If you are travelling to Russia, as with any foreign country, you will find
that you have more interesting experiences if you can speak and understand a
little of the language.
Learning Russian is a challenge for most native English speakers, though you
will be relived to know it's not as difficult as Japanese! The purpose of this
short guide is to to give you some language basics so that you can get more out
of your trip to Russia, not turn you into a translator!
Learning Russian is a rewarding and useful
experience, though for many,
learning a foreign language is
difficult when those around you cannot speak the
language you wish to progress in. To work on
pronunciation, informal communication, sentence structure as
well as listening and speaking skills, it is an absolute
imperative to get out there and immerse yourself in the local
culture, environment and language, to find a good local
teacher or college course., or, of course, like many others
you could start of with the "teach yourself" books and CD's.
Russian courses in Russia for all levels with
enjoyrussian.com
- based in Petrozavodsk and staffed by teachers who have great experience in teaching Russian to foreigners - a great way to learn and visit Real Russia!
You can find weekly courses in the UK, local teachers,
short courses, residential courses and much more at Ruslan,
http://www.ruslan.co.uk/
- an organisation that specialises in the teaching of Russian to native
English speakers and run by the approachable John Langran, former Head of
Birmingham's Brasshouse Centre (the largest Adult Education Centre for
Languages in Europe), Director of Studies for Pitmans Business Training in
Russia, and author of the BBC Russian Phrasebook.
1. An Introduction to the Russian Language
Russian is the most widely spoken Slavonic language. It is not only spoken by
the 145 million native Russian speakers of the Russian Federation, but also by
many former Soviet Union Republics and many
more speak Russian as a second language all over the world. A total estimated
number of between 255 million and 285 million worldwide.
As an official language of the United Nations, this
international form of communication is rightly recognised.
Russian is part of the East-Slavic group which in turn is part of the
Indo-European family of languages. Very closely related to Ukrainian and
Belarusian, some areas will mix their native tongue with Russian freely.
A lot has been written about Russian over the years, none more so famous than
that of the Russian scientist, writer and poet M.V. Lomonosov referring to the
words of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V;
'... Russian is far superior to all
the languages of Europe in its comprehensiveness and richness, and had Charles V
been acquainted with it he would have discovered in it the majesty of Spanish,
the vivacity of French, the strength of German, the sweetness of Italian, and,
in addition, energetic conciseness in its imagery, together with the richness of
Greek and Latin.'.
2. The Cyrillic Alphabet and Russian Pronunciation
Russian doesn't use the Latin alphabet but instead an alphabet attributed to
its creator Saint Cyril who introduced the written language to Russia from
Greece in the Tenth Century, this is why if you are familiar with the Greek alphabet you will find
some common letters. The Cyrillic Alphabet has 33 characters in Russian and is
used for the written form of not just Russian but also Belarusian, Bulgarian,
Macedonian, Serbian and Ukrainian.
Russian text is actually much simpler to read than English. It doesn't take
long to get used to the new alphabet (including the written
one - Russian has a different printed and a handwritten
alphabet). In general a word is pronounced as it is written,
unlike English, take for example the sound made by 'ou' in the
following words - through - though - tough!
Below is a table detailing how each letter is written and the related sound
it makes when read: N.B. 'ё' is often written just as 'е', which may
be somewhat confusing at first when reading Russian texts not written
specifically for foreigners.
Printed
Upper-Case
Printed
Lower-Case
Sound
А
а
Father
Б
б
Bat
В
в
Victory
Г
г
Goat
Д
д
Dad
Е
е
Yet
Ё
ё
Yorkshire
Ж
ж
Pleasure
З
з
Zebra
И
и
Eat
Й
й
Toy
К
к
Kite
Л
л
Light
М
м
Mike
Н
н
Note
О
о
Core
П
п
Peter
Р
р
Run
С
с
Sun
Т
т
Tom
У
у
Boot
Ф
ф
Fun
Х
х
Loch
Ц
ц
Bits
Ч
ч
Church
Ш
ш
Shawl
Щ
щ
Shch
Ъ
ъ
-
Ы
ы
Milk
Ь
ь
-
Э
э
Bet
Ю
ю
You
Я
я
Yar
Now see if you can decipher the following words:
ТАКСИ
МЕТРО
ПЕПСИ-КОЛА
ТУАЛЕТ
ЛЕНИН
In Russian, as in all languages, there is a syllable within
the word that is stressed more than other, for example photograph where
the stress is on the first syllable and photography where the stress is
on the second. It should be noted that which syllable to stress follows no observable pattern and just has to be learnt,
just like in English!
An important point to note is that unstressed 'o's tend to be pronounced more as 'a's rather than 'o's so a word like молоко
(milk) is actually pronounced малако because the stress is at the end
and пиво (beer) is actually
pronounced пива
because the stress is on the first part of the word.
3. Introducing Yourself - Basic Phrases
One of the first things you will want to do is introduce yourself. In
Russian, just like in French, there is a formal form of the word 'you' (вы
- vi) and
an informal one (ты - ti).
The formal version is also used when referring to a group or talking to more
than one person; when addressing small children and people of the same age it is
common to use the informal version.
When addressing superiors and elders or anyone that you wish to show respect
to, then the formal version must be used, it is not a good idea to call a
Militaman "ты" unless you are looking for trouble! Below are some phrases that
you will find useful.
Basic Greetings
OK, you have met someone and would like to get the ball rolling, you can
choose from:
Russian
Transliteration
English
Здравствуйте
Drast-voi-tye
How do you do (formal)
Здравствуй
Drast-voi
How do you do (informal)
Привет
Priv-yet
Hi / Hello
Доброе
утро
Dob-ro-ye U-tro
Good morning
Добрый
день
Dob-ri Dyen
Good day
Добрый
вечер
Dob-ri ver-cher
Good evening
Getting acquainted
So, you have said hello, now you can introduce yourself ...
Russian
Transliteration
English
Давайте
познакомимся. Меня зовут...
Dav-i-tye Paz-nak-o-mim-sya. Men-ya Za-voot ...
Lets
get acquainted. My name is ...
А
вас?
A Vas?
And
you?
Как
вас / его / её зовут?
Kak Vas
/ Ye-vo / Ye-yo Za-voot
What
is your / his / her name?
Очень
приятно
O-Chin
Pri-yat-na
Pleased
to meet you
Responding to a question
You will often hear your Russian friends ask you "Как дела?"
which means "How are things going?" or quite literally "How (Как)
Things (дела)?". You can respond in
a variety of ways, for example:
Russian
Transliteration
English
Прекрасно
Pre-cras-na
Fine
Отлично
At-lich-no
Perfectly
Хорошо
Har-a-show
Well
Нормально
Norm-al-na
Normally
Ничего
Nich-e-vo
Fairly
well
Неплохо
Ne-ploch-a
Not
bad
Так
себе
Tak seb-ye
So-so
Плохо
Ploch-a
Badly
Saying goodbye
And finally, closing the conversation ...
Russian
Transliteration
English
До
свидания
Doz-vid-anya
Goodbye
(formal)
Пока
Pak-a
See
you later / bye bye
До
завтра
Doz-aftra
See
you tomorrow
До
встречи
Doz-stre-chi
Until
we meet
Счастливо
Schas-tli-vo
Have
a good journey
4.
Russian Names
Russians as the English, have first names and surnames
but instead of an optional middle name they have what is
called a patronymic (a formal name derived from their father's first
name). You will also see this mentioned on the
migration card you receive when
you cross the border into Russia.
In formal situations Russians
address each other using the person's full first name and
his/her patronymic. A patronymic is formed by adding
-ovich/-evich to the end of the person's father's name if they
are male and -ovna/-evna if they are female.
So, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin,
is Joseph Stalin, son of Vissarion would be addressed by
people in a formal situation as Joseph Vissarionovich.
Close friends and family tend to call each other using
diminutive versions of each others' first names usually by
shortening and "softening" the sounds by adding suffixes
such as "ka" and "sha" - here is a table with a list of
common Russian names (in Russian) and their diminutive
versions. You should note that there are literally many
dozens of variations on names that can be used depending
upon the situation.
Masculine Name
Diminutive Version
Feminine Name
Diminutive Version
Александр
Шура, Саша
Александра
Саша, Шура
Алексей
Алеша, Леша
Алла
-
Анатолий
Толя
Анна
Аня
Андрей
Андрюша
Валентина
Валя
Антон
-
Вера
-
Борис
Боря
Галина
Галя
Валентин
Валя
Евгения
Женя
Василий
Вася
Екатерина
Катя
Владимир
Володя, Вова
Елена
Лена
Дмитрий
Дима, Митя
Ирина
Ира
Евгений
Женя
Любовь
Люба
Иван
Ваня
Людмила
Люда
Игорь
-
Марина
-
Константин
Костя
Мария
Маша
Михаил
Миша
Надежда
Надя
Николай
Коля
Наталья
Наташа
Олег
-
Нина
-
Петр
Петя
Ольга
Оля
Сергей
Сережа
Светлана
Света
Юрий
Юра
Татьяна
Таня
5.
Getting Around by tram, bus and taxi
On trams, buses and trolley
buses a conductor will come to you to sell you a ticket and
will usually either say nothing and just stare at you or will
give you a choice of a student or a standard ticket. Either
way it's best to state clearly 'один'
- (pronounced "adin" which means one), followed by the
type - 'студенческий'
(student) / 'обычный'.
Some
useful questions to use on a bus or
tram.
Russian
Transliteration
English
Простите,
этот автобус (троллейбус, трамвай) идет
до...?
Prast-it-ye, etat avto-bus (trolli-bus_ id-yet do ...?
Forgive
me, but does this bus (trolley-bus, tram) go to?
Какая
следующая остановка?
Kak-aya
sled-you-sh-aya astan-ov-ka?
Whats
the next stop?
Вы
выходите (на следующей) = Вы сейчас выходите? Да, выхожу
/ Нет, не выхожу.
Vi
v-had-eet-ye? Da, vi-had-aj-u / Nyet, ne vi-had-aj-u
Are
you getting off now? Yes, Im getting off / No, Im not
getting off.
Можно пройти
= Разрешите пройти.Пожалуйста.
Mojh-na
prai-tee?
Could
I get past
please?
Some
things you might hear on a bus or tram.
Russian
Transliteration
English
Следующая
остановка ...
Sled-oyou-sh-aya
ast-an-ov-ka
The
next stop is.
Проходите /
пройдите вперед (по салону).
Pra-had-eet-ye
Move
further down please.
Вам нужно
сделать пересадку.
Vam
Nooj-na cdel-at per-esad-koo
You
need to change
(tram/bus).
Some
useful taxi phrases.
Russian
Transliteration
English
Вы
свободны?
Vi
Sva-bodni?
Is
this taxi free?
В/На
... отвезете? (В аэропорт отвезете? На автовокзал
отвезете?)
V/Na ...
at-bye-zetye? (V aero-port? / Na avto-vokzal at-byez-etye?)
Could
youtakemetotheairport?
Could
you take me to the bus
station?
Быстрее,
пожалуйста, я опаздываю.
Bist-ree,
pajal-sta, ya apaz-diva-you!
Faster
please, I'm late!
Сколько с
меня?
Skol-ka
s men-ya?
How
much do I owe?
What
a taxi driver might say to you.
Russian
Transliteration
English
Вам
куда? Куда ехать?
Vam Ku-da?
Ku-da ye-hat?
Where
are you going? Where to?
Свободен /
садитесь / поехали.
Sva-bod-yen / Sad-eet-ye / pa-ye-hali
It's
free (available) / Sit down / let's go.
Приехали.
Pre-ye-ha-li.
We've
arrived.
С
вас...рублей.
s vas
.... rub-lee
You
owe ...
Roubles.
6. Finding your way around -
Directions and Destinations
Some useful words to make your way around by yourself ...
Russian
Transliteration
English
Скажите, пожалуйста, где находится
...?
Skaj-itye pajal-sta, g-d-ye na-hod-eet-sya ...?
Tell
me please, where is ?
Вы
не подскажете, где находится ...?
Vi ne
pad-skaj-eet-ye, g-d-ye na-hod-eet-sya ...?
You
wouldn't be able to tell me where ...?
Вы не знаете,
где...?
Vi ne
zna-yet-ye g-d-ye ...?
I
don't suppose you know where ?
Где здесь...?
G-d-ye
zd-yes ...?
Where
might I find here a ?
Это далеко (отсюда)?
Eta
da-leko (ot-syou-da)?
Is
it far (from here)?
Как
дойти до вокзала
...?
Kak
da-itee do ...?
How
does one get to ...?
аэропорт
aero-port
Airport
гостиница
/ отель
gast-in-eetsa / otel
Hotel
/ Hotel
посольство/консульство
pas-olst-va
/ kon-sool-stva
Embassy/Consulate
банк/обмен валюты/банкомат
bank /
ab-meen val-you-t / bank-o-mat
Bank/Bureau
de change/cash machine
музей
Moo-zei
Museum
театр
tee-a-tr
Theatre
храм /церковь /собор
hram /
tser-kov / sobar
Temple/Church/Cathedral
почта
Po-ch-ta
Post-Office
памятник
pam-yat-nik
Monument
улица / площадь
oo-lit-sa / pla-shod
Street/Square
галерея
gal-ee-re-ya
Gallery
магазин
mag-a-zin
Shop
супермаркет
super-mar-ket
Supermarket
рынок (вещевой / продуктовый)
ree-nok
Market
здесь - там
z-dyes -
tam
Here
- There
справа,
слева, прямо, направо, налево.
s-pra-va,
s-lye-va, prya-mo, na-pra-va, na-lye-va
On
the right, on the left, straight ahead, to the right, to
the left.
в обратном направлении
v
a-brat-nom na-prav-le-nee
In
the opposite direction
далеко? недалеко, близко, рядом
Da-lee-ko? Ne-da-lee-ko, bliz-ka, pya-dom
It
is far? its not far, its close, nearby
напротив
na-pro-tiv
Opposite
на первом этаже,
na
perv-om e-taj-e
On
the first floor
в
конце/ в начале (улицы, проспекта)
v
kan-tsye / v na-chal-ye (oo-li-tse / pros-pek-ta)
At
the end/at the start (street,
avenue)
7. Ordering food
Russian food is surprisingly varied for
the un-initiated, with the current Federation and previous
Soviet Union composed of many dozens of nationalities and
ethnic groups including Russian, Caucus, Tartar, Cossack,
Kazak and many more. If you get away from the hotels and
tourist strips you will find a delight of cuisine awaits at
very reasonable prices! When you are in a restaurant, bar or
cafe
a waiter may say:
Russian
Transliteration
English
Вам
столик на двоих (троих,
четверых...)?
Vam
stol-ik na dva-ich (tra-ich. chet-ver-ich ...)?
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