Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Jo: Hello everyone and welcome to RussianPod101.com. This is the Upper Beginner Series, season 1, lesson 2, All Diets Start Tomorrow in Russia. I’m Jo.
Svetlana: And I’m Svetlana. Privet.
Jo: In this lesson, we're going to learn imperative verbs in Russian. And we will also get to know a little bit about Elena’s relationship with her husband.
Svetlana: The conversation is between Elena and her husband, and it takes place in their home.
Jo: Since the speakers are married, they will be using casual Russian. Let's listen to the conversation
DIALOGUE
Еlena: Я решила записаться в спортзал. Вот похудею, и ты меня ещё сильнее полюбишь.
Hus: Да я тебя и такую люблю. Хорошего человека должно быть много.
Еlena: Ну да... То-то ты заглядываешься на стройненьких девушек.
Hus: Эээ... Ну что ты...
Еlena:Всё решено, с завтрашнего дня сажусь на диету.
Hus: Ага, все диеты начинаются завтра...
Jo: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly.
Еlena: Ya reshila zapisat 'sya v sportzal. Vot pohudeyu, i ty menya yeschyo sil 'neye polyubish '.
Hus: Da Ya tebya i takuyu lyublyu. Horoshego cheloveka dolzhno byt ' mnogo.
Еlena: Nu da... To to ty zaglyadyvayesh 'sya na stroynen 'kih devushek.
Hus: Eee... Nu chto ty...
Еlena: Vsyo resheno, s zavtrashnego dnya sazhus ' na diyetu.
Hus: Aga, vse diyety nachinayutsya zavtra...
Jo: Now, let's hear it with English translation.
Еlena: I decided to sign up for fitness classes. I'm going to lose weight and you will love me even more.
Hus: I love you anyway. The bigger you are, the more there is to love.
Еlena: Oh yeah?! So then, why can't you stop staring at skinny girls, huh?
Hus: Eeeh, that's not true...
Еlena: No! I have decided. I'm starting my diet tomorrow.
Hus: Yeah, all diets start tomorrow...
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Jo: Elena’s husband is so funny. He makes it sound like Elena always changes her mind because he sounds so sarcastic about her new interest in fitness.
Svetlana: Yeah, it seems like her fads cost her husband a lot of money! But you can see how persistent she is about losing weight, so her husband has no choice but to go along with it.
Jo: Yeah, I’ve heard that Russian women are very strong. Some people say that they have a special kind of stamina from having gone through all the difficulties in their military history.
Svetlana: Yes, but it wasn’t only that. They sometimes also had to be patient and put up with their husbands, who were really heavy drinkers.
Jo: Right. There is that stereotype.
Svetlana: There is a line from the very famous poem written by Nekrasov - “She would enter a house on fire, she would hold up a galloping horse”. Every Russian knows it by heart.
Jo: Would you say it is an accurate picture of Russian women?
Svetlana: Yeah, but we are also good at admitting our weaknesses, forgiving others, struggling for our families, and keeping ourselves beautiful despite the worst life conditions!
Jo: That’s impressive!
VOCAB LIST
Jo: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is...
Svetlana: полюбить (polyubit') [natural native speed]
Jo: to fall in love
Svetlana: полюбить (polyubit') [slowly - broken down by syllable] полюбить (polyubit') [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: любить (lyubit') [natural native speed]
Jo: to love, to like, to be fond of
Svetlana: любить (lyubit') [slowly - broken down by syllable] любить (lyubit') [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: заглядываться (zaglyagivat'sya) [natural native speed]
Jo: to stare at
Svetlana: заглядываться (zaglyagivat'sya) [slowly - broken down by syllable] заглядываться (zaglyagivat'sya) [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: стройный (stroyniy) [natural native speed]
Jo: slim
Svetlana: стройный (stroyniy) [slowly - broken down by syllable] стройный (stroyniy) [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: всё решено (vsyo resheno) [natural native speed]
Jo: it is decided
Svetlana: всё решено (vsyo resheno) [slowly - broken down by syllable] всё решено (vsyo resheno) [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: завтрашний (zavtrashniy) [natural native speed]
Jo: tomorrow’s
Svetlana: завтрашний (zavtrashniy) [slowly - broken down by syllable] завтрашний (zavtrashniy) [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: садиться на диету (sadit'sya na diyetu) [natural native speed]
Jo: to start a diet
Svetlana: садиться на диету (sadit'sya na diyetu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] садиться на диету (sadit'sya na diyetu) [natural native speed]
Jo: Next
Svetlana: начинаться (nachinat'sya) [natural native speed]
Jo: to begin
Svetlana: начинаться (nachinat'sya) [slowly - broken down by syllable] начинаться (nachinat'sya) [natural native speed]
Jo: And last...
Svetlana: такой (takoy) [natural native speed]
Jo: such
Svetlana: такой (takoy) [slowly - broken down by syllable] такой (takoy) [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Jo: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Svetlana: The first word is “заглядываться”.
Jo: “To stare at”. However, a more precise interpretation of this verb would be “to stare at something or somebody with great interest” or “to admire something or somebody”.
Svetlana: Correct. The prefix ЗА- added to the verb глядеть, “to look at”, means “doing something with interest and intense concentration.”
Jo: Can you give us more examples of verbs with the prefix ЗА-?
Svetlana: Sure. Another example is Читать - Зачитаться
Jo: “Read” - “To be engrossed in reading”
Svetlana: Играть - Заиграться
Jo: “Play” - “to be absorbed in a game or games”. Okay. I think the pattern is clear. What is the next word?
Svetlana: Next, we have a phrase which is relevant to our topic of health and fitness. It is садиться на диету.
Jo: “To start a diet”
Svetlana: Actually the literal meaning of the verb “садиться” is “to sit”.
Jo: So this phrase literally means “to sit on a diet”?
Svetlana: Yes. Sounds funny, right? You also can say “сесть на диету” which means exactly the same thing. The verbs “садиться” and “сесть” are translated as “to sit” and they are synonyms.
Jo: Okay, what is the last keyword for this lesson?
Svetlana: It is “завтрашний”.
Jo: “Tomorrow’s”. This is an adjective in Russian which originates from the adverb “tomorrow”.
Svetlana: Right. The adverb “tomorrow” is “завтра”. We simply add the suffix ~шн~ and the ending ~ий to the noun to make an adjective. We will be using this grammar in a future lesson.
Jo: Okay. But what if I want to talk about something that happened yesterday?
Svetlana: It is very easy. You simply add the previously mentioned suffix ~шн~ and the ~ий ending to the adverb “yesterday”, “вчера”, and we have “вчерашний”.
A. In other words, “Yesterday’s”. Okay, now let’s move on to the grammar.

Lesson focus

Jo: In this lesson, we’re going to learn about the diminutive forms of Russian adjectives. We will take a look at how to build diminutive forms by using special suffixes.
Svetlana: Diminutive forms are used a lot in Russian, mostly because Russian people are very emotional and expressive.
Jo: If I’m not mistaken, Elena used the adjective “slim” in the diminutive form, right?
Svetlana: Right. She said Стройненький which is different from the adjective стройный.
Jo: So, you use diminutive forms to show your attitude - both positive and negative - towards something or somebody?
Svetlana: That’s right. In this case, Elena was jealous that her husband was looking at slim girls. So she put the adjective стройный into the diminutive form Стройненький by using the suffix -еньк- to show her jealousy.
Jo: So that’s how it works; we need to add a suffix?
Svetlana: Yes, the suffixes that are used the most are -еньк- and -оньк-. For example, “слабый - слабенький “
Jo: “weak - feeble”
Svetlana: простой - простенький
Jo: “simple -plain”
Svetlana: Let’s see how it works in a given context. Он слишком слабенький для этого задания.
Jo: “He is too feeble for this task.”
Svetlana: Это платье слишком простенькое, тебя в нём никто не заметит.
Jo: “This dress looks plain. Nobody will notice you if you wear it.” I see how it works, but we have seen the diminutive adjectives only in their negative forms.
Svetlana: Yes, they usually take on a form of sarcasm or disregard.
Jo: Can you give us an example of the positive usage of diminutive adjectives?
Svetlana: Sure. We can also use them to show our feelings of endearment. For example “хороший - хорошенький“
Jo: “nice - pretty”
Svetlana: милый - миленький
Jo: “cute - lovely” So instead of something being simply good or nice, the diminutive form makes it a more affectionate way of speaking about a certain something.
Svetlana: Exactly! Let’s put them into sentences.
Друзья мне подарили маленького хорошенького котёнка.
Jo: “My friends gave me a small and pretty kitten”.
Svetlana: Ребёнок получился очень миленьким на этой фотографии.
Jo: “This child looks lovely in this picture”.
Okay, that’s it for this lesson. Make sure you check our lesson notes for more examples and information.
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Outro

Jo: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone.
Svetlana: poka poka

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