* 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?

Это было Нил Пирт на барабанах.

Next…Listen to these Russian phrases and translate into English..

– – –

Привет Дарина. Мне сказали что ты играешь на гитаре.

Да. И на бас-гитаре. Смотри…

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.

– – –

Я люблю эту музыку, Марк. На каком инструменте он играет?

Это банджо. Музыка называется блюграсс. .

Back to biz. Let’s again try to translate into English….

– – –

Привет, Алексей. Что ты делаешь?

Ничего, просто слушаю музыку и отвечаю имейлы.

Это красивая музыка.

Ну, да. Я люблю Рахманинова.

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 все 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.

– – –

И, Дарина…У тебя есть балалайка, да? Будешь играть?

Хорошо.

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?

Привет. Меня зовут Олег.

Hi. My name is Oleg. Literally…what? Me they call Oleg.

Я живу в Киеве.

I live in Kiev.

Я работаю менеджером в супермаркете.

I work as a manager in a supermarket.

Есть стресс на работе, но что делать?

At work there’s stress, but what to do? meaning…What can ya do about it?

У меня есть брат и сестра.

I have a brother and a sister.

Брата зовут Михайл.

My brother’s name is Mixhail. lit: Brother…they call..Mixhail.

Он живёт в Одессе.

He lives in Odessa.

Он музыкант, и играет джаз и блюз на гитаре, в ресторане.

He’s a musician and plays jazz and blues on the guitar, in a restaurant.

Мою сестру зовут Таня.

My sister’s name is Tanya.

Она живёт в Германии…в Франкфурте.

She lives in Germany, in Frankfurt.

Она работает в банке.

She works in a bank.

У Тани есть сын и дочка.

Tanya has a son and a daughter.

Я их очень люблю.

I really love them.

В мае, Таня купила мне новый ноутбук…Дэлл.

In May Tanya bought for me a new laptop. A Dell.

Теперь я могу говорить с ними через Скайп.

Now I can talk with them via Skype.

В августе, я еду в Одессу.

In August I’m going to Odessa.

Я хочу видеть Михайла и–(telephone rings)

I want to see Mixhail and…

Ой, простите. Мне пора…Михайл звонит.

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.

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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…Я еду

Without any setup, I still wonder if you can get the meaning. Can you translate these phrases?

В мае я еду в Лондон.

В августе я еду в Москву.

He said: In May, ya yedu to London.

And she said: In August, ya yedu to Moscow.

So what’s your best guess on я еду? 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?

Ты едешь в Лондон?

You’re traveling to Moscow?

Ты едешь в Москву?

Your brother is traveling to Rome?

Твой брат едет в Рим?

Your sister is traveling to Paris?

Твоя сестра едет в Париж?

I’m traveling, you’re traveling, he’s traveling.

Я еду, ты едешь, он едет

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?

Они сделали тебе сюрприз?

Tell your friend: Your drums are in the podval.

Твои барабаны в подвале.

Ask: Where are my guitars?

Где мои гитары?

…did you get that “ee” sound at the end of guitars…to make it plural?

Try to say: They didn’t want to wait.

Они не хотели ждать.

They said that you worked in a bank.

Они сказали, что ты работал в банке.

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…

Я сейчас в Бостоне, но завтра я еду в Питсбург.

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.

Я сейчас в Питсбурге, но завтра я еду в Бостон.

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.

Я еду…в Минск. / …в Портленд. / …в Берлин. /

Anton is traveling to Sydney….to San Diego…to Sevastopol

Антон едет …в Сидней….в Сан Диего…в Севастополь

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, я еду 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 еду. 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?

Я сейчас в парке.

Я иду в парк.

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 я еду

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: Я иду в Москву.

He might joke with you…”Seriously? You’re going there on foot?”

Серьёзно? Ты идёшь туда пешком?!

So, again: я иду 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: Я иду в спортзал.

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. Я хожу в спортзал.

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’:

библиотека

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.

Я иду в библиотеку.

Do you recall the word for pharmacy?

аптека

Now say: I’m heading to the pharmacy.

Я иду в аптеку.

And discotheque is a cognate. Like the other two, it’s feminine. Listen. дискотека

Я иду на дискотеку.

Ask your friend: Are you going to Starbucks?

Ты идёшь в Старбакс?

Are you going to the store?

Ты идёшь в магазин?

Are you going to the concert?

Ты идёшь на концерт?

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

Я еду в Киев…в Санкт Петербург…в Одессу

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?

Ты едешь…на семинар?…на конференцию?

Why are some of these getting ‘V’ (в) and others get ‘Na’ (на) ?

Like, why is it: Я иду в магазин.

but

Я иду на концерт.

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…

Джим пошёл в аптеку.

That means: Jim headed off to the pharmacy on foot and he is not back yet.

Джим ходил в аптеку.

That one means: Jim went to the pharmacy and he’s back home.

Джим поехал в аптеку.

Jim headed to the pharmacy by vehicle. He is not back yet.

Джим ездил в аптеку.

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..Джим пошёл…I hold onto that right until he gets back, when I adjust it to: Джим ходил. (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?

Привет, Андрей. Ты идёшь в аптеку?

Can you buy me aspirin?

Можешь купить мне аспирин?

Of course.

Конечно.

Hi Galina. Are you going now to McDonalds?

Привет, Галина. Ты идёшь сейчас в Макдоналдс?

Can you buy me a double-cheeseburger and potato-fries?

А можешь купить мне дабл-чизбургер…и картошку-фри?

Of course.

Конечно.

Wow…Passport, suitcase…Where are you going?

Ого…Пасспорт, чемодан…Куда ты едешь?

I’m going to Munich, to a conference.

Я еду в Мюнхен, на конференцию.

But you were in Munich in August, no?

А ты была в Мюнхене в августе, нет?

No. I was in Berlin. I bought a car.

Нет. Я была в Берлине. Машину купила.

Alright. Great job. The next episode, #20, is our last one. Our final exam. See you there!

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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 “и” sound. Ready?

Где мама и папа?

Они пошли в магазин. (door opens) О! Вот они. Привет мама, привет папа. Что купили?

Мы купили игрушки.

Let’s listen again…This time, try to translate after each line.

Где мама и папа?

Where are mom and dad?

Они пошли в магазин.

We heard the word магазин, which is a store. In fact, we heard в магазин…so they must be going there. After all, if they were in the store, it’d be в магазине right? Anyway…

(door opens) О! Вот они.

Oh, There they are.

I get into this in great detail in Russian Accelerator, but вот 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 они. Вот они…I’m calling your attention to….they.

Or that earlier phrase: Они пошли в магазин… they headed off to the store.

Let’s keep going…

Привет мама, привет папа. Что купили?

Hi mom, hi dad. What did you buy?

Мы купили игрушки.

We bought toys.

So….I asked you to keep an ear out for И sounds. Let me point them out…

Они пошли

Вот они.

Что купили?

Мы купили игрушки.

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’ (ноутбук)

Он купил ноутбук.

She bought an i-Phone.

Она купила ай-фон.

They bought a printer.

Они купили принтер.

Let’s try another round…He bought corn.

Он купил кукурузу.

She bought pelmeni (little Russian raviolis).

Она купила пельмени.

They bought wine.

Они купили вино.

Look….more rhyming. She bought….она купила….THEY bought…ОнИ купилИ

Let’s try a different verb. How would you say…He worked in Rome.

Он работал в Риме.

She worked in Paris.

Она работала в Париже.

Now ask: Where did they work?

Где они работали?

There’s our И … И rhyme again. Где они работали?

Another one: He tried the pelmeni.

Он попробовал пельмени.

She tried the corn.

Она попробовала кукурузу.

Now ask: What did they try…or sample?

Что они попробовали?

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.

Они прочитали мою книгу.

They watched (and finished watching) your video.

Они посмотрели твоё видео.

They gave me your rucksack.

Они дали мне твой рюкзак.

This one’s a little tougher. They wanted to buy for me a saxophone.

Они хотели купить мне…саксофон. / … барабан. / … гитару. /

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.

Я люблю барабаны.

Our ‘ee’ sound is back. Listen again: drum…drums

барабан…барабаны

Book….books

Книга…книги

watermelon…watermelons (remember that from the Hoho Panda cartoon?)

арбуз…арбузы

Remember how, at the very start of today’s lesson, I had you keep an ear out for those ‘и’ sounds.

First we concentrated on words like они…and….купили

But it was there at the end, too. The parents bought TOYS…plural…and that word ended with an ‘И

Listen: toy….toys

игрушка….игрушки

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?

Они. 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.

Они мои.

Then Andrei looks at William, who doesn’t seem to have collected any books. Andrei asks him…

Уильям, где твои?

William, where are yours?

Your turn. Imagine you’re divvying up a bag of potato chips. With just two words, say:

They… are yours.

Они твои.

Next…try to translate what the speaker is saying…

Где мои…чипсы? / …пельмени? / …конфеты? /

Where are my chips? Where are my pelmeni–raviolis? Where are my candies?

Где твои…барабаны? / …джинсы? / …документы? /

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…эти for ‘these’

Yes. They’re mine.

Then she says: Значит, ты умеешь играть на барабанах?

Literally: That means, you know how to play the drums?

Then she adds: I didn’t know.

He answers: I play not very well…

Играю не очень хорошо…

but I love to play

но люблю играть.

She commands him: Play!

Играй.

Now?

Сейчас?

She says: Почему бы и нет?

That translates as: Why not?

Да ладно. …Ok, fine.

The word for ‘sticks’ is палочки…of course ending with our plural ‘и’…So with two words, tell her:

Give the sticks.

Дай палочки.

На….she says, as she hand them to Neal.

He asks: А какую песню тебе играть?

So, which song for you to play?

Say: I don’t know. How you want. meaning: Play whatever you want to.

Не знаю. Как хочешь.

Hmm…ok.

Хммм….Хорошо.

She must’ve made a weird expression, because he stops and says:

You what, don’t know Led Zeppelin?

Ты что, не знаешь Лед Зе́ппелин?

Don t know John Bonham.

Не знаешь Джона Бонэма?

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?

Кого?

Oh, gosh…

О боже…

Alright. I hope you enjoyed that one. And I hope you did well. I’ll see you in Ep 19…

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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…

Я говорил…с Владом. / …с Марком. / …с доктором. / с Толиком.

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.

Мама говорила…с Крисом.

You added that ‘s’ sound before the name, right? S krisom

Say: Mom was talking with Andrei…with William…

Мама говорила с Андреем. Мама говорила с Уильямом.

Now you might be wondering: Wait…Doesn’t ‘talking with someone’ count as doing something to them? Why aren’t we saying: Криса…Андрея…Уильяма

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.

Я говорю…с Кариной. / …с мамой. / …с Ниной. /

Interesting sound there at the end. That ой sound. Let’s do more…

I work with Franklin….with John….with Christina….with Olga.

Я работаю с Франклином. / …с Джоном. / …с Кристиной. / …с Ольгой /

I live with Greg…with a musician….with grandpa…with Yana

Я живу с Грегом. / …с музыкантом. / …с дедушкой. / с Яной. /

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…

Я говорил с официанткой, и сказал что ты ещё ждёшь омлет.

I was speaking with the waitress, and said that you are still waiting for the omelet.

Я говорила с барменом, и сказала что ты ещё ждёшь вино.

I was speaking with the bartender—lit: barman—and said that you are still waiting for the wine.

Это моя мама и это мой папа. Сегодня я говорил с ними через Скайп.

This is my mom and this is my dad. Today I was talking with them via Skype.

Это моя сестра Сара, и мой брат Эрик. Сегодня я говорила с ними через Фейстайм.

This is my sister Sara, and my brother Erik. Today I was talking with them via Facetime.

с ними…with them One more:

Это мой друг Чарли и моя подруга Настя. Я жила с ними в Лондоне.

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.

Я жил с ними в Москве.

I worked with them in Epicenter.

Я работал с ними в Эпицентре.

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.

Мама! Андрей ударил меня…телефоном. / …рюкзаком. / …магнитом / Вини-пухом

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. Я говорил с Джоном.

One more round…

Папа! София ударила меня…книгой / …игрушкой. / …вилкой. /

Dad! Sophia hit me with a book…with a toy…with a fork

Those were all feminine objects…книга игрушка вилка…and they got that ОЙ ending we heard earlier with feminine names. So, what’s going on here?

Well, those endings—OM with masculine nouns and ОЙ 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.

Я работал с менеджером.

I was working with a client.

Я работала с клиентом.

I was playing with grandma.

Я играл с бабушкой

I was playing with Maxim.

Я играла с Максимом.

I was waiting with Vladimir.

Я ждал с Владимиром.

I was waiting with Larrisa.

Я ждала с Ларисой.

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.

Это Полина.Это Джон.

Я знаю Полину.Я вижу Джона.

У Полины есть кошка.У Джона есть собака.

Я дал книгу Полине.Я дал журнал Джону.

Я говорил с Полиной.Я играл с Джоном.

In these last ones, a паук is a spider…

Есть паук на Полине. Есть паук на Джоне!

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, иди сюда. 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 С кем means?

C….translates as ‘with’

кем is ‘who’…(in its instrumental form.)

Ask me: Mark, who were you talking with?

Марк, с кем ты говорил?

Ok…sorry for the interruption. Back to our immersion…

– – –

Чай с лимоном…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: лимон

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 кукуруза…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 кукуруза 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 кукуруза? 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: Я люблю кукурузу.

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.

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Welcome to Episode 16. Before you started this course, you probably encountered the phrase: My name is…For ex: My name is Steve. Меня зовут Стив. 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, меня зовут 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 меня does not mean “my”. And зовут doesn’t mean “name.”

When you say: Меня зовут….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.

Маму зовут Линда.

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.)

Сестру зовут Мишель.

Сестра changed to сестру

Do you recall how to say ‘dog’ in Russian?

Собака

So try to say: The dog is called Fido.

Собаку зовут Файдо.

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

Стив, Джеф, Марвин

The speaker will say: I know Steve. I saw Jeff. I love Marvin.

Listen to how their names change.

Я знаю Стива. Я увидела Джефа. Я люблю Марвина.

Did you hear those ‘a’s at the end? Стива, Джефа, Марвина?

Your turn. Try to say…”I know Anton.”

Я знаю Антона.

I saw Maxim.

Я увидел Максима.

She loves Greg.

Она любит Грега.

That doesn’t happen to masculine objects, right? I love your phone: Я люблю твой телефон.

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…Жираф

I saw a giraffe.

Я увидела жирафа.

Let’s say you’re in a rock band and before a big gig, the guitarist falls ill. гитарист is the word for guitarist. So you say, Hey…I know a guitarist.

Я знаю гитариста.

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.)

Брата зовут Эрик.

Брат becomes брата 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.

ждать

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…

Мама…Я не могу ждать.

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.

Жди, жди! Видишь? Яна приехала.

So, he said: Я не могу ждать.

I can not wait…as in, I’m unable to wait. So what kind of word is it?

ждать is a verb infinitive. We hear that T+soft sign. And what was mom saying as Yana pulled up?

Жди! 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.

Я не хочу ждать.

Imagine you’re in a cafe and you still haven’t gotten your food. Listen as the speaker tells the waitress…Девушка…

I’m waiting for my salad.

Я жду салат.

My brother is waiting for his soup.

Мой брат ждёт суп.

And you, Darina. You’re waiting for pizza, yes?

А ты, Дарина…Ты ждёшь пиццу, да?

Let’s hear those again: I’m waiting…You’re waiting…He’s waiting…

Я жду, ты ждёшь, он ждёт

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.

Я жду Джефа.

The word for a client in Russian is a cognate. Listen: клиент

Ask your friend: Are you waiting for a client?

Ты ждёшь клиента?

No. I’m waiting for Yana.

Нет. Я жду Яну.

Out of curiosity…Can you guess what the past tense might be? How would a guy say:

I was waiting and waiting…

Я ждал и ждал…

How would a woman say that?

Я ждала и ждала..

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…

Мне пора.

<<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 Я there’s a word that ends either with an L sound, or an U. Я ждал…or…Я жду. Я смотрел….or…Я смотрю. 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. клиент must be a person, because it changed to клиента 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.

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Welcome to Ep15. Straight to business today. How would you translate the following phrase:

Папа дал мне ключ.

Dad gave me the key.

So that little word мне 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…

Мне холодно.

Мне интересно.

Мне нравится твоя гитара.

Мне пора.

Let’s hear that first one again…Мне холодно.

Холодно translates as cold. Maybe you know the word холодильник which is a refrigerator. Anyway, the phrase: мне холодно 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: Мне интересно.

You’re in a museum with some friends, in the ancient pottery wing, and they all leave. “It’s boring.” And you tell them: А мне интересно.

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…Мне нравится твоя гитара.

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 гитара change to гитару? 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. Я люблю гитару.

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: Мне пора

You’re with a friend and realize you’re late for a meeting. Glance at your watch, then pack up your things, explaining: Мне пора.

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!

Пицца? Я люблю пиццу!

I’m doing the action…loving the pizza.

I like your T-shirt.

Мне нравится твоя футболка.

The T shirt is doing the action…pleasing me.

Nina? I love Nina!

Нина? Я люблю Нину!

I’m doing the action. I’m loving Nina.

I like your car.

Мне нравится твоя машина.

The car is doing the action….it’s pleasing me.

– – –

Speaking of music…the basic form of the word is feminine. Listen: музыка

I like music.

Мне нравится музыка.

Whereas I love music.

А я люблю музыку.

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.

Я сказала Алине нет. Lit: I said TO ALINA…no.

I told George no.

Я сказал Джорджу нет. I said TO GEORGE

In Paris, I bought Mom chocolate.

В Париже я купила маме шоколад. I bought FOR MOM

Dad bought Maxim a new Toyota.

Папа купил Максиму новую Тойоту. Dad bought FOR MAXIM

Джорджу and Алине…To George, and To Alina…those are the same recipient forms as мне.

So how would you translate the following phrases?

– – –

Another flashback, this time to Episode 8, and those clips from SAM & CAT. Remember these…

Кто тебе сказал что я работаю телохранителем?!

Кто тебе дал эту информацию?

Кто тебе сказал?

Who told you? Literally: Who said TO YOU?

Кто тебе дал?

Who gave it to you?

тебе is the recipient form of “ты”…And of course, it rhymes with the “to me” version

Мне? Тебе.

Ask a friend: Do you like borscht?

Тебе нравится борщ?

Are you cold?

Тебе холодно?

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?

Тебе не холодно?

You’re watching a show about Indonesian grubworms…and your roommate leaves to his room.

You ask: It’s not interesting to you?

Тебе не интересно?

Andrusha, it’s time for you to sleep.

Андрюша, тебе пора спать.

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?

Я люблю твою майку.

We’re doing the action…loving the майку…so it must be a feminine noun

майка…твоя майка

Кларе нравится твоя кукла.

твоя кукла is doing the action, so it’s already in its basic form

Я люблю Галину.

I am doing the action…so the woman’s name must be Galina

Есть суп в холодильнике.

There’s soup in the refrigerator. The basic form of refrigerator is: холодильник

Толику не нравится каша

The kasha is doing the action…it’s not pleasing Tolik. So it’s already in its basic form

Кто купил тебе эту игрушку?

Buying something counts as doing something to it, so игрушка 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 ему translates as? Note that it rhymes with кому…and Марку. Because it has that recipient marker. It simply means, “to him.” So she was asking, “Is he cold?” Lit: TO HIM cold? Ему холодно?

– – –

<<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!

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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…Дай мне!

Иди сюда!

uhh…Смотри!

Кушай!

uhh…Делай!

Не делай!

That was unscripted and unprompted, which is why he used some commands we haven’t learned. Let me re-play and hit pause. So…Дай мне we know. Try to say: Give me the key.

Дай мне ключ.

Next he said…Иди сюди.

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:

Уильям, иди сюда!

Or this example. Andrei goes to Mom and tells her…..

Мама, София играет на балконе.

Mom, Sophia is playing on the balcony.

Since Sophia should not be playing there, Mama calls out…

София, иди сюда!

Sophia, come here! Literally: walk….to here

Back to the recording….Hmm…That one was hard to hear, actually. He said: Смотри!

Look! (That’s a hard one for for him to pronounce.)

Next one: Кушай! 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: Уильям, кушай!

Often at our table, Andrei will be too busy playing with his Lego and has to be prodded:

Андрюша, пожалуйста…Кушай.

Кушай 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…Делай!

That one we can get. Because you know this: Что ты делаешь?

What are you doing?

So, “Делай!” is the command form. “Do it!”

And finally William said: “Не делай!” – “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:

Иди сюда.

Come here.

Even just иди 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…

Иди в библиотеку.

Go to the garage.

Иди в гараж.

Go to the store.

Иди в магазин.

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.

Давай Хохо…лево, право…давай.

Hoho the Panda is training for a race. So the command was: давай…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…

Давай, Эдгар, прыгай!

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…

Всё вкусное оставишь мне. Давай!

All tasty things leave for me. Do it!

Now, what would be the formal version of that?

Hit pause. Think it over…

Давайте!

So, later, the fox is commanding the wise old monkey to push something…

Давайте…Давайте, Давайте!

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…

Что ты делаешь Майло?

What are you doing, Milo?

Same episode, a man sees Cody, his younger brother, hiding and asks the kid….

Коди, что ты делаешь?

Cody, what are you doing?

Quick explanation before getting to the next clip. Imagine we’re sitting in a pizzeria, and I say:

Я хочу пиццу.

I want pizza.

Nothing new there. But if I’m at your house and I say, “You know, on Tuesday, я был в пиццерии и я хотел пиццу.”

….what do you think that means? Я был…I was in a pizzeria and I wanted pizza. Past tense.

Try to say: I wanted to try the cake.

Я хотел попробовать торт.

How would a woman say: I wanted to watch basketball.

Я хотела смотреть баскетбол.

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…

Я хотел сделать сюрприз.

How would you translate that? Listen again…

I wanted to do a surprise. He used the perfective, сделать, because he wanted to do one surprise and finish doing it. And HoHo responds…

Я тоже люблю делать сюрпризы.

I also love to do (in general) surprises.

He used the imperfective, делать, because he loves to make surprises in general.

– – –

We talked about the two forms of commands. Like: Offering cake to a friend…

Попробуй.

Then offering it to your boss: Попробуйте.

So, that formal version…Попробуйте…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: “Смотрите!”

What’s interesting is, if I just said: “Смотри!” 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…

Хохо, ты очень любишь арбуз. Смотри…Вот арбузы.

арбуз is watermelon

Hoho, you really love watermelon Look, there’s the watermelons

He used смотри because it’s friend to friend. Later, the fox is showing the two of them how he paints with his tail, and says…

Смотрите!…Смотрите!…Смотрите!

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: Ой, прости.

But accidentally bump a stranger out in public, we’d say…

Простите.

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:

Простите, Мэр, но там никого нет.

Forgive me, Mayor, but there’s no one there.

Same episode, the boy Cody explains to his family why he was hiding

Простите, просто я был один.

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: Прости, Пап.

Two more before the break. How would you translate this?

У меня есть идея.

I have an idea. Lit: At me there is an idea. Listen again…

And this one?

Где ты был весь день, Кротик?

весь день 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 Простите means? You accidentally bump someone on the street. Простите! 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: Иди сюда!

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 Давай! 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…Давай!

Or this…Imagine a person holding out a forkful of some food. What will they tell you?

Попробуй. 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?

Дедушка объезяна! Как научиться рисовать?

So an обезьяна is a monkey…this one is like the wise old monkey in Lion King.

Дедушка объезяна!

Grandpa monkey.

Как научиться рисовать?

How to learn *to draw?*

Technically there are two infinitives in a row there, but we’re after that last one… рисовать

After the monkey explains how he draws, Hoho tells him…

Дедушка, я попробую…

No infinitive there. He said: Grandpa, I will try…

Next they ask the fox, who says:

Как рисовать? So there’s our infinitive again…How to draw?

And when the fox shows them how, with his painted tail, Hoho says…

Ну-ка…Я попробую.

Well, uh…I’ll try!

Next they ask the turtle…who of course speaaaks verrry slowly…

Научиться рисовать?

I like that one because you can really hear the “Ть” 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…

Служба спасения. ГоворИте.

Safety service. Talk. …FORMAL

Krotik is telling the Hedgehog…

Пожалуйста, не говори Хохо.

Please, don’t be telling Hoho…

The fox lowers his tail, trying to save Krotik…

Кротик, держи меня!

Krotik, hold on to me! INFORMAL

The Mayor is ranting to the Police Chief about supposed aliens…

Что? Они повсюду…Уходите!

What? They’re everywhere. Go! (Leave) FORMAL

Police Chief to his son Cody—сынок is a cutesy form of the word сын….son

Спасибо, сынок. Помоги нам найти Грама.

Thanks, Son. Help us to find Graham. INFORMAL

Krotik and Panda roll past the fox. Krotik says hi…

Привет, Лис!

…and the fox commands them…

Подождите меня!

Wait for me! FORMAL…because it’s his two friends

Later, the fox is yelling up a tree at the hedgehog…

А ну…Слезай!

Well! Climb down! INFORMAL

An engineer is explaining to a reporter how to use the satellite booth…

А потом просто слушайте

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!

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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: Попробуй.

Not hungry, you wave it off. So dedushka turns to you, Melissa, and again offers…

Мелисса, пожалуйста…попробуй.

Hmm….What could that mean: попробуй

Well, we know this form of the word: Хочешь попробовать?

So, попробуй is what’s known as the command form. Dedushka is commanding us to try the meat.

Listen to just the ending of the word: –буй

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: “Смотри!” It’s a command to “Look!”

Let’s have you try those. Hold out a food item and tell your friend: Try it!

Попробуй!

Next, you’re about to demonstrate something for your friend. Tell them: “Watch!”

Смотри!

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: Бабушка, попробуйте.

Michael, too, was making crackers and Cheeze Whiz. And he holds the tray to dedushka. Listen…

Дедушка, попробуйте.

Listen to that ending again…уйте

Hmm. Why does grandma get to say just попробуй to us, but we have to say попробуйте 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….

Андрюша, попробуй.

Now offer it to Vladimir Ivanovich…

Владимир Иванович, попробуйте.

You’re at the beach when you see some dolphins. Tap little Sophia on her shoulder and say:

Sophia, look!

София, смотри! Дельфины.

Then take Babushka’s hand and point for her…Grandma, look. Dolphins.

Бабушка, смотрите! Дельфины.

Seemingly random quiz here. How would a guy say: I gave the T-shirt to Fred.

Я дал футболку Фреду.

And a woman would phrase that…

Я дала футболку Фреду.

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…

Джим, дай мне…книгу. / …воду / …ключ

Here they are again: Jim, give to me the book…give to me the water…give to me the key

So the word was “дай”

It sounds very much like the English word “die” doesn’t it? Let’s listen to a few more.

Маша, дай мне…фотоаппарат. / …телефон / …нож

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…

Владимир Михайлович, дайте мне ключ, пожалуйста.

So the word was: Дайте.

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.

У меня есть собака.

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….

У меня есть собака. У тебя есть собака? У Джорджа есть собака? Нет. У Джорджа есть кошка. У тебя есть кошка?

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.

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Welcome to Episode 12. We’ll review the previous episode a little later. For now let’s jump to today’s new construction.

У меня есть

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) Стоп! Стоп! Стоп! Что это?

Я сделала попкорн. Хочешь попробовать?

Хорошо. Попробую (crunch) Ммм! Вкусный! Спасибо.

У меня есть попкорн.

У меня есть кола.

У меня есть 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 у меня есть literally means is: At me there exists…

Take that last word…есть. 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?

Есть сахар?

Есть.

Is there salt?

Есть соль?

Есть.

Is there butter?

Есть масло?

Есть.

У меня есть 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:

У меня есть только ты! Остальное не считается.

At me there is only you. The rest don’t count.

The next one, the proud Papa sang…

А у меня есть дочка, весёлая, смешная.

And at me there is a daughter…happy and funny.

We note, by the way, how those adjectives—happy and funny (весёлая, смешная)—rhyme with дочка. Listen again…

And then we heard this little kid singing about grandma…

У меня есть Бабушка, бабушка родная, бабушка родная, очень молодая

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 “очень молодая” translates as “very young.”

Again, we note how those adjectives родная and молодая rhyme with бабушка.

So, here’s what’s interesting: That little word ‘У’ has a big effect on the words that follow. For example, the word for I is Я. But you put the word ‘У’ in front of it: У меня

The word for ‘you’, when talking with friends or family, is Ты. Again, you put У in front of it: У Тебя.

That little ‘У’ changes the ends of people’s names, too. Listen…

Джордж….У Джорджа

Франк….У Франка

Might as well try to guess these next ones.

What about girl’s names, you ask. Let’s listen…

Светлана…У Светланы

Мама….У Мамы

Катрина….У Катрины

Hey, your turn now:

All those literally translate as, At George, or At Svetlana…meaning that they have something.

Heck, that little word ‘У’ even changes the word ‘who’. Listen…

It changed кто to кого. 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. большой хороший очень

You probably know them already, but just in case, here they are in context.

My grade school was small, but…мой университет очень большой.

In Jurassic Park, the velociraptors were small, but…Тиранозавр Рекс очень большой.

So, очень большой translates as very big.

If you ask me, Led Zeppelin…очень хорошая группа

Мерседес – очень хорошая машина.

So хороший 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 очень 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 (матрёшка). 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.

Иван купил матрёшку.

Боже. Зачем?

Не знаю. Но сейчас, у Ивана есть матрёшка.

Did you catch most of that? Can you translate this time?

Иван купил матрёшку.

Ivan bought a matryoshka…that nesting doll we were just talking about.

Боже. Зачем?

Gosh. What for? (Remember that word from the song in the midterm?)

Не знаю. Но сейчас, у Ивана есть матрёшка.

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—у меня “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.

У меня хорошее настроение.

Lit: At me good mood. No need for есть here

Or the opposite: I have a bad mood. Listen…

У меня плохое настроение.

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: У тебя видно каша в голове.

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…

Нет, Woody. У меня впервые ясность в голове.

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 “есть” in those. They were temporary conditions.

A few lines later, Woody encourages Buzz…

У тебя есть крылья. Ты можешь светиться.

You have wings. You can light up.

Woody included есть because Buzz has wings permanently.

Anyway, let’s listen to two more song clips. Again, they’ll be using у меня to describe their mood or situation. And again, no one’s at risk of winning a Grammy here.

So he said: У меня всё окей….At me all okay.

And the other one: А у меня всё хорошо…мне не нужно ничего.

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 хороший or большой. 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.

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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. попробовать

Let’s see if we can get it from these Russian conversations.

(cooking sounds)…Mom’s in the kitchen…Andrei comes in…

Привет, Мама. Что ты готовишь?

Я готовлю спагетти.

А это соус?

Да, это соус. Хочешь попробовать?

Да. (slurp) Mmmm! Вкусный!

Now Dad is in the kitchen when Sophia wanders in…

Привет, Папа. Что ты готовишь?

Я готовлю гамбургеры.

А это рис?

Да. Хочешь попробовать?

Да. (crunch chew) Mmmm! Вкусный!

So попробовать 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 венегрет, which in Russian is a salad, not a dressing. She sees you, and lifts a spoonful. Listen to Alex say, I already tried some.

Я уже попробовал.

Literally just: I already tried.

Then Nastya walks by. Again, grandma and her spoon…

Спасибо, Бабушка. Я уже попробовала.

Let’s say you’re curious to sample some. Say: “I want to try.”

Я хочу попробовать.

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 попробовать

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: дать

Now we learned that verb in Episode 6. Try to say: Jeff gave the key to Clark.

Джеф дал ключ Кларку.

But the dictionary is telling us the word is дать. 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.

Я хочу попробовать.

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.

попробовать <—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.

ват…вать

Darina, can you do the same thing?

ват….вать

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.

дат….дать

мат…..мать

Let’s try a different vowel.

рит….рить

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?”

Вова не хочет попробовать?

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)

Кто хочет попробовать мой пирог? (тишина) Вова? Иди сюда.

Ээээ…не я, Бабу. Я не очень люблю пироги.

Вова, перестань.

Хорошо. Попробую.

Ну, как?

Здесь есть брокколи? И киви? И карамель?

Да. И бекон. На. Возьми ещё кусочек.

Спасибо. Я дам папе.

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 —ть that we listened to. And that I’m going to test you on now. All I want you to do is tell me ДА or НЕТ…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 вкусный means? We heard it in our opening dialogs. Listen again…

Да, это соус. Хочешь попробовать?

Да. Mmmm! Вкусный!

Да. Хочешь попробовать?

Да. Mmmm! Вкусный!

Вкусный 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?”

Вкусный! Хочешь попробовать?

You’ll often hear it shortened to вкусно! 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 вкусный changes to match the noun. And see if you can translate…

Вкусное…вино. /…пиво. /…молоко.

Вкусный…пирог. /…венегрет. /…паштет

Вкусная…каша. /…кукуруза. /…колбаса.

Вкусные…блины. /…грибы. /…помидоры.

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: Я С Тобой – (I’m With You)

Klara Koka: Май – (the month of May)

St1m: Сестрёнка – (Little sister) (Note: Not sure how to pronounce the artist’s name, but it is indeed spelled “St1m”.)

Римский-Корсаков: “Полет шмеля” из оперы “Сказка о царе Салтане”

Rimsky Korsokov: “Flight of the Bumblebee” from the opera, “A Story About the Tsar Sultan.”

Рахманинов (Rachmaninov): Piano Concerto #2

5sta Family: Зачем? (Why / What for?) (Note: Once again, unsure of how to pronounce their name.)