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Lesson Transcript

3-Minute Russian Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking About Your Age
Introduction
Becky: Welcome to 3-Minute Russian Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking about your age. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone's age and to say yours in Russian.
Body
Becky: Here's the informal way to ask 'How old are you?' in Russian.
Elena: [Normal] Сколько тебе лет?(Skol'ka tebe let?)
Becky: First is a word meaning 'how'
Elena: [Normal] сколько [Slow] сколько (skol'ka)
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'you'
Elena: [Normal] тебе [Slow] тебе(tebe)
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'years'
Elena: [Normal] лет [Slow] лет(let)
Becky: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Elena: [Slow] Сколько тебе лет? [Normal] Сколько тебе лет?
Becky: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'How old are you?'
Elena: [Normal] Сколько вам лет?(Skol'ka vam let?)
Becky: First is a word meaning 'how'
Elena: [Normal] сколько [Slow] сколько (skol'ka)
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'you'
Elena: [Normal] вам [Slow] вам(vam)
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'years'
Elena: [Normal] лет [Slow] лет(let)
Becky: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Elena: [Slow] Сколько вам лет? [Normal] Сколько вам лет?
Becky: Here's a response meaning 'I am 17.'
Elena: [Normal] Мне 17 лет.(Mne semnadtsat' let.)
Becky: First is a word meaning 'me'
Elena: [Normal] мне [Slow] мне(mne)
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'seventeen'
Elena: [Normal] семнадцать [Slow] семнадцать(semnadtsat')
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'years'
Elena: [Normal] лет [Slow] лет(let)
Becky: Listen again to the response meaning 'I am 17.'
Elena: [Slow] Мне 17 лет. [Normal] Мне 17 лет.
Becky: Here's a response meaning, 'I prefer not to say.'
Elena: [Normal] Я предпочитаю не говорить.(Ya pretpachitayu ne gavarit'.)
Becky: First is a word meaning 'I'
Elena: [Normal] я [Slow] я(ya)
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'prefer'
Elena: [Normal] предпочитаю [Slow] предпочитаю(pretpachitayu)
Becky: Next is the word meaning 'not'
Elena: [Normal] не [Slow] не(ne)
Becky: Last is the word meaning 'to say'
Elena: [Normal] говорить [Slow] говорить(gavarit')
Becky: Listen again to the response, 'I prefer not to say.'
Elena: [Slow] Я предпочитаю не говорить. [Normal] Я предпочитаю не говорить.
Cultural Insight
Becky: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Elena: In Russia it is basically okay to ask someone’s age. However, if it is a woman, it is considered to be good manners to tell her that she looks younger – make sure to never actually try to guess her real age!

Outro

Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!
Elena: Пока.

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