Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com This is Business Russian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 16 - Asking For Time Off Work. John Here.
Karina: Привет, I'm Karina.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for a day off. The conversation takes place on the phone.
Karina: It's between Linda and Alexander.
John: The speakers are boss and employee, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal Russian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Линда: Александр, извините, что звоню так рано...
Александр: Здравствуй, Линда. Что случилось?
Линда: Я плохо себя чувствую сегодня, можно мне взять выходной?
Александр: Конечно, не беспокойся. Если нужно, сходи к врачу.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Линда: Александр, извините, что звоню так рано...
Александр: Здравствуй, Линда. Что случилось?
Линда: Я плохо себя чувствую сегодня, можно мне взять выходной?
Александр: Конечно, не беспокойся. Если нужно, сходи к врачу.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: Alexander, sorry to call so early...
Alexander: Hello Linda. What happened?
Linda: Today I don't feel very good, can I take a day off?
Alexander: Sure, don't worry. If you need to, go to the doctor.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: Alexander was very understanding there.
Karina: Yeah, he was. That’s good though. The last thing you need when you feel sick is a grilling from your boss.
John: Right. What are the rules like regarding sick leave in Russia?
Karina: Sick leave differs from company to company.
John: How about other types of leave? Like paid leave?
Karina: That depends on both the company and region.
John: Region? Can you elaborate on that a little?
Karina: The regular length for paid leave is 28 days, but in the Northern Regions it’s a little longer.
John: And there is one other type of major leave that people might need in their lives - maternity leave.
Karina: In Russia, maternity leave is 140 to 180 days long, depending on the number of children.
John: Is there any more leave available after that?
Karina: One parent can take "parental leave" until the baby turns 18 months, for 40% pay, and then unpaid leave until the child turns 3. We call maternity leave, декретный отпуск
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: случаться [natural native speed]
John: to happen
Karina: случаться [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: случаться [natural native speed]
John: Next we have...
Karina: чувствовать [natural native speed]
John: feel
Karina: чувствовать[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: чувствовать [natural native speed]
John: And last...
Karina: врач [natural native speed]
John: doctor
Karina: врач [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Karina: врач [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is...
Karina: извините, что звоню так рано
John: meaning "Sorry to call so early." What can you tell us about this phrase?
Karina: The formula for this phrase is: “sorry,” plus “that,” plus “call,” plus “so,” and finally “early.”
John: So there’s no personal pronoun in there?
Karina: No. This is a handy pattern. You can say “sorry that,” followed by a verb in first person singular in many other phrases too.
John: Like what other phrases?
Karina: For example, “sorry to disturb” - извините, что отвлекаю
John: Can you give us an example using this expression?
Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Извините, что не смогу участвовать в семинаре.
John: ...which means "Sorry that I won't be able to take part in seminar."
John: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Karina: Что случилось?
John: meaning "What happened?" What can you tell us about this phrase?
Karina: First is the question word “what,” followed by a verb in past simple tense.
John: And in this case, the verb is…?
Karina: случилось with the postfix сь. This is usually used for passive forms.
John: But this isn’t passive?
Karina: No, случилось can't be used without this suffix as it already means "to happen (by itself)."
John: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Что случилось с этим сканером?
John: ...which means "What happened to this scanner?"
John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for a day off. If you need an unexpected day off due to illness or an emergency, you’ll need to call your supervisor and explain the situation.
Karina: Like Linda did in the dialogue.
John: Remind us Karina, what did Linda say in the dialogue?
Karina: Я плохо себя чувствую сегодня
John: Literally this is “Today I feel myself bad.” Is there any part of this in particular that we should pay attention to?
Karina: Yes, in the middle of the sentence. The verbal phrase себя чувствую.
John: Okay, what can you tell us about it?
Karina: себя is a reflexive pronoun. It shows that an action being performed is directed onto the person who performs this action
John: Can this only be used for the first person?
Karina: Actually no. It can be used for the second or third person - it has no gender or number.
John: Wow, that’s really handy and easy to remember. If we need to be a little more specific about why we feel bad, what could we say?
Karina: Maybe Я простыл.
John: “I have a cold.”
Karina: Or У меня высокая температура.
John: “I have a high temperature.” Now that we’ve explained that we’re ill and can’t come in, we need to actually ask for the day off.
Karina: If you’re not that deathly sick, you might want to say something like Можно мне поработать из дома?
John: “Can I work from home?”
Karina: That sentence uses можно мне, which means “can me.” This is more polite than могу я, “can I.”
John: Thanks for pointing that out!
Karina: You could also say Можно мне прийти после обеда?
John: “Can I come in for the second part of the day?”
Karina: They both sound better than asking for the whole day off, don’t they?
John: If you’re well enough for those options, ask, and I’m sure your boss will be happy to accommodate you.

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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