Dobriy dyen'

Volunteers so far to help are me and SaxFan...

Dobriy dyen' is the equivalent of "bonjour" in French.

Will attempt to find some audio files and cyrillic characters

the Russian alphabet - typewritten and handwritten, with what the letter is called in Russian

Basic pronunciation guide for Russian letters

(vids only just recorded it so may take a while to process)

Ohhh

How do you type cyrillic characters?

Ya Jane, Ya anglichanka

Ya nye govoryoo pa ruski

Will I be able to translate the book after this??

Maybe...

You need to install the Russian character set on windows really. Something I keep meaning to do!

I just realised that my mic was not plugged in so re-doing the vids - d'oh!

*vids not working*

Ooh just found this - seems quite useful! Russian greetings with soundfiles

Apologies having problems with mics not talking to youtube... will do some recordings by another method and upload them somewhere else!

Just to say I'm in!



I'll take a look at it carefuly tomorrow

Sarah, i don't mind volunteering to help...although obviously I won't be much use as I only got a C at GCSE

Thanks Ben - any help will be welcome

Goodgood, Liz

I'd really like to learn - did a bit over the summer and loved it! I know my Cyrillic alphabet, but not much else.

Privyet! Also good for 'hello'!
I don't know much other than...
kak deeyla? Horosho? ('how are you? Good?)

and...
boag tebya blogoslaveet! ('May God Bless you!')

Just passing through the threads at the moment!

I recall there was a short course of Russian that we had to undergo for 'Key Skills' a long while back.

I can remember odd bits, like 'Cak tibia zavut?' - 'What is your name', 'Priviet!' - 'Hello', and, umm... the number four. Well, it was the one that was repeated the most by fellow peers! And I think 'Divyet' was number nine?

And, fairly obscurely, 'Canarayka' as 'Canary' I think. And then there was 'Dobre uutre' and 'Doss vedanya', but I can't remember what they were: probably something along the lines of Goodbye?

~Wobby~

Yes, 'Divyet' is number 9

Dobre uutre is good morning and Doss Vedanya is Goodbye

I would fully reccommend the following program Before You Know It. Just download the software and then you can download the indivdual languages. This only gives you a sample but all the features on it work.

It has various topics in each language that are useful.

It is a very effective way of learning and utilises flash cards and sounds

Looks interesting - I'll check it out! Thanks!

~Wobby~

Good start

Greetings:

Привет. - privyet - hi (bye)
Как дела? - kak dyelah - How's things? (quite informal but very frequently used in my experience)
хорошо - harasho - Good (also "it is good")
Доброе утро - dobroye ootra - good morning
Добрый день - dobriy dyen' - good day/bonjour/good afternoon (the ye in dyen is just a slight softening and the ' indicates that the n is palatalised, but I can't think how best to explain it so 1) check on the soundfiles on the other page I posted and 2) don't worry too much about it!
Добрый вечер - dobriy vecheh - good evening.

Getting to know you

Как Вас зовут? - kak vas zavoot - what is your name? (formal) (use if in doubt)
Как тебя зовут? - kak tebya zavoot - what is your name? informal (for children etc)
Меня зовут... - me-nya zavoot... My name is....



Russian alphabet: this page has the Russian letters, English equivalents, and soundfiles to help you pronounce them correctly.

http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends...n-alphabet.html

Wow! thanks!

It will take a long time to get used to the alphabet, even though I know it...

Just keep using it as much as you can. Try using it to write names or even sentences in English, it will get you used to what letters equate to which sounds.

eg: Лиз = liz

Сара = Sarah

or Лизбун хов арэ ёу энджойинг руссиан? - "Lizbun, how are you enjoying Russian?"

(Which should actually be more like, Как тебе нравится русский язык? - Kak tebye nravitsa rooskiy yezik? - literally - how to you is pleasing the Russian language? )

Me and my friend (only two in the class) had many a laugh when we talked about who was pleasing who and with what

Yes.





I havn't got the cyrillic keyboard installed, so I can only type the normal alphabet.

What I do to get on the Cyrillic alphabet is go on

www.freetranslation.com

and then go to english to russian, and then type in a load of nonesense in english, so lots of random words...then click translate and then hopefully most of the russian letters will be there so you can then just copy 'n' paste them

Did you ever use "hat" as an insult?


Yup, I do similar things to that - translation programme then use the letters it gives me to add anything I can't make it come out with.

Anything particular you want to know how to say, Lizbun?

Hmmm..... How do you ask/say about age?

It can be a bit complicated because of the rules concerning what case goes with which numbers, but I shall try and explain! Tell me if you need extra explanations because I'm not that great at explaining in text, it's easier in person!!


In Russian you ask (and say) "to me is X years".

This uses the Dative form of the personal pronouns.

The Nominative forms (eg the basic form that we start off with - in English, I, you, him her) of the personal pronouns are as follows:

* я (I) - Ya
* мы (we) - My (the y being a long sound - listen to an audio file of this because it's a diffiult sound to describe. Eee, sort of - but usually transliterated y)
* ты (you - singular) - Ty (to rhyme with мы above)
* вы (you - plural) - vy (same sound again)
* он (he) - on
* онá (she) - ana
* онó (it) - ano
* они (they) - ani (long ee sound for the i)

The acute accent denotes stress - these accents are NOT used in normal written Russian, but often used as a guide in textbooks.

The Dative forms of these are:

Мне - me. - mnye
Тебе - you (informal). tebye
Ему (m), Ему (n), Ей (f) - him, it, her. - yemu, yemu, yey
Нам - us. - Nam
Вам - you (formal, or plural). - Vam
Им - im (eem)

The other words you need are "how many?" - сколько, (skol'kuh) and the words for year(s) - год, года, лет - god, goda, lyet. (год is the singular form for year, лет is actually a form of the word for summer, in the genitive plural, but don't worry about that too much at the moment!!)

To ask the question, you need your question word - сколько - the right preposition - most likely Тебе or Вам - and the word лет.

Сколько вам лет?

Сколько тебе лет?

To answer you need the appropriate pronoun, Мне, your age (in my case, 29 or двадцать девять, and the right one of the three words for years. This is where it gets a little complex I am afraid.

If the name of the number is 1, or ends in 1, you use the nominative form of the word год - ie exactly as it comes.

Russian works pretty much like English in that you have special words for the "teen" numbers, so 11 doesn't end in a spoken 1, but 21, 31, 41 etc do.

If the name of the number ends in 2, 3 or 4, you use года (the plural form). Again, 12-14 behave differently but you use года for 23, 24, 54, 62 and so on.

If the name of the number doesn't end in 1, 2, 3, 4, then you have to use лет.

So, in answer to the question I would say "Мне 29 лет" (Мне двадцать девять лет).

And you are 14? so you would say, "Мне 14 лет" (Мне четырнадцать лет)

By the way, those "teen" numbers are easier to remember if 1) you know your numbers and 2) you realise that четырнадцать literally means "four-on-ten".

Hope this makes sense... please ask if there's anything I can clarify, I don't know how to make it simpler!!

One of my favourite things about russian is how you say you are 'X summers old' It's a nice positive image

I think you should tell us all how time works, Sarah

Yes, it's quite evocative isn't it!

Time - argh. I'd have to find my books to ensure I wasn't making up total rubbish before I tried that. Enough numbers for today

Thanks!



Wow! that's a lot to take in...
I'll do the numbers some day...

Yes - I think that it's one of those things that's usually left till one at least knows the numbers! That said, it's a pretty good introduction to the Dative case which is used a lot in Russian, so that's good.

I need to find one of my old textbooks which would help me find a systematic way of covering things.

Ya ni panimyoo !

maybe ianporsche want write "ya ne panimayu" ?

Hello!



i think that not true fully in writable version.

* онá (she) - ona
* онó (it) - ono
* они (they) - oni (long ee sound for the i)

i think, my version is more understandable for russian people. (maybe because i'm russian)) ).

It is probably more understandable for Russian people, and is much closer to how it is written, but that's not how it sounds to English-speaking ears because of the stress. "ani" etc will come out closer to what it actually sounds like in Russian.

ocheen pryatna YV

ya rad! )

i find this forum because, 2 days ago i thinking about "how i can learn english better", and deside that best way is speak with people who spoke in english and want to study russian, and in result we help each other

добро пожаловать в форум!

Прочитайте это Я думаю, что это будет полезно.

Я надеюсь, что то, что я написала, понятно! это - долгое время, с тех пор как я должна была написать очень на русском языке

Hmmm

Hello welcome to the forum

Then I'm stuck....

*goes to babelfish*

Yes

then... I hope... it reads "Read this I think it will be helpful.

I hope that you can read what I have written! It is a long time since I have had to write much in Russian"

But my grammar is a bit rusty so I can't guarantee I wrote that very well

this words will be not understable for russian

"It is a long time since I have had to write much in Russian"

this phrase on russian have some translate variants, and most literature is "много учил(a), чтобы писать больше по русски" ))

sarah-flute thanks for link, yes it's usefull, but ....

That doesn't mean what I was trying to say, but never mind!!!!

i think some of this phrases be usefull

i think - я думаю - ya doomayoo (ya dumayu)
i do - я делаю - ya delayoo(delayu)
i read - я читаю - ya chitayoo(chitayu)
i write - я пишу - ya peeshoo(pishu)

and, one question: we smile about my english ? ))

I love = Ya Looblu

oh! how i can forget this ?!

ianporsche add fiinal word in your phrase "tebya" - you (if you want say this to ... )

Now THAT may very well come in handy

said it easy please! maybe in russian ?
i don't understand.

About your comment on how to say 'I love you' in Russian



I meant it was a phrase I might find useful at some time. Something that "comes in handy" is something that could be very useful. Sorry it is a bit colloquial

Hope this helps, I have no idea how to say this in Russian. Perhaps you can help?

"Ya loobloo tebya"

Я люблю тебя

Or of course "Ya looblyoo vass"

Я люблю Вас

But that would be a tad formal!!

(I could teach it to you in Hebrew too, Jane... )

I guess you wouldn't be that formal with someone you were in love with would you?

(I'm a long way off understanding 'The Book' yet!!)

Hey!! One language at a time!!! (and one alphabet at at time, please)

Well, I wouldn't be that formal, no

Maybe you should post bits of it, now we have a real live Russian

Awww, spoilsport! Have you mastered the Russian alphabet yet?

There's a thought...would need to get a Russian keyboard, or alternatively scan and post a jpeg a page at a time. Hmmmm....


I know the Russian alphabet but I just don't know what the words mean when I read them. Sometimes I can work out what it is if I read it out loud phonetically as some words are the same, or similar (I love the thought that railway station is Vauxhall as the Russians thought this was such a nice station in London they would call all their stations after it). I'm still at the "what is it? It is a red chair" stage!!

Quite fun with Russian scores in orchestra though...I spend ages working out phonetically what the words say only to find it reads 'Tchaikovsky symphony for orchestra dva' (That'll be the Little Russian then!)

Can someone post a list of numbers in Russian please. (or is it here already...?)

I think it's been posted (but in English transliteration) further up. Sorry, will add some more soon, not been well.