Learn how to ask someone to switch to another language
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Business Russian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 15 - Saying You Can't Speak the Language. John Here. |
| Karina: Привет, I'm Karina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone to speak another language. The conversation takes place at Euro Bank. |
| Karina: It's between a receptionist and Linda. |
| John: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal Russian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Секретарь: Доброе утро. Это Евро Банк. |
| Линда: Здравствуйте, это Линда Бейкер из ABC. |
| Секретарь: Доброе утро. Чем я могу Вам помочь? |
| Линда: Ой... Извините, я плохо знаю русский, мы можем поговорить по-английски? |
| Секретарь: Конечно. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Секретарь: Доброе утро. Это Евро Банк. |
| Линда: Здравствуйте, это Линда Бейкер из ABC. |
| Секретарь: Доброе утро. Чем я могу Вам помочь? |
| Линда: Ой... Извините, я плохо знаю русский, мы можем поговорить по-английски? |
| Секретарь: Конечно. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Receptionist: Good morning, this is Euro Bank. |
| Linda: Hello, this is Linda Baker from ABC. |
| Receptionist: Good morning, how can I help you? |
| Linda: Ah... I'm sorry, I speak Russian poorly, can we speak in English? |
| Receptionist: Sure. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Wow, that was nice of the receptionist to agree to speak English. |
| Karina: Yes, it was very kind! |
| John: Do many Russians speak English? |
| Karina: It’s a compulsory subject in school from junior high, and many students even start learning it in elementary school. |
| John: Do children only learn at school, or are extra classes and private tutors popular? |
| Karina: Some parents spend a lot of money on helping their children learn English. |
| John: I guess that speaking English will put them at an advantage when it comes to hunting for a job. |
| Karina: That’s right. It’s a good skill to have. |
| John: Has it always been that way in Russia? |
| Karina: No. Younger people can speak English well, but people 30 and up will probably struggle just to introduce themselves. |
| John: So are these older people that speak no English at a disadvantage when it comes to working for international companies? |
| Karina: Actually, if you are a good specialist, companies can hire interpreters, if there is an important meeting or some other important event, otherwise, younger employees will help. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Karina: плохо [natural native speed] |
| John: badly, bad |
| Karina: плохо[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: плохо [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: русский [natural native speed] |
| John: Russian (language, nationality) |
| Karina: русский[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: русский [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: английский [natural native speed] |
| John: English |
| Karina: английский[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: английский [natural native speed] |
| John: Last we have... |
| Karina: конечно [natural native speed] |
| John: of course, certainly |
| Karina: конечно[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: конечно [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of one of the words from this lesson. The word is... |
| Karina: говорить |
| John: meaning "to speak." What can you tell us about this verb? |
| Karina: This word can be used in two ways. |
| John: What are they? |
| Karina: говорить has both the meanings of "to talk" to somebody and "to speak" a language or to speak loudly or quietly. |
| John: Are there other verbs that can be used for these meanings? |
| Karina: There are many. Most of them come from говорить, such as разговаривать. |
| John: Which means “to talk,” as in “to have communication.” Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Мы разговаривали о музыке. |
| John: ...which means "We talked about music" |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask someone to speak another language. I think this is an important lesson. Even if your Russian is really good, there might still be situations where speaking another language, like English, is easier. |
| Karina: Right, especially in formal or unusual situations. |
| John: Like in the dialogue. Karina, how can we ask someone to speak a different language? |
| Karina: First, it’s polite to explain why you want another language. |
| John: Yes, you should start by telling the person that your Russian isn’t quite good enough. |
| Karina: You should use the verb знать, which means “to know” when it’s followed by a noun. |
| John: This verb was used in the dialogue when Linda said that she spoke Russian badly. |
| Karina: Yes, what she literally said was “I know Russian badly” - плохо знаю русский, |
| John: Are there other ways to say this? |
| Karina: You can also use the verb понимать, which means “to understand.” |
| John: How can we use that in a sentence? |
| Karina: Use the prefix по- before the language and delete the last letter й. Я плохо понимаю по-русски |
| John: “I can hardly understand Russian.” |
| Karina: The same rule applies with the verb говорить, meaning “to speak.” Я плохо говорю по-английски. |
| John: “I speak English poorly.” Now that we’ve explained our reason, we need to ask them to switch to another language. |
| Karina: In this case, the verb мочь, meaning “can,” will come in handy. |
| John: How do we say “Can we speak in English?” |
| Karina: Мы можем поговорить по-английски? |
| John: Or how about “Can I speak in English?” |
| Karina: Я могу говорить по-английски? Be careful when conjugating мочь! |
| John: The list of conjugations is in the lesson notes, so check it out! |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Karina: Пока! |
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