Russian Week 1 Notes

Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings

  • Здравствую (Zdravstvuytye) – Hello

  • Привет (Privyet) – Hi

  • Доброе утро (Dobroye utra) – Good morning

Introducing Oneself

• My Name

  • Меня зовут (Menya zavoot) – My name is

  • Как вас зовут? (Kak vas zavoot?) – What is your name? (plural/formal)

  • Как тебя зовут? (Kak tebia zavoot?) – What is your name? (singular/informal)

  • Очень приятно (Ochen priyatno) – Nice to meet you

Conversational Starters

• Getting to Know Each Other

  • Давайте познакомимся (Davaytye paznakomimsia) – Let’s get to know each other

  • Discuss: Name, year, reasons for studying Russian, other languages studied, interests.

Course Overview

• Third Edition

  • Textbook: A Communicative Approach to Russian Language, Life, and Culture

  • Assignments: Daily homework, weekly quizzes, participation, office hours, accommodations

  • Instructor: Marita Nummikoski

Common Myths About Russian

• Myths

  • It is hard to learn Cyrillic

  • Russian is difficult to pronounce

  • Russian words are unreasonably long

Russian Alphabet Basics

• Similar Letters

  • Some Russian letters look and sound like English letters:

    • А а = [a]

    • К к = [k]

    • М м = [m]

    • О о = [o]

    • Т т = [t]

Pronunciation and Stress

• Stress in Russian

  • ударение (oodareniye) – stress in words

  • O = O, gnome – хорош[о]

  • O = [a] before stressed syllable, rot – хор[о]шо

  • O = [ə] in unsounded contexts

Vocabulary Review

• Common Words

  • Кот (KOT) – cat

  • Атом (atom) – atom

  • Том (TOM) – tome

  • Мама (mama) – mom

Different Sounds and Pronunciations

• Letters That Appear Like Latin Letters

  • В в = [v]

  • Н н = [n]

  • Р р = [r]

  • С с = [s]

  • У у = [u] (oo)

  • Х х = [kh] (as in 'Bach')

  • Е е = [ye] (yeh)

Vocabulary Building

• More Vocabulary

  • Е – “ye” (yet)

  • Атлетика (athletics)

  • Е – [i] (cyclical)

  • Математика (mathematics)

Common Phrases for Interaction

• Questions and Responses

  • Как дела? (Kak dela?) – How are you?

  • Хорошо (Khorosho) – Well

  • Нормально (Normalna) – Fine

  • Плохо (Plokho) – Badly

  • Так себе (Tak sebye) – So-so

Formal vs Informal Language

• Understanding Context

  • Здравствуйте (Zdravstvuyte) – formal greeting

  • Здравствуй (Zdravstvuy) – informal greeting

  • Вас (vas) – you (formal)

  • тебя (tebya) – you (informal)

Direct Object Pronouns

• Understanding Pronouns

  • Singular: меня (menya), тебя (tebya)

  • Plural: нас (nas), вас (vas)

  • Third-person: его (ego), её (eyeyo), их (ikh)

Homework and Practice

• Assignments for Study

  • Read textbook pages on names

  • Cursive worksheet

  • Listen to vocabulary recordings

Reminder of Basic Expressions

• Basic Expressions

  • Привет (Privet) – Hi

  • Как тебя зовут? (Kak tyebya zavoot?) – What is your name?

  • Меня зовут . . . (Menya zavoot . . .) – My name is . . .

  • Очень приятно (Ochen priyatna) – Nice to meet you