Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Oxana: [Добрый день, с вами Оксана!]
Eddie: Eddy here! Gengo Russian Season 1, Lesson 22 - “You paid it what? The best place to shop in Russia”. So, Roxana, I guess every city in the world has some special O District full of souvenirs and an excited tourist about them.
Oxana: Yes, probably! In Moscow is “Старый Арбат” - “Old Arbat”, a pedestrian Street with a very traditional atmosphere, the spirit of the old Moscow.
Eddie: And of course, every district in the world, but carries an authentic and traditional flavor is attractive for tourists which makes the souvenir business flourish.
Oxana: That’s right! And as we remember, Arbat was one of a must places to see for John and he picked today.
Eddie: Well, let’s listen to this lesson’s dialogue and find out what John ended up with them Old Arbat.
DIALOGUE
Продавец: [Подходите, покупайте. Русские матрёшки, хохлома, шкатулки, деревяные поделки, украшения. Портреты, карикатуры. Пирожки с капустой, с грибами, с картошкой.]
Seller: Podhodite, pokupaite. Russkiye matryoshki, hohloma, shkatulki, derevyanyye podelki, ukrasheniya. Portrety, karikatury. pirozhki s kapustoi, s gribami, s kartoshkoi.
Джон: [Сколько стоит та матрёшка на верхней полке?]
John: Skol’ko stoit ta matryoska na verhnei polke?
Продавец: [2,000 рублей.]
Seller: Dve tysyachi rublei.
Джон: [Ого, это почти 70 долларов.]
John: Ogo, eto pochti semdesyat dollarov.
Продавец: [Это ручная работа, к тому же внутри есть ещё 7 маленьких матрёшек.]
Seller: Eto ruchnaya rabota, k tomu zhe vnutri est’ eshchyo sem’ malen’kih matryoshek.
Джон: [Покажите, пожалуйста. Хорошо, я возьму. О, а это что?]
John: Pokazhite, pozhaluista. Horosho, ya voz’mu. O, a eto chto?
Продавец: [Это сувенирная балалайка. 5,000 рублей.]
Seller: Eto suvenirnaya balalaika. Pyat’ tysyach’ rublei.
Eddie: Once again, more slowly.
Oxana: Ещё раз, медленнее.
Продавец: [Подходите, покупайте. Русские матрёшки, хохлома, шкатулки, деревяные поделки, украшения. Портреты, карикатуры. Пирожки с капустой, с грибами, с картошкой.]
Seller: Podhodite, pokupaite. Russkiye matryoshki, hohloma, shkatulki, derevyanyye podelki, ukrasheniya. Portrety, karikatury. pirozhki s kapustoi, s gribami, s kartoshkoi.
Джон: [Сколько стоит та матрёшка на верхней полке?]
John: Skol’ko stoit ta matryoska na verhnei polke?
Продавец: [2,000 рублей.]
Seller: Dve tysyachi rublei.
Джон: [Ого, это почти 70 долларов.]
John: Ogo, eto pochti semdesyat dollarov.
Продавец: [Это ручная работа, к тому же внутри есть ещё 7 маленьких матрёшек.]
Seller: Eto ruchnaya rabota, k tomu zhe vnutri est’ eshchyo sem’ malen’kih matryoshek.
Джон: [Покажите, пожалуйста. Хорошо, я возьму. О, а это что?]
John: Pokazhite, pozhaluista. Horosho, ya voz’mu. O, a eto chto?
Продавец: [Это сувенирная балалайка. 5,000 рублей.]
Seller: Eto suvenirnaya balalaika. Pyat’ tysyach’ rublei.
Eddie: Once again, with the translation.
Oxana: Ещё раз. с переводом.
Oxana: [Подходите, покупайте. Русские матрёшки, хохлома, шкатулки, деревяные поделки, украшения.]
Eddie: Come and buy Russian Matrioska dolls, Khokhloma, caskets, wooden handy crafts, jewelry.
Oxana: [Портреты, карикатуры.]
Eddie: Portraits, caricatures.
Oxana:[Пирожки с капустой.]
Eddie: Cabbage pies, mushroom pies, potato pies.
Oxana: [Сколько стоит та матрёшка на верхней полке?]
Eddie: How much is that doll on the upper shelf.
Oxana: [2,000 рублей.]
Eddie: 2,000 rubles.
Oxana: [Ого, это почти 70 долларов.]
Eddie: Geez, that’s almost $70.
Oxana:[Это ручная работа, к тому же внутри есть ещё 7 маленьких матрёшек.]
Eddie: It’s handmade. Besides, there are another seven little dolls inside.
Oxana:[Покажите, пожалуйста. Хорошо, я возьму. О, а это что?]
Eddie:May I see it a little closer? Ok, I’ll take it. Oh, and what’s this?
Oxana: [Это сувенирная балалайка. 5,000 рублей.]
Eddie: It’s a souvenir balalaika. 5,000 rubles.
VOCAB LIST
Oxana:[Подходить]
Eddie: To come up.
Oxana: [Подходить]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Покупать]
Eddie:To buy.
Oxana: [Покупать]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Матрёшка]
Eddie:Matrioska, Russian doll.
Oxana:[Матрёшка]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Хохлома]
Eddie: Khokhloma, traditional wooden articles, decorated in red, gold and black.
Oxana: [Хохлома]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Шкатулка]
Eddie: Casket.
Oxana: [Шкатулка]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Деревяный]
Eddie: Wooden.
Oxana: [Деревяный]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana:[Поделки]
Eddie: Handicrafts.
Oxana:[Поделки]
Eddie:Next.
Oxana: [Украшение]
Eddie:Jewelry.
Oxana: [Украшение]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana:[Портрет]
Eddie: Portrait.
Oxana: [Портрет]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Карикатура]
Eddie: Caricature.
Oxana:[Карикатура]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Пирожки]
Eddie: Small pies.
Oxana: [Пирожки]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Капуста]
Eddie: Cabbage.
Oxana: [Капуста]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Грибы]
Eddie: Mushrooms.
Oxana: [Грибы]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Картошка]
Eddie: Potatoes.
Oxana: [Картошка]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Верхний]
Eddie: Upper.
Oxana: [Верхний]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana:[Полка]
Eddie: Shelf.
Oxana: [Полка]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Почти]
Eddie: Almost.
Oxana:[Почти]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Ручная работа]
Eddie: Handmade.
Oxana: [Ручная работа]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [К тому же]
Eddie: Besides, moreover.
Oxana: [К тому же]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Внутри]
Eddie: Inside.
Oxana:[Внутри]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Маленький]
Eddie: Small.
Oxana:[Маленький]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Показать]
Eddie: To show.
Oxana: [Показать]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana:[Сувенир]
Eddie: Souvenir.
Oxana:[Сувенирный]
Eddie: Next.
Oxana: [Балалайка]
Eddie: Balalaika, traditional Russian musical instrument.
Oxana:[Балалайка]
VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eddie: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Oxana:The first phrase we’ll look at is [Подходите, покупайте.].
Eddie: Literally “Come up and buy!”. Usually, people are not screaming to attract attention, but the Arbat is different. People are trying to be friendly to foreigners and sell as much stuff as they can.
Oxana: Right! Both verbs here are used in a polite command form and they come from the words [подходить] and [покупать].
Eddie: Also, the verbs are used in the Imperfective Aspect. Obviously, the street vendors want you to keep coming and buying and keep this process going.
Oxana:So, we have barely noticeable selling tricks even in the language.
Eddie: And, what do they want us to buy? What is it that’s so authentically Russian that they’re offering?
Oxana: First, [матрёшка], of course!
Eddie: [Матрёшка] is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. The number of nested figures is usually five or more. [Матрёшка] are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress. But the theme can be anything from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders.
Oxana:You can find a Clinton [матрёшка] or Schwarzenegger [матрёшка] as well, now. The Schwarzenegger [матрёшка] I have seen was really funny. The smallest doll was a little baby with enormous muscles and a huge chin wearing a steel diaper.
Eddie: But John is a conservative guy. He got a traditional Russian lady doll. What was the next word?
Oxana:[Хохлома]
Eddie: [Хохлома] is the name of a Russian wood painting handicraft. The traditional characteristic of it is the combinations of red, black and gold colors. Popular [хохлома] items include bowls with or without leads, spoons in all shapes and sizes, plates, smugs, serving bowls in the shape of birds, candlesticks, eggcups, platows and a lot more.
Oxana: Yes, so the street vendor calls all these painted items with one word: [хохлома]. Next, we had [шкатулка].
Eddie: “A casket”, usually wouldn’t. Usually, they have a [хохлома] style painting and coming all shapes and sizes. Usually they use for keeping jewelry or some other little secret things.
Oxana: Next we were offered to buy [деревянные поделки].
Eddie: “Wooden handy crafts” It’s usually used in plural, but there’s a word for one item, too.
Oxana: [Поделка]
Eddie:They also sell jewelry. Usually, also wooden or with amber. The word for “jewelry” in Russian is?
Oxana: [Украшения]. It’s also the word for decorations.
Eddie: The next two words don’t need much explanation, they sound very similar to their foreign origins.
Oxana: [портрет, карикатура]
Eddie:A “portrait” and a “caricature”. You can sit down and relax for now, while street artists are working on your portrait. Might be quite costly, though. And among all these art masterpieces, you wouldn’t be left to starve. You’ll definitely meet some cheerful old ladies with huge baskets of homemade foods. Mostly, it would be [пирожки].
Oxana: Right! And as eating on the streets is totally ok in Russia, these ladies can come in handy when you’re starving but have another mile of Arbat ahead of you.
Eddie: Yes, and what do they usually offer?
Oxana: [пирожки с капустой, с грибами, с картошкой]
Eddie: Little pies with cabbage, with mushrooms and with potatoes.
Oxana:Those with cabbage also have eggs and cheese inside, really good. So, all these feelings are put into the Instrumental Case, because they go after the preposition [с] - “with”.
Eddie: Remember! If you can translate the phrase into English using the prepositions “by” or “with”, it’s definitely the Instrumental Case.
Oxana: Yes, originally feeling sounds as [капуста, грибы, картошка]. Have you tried any of those, Eddy?
Eddie: Yes, I’ve had several with mushrooms, absolutely delicious!
Oxana: Ok! So, one of the [матрёшка] caught John’s attention. [Сколько стоит та матрёшка]
Eddie: “How much is that [матрёшка]?” “That? Which one?”
Oxana:[На верхней полке.]
Eddie: “Oh, on the upper shelf.” Which case’s that we used with preposition [на]?
Oxana: The Prepositional Case. We always use it with the prepositions [о] - “about”, [в] - “in” and [на] - “at”. Originally, the “upper shelves” sounds as [верхняя полка].
Eddie: So, John seems to have picked something really pricey.
Oxana:[Две тысячи рублей]
Eddie: Yes, and 2000 rubbles is about 70 dollars.
Oxana: Well, that’s by far not the most expensive one. But still, you can have a fine meal for that price.
Eddie: True, but he needs souvenirs to bring home. First, he startled by the price, of course.
Oxana: [Ого, это почто 70 долларов.]
Eddie: [Ого] is used to express your surprise about something that’s too big, too long or just too much. It can be used both in good or bad sense, depending on your intonation and face expression. John’s [ого] was obviously not the explanation of excitement.
Oxana: Yes, it’s almost 70 bucks. For a wooden doll with seven imbrues inside. Almost sounds as [почти] in Russian. For example, [Уже почти утро] - “It’s almost morning already.”
Eddie: Next, a street vendor tries to explain that this doll is actually worth 70 bucks. What does she say?
Oxana: [Это ручная работа] which literally means “It’s a hand work!” or can be translated just as “It’s handmade.”
Eddie: Then we have the word for “besides” or “more over”.
Oxana: Well, in Russian it’s a phrase, not a word. [к тому же], so [К тому же внутри есть еще семь маленьких матрёшек].
Eddie: Oh, that’s one persuasive argument. There are another 7 little [матрёшка] inside. Let’s break down this phrase.
Oxana: [Внутри] means “inside”. We learned this word in Lesson 20. [есть] means “there is” or “there are”, [еще] means “also”. Then we have [маленьких матрёшек] - “small matryoshka”. But, we use both words in the Genitive Case. The original form of this phrase is [маленькая матрёшка].
Eddie:Then John wants to take a closer look at this doll. In Russian, his question would sound very easy:
Oxana: [Покажите пожалуйста]
Eddie:Literally “Show me, please!”. Polite command form of the verb [показывать] - “to show”.
Oxana: It’s a useful phrase in Russia, as there’re still a lot of shops where the sellers are standing behind the counters and the goods they’re selling are on the shelves behind them. And if you say [покажите пожалуйста] and point to the thing you like, the seller would give it to your hands and leave you with it as long as you need.
Eddie: So, after a close examination of the [матрёшка] from the upper shelf, John decides to buy it.
Oxana: [Хорош, я возьму.]
Eddie: [Возьму] is the same word John used in a restaurant in the meaning “I’ll take!”.
Oxana: It comes from the word [взять] - “to take”. So, [Хорош, я возьму.] means “Ok, I’ll take!”.
Eddie: And then, something else catches John’s eye. What is it, Oxana?
Oxana: [Сувенирная балалайка]. A souvenir balalayka. Do you know what [балалайка] is?
Eddie: It’s a Russian traditional stringed instrument with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.
Oxana: That’s right! The only association I have with it is drunk man in country sides playing it while their wives are cooking, cleaning the houses and taking care of kids.
Eddie: Well, originally, it was a peasants instrument, but I heard there was the whole [балайка] orchestra in Russia.
Oxana: Yes, the concept of the [балалайка] orchestra was adopted whole heartedly by the Soviet Government as something distinctly proletarian.
Eddie: If it’s an instrument of the working class, why does it cost so much? 5000 rubbles, that’s crazy!
Oxana:Well, it’s a souvenir one, is probably made of good wood and painted in [хохлома] style.
Eddie: Ok! That was quite a torrent of Russian Culture. Now let’s start the grammar part!
Oxana: Yes, let’s ease into grammar today!

Lesson focus
Eddie: The focus today will be on adjectives, those are very important parts of any language. How else will you be able to describe things.
Oxana:That’s right. And today’s adjectives are a little bit special. Adjectives that came from nouns.
Eddie: In English, nouns can be described by adjectives. For example, “big park” where “park” is a noun and “big” is the adjective that describes it. Or they can be described by nouns. For example, “city park”. Both words here are nouns, “city” and “park” if we talk of them separately. But in the phrase “city park”, the word “city” becomes an adjective. In Russian, only adjectives may modify nouns, which means that nouns and verbs must be converted to adjectives before they can modify nouns.
Oxana: In English, for example, one may say “souvenir balalaika” but in Russian the word [сувенир], “souvenir”, must first be converted to an adjective, [сувенирная], before this phrase is possible. [сувенирная балалайка]
Eddie: The important point to remember is that adjectives, whatever their origin, must agree with a noun they modify. They do this with the endings which are associated with the same cases and genders that nouns reflect in their endings. So if a noun has feminine gender and is in the genitive case, the adjective must be feminine and in its genitive case form too.
Oxana: The phrase [сувенирная балалайка] above is in the nominative case but if “on balalaika” is [на балалайка] in Russian, then “on souvenir balalaika” must be [на сувенирной балалайке]. And if “about balalaika” is [о балалайке], then “about souvenir balalaika” must be [о сувенирной балалайке].
Eddie: Notice that the adjective endings which correspond to the noun endings are not identical and so must be memorized independently.
Oxana: In our lesson, we have two adjectives that come from the nouns. [ручная]
Eddie: Handmade.
Oxana:Comes from [рука].
Eddie: Hand.
Oxana: And [сувенирная].
Eddie: Souvenir.
Oxana: Comes from [сувенир].
Eddie: And just like any other adjectives we’ve learned before, they must agree with nouns in number, gender and case. So let’s take all adjectives from our lesson and try to analyze them.
Oxana:Ok, I’ll give you the adjectives together with the nouns they describe. [Деревяные поделки]
Eddie: Wooden handicrafts.
Oxana: [Деревяные], “wooden”, is used in plural form of the nominative case?
EDDIE: Why plural? Because [поделки], “handicrafts”, are also plural and the noun should always be the main thing to consider for us. Next phrase.
Oxana: [На верхней полке.]
Eddie: “On the upper shelf.” In the nominative case, this phrase would sound as [верхняя полка] but the preposition [на], “on” requires a prepositional case. Next.
Oxana:[Ручная работа]
Eddie: “Handmade”. This is one of those nouns turned into an adjective. The word “hand” itself sounds as [рука], but in order to describe a noun, [работа], we turned it into [ручная] and got a “handmade work” or “hand work”. The next phrase is…
Oxana:[Маленьких матрёшек]
Eddie: “Little dolls”. We have the “of” case here, the genitive one.
Oxana: And in the nominative case, it would sound as [маленькая матрёшка], “a small doll”. The last phrase we have is [сувенирная балалайка].
Eddie: “Souvenir balalaika”. This is easy, it’s already in the nominative case. So to sum up here, what can we say about Russian adjectives?
Oxana:First, nouns can’t describe nouns like in English, but almost all nouns can be converted into adjectives in Russian. For example, [Компьютер - компьютерный - компьютерная программа.] “a computer program”.
Eddie: Second, all adjectives should agree with the nouns in cases, gender and number. And to remember the cases would be easy if you remembered the situations and prepositions they’re used in.
Oxana: Yes, like [на], “on”, always requires the prepositional case. If you have a spare minute, take some adjectives and try to put them into different genders and cases according to the tables.
Eddie: Or take a noun, turn it into an adjective, and then play with it until you get a feeling of all these cases, number and genders. Then try to make short phrases with the nouns.
Oxana: Yeah, take it easy. It becomes very clear as soon as you have a pattern in your head.
Eddie: Ok, [До свидания].
Oxana: [До новых встречь. Пока!]
Eddie: [Пока!]

Outro
Eddie: That just about does it for today. Oxana, I’d like to share a study tip a listener shared with us.
Oxana: You’re talking about the student who uses just the conversation tracks to review the lessons.
EDDIE: Oxana, you read my mind! A listener of ours listens to each lesson several times.
Oxana:Then afterwards gets the conversation only track from our site.
Eddie: She then listens to them on shuffle again and again, she created her own immersion program using Russianpod101.com.
Oxana: This is a great idea! Please give it a try and let us know what you think!
Eddie: Ok! [До свидания]
Oxana: [До новых встреч. Пока!]
Eddie: [Пока!]
--
Продавец: [Подходите, покупайте. Русские матрёшки, хохлома, шкатулки, деревяные поделки, украшения. Портреты, карикатуры. Пирожки с капустой, с грибами, с картошкой.]
Seller: Podhodite, pokupaite. Russkiye matryoshki, hohloma, shkatulki, derevyanyye podelki, ukrasheniya. Portrety, karikatury. pirozhki s kapustoi, s gribami, s kartoshkoi.
Джон: [Сколько стоит та матрёшка на верхней полке?]
John: Skol’ko stoit ta matryoska na verhnei polke?
Продавец: [2,000 рублей.]
Seller: Dve tysyachi rublei.
Джон: [Ого, это почти 70 долларов.]
John: Ogo, eto pochti semdesyat dollarov.
Продавец: [Это ручная работа, к тому же внутри есть ещё 7 маленьких матрёшек.]
Seller: Eto ruchnaya rabota, k tomu zhe vnutri est’ eshchyo sem’ malen’kih matryoshek.
Джон: [Покажите, пожалуйста. Хорошо, я возьму. О, а это что?]
John: Pokazhite, pozhaluista. Horosho, ya voz’mu. O, a eto chto?
Продавец: [Это сувенирная балалайка. 5,000 рублей.]
Seller: Eto suvenirnaya balalaika. Pyat’ tysyach’ rublei.

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