Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Hello and welcome to Russian Survival Phrases. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Russia. So join us for Russian Survival phrases. You will be surprised at how far a little Russian will go.
In this lesson we’ll introduce you to a phrase that will help you track down that specific something you’re looking for.
Today’s phrase is “Where can I get/buy something.” First we need this something, so let’s use, for example, the word “atkrytki”, which means “post cards”. Let`s break it down by syllable: at-kryt-ki. Now, let`s hear it once again: atkrytki.
In Russian “Where can I buy…?” is “Gde ya magu kupit’ …?”. And if you want to say “Where can I buy postcards?” you should say: “Gde ya magu kupit’ atkrytki?”. Let`s break it down by syllable: Gde ya ma-gu ku-pit’ at-kryt-ki? Gde ya magu kupit’ atkrytki? Now, let`s hear it once again: Gde ya magu kupit’ atkrytki?
The first three words “gde ya magu” mean “where can I”. Let`s break down this three words by syllable: gde ya ma-gu, gde ya magu. This is followed by “kupit’ atkrytki”, which in English is “to buy postcards”. Let`s break it down by syllable: ku-pit’ at-kryt-ki and kupit’ atkrytki.
Now to ask for a different item, we can just replace the word “atkrytki” with any other word and the phrase works just fine. Let’s try, for example, the word “suvenir”, which is “souvenir” in English. When you are looking for something in particular, you might wanna ask the person in front of you: “Do you have…?”, which in Russian is “U vas yest’…?”.
Please, notice that this phrase should be pronounced with a rising intonation: “U vas yest’…?”. The only thing that changes is the thing you are looking for. For example, let’s use the word “chocolate”, which is “shekalat” in Russian: “U vas yest’ shekalat?”. Let`s break it down by syllable: U vas yest’ she-ka-lat?
This phrase will come in handy before leaving the hotel, talking with taxi drivers, or other people trying to help you locate a desired item. Now that you’re able to ask, you’re going to get an answer…as we’re running out of time, we’re going to have cover that in a later lesson.
Ok, to close out today`s lesson we'd like for you to practice what we`d just learnt. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I`ll give you the answer. Udachi! That means “good luck”! Ok, here we go!
Where can I buy postcards?……..Gde ya magu kupit’ atkrytki?
Do you have chocolate?……..U vas yest’ she-ka-lat?
Alright, that's going to do for today. See you tomorrow, which in Russian is da zaftra!

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