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Lesson Transcript

Lower Intermediate, Season 2, Lesson 25: What’s the Best Wedding Gift for a Russian Couple?
INTRODUCTION
Yuriy: Hello and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate, season 2, lesson 25 - What’s the Best Wedding Gift for a Russian Couple? I’m Yuriy.
Elena: А я Елена. Привет. I’m Elena.
Yuriy: In this final lesson of the series, you’ll learn how to use the prefix [об-] or [обо-].
Elena: This conversation takes place at home and is between Nika and Ben.
Yuriy: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Russian. Okay! Let’s listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Бен: Ника, ты не знаешь, где можно купить подарок на свадьбу? Я обошёл все сувенирные магазины, но так и не нашёл ничего стоящего.
Ника: Ты хочешь подарить именно подарок? С подарком можно и не угадать, а вот деньгам молодожены всегда рады.
Бен: Ну, я хочу им подарить и деньги, и какой-нибудь подарок на память об этом дне и о нашей дружбе.
Ника: Хм...Здесь недалеко есть магазин смешных и интересных подарков, можно там посмотреть.
Бен: А где этот магазин?
Ника: Обойди торговый центр “Алладин” и в доме напротив увидишь вывеску магазина и ступеньки вниз.
Бен: Спасибо.
Yuriy: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Бен: Ника, ты не знаешь, где можно купить подарок на свадьбу? Я обошёл все сувенирные магазины, но так и не нашёл ничего стоящего.
Yuriy: Nika, do you know where I can buy a wedding gift? I visited all the souvenir shops, but didn't find anything worthwhile.
Ника: Ты хочешь подарить именно подарок? С подарком можно и не угадать, а вот деньгам молодожены всегда рады.
Yuriy: Do you want to give a gift? You can make a mistake giving a gift, but newlyweds will always be glad to receive money.
Бен: Ну, я хочу им подарить и деньги, и какой-нибудь подарок на память об этом дне и о нашей дружбе.
Yuriy: Well, I want to give them money and some keepsake of that day and our friendship.
Ника: Хм...Здесь недалеко есть магазин смешных и интересных подарков, можно там посмотреть.
Yuriy: Hmm ... Not far away from here there’s a shop with funny and interesting gifts, you could look there.
Бен: А где этот магазин?
Yuriy: Where is this shop?
Ника: Обойди торговый центр “Алладин” и в доме напротив увидишь вывеску магазина и ступеньки вниз.
Yuriy: Walk around the shopping mall "Aladdin" and across the street you’ll see the sign of the shop and steps down.
Бен: Спасибо.
Yuriy: Thank you.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Yuriy: Elena, what’s the average age that Russians get married?
Elena: Compared to other countries, Russians marry relatively early - most girls try to marry and have a baby by the time they turn 25.
Yuriy: Yes, compared with Europe, that’s really early.
Elena: Also, it’s quite common for the husband to be older, usually by 2 to 4 years.
Yuriy: What is a typical Russian wedding like?
Elena: As a rule, first the young couple register their marriage with the proper authorities. Then they move to the main monuments of their town, lay flowers, and take photos there. Some people then have a wedding in a church.
Yuriy: Then the newlyweds and guests go to a restaurant and celebrate the marriage until midnight, and sometimes even until morning.
Elena: That’s right. Russian weddings can be a lot of fun!
VOCAB LIST
Yuriy: Now, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is:
Elena: подарок [natural native speed]
Yuriy: present, gift
Elena: подарок [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: подарок [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: свадьба [natural native speed]
Yuriy: wedding
Elena: свадьба [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: свадьба [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: стоящий [natural native speed]
Yuriy: worth
Elena: стоящий [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: стоящий [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: молодожены [natural native speed]
Yuriy: just married
Elena: молодожены [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: молодожены [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: угадать [natural native speed]
Yuriy: to guess
Elena: угадать [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: угадать [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: быть радым [natural native speed]
Yuriy: to be glad
Elena: быть радым [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: быть радым [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: дружба [natural native speed]
Yuriy: friendship
Elena: дружба [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: дружба [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: смешной [natural native speed]
Yuriy: funny
Elena: смешной [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: смешной [natural native speed]
Yuriy: Next:
Elena: на память [natural native speed]
Yuriy: for memory, as a memento, by heart
Elena: на память [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: на память [natural native speed]
Yuriy: And Last:
Elena: ступенька [natural native speed]
Yuriy: step, stair
Elena: ступенька [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Elena: ступенька [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Yuriy: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word for this lesson is...
Elena: “угадать” which can be translated as “to guess.”
Yuriy: The first meaning of this word is “to predict something without sufficient information,” “to guess the correct answer,” or “to make the right choice.” For example...
Elena: Ты угадал, мы сегодня идём в театр.
Yuriy: “You’re right, we’ll go to the theater today.”
Elena: Угадай, о чём я сейчас думаю?
Yuriy: Which means “Guess what I’m thinking about now?”. OK, what’s the next word for this lesson?
Elena: The next word for this lesson is the adjective “стоящий,” which can be translated as “worthwhile.” “Стоящий” is a masculine adjective.
Yuriy: The feminine form would be ...
Elena: стоящая
Yuriy: And neuter would be
Elena: стоящее
Yuriy: This adjective is often used in such phrases as...
Elena: стоящая работа
Yuriy: “worthwhile job”
Elena: стоящий человек
Yuriy: “worthwhile person”
Elena: стоящий совет
Yuriy: “worthwhile advice”
Elena: стоящая покупка
Yuriy: “worthwhile purchase.” For example...
Elena: То что произошло вчера, это пустяк, не стоящий твоего внимания.
Yuriy: “What happened yesterday was nothing, not worth your attention.” And one more example...
Elena: Смотри какую книгу я купил! / Да, стоящая вещь.
Yuriy: “Look what book I bought!” / “Yes, it’s worthwhile!” Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Yuriy: In this lesson, you’ll learn about prefixes used with verbs. The first prefix we will look at is...
Elena: [об-] or [обо-]
Yuriy: And the main meaning of this prefix is...
Elena: “to move around some object.” It is often used with the preposition “вокруг” meaning “around” and it requires a noun in the Genitive case after it.
Yuriy: For example...
Elena: лететь
Yuriy: “to fly”
Elena: облететь.
Yuriy: which means “to fly around”
Elena: ехать
Yuriy: which means “to ride or to go by vechile”
Elena: объехать
Yuriy: “to ride around”, For example...
Elena: Первый космонавт Юрий Гагарин облетел Землю за 108 минут.
Yuriy: “The first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew around the Earth for 108 minutes.”
Elena: Я обошёл вокруг дома, но не увидел ничего подозрительного.
Yuriy: “I walked around the house, but didn't see anything suspicious.” Sometimes verbs with the prefix [об-] or [обо-] don’t mean movement around some object, but the spread of movement over many objects, as in “to visit as many places as possible.” Usually, the pronoun “весь” meaning “all” in the appropriate form and gender is used with these kinds of verbs. For example...
Elena: Я обошёл все книжные магазины в городе, но так и не нашел нужного учебника.
Yuriy: “I visited all the bookstores in the city, but didn't manage to find the necessary textbook.” As you can see, the prefix [обо-] doesn't indicate movement around bookstores. It indicates that a person visited as many bookstores as possible. Here is another example...
Elena: Как ты думаешь, мы успеем за день обойти все музеи?
Yuriy: “What do you think, will we manage to visit all the museums in one day?”. So, listeners, if you see the preposition “вокруг” near a verb with the prefix [об ], this verb indicates movement around something. However, if you see the word “весь” meaning “all”, the verb has the meaning of spreading the movement over many objects.

Outro

Yuriy: Ok, that's it for this lesson, and for this series. We hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. As always, please check the lesson notes for more examples and information. And if you have any questions or comments, please leave us a post at RussianPod101.com.
Elena: We’re happy to help!
Yuriy: Thanks for listening everyone, and we’ll see you in another series. Bye!
Elena: Спасибо вам большое и до скорой встречи!

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