CD11Cassette1 CD track Introduction CDJ/CassetteJ 1 Pronunci,ltion Review 2 - Co tuck ') Unit 1.1 Unit 8.] 1 3-4 Unit 1.2 Unit 8.2 2 1 Unit 1.3 ~6 Unit 8 3 4 5 7-8 Unit 1.5 Unit 8.5 6-7 9 S ummn ry 8 Summary 1 10 Unit 2.1 Unit 9.1 Q . ")") 11-12 U Unit 9.2 10 11 rut-·- n 1~14 Unit 9.3 12 Unit ~.3 15-1(; 2.5 Unit 9.5 14 11\ Unit 17 16 .. Summary 9 Sum11tant 2 18 Unit 10.1 17 Unit 3.1 19-20 18-}4 Unit 10.2 Unit 3.2 21-22 20-21 Unit 10.3 Unit 3.3 22-23 23-24: Unit 10.5 Unit 3.5 s 24 25 1111111111 fl/ J(J 5 J lilt 1111t7 /'If 26 2S Review ~3 • Review 1 26 27 Unitll.l 27-28 Unit4.l 28-29 CD'l/Cassette4 CD track CD2/Cassette2 CD track Unit 11.2 1 2 Unit 4.2 1-2 Unit 11.3 3-4 Unit 4.3 J--.t Unit 11.5 5 - Unit 4.5 Summary 11 J b Swumm~t4 6 Unit 12.1 7-8 . Unit 5.1 7-8 U ]'J'} q_1o mt -·- Unit 5.2 9-10 Unit 12.3 11-12 Unit 5.3 ll-12 Unit 12.5 13 s Unit 5.5 13 12 14 1111111/(l/lf Sw11111m·y 5 14 Unit 13.1 15-16 Unit 6.1 15-16 Unit 13.2 17-ll:! lQ-20 17- 18 Unit 13.3 Unit 6.2 21 19-20 Unit 13.5 Unit 6.3 21 21 S Y I Unit 6.5 111111/1111 ~ 24 22 Unit 14.1 2~ Summary 6 25-:!6 -":·1 1--"4 Unit 14.2 Unit 7.1 27 2H . ') Unit 14.3 25-26 - U mt ~1 ·- '>9 Unit 14.5 ~7-28 Unit 7.3 30 29 Sullmlllry 14 :n Unit 7.5 Re\ iew 4 30 Summary ~ 1 Hnlldwritte1l forms Alphabet Tra11slit- Approx. capital Letter fo·wer eration forms Printed pro11. • -case capital ll0111C lower .J fl -case a o a 'ah' $" A a b b 'beh' J3 6 G 6 v v 'veh' ~ B 8 g g r 'geh' tf) r 3 d d 'deh' £ Jl e e .. ye 'yeh' £ e E e yo yo •• 'yoh' E e•• J{C- zh JK, French 'j' 'zheh' 3 )I( II\ 3 z z 'zeh' 3 lL 3 u. • ee 1 'ee' u l1 J It ~ t.l yin dipht1wng i sl!ort i •• l~1 X It k k 'kah' K Jl ~ 1 .II 1 'el' J1 .1 Jl1 m m 'em' rvt Jl M 1-1 n 'en' n H D tl 0 0 0 'oh' 0 j( 0 p n p 'peh' .f II rolled 'r' r f c p p 'err' c s c s 'es' c j / - n1 t 'teh' t T J I y , u I u j) " )' Ol) • f f f 'cf' 4> <J) J: kh X h X 'hah' X 11 ts u ~ 'tseh' ts ll ~ ch 7: ch 'cheh' 4 'I /J). w Irani 'sir' sh (.!! 'shah' us Ill shch lLI soft 'sss/1' Ill 'ssshah' Ill 0 - II 'h Jun cl sig11 1. ... bt. y uy hl 'uy' - b I a soft sig, h a •• e e lmck-cvnrds ID t' ~ yu iO yoo .., yuo' 10 10 I f;l{_ yn ya 'yah' Sl ix Vowels so- There are ten vowels in the Russian alphabet. Five are the called 'hard vowels' and five are the so-called 'soft vowels'. When pronounced on their own, or at the beginning of a word, y- the first four 'soft' vowels have a sound at the beginning. 'Hard' vowels a o y 3 bl •• 'Soft' vowels e e H 10 H Co11smzan ts Most consonants in Russian can be either 'soft' or 'hard'. A consonant is hard when it is followed by a so-called 'hard' vO\'\'el, or if it comes at the end of a word and does not have a soft sign (-b) after it. Here are the hard variants of consonants followed by some so-called 'hard' vowels. Hard variants of 6y oo Jla ry Ja KO Jlbl Ma no pa co consonants HJ Tbl ci»bl Xbl A consonant is soft when it is followed by a so-called 'soft' vowel or has a soft sign (-b) after it. When pronouncing a soft consonant, the main part of the tongue is pushed up against the roof of the mouth, giving the sound a 'y'-like quality. Here are the soft variants of consonants followed by some so-called 'soft' vowels. Soft variants of 610 Be )lH rH 3H KJI JJH ne Ce consonants MH He pH TH c1»10 XH And here are some examples of soft consonants followed by a soft sign (-b). The vowel a has been added before the consonant: Without the soft sign these would be aJib. aub, aTb. hard: aJI, an. aT. Not all consonants have hard and soft variants. There are three inherently hard consonants, which are hard no matter what sort of vowel follows them, and there are two inherently soft consonants. Inherently hard consonants w Inherently soft consonants m Stress has an important effect on the pronuncation of some vowels. In this book the stressed syllable in words of more than one syllable is marked with an acute accent- ouo. eMy, - 1 08 ln normal written Russian however - books, 0PHTb. newspapers, signs, letters, etc.- stress is not marked, since Russians' k 1 d h . now e ge .of their own language tells them w ere ~ at falls. I> I> I> I> I> I> I> I> I> I> I> [> [> Starting out noexanM! OBJECTIVES In this unit you'll learn how to: 0 pronounce Russian words 0 greet people 0 ask simple questions 0 make simple statements And cover the following grammar and language: 0 3To 'this is', 'that is' 0 gender of nouns 0 pronouns LEARNING RUSSIAN 1 The first challenge in learning Russian is familiarizing yourself with the script. Although it may look daunting to begin with, you will soon find that you can recognize the words you hear on the recordings quickly and that there are few surprises in Russian spelling. To start with, however, you will need to practise reading as much as possible. Reading exercises are included in this unit. Although this course concentrates on listening and speaking, one of the best ways of learning new words is by writing them down, and then writing them out several times if possible. For this you will need to know Russian handwritten forms, which are a little different from printed letters (see page ix). Learning them now may seem like an extra bur~en to begin with, but your efforts will be repaid when you find you are reading and writing with ease! @ Now start the recording for Unit 1. 1 The alphabet AncJlaBHT 't alreadv listen now to the Pronunciation Guide A If vou h aven Wh J' • ~ ar{d look at the alphabet chart on pagbe txk. thenbyoukfeel you - · vith the alphabet, come ac to e oo and try are f am1 1tar' the activity below. ACTIVITY 1 · many words borrowed from English and many Russ1an uses . · t. I' terms Try to work out the meantngs of the 'mtema wna · following words. , 9 1 6opm UHKJIOH , 10 SIHKII 2 Q>6pyM , 3 '3pa 11 x666n , 4 rapa)K 12 noHJJ,OH , 5 an3a 13 l.J.uKaro ., , , 6 ManoHe3 14 Hhlo-H..... opK 7 woQ>ep 15 AMepnKa , 8 mlTepbep 16 CaHKT-neTep6ypr l LANGUAGE BUILDING 0 Stress and vowels You now know all you need to know to read Russian words of one syllable correctly, and read out longer words in a slow and deliberate style. In this book the stressed syllable in words of more than one syllable is marked with an acute accent (MocKea, xopow6). (In books for Russian native speakers stress is not marked, since Russians' knowledge of their own language tells them where it falls.) Stress has an important effect on the pronunciation of some vowels. The following points are vital to your understanding and speaking of Russian: • an unstressed o sounds something like 'ah' or 'uh' • an unstressed e sounds something like 'i' or 'yi' • an unstressed before the stressed syllable sounds like 'i' or 'yi' fl Thus the word oH6, meaning 'it', will sound som~thi~g l~k~ 'uh-~o', and the word eM.' mean in 'to him', sounds something like Yl·moo. ACTIVITY 2 Read the following words out loud. Remember, words of one syllable have no stress mark, and their vowels are pronounced as normal. Try to learn the meanings of the words as you go. Words of one syllable: .na yes ue1· no KTO? who? r.ne? where? I B Tbl you [familiar, singular] OH he/it we Mbl you [plural; also polite si11gttlar] Bbl Words of t·wo syllables: oua she/it , OHO it , OHH they , BOK33.11 main railway station MocKoa Moscow e aunt [no stress marked as is always stressed] TeTH , word CJIOBO , language BlbiK , window OKHO Words of three syllables: pa66Ta work , street YJUIU3 , xopowo OK; \Veil Now do activities 3, 4, and 5 on the recording. 3 Hello! 3ApaBCTBYMTe! @ ACTIVITY 6 is on the recording. ACTIVITY 7 A Listen to the recording. Which of the followin words ani phrases do you hear? g 1 lloKa! 2 llpHJITnoro anneniTa! 3 flO)I(MYHCTa! B Which of the phrases above would you use: a when offering somebody something? b on starting a meal? c when saying goodbye to a close friend? DIALOGUE 1 0 no)l(anyifcra, sam 6opm. • Cnacu6o. A cMeTana? 0 BoT, no)l(anyifcTa. cMeTaHa. • Cnacu6o. 0 flO)I(MyHCTa, BclillH ~H . .&. MMMM! Cnacli6o! 0 H xne6, no)J(anyiicTa. IlpM5ITHOro anneTI1Ta! • Cnacu6o! I VOCABULARY hello 3AP8BCTBYMTe! goodbye AO CBMACJHMA! hi! [informal] npMBeTI bye! [informal] nonI please; you're welcome no•anyi4CTa thank you cnacil&o your ]· but B8W, UWM and [with slight contrast, a sour cream . · g or CM8T6H8 here is [said whilst pomtm BOT .. indicating in some way] cabbage soup .... and II bread 1 enjoy your meal . ...-THoro annerin'al r LANGUAGE BUILDING Rather than giving you any new grammar in this section, here is some more reading practice. For both activities, read the words out loud, repeating them several times. You will probably need to check back to the alphabet summary chart on page ix. Also, bear in mind how stress affects the vowels o, e, and (see page 2). R ACTIVITY 8 Read the following words out loud carefully. Try to learn the mearungs as you go. Words of one syllable: uaw our but [strong contrast] HO there TaM here l.lleCb Words of two syllables: Kor.ua ? when? very also ~ TO IKe ro~ po.u town, city mum Phrases: , I can H MOry I want ~ H XO'IY I like, I love H JIJ06JIW Words of four syllables: sorry! HlBHHHTe! csn.uaune meeting, rendezvous ACTIVITY 9 Try to work out the meanings of the following words. 1 6ap 8 aHopaK 15 3M6apro 2 <t>aKC 9 xynMraH 16 cfleMI-~HibM ~ 10 napnaMeHT 17 aBOKa,z:J.O 3 caMMHT , 18 rHMH3CTiiKa 4 npHHTep 11 nH~ uua , 5 BHCKH 12 i16ra 19 JIHTep~rypa 6 <t>yr66n 13 onTM~HcT 20 pesomo~ujl 7 HeiUI6H 14 KYJihTypa 21 opraHn3auujl @ Now do activities 10 and 11 on the recording. 5 Are ou a student? @ ACTIVITY 12 is on the recording. ACTIVITY 13 What three things do Gleb and Svetlana have in common? DIALOGUE 2 0 CseTnaHa, Bbi - cT)')J:eHTI<a? • LJ:a, .s~ - cry.IJ.eHTKa. A s~>r - cry.IJ.eHT? ,na, TO)f(e cry.neHT. A CseTa, Bbl - MOCKBMqKa? c~ Sl • LJ:a, MOCKBI-It.tKa. A Bbi? 0 51 To)f(e MOCKBIIt.t. Ho nro6nK> CaHKT-IleTep6ypr. H , • 51 TO)f(e n106n!O CaHKT-IleTep6ypr. Ot.teHh mo6nK>. ! voCABULARY student [female] CTy.QeHTKa student [male] CTy.QeHT familiar form of the name Calrra CaeTnaHa , Muscovite [female] MOCKBM"'Ka , Muscovite [male] MOCKBM"' I LANGUAGE BUILDING 0 3To 'this is'. 'that is' The word 3To means 'this is' or 'that is'. (Notice that the word '4TO is spelled with "'· not was you might expect.) 3To? Who is that? KTO • 3To lt1aaH. That is Ivan. '-ITo 3To? What is that? • 3To It's bortsch. 6op~. 0 Simple statements There is no verb 'to be' in the present tense. In writing it is sometimes indicated by a dash. HVIHa. I am Nina. ~- Tbl- MOCKBVlYKa. You're a Muscovite. 0Ha- spaY. She's a doctor. lt1aaH - onT1!1MVIcT. Ivan's an optimist. 6