برچسب: Russian
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Cheat Code to Learn Russian 200% Faster
What if you could cheat and learn words, phrases, and grammar two times faster? You’ll learn how to do just that with our exclusive PDF Cheat Sheets. But first, if you don’t yet have access to our language learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. First, so what are Cheat Sheets? With our learning program, you’ll learn the language with conversation-based lessons that you can just listen to or watch, and get everything explained, and start speaking those very same dialogues. And as a bonus, you also get PDF Cheat Sheets as supplementary material for the lessons. These Cheat Sheets cover must-know topics like weather, your hobbies, daily routine, and much more. There are over 30 Cheat Sheets inside, and you’ll find them inside our program, so they’re not available anywhere else. Inside each Cheat Sheet, you get the words, phrases, and sentence patterns related to the topic that you can quickly review whenever you have a minute or two. So that’s how the Cheat Sheets work. Now, how can you learn faster with these Cheat Sheets? Just download a Cheat Sheet, print it, keep it nearby, and glance through as much as possible. Not for hours a day, but just a few minutes throughout the day. It’s as simple as that. If you can follow these simple steps, and do this daily, you’ll actually learn faster. Faster than if you were to sit down and memorize for hours a day. You’ll know all of the words and phrases in and out, simply because you’ve seen them enough times. Language learning is all about repeated exposure. The more you’re exposed to the language, the better you’ll remember it. And the Cheat Sheets give you that quick exposure to the words, phrases, and grammar patterns. You can always save the PDFs to your device, but having physical Cheat Sheets will speed up your progress. It’s just easier to pick one up and glance through. Plus, you can write on them for extra practice. Otherwise, if you keep the PDFs on your device, chances are you’ll barely use them and forget about them. How can you get access to our PDF Cheat Sheets? If you’re a member, you already have access. If not, just click the link in the description and sign up for our free lifetime account to get our learning program and these bonus Cheat Sheets. Once you’ve signed up and logged in, come back to the special PDF Lessons page. The PDFs will now be available for instant download. And that’s it. So, if you want to learn the language and get access to these learning tools and our learning system, sign up for our free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. -
5 Ways to Master Russian Vocabulary Fast
If you want to speak and understand more, you’ll need to know more words. So today you’ll discover five ways to master vocabulary fast. But first, if you don’t yet have access to our language learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. Before we jump into how, just know that when you learn more words, you pretty much improve everything. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking. So it’s important to always be learning new words across a range of topics so that you can speak fluently in all situations. If you haven’t done so already, come up with a specific number of words you’d like to master a month and make that your monthly goal, like 30, 50, or even 100 words a month. Now, let’s get to the tips. First, use spaced repetition flashcards. Flashcards are the most popular way to learn, review, and master new words. And more specifically, spaced repetition flashcards. That’s because they have a proven learning method built in. Spaced repetition. Spaced repetition simply means you repeat what you’ve learned over a spaced period of time because that’s the best way to retain things. Meaning, if you learn a word on day one, you see it again in two days, then in four days, in eight days, and so on. The learning is spaced out over time, and the continued repetition helps push the word into your long-term memory so you never forget it. And that’s exactly what our spaced repetition flashcards do for you. You’ll find them in the vocabulary menu on the site. There, you can study the 100 core vocabulary, vocabulary from the lessons, or our 2,000 core vocabulary list. Second, immerse yourself in conversations and conversation lessons. Another powerful way to pick up new words and phrases is to immerse yourself in the language. That way, you’ll always pick up new words. And on top of that, you’ll learn the words in the context of everyday conversations instead of learning them one by one. So, if you’re taking the lessons inside our system, in every lesson, you hear a conversation between native speakers. Then our teachers slow it down, explain every word and grammar rule so that you understand it all. And that conversation is repeated three times in total, so you’ll remember it better. So you’re not just listening to language that’s way above your level and not understanding. You grow to understand it because everything is explained right after. You can also listen to the dialogue tracks that give you just the conversation of that lesson without the translations, so you can immerse yourself and just listen. This is one of the best ways to expose yourself to conversation. Actually understand them, even if you don’t understand anything at first, and reinforce all the words you’ve learned. On top of the lessons, you can also immerse yourself in the target language by watching TV shows and listening to music. But, unlike the lessons, you won’t get the language explained, and this approach may be too hard for beginners. But, if you’re at an upper intermediate level, or above where you can learn through context and understand most of it, then this method can work just as well. Reading is another way you can immerse yourself in the language and boost your vocabulary, because you’ll always come across new words. But, what should you read? And, how do you find easy material for your level? Because, what’s the point if it’s too hard for you? With our program, you can find extensive reading books inside the lesson library. These are quick and easy books, from absolute beginner level up to intermediate, that you can finish in a few minutes. And, extensive reading is simply a strategy where you read and finish as many books as possible. At the absolute beginner level, these are simple one or two sentence per page books, making it easy for you to read through and pick up new words. Another way to memorize words fast is by learning songs in your target language. You can make a monthly goal to memorize one to three songs you like in your target language. Just search for the lyrics to a song you like, and as you listen to the song, read the lyrics. This can help you connect the sounds you’re hearing with the characters or the letters you’re reading. Remember, the key is to find a fun way to read every day. This will help you improve your vocabulary. Fourth, get quizzed on vocabulary regularly. I know, no one likes quizzes and tests after experiencing them in school. But, getting tested on what you’ve learned is actually one of the best ways to remember what you learn and improve your memory. This is a proven learning method called Active Recall. All it means is when you try to remember something, you actually start to remember it better. So, if you’re trying to remember the meaning of a word on a test, that’s when your memory gets stronger. That’s when you’re flexing your brain muscles, or rather, neurons. So, how can you do it? If you’re using the flashcards that I mentioned earlier, flashcards do that for you. They test you on the meanings of the words. You can flip the card over to see if you got the word correct or not. So, be sure to use flashcards. Next, if you’re taking the lessons and following the learning pathway in our program, you’ll automatically get tested after every few lessons. Just follow the pathway, take the lessons, and testing is done for you. You’ll get multiple choice assessments after every few lessons that test you on the words and grammar you learned. That way, you won’t forget what you’ve learned as you make your way down the pathway. Fifth, get new vocabulary and phrases sent to you automatically, the lazy way to learn words. So far, all of the methods mentioned are extremely powerful at helping you learn new words. But, they all require work. And if you’re lazy, busy, or just new to language learning, chances are there will be days when you won’t want to drill flashcards or read. And that’s a problem because language learning needs to become an automatic habit. And if you’re not doing it automatically without thinking, you’ll forever struggle with trying to learn. The good news is that you can get new words and phrases sent to you automatically every day so that you don’t have to lift a finger and boost your vocabulary in the process. And you can do that with our free Word of the Day service where every day we email you a new word along with sample sentences. This is the easiest and the laziest way to boost your vocabulary. And it takes less than a minute because all you have to do is glance at the word and you’re done. But the best part is you automatically get new words every single day so that your vocabulary is always improving. The system is automatic. All you have to do is join it. And as a side bonus, it helps you create a language learning habit because you’re automatically learning new words. On top of that, you’ll also get timely vocab and phrase lists every week via email. If it’s wintertime, you’ll get winter-related words and phrases. If Halloween is coming up, you’ll get words for Halloween. It’s that simple. Again, all of this is done and sent automatically if you’re a member. That way, you don’t have to go chasing down material or trying to figure out what to do and how to learn. So, to recap, use flashcards. Immerse yourself in conversations and conversation lessons. Read every day. Get quizzed on vocabulary regularly. Get new words sent to you automatically. These tips are fun and effective ways to help you reach your vocabulary goals a bit faster. So, if you want to learn the language and get access to these learning tools and our learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. -
Free Russian Gifts of the Month – June 2025
Access your free language gifts right now before they expire. First up, the 50 adjectives to describe your personality PDF workbook. If all you can say is nice and happy, it’s time to boost your vocabulary. And this PDF workbook gives you 50 adjectives and writing exercises inside. Second, the giving the time conversation cheat sheet. If someone asks you for the time in your target language and your brain flatlines, this cheat sheet is for you. You’ll learn how to tell and ask for the time with the exact lines to say. Download it for free right now. Third, phrases for talking about your summer plans. You’re probably not fluent enough to talk about your summer yet, and that’s why this lesson will get you fluent, at least enough to talk about your summer. Fourth, 25 phrases for agreeing and disagreeing. Do you agree that learning a language is easy? And can you say, I agree or I disagree in your target language? If not, this one-minute phrase lesson is for you. And last but not least, the app that puts real native speakers into your ear so you can listen and learn from native conversations. The Innovative Language Learning app gives you bite-sized conversation lessons where you listen to conversations between real native speakers and then get everything explained so you can speak and understand fast. Download it for free on Android, iPhone, and iPad. To get your free gifts of the month, click the link in the description below. And download them now before they expire. -
5 Ways to Learn Russian with the Visual flashcards
Here’s how you learn over 1,500 words, a printable resource that boosts your retention and makes learning fun, visual flashcards. But first, if you don’t yet have access to our language learning system, sign up for our free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. First, what are visual flashcards? In printable flashcards, there are printable flashcards that teach you 1,500 words across 60 topics. And if you’re a beginner, these are an easy way to learn the most common words and speak more of your target language for free. For every flashcard, you’ll get the word, the image, and the translation for easy retention. And your job is to go through and drill these flashcards and boost your vocabulary. But there are several ways you can learn with these that I’ll talk about a bit later. How to get started with the printable visual flashcards. To get these visual flashcards, just click the link and sign up for a free lifetime account to our learning program. And these are a free resource for our members. So once you’ve signed up, check your email to activate your account and download the visual flashcards. Then, print out PDF files and make sure to print in double-side format so you have the words on one side and the meanings on the other. And then, cut out the cards and you’re ready to go. How you’ll learn words and phrases even faster. Now, you might be wondering, why not just study with digital flashcards? And yes, you can also find spaced-repetition flashcards inside our program. However, there are benefits to learning with physical materials that’ll actually help you learn better. If you’re learning on your phone or your computer, you’ll have tons of notifications and distractions. And chances are, you’ll get sidetracked and end up on another website, YouTube video, or app. It’s almost impossible to focus and you won’t learn anything well if you can’t focus. Our visual flashcards are a physical resource, which means there are no distractions. Five minutes spent on physical flashcards will be much more effective than five minutes on your phone, where you have app companies constantly trying to get your attention. With the flashcards, you get one word per card, so you can easily focus on one word at a time and nothing else. Plus, physical flashcards are more easily accessible. If they’re sitting on your desk, you can quickly take a look. But an app that’s buried on the second or third page of your home screen will easily be overlooked and you won’t learn anything at all. And physically interacting with the words and the cards will help reinforce your memory. Now, let’s get into how to learn with these flashcards. Five ways to learn with the visual flashcards. Once you’ve downloaded and printed the flashcards, here’s what you can do. One, set aside five to 10 minutes and pick out 20 cards. Spend the first half reviewing the cards and the second half testing yourself on the meanings. Two, for the words that you struggle with, keep them in a separate pile. That way, you can focus on just the hard words and skip the ones you know. Three, since the words are separated across 60 topics, you can focus on one topic at a time and keep at it until you’re done with all 60 topics. Four, place the cards on the objects they represent around your home. Or five, turn it into a game with your friends. Have them quiz you on the words. So pick which way works best for you and learn with our visual flashcards. Okay, so if you want to boost your vocabulary and speak more of your target language, download our visual flashcards for free right now. Just click the link and sign up for a free lifetime account to our learning program. -
Master the Art of the Russian Phone Call! — Video Conversation
In this lesson, you’ll listen to a dialogue with the text. Second, you’ll review the key vocabulary followed by the English translations. And finally, you’ll review the dialogue with the text again to master what you’ve learned. First, listen to the dialogue with the text on the screen. Алло? (Alo?) Алло, привет, узнала? (Alo, privet, uznala?) Нет, кто это? (Net, kto eto?) Это я, Бен! (Eto ya, Ben!) Ой, Бен, привет! Извини, я только что проснулась… Кстати, большое спасибо за вчера! (Oi, Ben, privet! Izvini, ya tol’ko shto prosnulas’… Kstati, bol’shoe spasibo za vchera!) Тебе спасибо! Ты сегодня свободна? (Tebe spasibo! Ty sevodnya svobodna?) Дай подумать… Я буду занята до обеда, а после обеда я свободна. (Dai podumat’… Ya budu zanyata do obeda, a posle obeda ya svobodna.) Отлично! Я заеду за тобой! (Otlichno! Ya zayedu za toboi!) Now you’ll hear the key vocabulary followed by the English translation. узнать (uznat’) to recognize узнать (uznat’) And the next word? только что (tol’ko shto) just только что (tol’ko shto) And the next word? кстати (kstati) by the way кстати (kstati) And the next word is? за (za) behind, in, for за (za) And the next word is? сегодня (segodnya) today сегодня (segodnya) And the next word is? свободный (svobodniy) free, available свободный (svobodniy) And the next word is? дать (dat’) to give дать (dat’) And the next word? занятый (zanyatiy) busy, occupied занятый (zanyatiy) And the next word? до (do) before, until до (do) Finally let’s review the dialogue again, see if you can understand more this time. Алло? (Alo?) Алло, привет, узнала? (Alo, privet, uznala?) Нет, кто это? (Net, kto eto?) Это я, Бен! (Eto ya, Ben!) Ой, Бен, привет! Извини, я только что проснулась… Кстати, большое спасибо за вчера! (Oi, Ben, privet! Izvini, ya tol’ko shto prosnulas’… Kstati, bol’shoe spasibo za vchera!) Тебе спасибо! Ты сегодня свободна? (Tebe spasibo! Ty sevodnya svobodna?) Дай подумать… Я буду занята до обеда, а после обеда я свободна. (Dai podumat’… Ya budu zanyata do obeda, a posle obeda ya svobodna.) Отлично! Я заеду за тобой! (Otlichno! Ya zayedu za toboi!) This is the end of the lesson. -
5 Russian Learning Hacks that You Didn’t Know About
If you want to learn the language fast, there are some little-known learning hacks that you can use with our system. Five learning hacks that you didn’t know about. And in this quick guide, you’ll discover: 1. How to understand and pick up on every word with the read-along method 2. How to improve your speaking and pronunciation with one tool 3. How to immerse yourself in native dialogues and much more But first, if you don’t yet have access to our language learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. Ever listen to a conversation between native speakers and wish you could follow along with a transcript? Well, you can. In fact, listening and reading along is a popular learning hack for mastering a language. You pick up on every word, you improve your listening skills, reading skills, and engage multiple senses at once, which improves recall, and you can do just that with our lessons. On every lesson page, you get the complete word-for-word transcript to read along with. Shadowing is another popular language learning trick, and it’s where you repeat what you hear as a way to improve your speaking skills. So as you’re taking our lessons, you can shadow the lesson conversation. And you can do this easily with the line by line audio dialogue, which breaks up the conversation into individual lines. Just press play on the audio to listen and then repeat. You can also use the pronunciation practice tool to compare yourself to native speakers. Just press the microphone icon, record yourself speaking the line, and then you can hear how your pronunciation compares to the native speaker. The dialogue tracks give you just the conversation of the lessons, no translations, so that you can review the conversations without retaking lessons. And if you’re learning with our app, you can just set the dialogue tracks on autoplay and immerse yourself in different types of dialogues, boost your listening skills, and drill all the conversations into your brain. Go into the settings on the app and in autoplay, make sure autoplay is on. Turn on dialogue, turn off the other tracks, also set play next lessons to on and the app will do the rest for you. Now if you’re not sure whether you’re getting the most out of the lesson or not, well if you follow our lesson checklists you’ll walk away knowing more of the language guaranteed. This premium PDF can be found inside the PDF download section of the lesson and gives you bonus tips to follow. Just print out the checklist and fill it out with every lesson. The word bank is kind of like your extended brain, where you can save words and phrases that you come across to the word bank. So you review them later. Just look for the word bank in the vocabulary menu on the site. But what’s cool is you can also create printable study sheets for your words and phrases as well. Just click on “Printer Friendly Version,” you can also click “Export Word Bank” if you’ve organized and labeled your words into categories such as verbs and adjectives, you can select that label and export it as a PDF, then print the file out. You can write on it and keep it as physical study material. So, if you want to learn the language and get access to these learning tools and our learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. -
Free Russian Gifts of the Month – April 2025
Access your free language gifts right now before they expire. First, 30 plus words and phrases for April Fool’s Day. This PDF will teach you how to say, that’s not funny, I don’t get it, and much more just in time for April Fool’s Day. Second, being funny, PDF conversation cheat sheet. This next PDF teaches you a quick conversation about telling jokes in your target language. Third, talking about months. If you can’t say the months, this one minute lesson will teach you how to say them all in your target language. Fourth, 15 flattering lines to impress native speakers. If you want to speak with natives, you’ll want to know these phrases. And fifth, want an app that gets you speaking from day one? The Innovative Language Learning app gives you bite-sized conversation lessons, where you listen to conversations between real native speakers and then get everything explained so you can speak and understand fast. Download it for free on Android, iPhone, and iPad. To get your free gifts of the month, click the link in the description below and download them now before they expire. -
Your Chance to Be the Life of the Russian Party
INTRODUCTION Oxana: [Здравствуйте, с вами Оксана.] Eddie: Eddie here. Gengo Russian Season 1, Lesson 15. Your chance to be the life of the Russian party. Ok, speaking of which John is getting his first taste of business in Russia. Oxana: Well, he did have some business meetings in the last lesson. Eddie: True but come on, Axanna. Everybody knows that no business gets done without a table of food and some drunkenness. Oxana: That’s what you mean by “taste”. Got it. Eddie:But first let’s go over the day’s events of the last lesson. First off, I know he did a lot of things together with different businessmen and colleagues. Oxana: Yes, and to say that you did something with someone in Russian we use the word [с] and the phrase patterns as follows. Eddie:So remember, John met with three people. Oxana: [С представителем.] Eddie:With the representative. Oxana: [С менеджером.] Eddie: With the manager. Oxana: [С владельцем] Eddie: “With the owner.” He had so many things to do that we learned the expression for “a busy day” which was… Oxana: [Напряженный день.] Eddie: Well, after a day like that I think some relaxation is in order. Break out the vodka, Axanna. Oxana: Yes, that’s exactly what we need. Let’s listen in and find out whether John finds it as appealing as we do. Eddie: Let’s listen to the conversation. DIALOGUE Игорь Иванович: [Наконец-то можно расслабиться. Разрешите представить, это мой друг и партнёр по бизнесу Джон.] Igor Ivanovich: Nakonets-to mozhno rasslabit’sya. Razreshite predstavit’. eto moi drug i partnyor po biznesu John. Джон: [Добрый вечер, я Джон.] John: Dobryi vecher, ya John. Виктор: [О, здравствуйте Джон. Садитесь здесь. Вам нравится русская кухня? ] Victor: O, zdravstvuite John. Sadites’ zdes’. Vam nravitsya russkaya kuhnya? Джон:[Да, очень. Особенно борщ и блины.] John: Da, ochen’. Osobenno borshch i bliny. Виктор: [А как вам русская водка? ] Victor: A kak vam russkaya vodka? Джон: [Ну…] John: Nu… Виктор: [Давайте закажем. Девушка, пожалуйста, борщ, блины и 100 грамм водки. А мне…] Victor:Davaite zakazhem. Devushka, pozhaluista, borshch, bliny i sto gramm vodki. A mne… Eddie: Once again, more slowly. Игорь Иванович: [Наконец-то можно расслабиться. Разрешите представить, это мой друг и партнёр по бизнесу Джон.] Igor Ivanovich: Nakonets-to mozhno rasslabit’sya. Razreshite predstavit’. eto moi drug i partnyor po biznesu John. Джон: [Добрый вечер, я Джон.] John: Dobryi vecher, ya John. Виктор: [О, здравствуйте Джон. Садитесь здесь. Вам нравится русская кухня? ] Victor: O, zdravstvuite John. Sadites’ zdes’. Vam nravitsya russkaya kuhnya? Джон:[Да, очень. Особенно борщ и блины.] John: Da, ochen’. Osobenno borshch i bliny. Виктор: [А как вам русская водка? ] Victor: A kak vam russkaya vodka? Джон: [Ну…] John: Nu… Виктор: [Давайте закажем. Девушка, пожалуйста, борщ, блины и 100 грамм водки. А мне…] Victor:Davaite zakazhem. Devushka, pozhaluista, borshch, bliny i sto gramm vodki. A mne… Eddie: Once again, with the translation. Oxana: Ещё раз с переводом. Oxana: [Наконец-то можно расслабиться. Разрешите представить, это мой друг и партнёр по бизнесу Джон.] Eddie:Finally, we can relax. Let me introduce John, my friend and business partner. Oxana: [Добрый вечер, я Джон.] Eddie: Good evening. I’m John. Oxana: [О, здравствуйте Джон.] Eddie: Oh, hello, John. Oxana: [Садитесь здесь. Вам нравится русская кухня?] Eddie: Sit down here. Do you like Russian food? Oxana: [Да, очень. Особенно борщ и блины.] Eddie: Yes, very much. Especially borshch and bliny. Oxana: [А как вам русская водка? ] Eddie: And what do you think of Russian vodka? Oxana: [Ну…] Eddie: Well… Oxana: [Давайте закажем. Девушка, пожалуйста, борщ, блины и 100 грамм водки. А мне…] Eddie:Let’s order. Waiter, borshch, bliny and 100 milliliters of vodka, please. And for me… POST CONVERSATION BANTER Eddie: Drinking in Russia is not only an integral part of parties, but it’s also something you rarely can avoid in the company of two or more people. Russians are convinced that every foreigner must try their national product of pride – vodka. But they’re also convinced that a rare foreigner can handle it well. What actually amuses them is watching people struggling with their glasses of vodka and winching after every shot. Therefore you can either break the stereotype and show your strength or you can entertain Russians with your weakness of getting drunk quickly. The option of just saying “no” also works. No one will pressure you to drink if you don’t want to. VOCAB LIST Eddie: And let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. Oxana: [Наконец] Eddie:Finally. Oxana: [Наконец] Eddie:Next. Oxana: [Можно] Eddie: Can, may, allow to, possible. Oxana: [Можно] Eddie: Next one. Oxana: [Расслабиться] Eddie: To relax. Oxana: [Расслабиться] Eddie: Next one. Oxana: [Разрешите представить] Eddie: Let me introduce… Oxana: [Разрешите представить] Eddie: Next. Oxana: [Друг] Eddie: Friend. Oxana: [Друг] Eddie: Next. Oxana: [Партнёр по бизнесу] Eddie:Business partner. Oxana: [Партнёр по бизнесу] Eddie: Next. Oxana: [Добрый вечер] Eddie: Good evening. Oxana: [Добрый вечер] Eddie: Next. Oxana: [Садитесь] Eddie:“Sit down” – polite command form. Oxana: [Садитесь] Eddie: And next. Oxana: [Здесь] Eddie:Here. Oxana: [Здесь] Eddie:Next. Oxana: [Нравится] Eddie:To like. Oxana: [Нравится] Eddie:Next. Oxana: [Кухня] Eddie:Cuisine, food, kitchen. Oxana: [Кухня] Eddie:Next. Oxana: [Очень] Eddie: Very. Oxana: [Очень] Eddie: Next one. Oxana: [Особенно] Eddie:Especially. Oxana: [Особенно] Eddie: Next. Oxana: [Борщ] Eddie: [Borshch] Oxana: [Борщ] Eddie: And next. Oxana: [Блины] Eddie:Pancakes. Oxana: [Блины] Eddie:Next. Oxana: [Как вам] Eddie:How do you find, what do you think of. Oxana: [Как вам] M1: Next. Oxana: [Давайте] M1: Let’s. Oxana: [Давайте] Eddie: And next. Oxana: [Заказать] Eddie: To order, to book, to reserve. Oxana: [Заказать] Eddie: Next. Oxana: [Девушка] Eddie: “Girl” or, in a restaurant, “waitress”. Oxana: [Девушка] VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE Eddie:Now that’s a menu to be salivated over, huh? Oxana: I know, I miss that kind of food. Eddie:But it’s not so difficult to make at home, right? Oxana: Yeah. And moreover most of the Russians think that if you really want to try an authentic Russian food don’t go to a restaurant. Homemade food is considered to be the best. [борщ], for example, is supposed to be cooked for six hours according to some recipes and what restaurant would ever bother to do that? Eddie: [Блины] is also something that has thousands of different recipes, right? The restaurants don’t use the most sophisticated ones, I guess. Oxana: Well, it’s just better to go to the places that are famous for certain dishes. Some of them are really good, but any Russian middle-aged housewife would insist that her cooking is the best. So if you have a chance to take part in Russian home party, agree immediately. It’s not going to be just Cola and chips, trust me. M1: Ok, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary. Oxana: [Наконец-то] Eddie:“Yes, finally”. Actually the ending [то] makes this word sound very colloquial. In the written language you’ll find [наконец] most of the time. Oxana: Yes, [наконец-то] sounds very conversational but it’s not impolite in any way so don’t worry about using it inappropriately. Eddie: The next word we heard is… Oxana: [можно] Eddie: Which can be translated with all English words that indicate something is being allowed such as “can”, “may”, “it’s ok”, “allowed to”, “it’s possible” and so on. Oxana: The word doesn’t require any pronouns. It doesn’t refer to anyone in particular, but just generally shows that something is allowed. For example, [Можно курить]. Eddie: It’s allowed to smoke. Oxana: [Можно расслабиться] Eddie: We can relax. It’s ok to relax. Oxana: [Можно купить.] Eddie: “It’s possible to buy.” And the next phrase will allow you to seem well-mannered and educated when meeting someone new. Oxana: [Разрешите представить.] Eddie:Which literally means “let me introduce”, then you just say the name of the person you’re introducing. Oxana: [Разрешите представить, это Эдди.] Eddie: Thanks, Axanna. And if I want to introduce myself what should I say? Oxana: [Разрешите представиться] Just add [ся] in the end. Eddie: Let me try. [Разрешите представиться, я Эдди] Oxana: Ok, enough of you, Eddie. Although let me use you one more time in our next phrase. [партнёр по бизнесу] Remember the particle [по]? As long as you remember the structure, you can use any nouns with the word [партнёр] which means “partner”. For example, Eddie is my recording partner so in Russian I can call him [партнёр по записи]. Eddie: How about [партнёр по теннису]? Oxana: Sounds great. Sometimes “partners” also mean boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands and wives and are called [партнёр по жизни] meaning “life partner”. It sounds rather formal though. Eddie: Ok. After John has been introduced, he greets the people in the restaurant, probably friends and family of Игорь Иванович, who wants to show off his foreign partner. What does John say? Oxana: [Добрый вечер] Where [добрый] is “kind” and [вечер] is “evening”. And altogether they stand for the phrase “good evening”. [Добрый вечер] Eddie: And the crowd greets him back. Oxana: [Здравствуйте, Виктор] Our well-known hello for all possible cases. Eddie:There’s this guy, let’s call him Victor, who has a place next to him, and he’s excited for John to take that place. Oxana: [Садитесь здесь] Eddie: The word [садитесь] should be familiar to you from the second lesson where Ileana invited John to sit down. And [здесь] means “here”. Oxana: But don’t confuse it with another “here” that we’ve learned before, [вот]. [Вот] only indicated “here” when you’re pointing at something or giving something to a person, more in the meaning of “here you are” or “here it is”. And [здесь] is the word to indicate a place, the literal “here”. Eddie: So Victor has John next to him and the ice-breaker in the restaurant is asking about food, obviously. Oxana: [Вам нравится русская кухня?] Eddie: Where [вам] means “to you” and [нравится] means “like”. But literally the phrase translates as “is something to your liking?” Oxanna, how do we use the phrase [нравится] with other pronouns when we want to ask whether he likes or they like something? Oxana: Ok, here’s the list of examples. [Мне нравится] Eddie: I like. Oxana: [Тебе нравится] Eddie: You like. Oxana: [Вам нравирся] Eddie: “You like” – plural or polite form. Oxana: [Нам нравится.] Eddie: We like. Oxana: [Ей нравится.] Eddie:She likes. Oxana: [Ему нравится.] Eddie: He likes. Oxana: [Им нравится.] Eddie:“They like.” Oxanna just read them all as statements. To make questions out of these phrases simply raise your intonation at the end. Oxana: Then we have a phrase [русская кухня] which literally means “Russian kitchen” but it implies food, of course. Russian food or Russian cuisine. Eddie: And John was obviously ready for this question. He answers… Oxana: [Да, очень.] Eddie:Yes, very much. Oxana: [Особенно борщ и блины.] Eddie: Especially [борщ] and [блины], which are pancakes. This is a very common answer which basically means he hasn’t tried anything else of Russian food, otherwise he’d named something fancier and really special. [борщ] and [блины] have always been the dishes everyone could afford, therefore they’re the most popular, but they’re definitely not the most outstanding representatives of Russian cuisine. Oxana: Moreover, [борщ] is originally a Ukrainian soup cooked with beet root and therefore has its particular red color. It also has a much richer taste than Russian [борщ]. The Russian version of it is called [щи] and the main ingredient there is cabbage. It has a very light, green color and light veggie taste. Eddie: Well, no matter how simple these dishes are, they will be offered to you in Russia as a must to try. It’s still delicious, especially [блины] with red or black caviar. Oxana: Right. You will also be offered, if not forced, to try Russian vodka. Eddie: But first Victor is asking John’s opinion about this fire drink. Oxana: Not that the answer really matters to Victor, but there it is. [А как вам русская водка?] Eddie: It’s a very useful and very simple phrase. [как вам] Literally it means “how to you”, but it can be translated into English as “what do you think about” or “how do you find”. You can replace [вам], “to you”, with the less formal word [тебе]. Then you just add whatever you want an opinion about. Give us some more examples, Axanna. Oxana: Eddie, [как тебе Москву]? Eddie: [Ну…] Oxana: Eddie’s long [ну] or “well” means he’s looking for words to tell me that he’d seen better but is afraid to offend me. The same is true with John and vodka. He’s obviously not excited about the prospect of getting drunk in unknown Russian company or he just doesn’t find this drink as terrific as Russians do, but he can’t say no directly to Victor’s excited face. Eddie:But either Victor is not a very perceptive man or the answer didn’t really matter to him as he shouts out… Oxana: [Давайте закажем.] Eddie: Which is “Let’s order!” Then he’s calling for a waitress. Oxana: [Девушка] Oxana: Which literally means “a girl”. And if you say [моя девушка] it will even mean “my girlfriend”, but it’s also a way to call for a waitress in a restaurant. It’s definitely more polite than the literal word for “waitress” in Russian. They are girls after all. And what of it’s a waiter? Oxana: Then you should refer to him as “a young man”, which in Russian is [Молодой человек]. Eddie: Victor starts his order with the word “please”. Oxana: [Пожалуйста] Eddie: The same “please” as the English one at the end of a request. But as we know, Russian word order is pretty flexible so you can choose whether to put it at the beginning or at the end of your request. So what did Victor order for John? Oxana: [Борщ, блины и 100 грамм водки.] Eddie: Which is [борщ], pancakes and 100 milliliters of vodka. Liquids in Russia are measure in liters and milliliters, but when it comes to vodka it’s grams. Before, Russians didn’t even say “to drink vodka” but “to eat vodka”. This is how special it’s always been. And then Victor orders for himself… Oxana: [А мне…] Eddie: Which literally means “and to me” or “and for me” and then who knows what he orders. It will be his little secret. Lesson focus
Eddie: Now let’s take a look at the grammar. The focus is on the verb [давайте] or “let’s”. Oxana: You can also make it sound less formal by dropping the end [те], leaving [давай]. So [давай] and then… Eddie: And then the difficult part – the verb in the future tense used in the form of the first person in the plural, which is “we”, like in the sentences “We will read” or “We will watch”. Literally, your phrases with “let’s” will sound like “let’s we will read” or “let’s we will watch”. Here are some examples. Oxana: [Давай почитаем] Eddie: Let’s read. Oxana: [Давай посмотрим] Eddie: Let’s watch. Oxana: [Давай спросим] Eddie: “Let’s ask.” This will be difficult at first and, while it is, you can use a simple form of a suggestion. You can just say [давай] and then a verb in the dictionary form like [давай читать] and [давай смотреть]. Oxana: People will understand you perfectly well. Outro
Eddie: That just about does it for today. [До свидания!] Oxana: [До новых встреч. Пока!] Eddie: [Пока!] Игорь Иванович: [Наконец-то можно расслабиться. Разрешите представить, это мой друг и партнёр по бизнесу Джон.] Igor Ivanovich: Nakonets-to mozhno rasslabit’sya. Razreshite predstavit’. eto moi drug i partnyor po biznesu John. Джон: [Добрый вечер, я Джон.] John: Dobryi vecher, ya John. Виктор: [О, здравствуйте Джон. Садитесь здесь. Вам нравится русская кухня? ] Victor: O, zdravstvuite John. Sadites’ zdes’. Vam nravitsya russkaya kuhnya? Джон:[Да, очень. Особенно борщ и блины.] John: Da, ochen’. Osobenno borshch i bliny. Виктор: [А как вам русская водка? ] Victor: A kak vam russkaya vodka? Джон: [Ну…] John: Nu… Виктор: [Давайте закажем. Девушка, пожалуйста, борщ, блины и 100 грамм водки. А мне…] Victor:Davaite zakazhem. Devushka, pozhaluista, borshch, bliny i sto gramm vodki. A mne… -
How to Learn & Master Russian Grammar with our Grammar Bank
If you’re tired of knowing and speaking the language at a basic level… …and want to express yourself fluently, just like native speakers… …then, you’ll need to learn grammar. The problem? It can be tricky to learn. But don’t worry. In this guide, you’ll discover… Where to get all of the grammar explanations you’ll ever need… The best way to learn grammar that’s right for your level… And how to expose yourself to real examples until the rules become natural to you …with a study tool called the Grammar Bank inside of our learning program. But first, if you don’t yet have access to our program… Sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description. So, what is the grammar bank? The grammar bank is like a grammar dictionary, except online. It’s a database of the must-know grammar rules and explanations… …that makes it easy to look up specific rules and learn them. Look for it in the top menu of our site. How do you learn grammar with it? The best way to learn grammar is NOT to just study roles… But to learn in context…and hear the grammar used in real life. And that’s exactly how you learn with our lessons. You learn a quick conversation and hear how the grammar rules are used within that conversation. But what if you come across grammar that you’re not familiar with? Or what if you want to review a specific rule… without going back to re-do a lesson? That’s where the grammar bank comes in. You can look up grammar rules, and get the explanations, examples… and links to lessons where we cover these rules. You can also sort grammar by learning level. So, if you’re an Absolute Beginner and want to make sure you know all of the Absolute Beginner grammar rules… …you can do just that with the Grammar bank. You can also sort the rules by spelling, category, and lesson series. And if you want to get used to the grammar patterns so that you can use them in conversation… and become fluent… The best way is to expose yourself to examples as much as possible. Grammar is hard at first… but gets easy once you get used to it with enough exposure. Be sure to access the related lessons inside the grammar bank… …and listen to the native conversations that use the rule… as much as possible. So, if you want to become fluent and speak perfectly… you’ll need grammar… Take advantage of the Grammar Bank… inside of our learning program But if you don’t yet have access… sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to sign up. -
Asking for Information in a Russian Office
INTRODUCTION John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Business Russian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 10 – Asking for Information in a Russian Office. I’m John. Karina: Привет, I’m Karina. John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for a simple piece of information in your workplace. The conversation takes place at the office. Karina: It’s between Linda and Anna. John: The speakers are co-workers, so they will use informal Russian. Okay, let’s listen to the conversation. DIALOGUE Линда: Ты знаешь телефон Елены? Анна: Да, её рабочий телефон 84951234567. Линда: Я пыталась дозвониться, но её не было. Ты не знаешь её мобильный? Анна: Конечно, 89141234567 и её адрес электронной почты elena@mail.com. John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. Линда: Ты знаешь телефон Елены? Анна: Да, её рабочий телефон 84951234567. Линда: Я пыталась дозвониться, но её не было. Ты не знаешь её мобильный? Анна: Конечно, 89141234567 и её адрес электронной почты elena@mail.com. John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation Linda: Do you know Elena’s telephone number? Anna: Yes, her office number is 84951234567. Linda: I tried earlier, but she was not in. Do you also know her mobile phone number? Anna: Sure, it’s 89141234567 and her email address is elena@mail.com. POST CONVERSATION BANTER John: Are office transfers common in Russia? Karina: Despite the fact that Russia is the biggest country in the world, office transfers are not that common. John: Is there a specific reason for that? Karina: It may be because according to Russian Labor Law, a job transfer is possible only with an employee’s written agreement. Of course for some types of jobs, like in the oil and gas industry, job transfers are a usual thing. John: I see. Are there any other reasons? Karina: Another explanation for a low number of job transfers may be the fact that Russians have very strong family values and don’t really like working far away from home. John: What’s the Russian for “office transfer”? Karina: перевод по работе John: Okay, now onto the vocab. VOCAB LIST John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. Karina: знать [natural native speed] John: to know Karina: знать[slowly – broken down by syllable] Karina: знать [natural native speed] John: Next we have.. Karina: телефон [natural native speed] John: phone Karina: телефон[slowly – broken down by syllable] Karina: телефон [natural native speed] John: Next we have.. Karina: рабочий [natural native speed] John: working, office Karina: рабочий[slowly – broken down by syllable] Karina: рабочий [natural native speed] John: Next we have.. Karina: пытаться [natural native speed] John: to try, to make an attempt Karina: пытаться[slowly – broken down by syllable] Karina: пытаться [natural native speed] John: Next we have.. Karina: мобильный [natural native speed] John: mobile Karina: мобильный[slowly – broken down by syllable] Karina: мобильный [natural native speed] John: And last.. Karina: электронная почта [natural native speed] John: email Karina: электронная почта[slowly – broken down by syllable] Karina: электронная почта [natural native speed] KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES John: Let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. Karina: пытаться дозвониться John: meaning “to try to reach somebody on the phone.” The phrase consists of two verbs – “to try” and “to reach somebody on the phone.” Karina: Notice that the second verb дозвониться consists of the prefix до John: meaning “to complete something,” which is typical of perfective verbs Karina: and the verb звонить meaning “to call”, and the suffix ся John: Which brings the meaning “to do something by yourself.” Can you give us an example using this phrase? Karina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Я пытался дозвониться ей всё утро. John: ..which means “I’ve tried to reach her on the phone all morning.” Okay, what’s the next word? Karina: конечно John: meaning “sure” Karina: You use this word to show the 100% certainty of a speaker, and there are no limitations on the usage of this word. John: Can you give us an example using this word? Karina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Конечно, мы придём. John: .. which means “Of course, we are coming.” Okay, next let’s take a look at how to read an email address in Russian Karina: elena@mail.com John: which is “elena@mail.com” In Russian, as you may have noticed, mail addresses are written with the Latin alphabet, so be sure you know how to read the various parts. “@” is… Karina: собака John: “dot” is… Karina: точка John: “com” is… Karina: ком. Other common domains are орг for “org” and ру for “ru” John: Can you give us a sample sentence? Karina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Самый популярный домен в России – точка ру.” John: .. which means “The most common domain in Russia is dot-r-u”. Okay, now onto the lesson focus. Lesson focus
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about how to ask for a simple piece of information at the workplace. Karina: The example in the dialogue is Ты знаешь телефон Елены? John: “Do you know Elena’s telephone number?” Karina: The formula for questions like this is ты meaning “you” followed by знаешь “know” and a phrase… John: Usually an accusative noun combined with a genitive noun. Karina: In this example, телефон meaning “phone” is accusative and indicates an object, while Елены “Elena’s” is the genitive and specifies possession. John: The sentence we just talked about is used in informal speech. What if you need to ask a similar thing to your boss? Karina: In that case, you have to use the polite вы “you” and also add the negative не, “not,” to make it more polite, for example Вы не знаете телефон Елены? John: literally “Don’t you know Elena’s phone number?” Karina: here is another example – Вы знаете адрес электронной почты Фёдора? John: “Do you know Fyodor’s email address?” Now let’s take a look at the Russian verb meaning “to know.” Karina: знать John: There’s nothing difficult about this word, but the conjugations can be a bit challenging. Karina: We saw the second person singular Ты знаешь John: meaning “you know”, and which is used in informal situations Karina: and the second person plural Вы знаете John: meaning “you know” plural or polite. These are in the present tense, right? Karina: That’s right. John: In Russian there is only one present tense – Present Simple. If you learn the endings for the conjugations, you should be able to conjugate any verb. Karina: Right, first of all, you need to define whether the verb is of the first conjugation, where it doesn’t have и in infinitive form before ть, or the second, where it does. Then for the first conjugation, remove ть and add the right ending. For the second conjunction, remove ить and add the right ending. John: Which conjugation is the verb “to know”? Karina: знать is from the first conjugation. John: Let’s go through the complete conjugation and see the endings for the first conjugation verbs. “I know” is… Karina: Я знаю, the ending is -ю John: “you know” is… Karina: Ты знаешь, the ending is -ешь John: “he, she knows” is… Karina: Он / она знает and the ending is -ет John: “we know” is… Karina: Мы знаем and the ending is -ем John: “you know” plural or polite is… Karina: Вы знаете and the ending is -ете John: “They know” is… Karina: Они знают and the ending is -ют John: Are the endings for the second conjugation different? Karina: Yes, except for the first person singular, they are different. John: Let’s list them, for the first person “I” in both cases is… Karina: -ю or -у John: for the second person “you” singular is… Karina: -ешь for the first conjugation and -ишь for the second John: for the third person “he” or “she” is… Karina: -ет for the first conjugation and -ит for the second John: for the first person, “we” is Karina: -ем for the first conjugation and -им for the second John: for the second person “you” plural is.. Karina: -ете for the first conjugation and -ите for the second John: for the third person, “they” is… Karina: -ют or -ут for the first conjugation and -ят or -ат for the second Outro
John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! Karina: Пока!