something to it. And so it changes to “biblioteku” (??????????) This happens even to a person’s name. “Hey Alex, did you see Galina?” Listen to his response… So in our next exercise, all I want you to say is whether there’s a feminine noun that’s being acted upon in the phrase. You can tell by hearing the “u” sounding adjectives. Ready? – – – <<Language tip…>> In today’s tip, I’d like to talk about an interesting parallel between learning to play a musical instrument, and learning to speak a foreign language. I have a lot of experience there, because— before I developed this passion for the Russian language—I taught guitar professionally for years. And from time to time I’d get a new student who wanted to learn to play a style of music that they’d barely listened to. “My Dad says I should learn classic rock,” the student would say. “Ok…” I pick up my guitar. “So, what are some of your favorite classic rock groups? Led Zeppelin? (Whole Lotta Love) AC/DC? (Highway to Hell) Boston? (Peace of Mind) And the guy shrugs. “I never really listened to classic rock.” Hmm. Ok. So, I’d give him homework: “Take some time—just for a little while—to listen to the style. Put your guitar away. Dont try to play any of it. Just listen and get a feel for the phrasing, the chord progressions, the keys and time signatures.” In the next lesson, we’d sit and I’d point out those things. “This is a pentatonic scale, which is the backbone of classic rock riffs. And this is call and response (demo) which is a fundamental part of how solos were constructed.” And so on. Those stylistic elements of rock music—of any style of music—are analogous to the vocabulary, the grammar and syntax of a language. Once you’ve heard them and are aware of them, it makes learning to play the style so much easier. After a few listening sessions, I’d put on a tune…say, the solo from Good Times Bad Times, and now he can hear it. “Oh, that’s just a pentatonic lick, right? Descending in triplets?” And bingo—now that he understands what he’s hearing, he can very quickly express it himself on the instrument. He’ll need to practice it, obviously, to get fluent, but it’s no longer foreign to him. It makes sense. Similarly, as you progress through these lessons, you’ll be hearing things with confidence. “Oh, that’s just the feminine ‘doing something’ rule, right?” And like my guitar student, once you understand what you’re hearing, you’ll be able to quickly express similar concepts. Yes, you’ll need to practice to become fluent, but the grammar and syntax of Russian will no longer be foreign to you. The changing word endings won’t surprise you….you’ll expect them. Even predict them. That’s when learning to speak Russian becomes easy. <<TIP END>> Speaking of predicting, that’s what I’d like you to do in this next exercise. First the native speaker will say a word in its basic, dictionary form. Then, they’ll say a phrase that has that same word at the very end of it. I’ll hit pause just before that word, and you need to say just the ending of the word. For ex: It’s going to end with an “u” sound. And you know why. Because buying something counts as doing something to it. Ready? – – – An interesting sidenote: In English, when we talk about playing a musical instrument, sometimes we use the word “on” and sometimes we don’t. It depends, of course, on context. For ex: I play guitar. We don’t say “on”. But in a different context, I might say…”Oh, I played that solo on my Stratocaster.” Or, when introducing the members of your band…”On drums we have John Bonham. And on bass guitar, we have John Paul Jones.” In Russian, the idea of playing an instrument is always “on”…and so it takes that locational “yeh” ending. Listen…Mark is now playing guitar. ..or…Charlie Parker played the saxophone. In Russian we always play “on” an instrument. And yet….we play “towards” sports. And here’s why I believe Russian does this. When you play a musical instrument, you’re more or less sitting still. You’re in one location. Hence, the “yeh” ending. But in sports, you’re always moving somewhere. And movement towards something, we don’t add that “yeh” sound. Right? ? ??? ? ????. I’m going to the park. No “yeh” sound. – – – Imagine you’re showing someone photos of your family. I know I never ask you guys to say anything, but this is to quickly review our new words from today. So, as you point to a family photo, tell your Russian friend: My mom. My Dad. You see a photo on their wall. Point and ask: Your mom? Your dad? Alright…onto our exam for the day. Can you translate the gist of these phrases? And if you don’t know what a word is, just try your best anyway. Alright…see you in Episode 5!

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 #3 of Understanding Spoken Russian. Let’s warm up by trying to name the gender of the words we hear—specifically the last word in each phrase. If you’re new to all this, you might be wondering…Wait, words have gender? And, yeah, they do. It’s pretty common in other languages, too. Anyway, here’s how it’ll work: If the last word ends with an “ah” sound, you’ll say feminine. Like this one…. If it ends with an “oh”…or really, an “oh-uh” sound, say neuter: If it ends with a consonant, say masculine. Ready? – – – Exercise Omitted– – – keep in mind this is a listening course, so putting the answers here so they can be read, defeats the purpose. If you have done the exercises but are having trouble and / or would like to see how things are written, mention the issue you are having in the comments and I’ll either post a reply or e-mail them to you directly. — If you got most of those, you’ve got a good ear, and that’s going to serve you well. And getting back to this concept of gender, what’s really cool about Russian is—as we discovered in the last lesson—they apply it to verbs in the past tense. So, in this next exercise, tell me: Is the speaker talking about what a man did or what a woman did? – – – Hmm…Did you catch something odd about those last two? First we heard ???? ?????… and now it’s ???? ??????…with an “a” at the end. How can that be? Well, the name Sasha is a nickname for guys named Alexander, and for women named Alexandra. It’s like the name Pat. Pat can be a guy or a girl. And what’s interesting is, if we heard similar English phrases, we wouldn’t know if Pat was a man or woman. Pat bought a car. We don’t know who Pat is. But in Russian, you do. Tell me, in this next one, is Sasha a guy or a girl? ?????…It’s a guy. And I’d like ?????? to be our new word of this lesson. To help you remember it, let’s imagine winning the lottery. What do we do first? Run out and buy a Mercedes Coupe. That sound…”coupe” (???) is the root of the word. So let’s work with it a bit. Can you translate the following phrases? – – – (re: the last example) First of all, is Sasha a guy or a girl? ???? ?????…It’s a guy. Next, what do you think ???? is? As you probably guessed, it’s wine. And what’s the gender of that word? ???? ends with an “oh-uh” sound, which makes it neuter. Next… Notice that, even though Papa ends with an “a”, the verb ending “tells the truth.” The verb ????? was in its masculine form because Papa, despite the “a” ending, is obviously male. – – – Next, what I’d really like to show you today is the importance of rhyming in Russian. Important is an understatement, really. Rhyming is the core principle behind the grammar of the language. And it’s what makes the language so beautiful. In essence, Russian is set up to be one big poem. Here. Just listen. There’ll be two phrases. In the first one, our speaker will say: Wow, such a big and costly car. In the next: Wow, such a big and costly airplane. The English versions obviously don’t rhyme. But in Russian? They can call it “adjective noun agreement” if they want. But my two year old daughter Sophia? She knows the words are just rhyming. Listen and compare. In English we might say, The food is fast and tasty! In Russian? See how the adjectives ??????? and ??????? rhyme with ???? In English, we’d say: A new, two-story school. I mean, does that rhyme? It does in Russian. In English I might say: She’s a beautiful, smart dog. Does that rhyme? It does in Russian… I mean, it can be anything…The long, yellow pen. In Russian, the words for food, school, dog, pen, and thousands of others… they’re feminine. And so their adjectives have to rhyme with them. That’s why we had all those “ya” sounds… They’re rhyming with those feminine nouns. How does this help us? Again, let’s look at how my daughter Sophia processes Russian. We were taking a walk this morning and saw our neighbor’s new BMW. In English, I might’ve said, “Man, that car…I bet it’s pretty expensive.” Notice how ‘car’ and ‘expensive’ were separated from each other. To Sophia, it’s less clear that ‘expensive’ is describing the car. But if I’d mumbled the same thing in Russian… Here, Sophia’s ears perk up. Because ??????? rhymes with ??????…So she knows that ??????? is describing the ??????. Even though the words were separated from each other. So, in this exercise, see if you can spot the feminine noun and its adjective. For ex: ??? ??? ? ????????? ????? ???????. ??? was the noun and ??????? was the adjective. For now, let’s not bother with the meaning. Just listen for the noun and its adjective… <<Tip of the day….>> Today I’d like to answer a question I get from a lot of listeners, which is: How does this course differ from my Russian Made Easy podcast? And I think what they really want to know is: Is it okay to do both at the same time? The answer is: Absolutely. And as I’ve done before, let me use my kids as an analogy. I mentioned that during their first two years or so, our twins William and Sophia didn’t talk much. But once he approached his third birthday, William became all about communicating. Just like William, my Russian Made Easy podcast is totally focused on speaking the language. One thing William does constantly now, for example, is use constructions. If you haven’t heard the term, a construction is a phrase where you change out a word or two each time you repeat it, and they’re very powerful because they mold you into a fluent speaker. Here, listen to William using a construction in English… In Russian Made Easy we work a lot with constructions because I want you to be able to express yourself, quickly and fluently. This course, on the other hand, is more like William’s twin sister Sophia. She speaks a lot less than her brother but I think she understands things even better. If we’re watching, for example, Winnie the Pooh in Russian… …and I hit pause and ask…”Okay, guys…???? ?? ????? ?????? — who did Piglet buy the balloon for?” Sophia will correctly say, “Winnie the Pooh.” Meanwhile, William ignores the question and launches into a construction: ? ????? ?????…? ???? ?????? ?????…? ????? ?????? ????? ? ??????? ????? ?????. He’s saying, I bought a balloon, and Mama bought a balloon, and so on. I’m sure he knew the answer, too, but he’s so focused on communicating, it’s all he wants to do. I sometimes wish Sophia would speak a little more, but it’s okay. She’ll talk more when she feels comfortable. And therein lies today’s tip: Of course you can do both podcasts—they complement each other perfectly—but it’s okay to be like Sophia and stick with this course for a while, building up your ear and your confidence until you’re ready, like William to unleash your Russian on the world. << end tip >> Next, let’s listen to some clips from youtube. Except for one, they’re all videos of women talking about what they bought, so we can listen for today’s new word. Here’s the first one. Can you spot where she bought these things? Listen again…it comes right at the end. She said: In this video I want to show you the things which I bought in second-hand. The key phrase was: ?????? ? ??????-????? Here’s another “shopper blogger” about to share what she bought… She, too, is saying…..what I bought in second-hand. Remember, the basic form of the word is just: ??????-???? But she bought it in second-hand and so she has to add that locational “yeh” ending. Then she tugs at her T-shirt and says: I just understood, or “just realized” that I put on a white futbolka. Listen? A futbolka (????????) is a T-shirt, by the way. And did you spot those two past tense verbs, ??????…and…??????? Listen one more time.. This next lady will also tell us about… …about her purchases in second-hand. And there’s that ??? again…??????? is a purchase. Something that you bought Then she gets down to business and busts out all her shopping bags… Now I’ll show you guys what I bought. Listen again… She says her viewers sometimes ask… She said: How in general one can go to second-hand, and how you can buy something there. Notice that, since she’s talking about GOING TO a second-hand store, it doesn’t get the “yeh” ending. And also notice our “COUP” sound in ????????…another form of the verb “to buy.” In this last clip, a woman is telling a reporter about making money online. Can you translate her first four words? She said: I was in shock…? ???? ? ???? The whole thing was: “I was in shock when I sold, for real money, that is, that which I said to the camera.” Three times she used the word “I”, followed by a past tense verb. ? ????…? ???????…? ??????? I was….I sold….I said…. – – – Alright, here’s today’s final exam. Can you translate these phrases? Some of the words might be unfamiliar, but still…see if you can get the gist. And as always, if you hear a location without the “yeh” sound, we’ll assume the person is on their way there. Ready? – – – In the next lesson we’ll look at the forms of the word “my” in detail. And in the meantime, feel free to send me an email and let me know how you’re doing in this course. My email is mark (@) understandingspokenrussian (dot) com See you in lesson 4!

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 Lesson #2 of Understanding Spoken Russian. Let’s start today with a quick test on what we learned in the first lesson. Can you translate the gist of these phrases? What we’re after is the person’s name or the item’s name, the location, and whether they are in that place, or merely headed there. As before, if you hear a location without the “yeh” sound, we’ll assume the person is on their way there. Ready? – – – Exercise Omitted– – – keep in mind this is a listening course, so putting the answers here so they can be read, defeats the purpose. If you have done the exercises but are having trouble and / or would like to see how things are written, mention the issue you are having in the comments and I’ll either post a reply or e-mail them to you directly. — On to today’s lesson. Listen to the following phrases. Don’t try to echo the native speaker, and don’t try to translate. Just relax and let it sink in… What’d you hear? I heard a guy’s name, followed by a word that ended with an L. Listen again. We’ll chop off the last word in each of those… I wonder what kind of words those are: ?????…???????…?????? Well, let’s think about English for a second. I’ll pull three phrases from some emails. Last night, Rick went to the Knicks game. Yesterday, Greg played a gig in Buffalo. Abbott bought another guitar. Rick went…Greg played….Abbott bought So we have a person’s name followed by what they did. In grammar terms, a subject followed by a past tense verb. Could Russian be doing the same thing? Well…yes. Those verbs— ????? ????? ?????—all end with the letter L (?). Let’s listen to some more. These will all feature a guy who has done something…. We’re not stressing about meaning. That’ll come just a little later. We’re doing something much more important here. We’re discovering the patterns of the language. And this is a very common and pretty simple one: With just a few exceptions—so few I can basically count them on one hand—Russian verbs end with an L when a guy did the action. As I’ll often ask you to do, I want you to file away that bit of info for a moment as I teach you our one new word for this lesson. Listen… ??????? I wonder if you can pick it up from context. Listen… When he was younger, my brother was a bag boy in the Safeway grocery store. If he could speak Russian, he’d tell you… So, ??????? translates as “worked,” or “used to work,” or even, “was working.” And it is said of a guy. There’s a feminine version which we’ll learn in the next lesson. To hep you recall it, think of the English word robot. ??????. Because rabota is actually a Czech word which translates as ‘forced labor.’ (The German word arbeit, which also means ‘work’ was derived from robota, too.) Anyway, you want to make that connection. A robot was made to do work….and ?????? is the Russian word for work or for a job. But again ??????? with an L at the end translates as “was working.” So, listen as Sergei tells you all the places he’s worked… Listen as Polina tells you where her Papa worked… – – – Let’s listen to sentences with other verbs. I wonder if you can translate them. For ex: On the morning of the Super Bowl, my Russian roommate came home with a friend of his, and they were carrying a huge cardboard box that had SAMSUNG written on it. He smiled and said… They mount it on the wall, and now Polina calls to invite her friends over, telling them… Sergei bought a television. We heard that “??” sound at the end of the word, so we know it’s a statement about what he did. Maybe instead he bought a telephone… The next day Sergei comes back to the apartment. He’s wearing cleats and shinpads, he’s got grass stains all over. He’s got his Lionel Messi jersey on. And he explains… When Polina comes over and sees his dirty cleats by the door, she asks me: ?????…that L tells us she’s asking about the past…about what Sergei wasdoing. Maybe instead he was playing baseball. That evening I come into the kitchen, he’s in front of the chopping board, there’s bits of carrots and celery and onion, and there’s a pot bubbling on the stove. He explains… Then, when Polina’s mom offers to bring over some food, Polina tells her… Sergei cooked soup. ??????????…the L tells us…what? That it was in the past. Maybe instead he cooked spaghetti…or a salad…or borscht. Remember, I don’t want you bothering to repeat these or memorize them. We’re just listening, and seeing if we understand. One more. I see a friend in Starbucks. He’s sitting with his laptop open, and headphones on. Seeing me, he politely shuts his computer and takes off his headphones, explaining… I was watching a video on youtube. And notice that you-tube becomes na youtube-yeh (?? ?-????), with that “yeh” at the end, because that was the location of the video…you-tube was where he was watching it. <<And now here’s your language learning tip of the day…>> In the first episode of this course, I made a point about not repeating after the native speakers. For today’s tip, I want to explain the reasoning behind that. The issue is, if you always listen with the intent of mimicking the speaker, all your attention becomes focused on the physical side, trying to get your mouth to make those sounds, and so you miss a thousand little details which all point to the meaning of what’s being said. Again, think of little kids. My two youngest—William and his twin sister Sophia…they didn’t say a word their first two years of life. But believe me, they were listening and paying attention. And by doing that, they noticed how the ends of words change in Russian depending on how they’re used. We saw one example of that in the first lesson, right? Words like the park, or a divan, or New York…if someone’s just talking about them, they keep their basic ending. New York is big. We’re going to the park. But if someone is located there, the end changes. We’re in the park-eyh, Daddy’s in New Yorkyeh, and so on. The patterns of how words change are actually pretty straightforward and very consistent…but you have to be listening for them. And that’s why—jut when you’re doing this particular course—I ask you to not repeat after the speaker. The only exception to that is when we learn our one new word for the lesson. That one you can practice a bit. So that word ??? from the first lesson, and ??????? from today. But other than that, just relax…but listen close. <<END TIP>> For fun, I’m going to play some really tough clips, now, that I pulled from Russian videos on youtube. These are just guys making video blogs. In this first one, can you spot our new word from today? The guy speaks blazingly fast, so we’ll listen a few times… I’ll play it again. He said: They’ve been asking me for a long time to talk about how I was working in ??? is the largest mobile phone company in Russia. In this next one, can you spot a past tense verb? Here’s that same guy—he’s a personal driver in Moscow. Do you hear another word ending with an ‘L’? He said: While the boss is working out, I also headed out for a stroll. I also headed out. One more guy. He’s talking about the American TV shows that he watches. It was the very last word. Listen again… He said: The first two seasons there were really awesome, the third was weaker but I watched it. Then he talks about the fifth season of the show, it’s called Homeland. Listen for two words ending with “—??” He’s talking about the fifth season…”I was waiting for it, when it will come out, I missed it.” In each of those, we have a guy talking about himself…about what he did. Past tense. So, just for now, at this stage, what you want to be listening for is—a if the subject is a guy—listen for words ending with an L. Because once you start catching that, it’s a lot easier to fill in the meaning. That’s the whole point of this course. So, here are some more… – – – Question: What do you think the most common verb is in English? It’s… To be. I am, he is, you are. What’s interesting about Russian is, they don’t use “to be” in the present tense. They skip it. They literally put a dash in its place. But they do use it in the past tense. And like in English, it’s surely the most common past tense verb. We’re going to listen to a lot examples of use, but I’m not officially asking you to learn it. I think, because it’s so common, you’ll just pick it up naturally. Listen… He said: I was in the restroom. I was in the podval. I was in the sport-zall (gym). Let’s say he was gone a whole week. Then you finally see him again on Monday. He explains… I was in London. I was in Stuttgart. I was in Detroit. Do you notice our two grammar points coming together? A guy’s past tense verb ending in an L sound, and then our location marker from the first lesson. How about these next ones…Can you translate them? – – – Before getting to our final exam, let’s do some really easy listening. As you listen to each phrase, just tell me whether you heard a past tense verb about a guy, or not. – – – Alright, here’s your final exam for this episode. Can you translate the gist of these phrases? – – – Alright, see you in episode #3, where we learn the female version of today’s verbs, plus we discover the role that rhyming plays in Russian. Once you see it, it makes everything so much easier. I’ll see you there!

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. Hey guys, welcome to my new course, Understanding Spoken Russian. If you’re having trouble understanding fluent Russian speech, you’ve come to the right place. Maybe you’re new to the language and you’re curious what your Russian friends around you are saying. Or maybe you’ve been studying for a while and can speak ok, but you find listening to Russian frustrating, especially when they talk so fast. Either way, in this course we’re going to unlock the mysteries of spoken Russian. And I have to say, I’m really excited about this one. It fits perfectly with my Russian Made Easy podcast because it takes the opposite approach. In that course, as you build up a big vocabulary, we do a whole lot of speaking. You’re always repeating after the native speakers, and translating English phrases into Russian. And that’s great. That’s what a conversational Russian course should do. But not here. This podcast is all about listening and understanding. The beautiful thing about that, as you’ll see, is that it takes the pressure off you. I wont ask you to memorize anything, and yet, all the same, you’ll find yourself slowly but surely understanding spoken Russian. And I have a whole lot of experience with that. I’ve been living in Russia and now Ukraine for over ten years. My wife Darina and I have three kids under the age of five, who we’re raising to be tri-lingual—each of them speak English, Russian and Ukrainian. And having carefully observed their language acquisition these past few years, I’ve gotten fresh insight into how they’re doing it. How these little kids come to understand language so quickly. I understand the process, now… a process you and I can exploit…right here, in these lessons. So let’s get started. Imagine you’re hanging out with some Russian friends and one of them, Yuri, is searching frantically for something. Listen as Polina asks him which places he’s looked already… Don’t worry about echoing what they say. We will do tons of speaking in my other courses. I just want you to relax and listen. So…Polina asks Yuri about other spots he may have searched. Listen? Do you hear the “yeh” sound at the end of those words? Here’s some more, in a different context. This time, Sergei is telling the places where he’s worked over the years. Listen…. Polina laughs and adds… That “yeh” sound at the end of all those places is a location marker. It tells Russians that someone or something is located in or on that place. Because, in their simplest forms, those words don’t end with “yeh.” In their simple, dictionary form, they are ??????…???????…???????…??? ???? ?????? and so on. Here’s the key point: A “yeh” sound at the end of a word—often, but not always–marks it as a location. File that away for a moment and listen to this next bit. We’re going to hear the word ???…and I want us to figure out what it might mean. So, Yuri is a musician, and just before a gig he’s in a panic, running around the apartment looking for something… Later you’re in a shopping mall with Yulia and her little boy Andrusha. And suddenly she turns around and the kid is gone. In a panic she asks… What do you think ??? means? ??? translates as Where? It’s our one new word for the lesson. And notice the beautiful symmetry: ??? is asking about a location and thus it, too, ends with that “yeh” sound. It’s just one example of the incredible importance that rhyming plays in the Russian language. Now here’s our first exercise. Imagine Polina is on her smartphone, connecting with her friends who are located all over the place. Yuri, who’s sitting with you on the couch, asks her where each friend is. Can you translate what they’re saying? – – – Exercise Omitted – – – keep in mind this is a listening course, so putting the answers here so they can be read, defeats the purpose. If you have done the exercises but are having trouble and / or would like to see how things are written, mention the issue you are having in the comments and I’ll either post a reply or e-mail them to you directly. — Of course, since they were located in those places, the words had that “yeh” sound at the end. Remember our musician friend who was in a panic, looking for his instruments? Listen to these more complex replies and again, see if you can spot the word with the “yeh” ending… – – – The location can be pretty much anywhere or anything. Imagine someone’s asking what’s in the soup they’re eating… Soup is acting as a location, so it needs that “yeh” sound added on. By the way, that “F” sound before the word (? ????) translates as “in”…as long as there’s that yeh sound at the end. Same with the “V” sound. (? ?????????) There’s the “yeh” sound at the end, so the “V” translates as “in.” Same with “Na” (?? ????????). We have “yeh” at the end, so the “Na” must mean “inside.” Let’s work with a few more locations. There’s a popular grocery chain here in Ukraine called ?????. So who is in ????? right now? Listen… Hear the “yeh” ending? ????? becomes ? ?????? because he’s located there. ???????? is another big chain. It’s a copy of Lowe’s in the U.S. Who is in Epicenter right now? The Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg is the highlight of any visit to that incredible city. (???????) So, who’s in the Hermitage at the moment? You might be wondering, why is he making such a big deal about that “yeh” ending? I’m sure I’d get the meaning even if I didnt hear it. No. You wouldn’t. Because, for example, ????? ???? ? ????????…without the yeh at the end, has a very different meaning. It means the person is NOT there at all, but only on their way. So, being able to spot that “yeh” ending is crucial. In these next ones, in fact, that’s all I want you to do: Tell me whether you heard the “yeh” locational ending. – – – The “yeh” ending has to be added even to the end of people’s names…if they’re acting as a location. For example: Let’s say Uncle Igor has lost his spiders. Everyone’s searching the apartment for them. Suddenly, Polina sees one and she screams… See? Marvin became ?? ???????! Bart became…?? ?????! Olga…?? ?????! Mama became…?? ????! <<And now here’s your language learning tip of the day.>> Two tips, actually, in this maiden episode of the course. The first is, whenever you learn something—someone’s name at a party, some new words in Russian—you need to take a short break and think about something else. That will be the function of these language tips in each episode, to get you thinking about something different. Why? Because a minute later, when I ask you to recall what we learned, that gap—this gap—allows your brain to make that first pathway back to the new information…back to the person’s name, or the new words, or whatever you just learned. That gap is a key part of developing your memory. The other tip is this: When you’re just starting out in a new language, believe it or not the meaning of most words is irrelevant. Take my two year old son, William. The other day I asked my father-in-law where he put our rocking chair that no one was ever really using. He told me it’s…? ???????. Now, I know that William doesn’t know where that is. He’s never been down there. But now he knows that the podval is a location. …the ‘F’ sound in front and the “yeh” at the end tell him that. And he knows a little more than that, actually. Because he knows that, in Russian, “pod” (???) means under or beneath. We’re always telling him, “William, your toy is ??? ??????—under the table—or ??? ?????????????—under the fridge. So if I asked him, “William, is the podval up or down?” he would correctly point downwards. But he has no image of the place in his mind. Instead, his brain categorizes the word podval as: A place below us where we store big things that we no longer use. You could say he gets the gist of the word. The precise meaning isn’t important to him. Not yet. But the word is in there, and nicely set up as a location. All he needs is for Daddy or Grandpa to bring him down to the podval one day, and then he’ll finally know what it is. You might be thinking, Why not just tell us anyway? What’s the harm? Well, for one thing, a basement in an American single-family home is a very different place than the podval in a Russian apartment building. So the image you’d form in your mind would be way off. But the real reason is, for most words, in the earliest stages of your studies, the meaning is an unnecessary burden. Instead, just for a little while, let’s be like William. Free to listen for the various language markers, and be happy—just at first—with getting the gist of what was said. << END TIP>> Let’s get back to it. This time, let’s see if you can spot our locational ending in this song clip. Just listen for now, and then I’ll go through it with you, and help you find it. Tell me, where does the woman wish she lived? Listen again… Did you hear ?? ??????????? Remember, the basic form of the word is just: ????????? How about in this TV clip… Tell me, where can someone buy bananas? Listen… How about this: Where is our old divan? Where can someone buy a good divan? Listen… Next, you’ll hear a location used in two phrases. In the first one, someone will talk about going there. So we won’t hear the “yeh” sound. In the next one, they’ll say they are located there. Just listen for the endings… – – – Alright, final exercise. Can you translate the gist of these phrases? If you hear a location without the “yeh” sound, we’ll assume the person is on their way there. Okay? Ready? – – – How’d you do? If you got most of those right, you’re off to an excellent start. Think about it: You’re already able to understand the gist of a variety of common phrases, and yet we really only learned one word: ???? …And one hugely important idea: That “yeh” often marks a word as being a location. Alright, see you in lesson #2, where we figure out why so many Russian words end with an L. What do all those L’s mean? See you in the next lesson.