Lesson 10 - No Lesson, but rather 'Bye for Now'...

Bought a new mic, new headphones, iMac G5 - all set up to produce 'killer shows', yet this show will be the last one before I can get settled in our house.

This is show#10 and the last one as far as my introductory lessons go. After almost 7,000 visitors to my site and close to 3,000 subscribers (at one point) I decided to take a sabbatical to re-evaluate the show and make some changes. Renovating of the house damaged by hurricane Katrina is another reason for the break.

I would like to thank all my loyal long-time listeners as well as new ones for downloading the show. I really enjoyed getting the lessons ready as well as doing the production itself. I wouldn't be able to do it without you inspiring me.

There will be no lesson today. If you sent me a comment or a question - don't worry. I will be answering all the questions via e-mail personally in the days to come. Stay subscribed to 'A Spoonful of Russian' - that way you'll be informed of all the changes.

I did include a song in this last show.

"Сердце" ('Heart')
also known as "Как много девушек хороших" ('There are so many nice girls")


Как много девушек хороших,
Как много ласковых имен,
Но лишь одно из них тревожит,
Унося покой и сон, когда влюблен.

Любовь нечаянно нагрянет,
Когда ее совсем не ждешь,
И каждый вечер сразу станет
Удивительно хорош, и ты поешь:

Припев:
Сердце, тебе не хочется покоя.
Сердце, как хорошо на свете жить!
Сердце, как хорошо, что ты такое,
Спасибо, сердце, что ты умеешь так любить!

Microphone trouble:(

The mic I am used to is a 'gonner'. Found out today as I was getting ready to record the audio. Not only that. I also managed to sit on my Sony headphones I use for podcast production. That's quite embarassing, although the room was totally dark and the headphones were right on the chair. Anyway, Lesson#10 is pushed to the next Saturday. Hopefully, I'll be able to aquire new mic and earphones by then.....Stay tuned.

Lesson 9 - Food

How do you feel about food? Я люблю поесть! (I love to eat!) most people will say.






 Whether you love it or hate it, we deal with food and talk about food every single day. That reminds me, I have to throw together PLOV (rice-based national dish of Uzbekistan) for tonight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plov) ....be right back.

(Natalia making noise in her kitchen)

First, let me give you a list of some popular food items in Russian:

Хлеб - bread
Соль - salt
Сахар - sugar
Яйца - eggs


Икра - caviar


Масло - butter
Молоко - milk
Кефир - kefir (a sour-tasting drink made from cow's milk fermented with certain bacteria.)
Сок - juice
Овощи - vegetables
Фрукты - fruit
Сыр - cheese
Мясо - meat



Рыба - fish


Колбаса - sausage
Шоколад - chocolate
Торт - cake




Вода - water



Пиво - beer
Шампанское - champaign
Водка - vodka
Чай - tea



Кофе - coffee


Just to name a few. Now, some dishes in Russian:



Салат - salad



Плов - plov (Uzbek-style Rice Pilaf)
Суп - soup
Горячее - main course
Беф-строганов - Beef Stroganoff
Солянка - Russian Spicy Meat Soup




Борщ - Ukranian Beet Soup



Винегрет - Russian “Pink” Salad Vinaigrette
Пельмени - Beef dumplings
Грибы Фаршированные - Stuffed Mushrooms
Баклажанная икра - Chopped eggplant simmered with tomatoes, carrots, pepper and onion.
Селедка под шубой - Chilled slices of vinegar-marinated herring, served with sliced onions, turnip salad, boiled potatoes with a touch of butter and fresh dill.
Блины - Crepes



Шашлык - Kebab



Голубцы - Cabbage leaves stuffed with meat+rice mixture
Фаршированный Перец - Stuffed Greeen Peppers
--------------------------------------------------------------------




Below is the dialog from today's lesson. Let's try to make an order at one of the Russian restaurants. It's lunch time and you are a client, клиент (speaking in masculine gender in this dialog) at one of the nicer Russian resaturants.

By now I am sure you will be able to greet your server (официант) properly in Russian. You would say 'Добрый день', 'Здравствуйте', but never 'Привет' or 'Здорово'....Leave the latter for your friends and family.

Your официант would probably ask you if you'd want a starter.

Официант: Что вы хотите на закуску?
Server: What would you like for a starter?

Клиент: Порцию фаршированных грибов, пожалуйста.
Client: A serving of stuffed mushrooms, please.

Официант: Отлично. Что закажeте из горячего?
Server: Great. What would you like for your main course?

Клиент: Я возьму борщ со сметаной. А винегрет у вас есть?
Client: I'll take some borsch with sourcream. Do you have vinaigrette on the menu?

Официант: Конечно есть. У нас отличный винегрет!
Server: Of course we do. We serve one great-tasting vinaigarette!

Клиент: Тогда возьму тарелочку и винегрета.
Client: Then I'll take a plate of vinaigrette as well.

Официант: Так, а на второе что будем? Позвольте порекомендовать Вам голубцы.
Server: OK. What would you have for your second course? May I recommend Golubtzi to you?

Клиент: Голубцы так голубцы. Давненько я их не едал.
Client: Golubtzi it will be. Haven't eaten them in a long time.

Официант: Очень хорошо. Что будете пить? У нас есть чай, кофе, пиво, шампанское, водка.
Server: Very well. What are we going to drink? We have tea, coffee, beer, champaign, vodka.

Клиент: Ну для спиртного еще рановато, да и компания нужна. Принесите мне просто кофейку.Client: It's a bit too early for alchohol, and one has to have company for that. Why don't you just bring me coffee.

Официант: Сделаем так, как скажете! Через парочку минут принесу закуску.
Server: Will do as you ask. I'll bring your starter in a couple of minutes.

Клиент: Спасибо.
Client: Thanks.



After your meal, if you are inclined to do so, you can leave a tip (чаевые), which is between 18-20% of your bill. Leaving a tip is still only customary at upscale restaurants in Russia as my sources tell me.
---------------------------------------------------------

Today, I'm gonna play a song from a Russian comedy called "Кавказская Пленница" ("The Prisoner of Caucasus"). The song is titled "A Song about Bears". It's a funny song about polar bears who spin the axis of the Earth so that the life would go on. :) And how do they do that? They rub their backs against the axis!

Где-то на белом свете
Там где всегда мороз
Трутся спиной медведи
О земную ось

Мимо плывут столетья
Спят подо льдом моря
Трутся об ось медведи
Вертится земля

Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля
Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля

Трутся они стараясь
Вертят земную ось
Чтобы влюблённым раньше
Встретиться пришлось

Чтобы однажды утром
Раньше на год иль два
Кто - то сказал кому - то
Главные слова

Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Главные сказал слова
Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Главные сказал слова

Вслед за весенним ливнем
Раньше прийдёт рассвет
И для двоих счастливых
Много - много лет

Будут сверкать зарницы
Будут ручьи звенеть
Будет туман клубиться
Белый как медведь

Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля
Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится земля

Где-то на белом свете
Там где всегда мороз
Трутся спиной медведи
О земную ось

Мимо плывут столетья
Спят подо льдом моря
Трутся об ось медведи
Вертится земля

Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля
Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля

Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля
Ля ля ля ля ля ля ля
Вертится быстрей земля

Rapid growth of the Podcast

Can you see that little red icon that looks like a bowl full of red caviar with the spoon sticking out? That's our podcast. We made it to the front page of iTunes podcast directory. On the top '100' list we are #40 or so....The number of listeners of this show more than doubled. Last week we had 600+ subscribers, now there are over 1200!

Gotta get back to putting the finishing touches on my next Lesson#9. Stay tuned.....

Unforeseen Events

My dear listeners, due to some unforeseen events there will be no class this week. No class = no homework, so don't go wild! 'See ya' next week:) Пока!

Lesson 8 - Speaking on the Phone

Привет, дорогие слушатели. (Hi, dear listeners). Сегодня суббота, 22 октября. (Today's Saturday, Oct. 22nd.)

Let's check your homework from the previous lesson#7:


Exercise 7.1

1. Туристы летают в Мексико-Сити из Нью-Йорка ___на самолете___ .
Tourists travel from New York to Mexico City (by plane).

2. Люди ездят на работу ___на автобусе___ в Атланте.
People go to work in Atlanta (by bus).

3. Поездка в Европу ___на теплоходе___ 3 месяца.
The journey to Europe (by boat) is 3 months long.

4. Мы ходим ___пешком___ к бабушке.
We walk (by foot) to Grandma's house.

5. Я поеду к врачу ___на машине___ завтра.
I will drive (by car) to the doctor's office tomorrow.

6. Они катались со спуска горы ___на лыжах___ .
They went down the side of the mountain by (on skis).


Exercise 7.2

1. Дорога идет ___вдоль___ берега.
The road goes (alongside) the shoreline.

2. Где находится магазин? Он ___за углом___ .
Where is the store located? It's (around the corner).

3. Кафе ___рядом___ с метро.
The cafe is (next to) the subway.

4. Я вас видел вчера. ___Куда___ вы шли?
I saw you yesterday. (Where) were you going?

5. Никак не мог найти мою ручку. ___Где___ она?
I can't find my pen. (Where) is it?


Exercise 7.3 (fill in the blanks by translating the words in brackets)

1. Your roommate leaves for a weekend retreat in the mountains, and you say (see you soon):___Увидимся!___

2. After you have dropped your kids off at the grandparents' house, you tell them (see you later):___Пока!___

3. Your late afternoon meeting began at 3:30, but you arrive (late) at 3:45: ___поздно___

4. You hope that you find those keys (soon): ___скоро___

5. The concert started at 8 p.m. and you arrived exactly at 8 p.m. You were (on time): ___вовремя___

6. You check your e-mail (every day):___каждый день___

------------Phone Conversations------------
(the audio files of the conversations are on the 'Downloads' page)



Two friends

(ring)

-Алло?
(Hello?)

-Алло, Маш. Привет. Это Наташа.
(Hello, Masha. Hi. It's Natasha)

-А, Наташ, привет. Как дела? -- should be 'Как жизнь'
(Oh, it's you Natasha. How are you?) -- should be 'How's life/What's up'

-Да так, ничего нового. Вот подкаст делаю. А ты чем занимаешься?
(Nothing much. Just working on my podcast. What about you?)

-А у меня времени ни на что не хватает. Мои дети сейчас занимаются каратэ, балетом, да еще и футболом! Нужно везде успеть.
(And I have no idea where my time goes. My kids are going to karate, ballet and even soccer practices now! Gotta make it everywhere on time)

-Может найдете часик поиграть с нами в парке?
(How about finding an hour for a play date with us at the park?)

-С удовольствием, Наташ. Давай встретимся во вторник в 5 вечера?
(I'd love to, Natasha. Let us meet on Tuesday at 5pm)

-Давай. Ну, до встречи.
(OK, See you then)

-Пока.
(Bye)


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

School Principal calls a Parent

(ring)

-Алло?
(Hello)

-Добрый день. Могу ли я поговорить с Марией Витальевной?
(Good afternoon. May I speak with Maria Vitalyevna?)

-Да пожалуйста, это я.
(Yes, of course. This is she)

-Мария Витальевна, с Вами говорит Наталия Николаевна, директор школы, где учится ваша дочь Катя.
(Maria Vitalyevna, this is Natalia Nickolayevna, the principal of Katya's school)

-Да, я Вас слушаю.
(I see. I am listening)

-Дело в том, что нам нужно встретиться и поговорить о Катином поведении.
( The thing is, we need to have a talk about Katya's behaviour)

-Что-то серьезное произошло?
(Something bad happened?)

-Пока нет. Но может произойти. Вам в пятницу вечером удобно? Скажем в 6 часов?
(Not yet, but may happen in the future. Is Friday night OK for you? Say about 6pm?)

-Да, конечно. На каком этаже ваш кабинет?
(Sure. That'll be fine. Which floor is your office?)

-На втором. Всего хорошего, Мария Витальевна.
(It's on the 2nd floor. All the best, Maria Vitalyevna)

-Спасибо за звонок, Наталия Николаевна. До свидания.
(Thank you for calling, Natalia Nickolayevna. Good-bye.)

-До свидания.
(Good-bye)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Миленький ты мой" ("My Sweetie")
Автор текста: народные
Автор музыки: народные


Миленький ты мой
Возьми меня с собой
Там в краю далёком
буду тебе женой

Милая моя,
Взял бы я тебя
Но там в краю далёком
есть у меня жена.

Миленький ты мой
Возьми меня с собой
Там в краю далёком
буду тебе сестрой

Милая моя,
Взял бы я тебя
Но там в краю далёком
есть у меня сестра.

Миленький ты мой
Возьми меня с собой
Там в краю далёком
буду тебе чужой

Милая моя,
Взял бы я тебя
Но там в краю далёком
чужая ты мне не нужна.

Lesson 7 - Getting Around

Let's say you want to fly out of JFK to Scheremetyevo airport in Moscow, then take the train to Vladivostok, stopping to drive through the countryside both by car and by horseback. Or maybe you enjoy boat cruises and would love to go down the Volga river! In trying to put all of this into words, you realize that you need to use some new expressions. Here are some examples:




Exercise 7.1

1. Туристы летают в Мексико-Сити из Нью-Йорка _________________________ .
Tourists travel from New York to Mexico City (by plane).

2. Люди ездят на работу _______________________ в Атланте.
People go to work in Atlanta (by bus).

3. Поездка в Европу _____________________ 3 месяца.
The journey to Europe (by boat) is 3 months long.

4. Мы ходим _____________________ к бабушке.
We walk (by foot) to Grandma's house.

5. Я поеду к врачу ____________________ завтра.
I will drive (by car) to the doctor's office tomorrow.

6. Они катались со спуска горы ____________________ .
They went down the side of the mountain by (on skis).








Exercise 7.2

1. Дорога идет ________________ берега.
The road goes (alongside) the shoreline.

2. Где находится магазин? Он ___________________ .
Where is the store located? It's (around the corner).

3. Кафе _______________ с метро.
The cafe is (next to) the subway.

4. Я вас видел вчера. ______________ вы шли?
I saw you yesterday. (Where) were you going?

5. Никак не мог найти мою ручку. ________ она?
I can't find my pen. (Where) is it?






Exercise 7.3 (fill in the blanks by translating the words in brackets)

1. Your roommate leaves for a weekend retreat in the mountains, and you say (see you soon):___________________________

2. After you have dropped your kids off at the grandparents' house, you tell them (see you later):___________________________________

3. Your late afternoon meeting began at 3:30, but you arrive (late) at 3:45: ______________

4. You hope that you find those keys (soon): _____________________

5. The concert started at 8 p.m. and you arrived exactly at 8 p.m. You were (on time): ____________________

6. You check your e-mail (every day):________________________


Numbers 11-20

11
одиннадцать
adeenatsat'

12
двенадцать
dvyenatsat'

13
тринадцать
treenatsat'

14
четырнадцать
cheytirnatsat'

15
пятнадцать
pyatnatsat'

16
шестнадцать
shyesnatsat'

17
семнадцать
syemnatsat'

18
восемнадцать
vasyemnatsat'

19
девятнадцать
dyevyatnatsat'

20
двадцать
dvatsat'

(end consonants with an apostrophe (') after it is 'soft' )


Final words: That concludes our lesson 7. I have all the material we've covered today on spoonfulofrussian.com Don't forget to do the excersizes - we'll check them next time we meet.

Oh, and here are the lyrics of the song (you can always view them on your iPod...as you are listening to this lesson, click 3 times)

Черный кот
Музыка Ю.Саульского. Слова М.Танича


Жил да был черный кот за углом,
И кота ненавидел весь дом.
Только песня совсем не о том,
Как не ладили люди с котом.

Припев:
Говорят, не повезет,
Если черный кот дорогу перейдет,
А пока - наоборот:
Только черному коту и не везет.

Целый день во дворе суета:
Прогоняют с дороги кота,
Только песня совсем не о том,
Как охотился двор за котом.

Даже с кошкой своей за версту
Приходилось встречаться коту,
Только песня совсем не о том,
Как мурлыкала кошка с котом.

Бедный кот от усов до хвоста
Был черней, чем сама чернота,
Да и песенка, в общем, о том,
Как обидно быть черным котом.

Lesson 6 - Don't Get Stressed About Stress and other advice....

Добрый день, дорогие друзья! (Hello, dear friends).

Сегодня суббота, 8-ое октября. The show is still recorded at my temp 'studio' away from my home in New Orleans.

In this podcast you will learn how to say the days of the week in Russian, as well as count from 1-10. You will also find out why you shouldn't get stressed over stress in Russian words. We will take a look at some simple sentence structures and word order within sentences as well....This might be the largest 'Spoonful of Russian' ever, but it's all good!

Correction: In the beginning of the podcast I got the date wrong. The show was being recorded on Friday, Oct, 7th. You will hear me say: "Today is Saturday, 7th of October." Oops!


Just to add to our past lesson - there are noun, adjective and verb cognates in Russian, and they can help you speak smoothly and easily, making you sound very natural. But don't let false cognates trick you into saying something you don't intend!

I'd like to answer a question of one of my listeners. He was asking about the role of the 'hard sign' and the 'soft sign' in the Russian alphabet. The soft sign 'мягкий знак' has no sound of its own. Rather it tells you that the consonant before it is soft. (учитель).....The hard sign 'твердый знак' has no sound of its own as well. It indicates that the preceeding consonant is hard. You make a slight break in the word, immediately after the consonant it follows. (объем - volume - объем).

-------------------------------------------------------

- Что это? Это кофе?
- Нет, это не кофе. Это чай.

- What is this? Is this coffee?
- No, it's not coffee. It's tea.

and now a slightly different dialogue:

- Кто это? Это учитель?
- Нет, это не учитель. Это студент.

- Who is this? Is this a teacher?
- No, It is not a teacher. It is a student.

--------------------------------------------

Forming a negative sentence:

Это хорошо (It is good)
Это не хорошо (It's not good)
---------------------------------------------

If you don't know how to count from 1 to 10 in Russian, today's the day! Most of these numbers have a soft sign at the end, so don't forget to soften the last consonant!

0 (nol') - ноль
1 (adeen) - один
2 (dva) - два
3 (tree) - три
4 (chyetirye) - четыре
5 (pyat') - пять
6 (shyest') - шесть
7 (syem') - семь
8 (vosyem') - восемь
9 (devyat') - девять
10 (desyat') - десять

Days of the week:


понедельник (pah-neh-DEHL-neek) Monday
вторник (FTOR-neek) Tuesday
среда (sreh-DAH) Wednesday
четверг (chet-VERK) Thursday
пятница (PYAHT-neet-sah) Friday
суббота (soo-BOH-tah) Saturday
воскресенье (vahs-kree-SEHN-yeh) Sunday

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyrics of this week's Russian song:

Зачем вы, девушки, красивых любите?
(Е.Птичкин - И.Шаферан)
from the film "My Street"

Ромашки спрятались, поникли лютики,
Когда застыла я от горьких слов:
Зачем вы, девочки, красивых любите,
Непостоянная у них любовь.

Сняла решительно пиджак наброшенный,
Казаться гордою хватило сил,
Ему сказала я: - Всего хорошего, -
А он прощения не попросил.

Ромашки сорваны, завяли лютики,
Вода холодная в реке рябит.
Зачем вы, девочки, красивых любите,
Одни страдания от той любви...

Зачем вы, девочки, красивых любите,
Непостоянная у них любовь.

---------

RSS feed problem solved!

Many subscribers to my podcast reported errors while downloading different episodes of "A Spoonful of Russian" podcast. iTunes, iPodder (and other feed aggregators) either didn't show some files, or had one of the dialogs (or Russian songs) linked as my episode's link.

I am not sure whose problem it was: Blogger or Feedburner. Once I removed all the extra mp3 and zip files iTunes picked the right mp3 file to show as an episode!

Good, but I don't want to give up on the idea of providing you with extra material, like Russian songs, flash cards, etc. I am looking into an alternative at the moment.

Thank you for staying 'tuned'!

Lesson 5 - Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Sounds like cognates are the single greatest friend to folks learning Russian. However, as with most good things there are pitfalls. And these pitfalls are called 'false cognates'. A 'false cognate' is a word that shares a similar pronunciation between two languages, but means one thing in one language and something else in the other. You'd sound pretty silly if a Russian asked you what you were doing ('Что вы делаете?') and you'd answer 'Я читаю магазин' (which means 'I am reading a store')....

'False Cognates" examples.



The dialogue at the beginning of the show:

Teacher got help!

Большое спасибо to Angela, who was kind enough to create a short tutorial for me to change the banner on this site. Kudos to my multi-talanted listener!

Lesson 4 - Alphabet and Words you Already Know

You'll be surprised how many words you would be able to recognize without studying any Russian. The words I am talking about are cognates - words borrowed from a foreign language that share a common pronunciation and meaning.The Russian version of an English word may look intimidating to you at first, but as you become familiar with the Russian characters you'll learn to recognize a cognate when you see it.


1. теннис
2. доллар
3. баскетбол
4. доктор
5. Нью-Йорк
6. Калифорния
7. бейсбол
8. университет
9. адрес
10. офис
11. футбол
12. телефон
13. бар
14. ресторан
15. такси
16. мафия

--------------------------------------------------------

The song from the show is "Katyusha" recorded in 1938.

"Катюша"

Расцветали яблони и груши
Поплыли туманы над рекой
Выходила на берег Катюша
На высокий берег на крутой

Выходила песню заводила
Про степного сизого орла
Про того которого любила
Про того чьи письма берегла

Ой ты песня песенка девичья
Ты лети за ясным солнцем вслед
И бойцу на дальнем пограничье
От Катюши передай привет

Пусть он вспомнит девушку простую
Пусть услышит как она поет
Пусть он землю сбережет родную
А любовь
Катюша сбережет
Пусть он землю сбережет родную
А любовь
Катюша сбережет

Расцветали яблони и груши
Поплыли туманы над рекой
Выходила на берег Катюша
На высокий берег на крутой
Выходила на берег Катюша
На высокий берег на крутой

Here's the translation for "КАТЮША" song. To find out more about the story behind the song, see this Wikipedia article I found to be very helpful.


This lesson is a day premature, but with the hurricane in the area I'd rather be safe than sorry:)

Vacation Note

Click on the title "Vacation Note" to hear my message. I have a few photos to go with my audio note. All of them were taken in Texas outside Tyler.















































I can't waith to get back to work on the next "A Spoonful of Russian" lesson!

Lesson 3 - 'How are You?'

If you ask a Russian 'How are you?' (КАК ДЕЛА) you might hear more that just a simple "OK". But for starters we'll learn some simple replies. Here are the transcripts of the dialogs from our lesson.

#1


(- Как дела, Эмили?
- Хорошо, спасибо. )






#2


(- Как дела, Эмили?
- Хорошо, спасибо. А у вас?)

("I am fine as well" - "Тоже хорошо" )




#3



(- Как дела, мам?
- Так себе...)



#4



(- Как дела, мам?
- Ничего хорошего, Эмили...)


Word/Expressions list:




Provided below are the lyrics to the song you heard on the show (click for a bigger view)


 Email me with any questions or comments. And yes, the lessons WILL get more challenging.

OT: More Post-Hurricane Photos

Driving down familiar streets, it seemed there were National Guards on every corner.....(Click for bigger version).















Managed to get a shot of downtown New Orleans including shabby Superdome:

Off Topic: Shots from the trip to New Orleans

Monday we got to go back to survey the damage hurricane Katrina brought with it. We left Houma (where we are staying now) at 4am.
















There was a lot of waiting in lines.....A trip that usually takes us 1 hour, lasted 4 hrs.














After a long ride we started seeing the signs of Katrina's power.




...and that's what we saw when we got to our house:




All I can say is there's gonna be a lot of work till we can move back into our home.