Learn how to find out whether the bus you're going to ride will stop at your destination
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| 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. |
| Today, we continue our trip by bus. Bus routes go all over Russia and you can get anywhere by taking a local or an intercity bus. Furthermore, the prices are very cheap. Sometimes, if you want to get to a really nice remote place or if you missed your train, local or intercity buses are a really good and sometimes the only option! |
| Bus systems within Russia vary in how they function, especially when it comes to paying for a ride. The options are either paying in the ticket kiosks that are usually located at the bus stations, or paying onboard, especially if you take a local bus in a small city. If you are taking a long-distance bus to another city, you can obtain tickets at a big bus station according to the schedule. In this lesson, we'll learn how to ask about the methods of payment. |
| If you are in the middle of a big city and all you need is to ride a couple of stations to your destination, you'll most probably have to buy a ticket in a kiosk before boarding. If you can't see one around, you can ask: "Excuse me, where can I buy a ticket?" which in Russian is: “Izvinite, gde mozhna kupit' bilet?” |
| Now, let's break it down: Iz-vi-ni-te, gde mozh-na ku-pit' bi-let? And once again: Izvinite, gde mozhna kupit' bilet? |
| The first word "izvinite" means "excuse me", and is used almost in all situations when you are addressing a stranger or inquiring about something. “Izvinite". Once again: izvinite. |
| The next word is "gde", which means "where." "Gde". |
| The third word is "mozhna". Literally, it means "possible", but we can also translate it as "can" or "I can". Mozhna, mozhna. |
| The next word "kupit`” stands for the verb "to buy". Ku-pit`, kupit`. |
| And the last word in the phrase - "bilet", means "ticket". Bi-let, bilet. |
| Let`s hear the entire question again: Izvinite, gde mozhna kupit' bilet? |
| Passengers should be able to point you to a ticket kiosk after this question. In the event that the bus does not require passenger tickets, you will be expected to pay upon boarding, or upon exiting the bus. Buses may not stop automatically. You may need to hail the bus by waving your hand when you see the correct bus approach. If you don't have your money ready, now's the time to dig for it. |
| Exact change is appreciated since bus fares tend to be quite affordable (you may only need to pay a few cents). The driver may accept your fare directly. If there is a stern woman sitting at the front of the bus accepting money, give your fare to her. She will make change for you if necessary. If you are in the back of a very crowded bus, it may be necessary to pass the change up to the driver. This seems like a bizarre way of handling payment, but it works. The other passengers know what to do - you will be handed money and be expected to pass it up to the driver, as well. Just go with it. |
| Now that we understand the system of payment, we might want to know the schedule of the buses, especially if you take a long-distance bus. The word "schedule" in Russian will sound like raspisanie, ras-pi-sa-nie, raspisanie. And the question "Excuse me, where's the schedule?" will sound like "Izvinite, gde raspisanie?". |
| We know the words "izvinite" and "gde" already, so we just add the word "raspisanie" and get the phrase "Izvinite, gde raspisanie?", which is "Excuse me, where is the schedule?". Most of the big stations have their stations written both in Cyrillic and Latin letters, so if you know your destination, you won't have problems reading it. |
| 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”! |
| Excuse me, where can I buy a ticket?……..Izvinite, gde mozhna kupit' bilet? |
| Excuse me, where's the schedule?……..Izvinite, gde raspisanie?. |
| Alright, that's going to do for today. See you tomorrow, which in Russian is da zaftra! |
Comments
Hide