Learn how to introduce yourself
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Anna: [Здравсвуй Ташкент! Меня зовут Анна.] |
| Erik: Erik here. Newbie series, season 1, lesson 1. It all starts with a name in Russia. |
| Anna: [Здравсвуйте! И добро пожаловать на RussianPod101.com] |
| Erik: Hello and welcome to russianpod101.com, a fun and effective way to learn Russian. My name is Erik Fritz and I am joined by... |
| Anna: Anna Lemeshkina. |
| Erik: And we will be your hosts for this Russian newbie series. |
| Anna: In this series, we will cover the basics of the Russian language including essential phrases, pronunciation and cultural insights. |
| Erik: So brush up on the Russian that you started learning long ago or start learning today. So Anna, what are we going to talk about in our first newbie lesson? |
| Anna: Erik, don’t you think we should introduce ourselves first? |
| Erik: Ah that’s right, introductions. Okay this conversation takes place at a bar in Tashkent. It’s winter outside and the best way to get warm is to go for a drink or two. |
| Anna: The conversation takes place between two students who meet each other for the first time but surprisingly both think that the best way to get their homework done is at the bar. |
| Erik: Always the best place to get their homework done. Is that where you do your homework Anna? |
| Anna: I should be honest with you. |
| Erik: All right. The politeness level will be formal, the common way to start a dialogue and what will the lesson focus on? |
| Anna: We will try to focus on self introduction first. |
| Erik: Okay I will play myself and Anna will play herself. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Анна: Меня зовут Анна. A как вас зовут? |
| (Anna: Menya zovut Anna. A kak vas zovut?) |
| Эрик: Эрик. |
| (Erik: Erik.) |
| Анна: Очень приятно, Эрик! |
| (Anna: Ochen’ priyatno, Erik!) |
| Эрик: Взаимно. |
| (Erik: Vzaimno.) |
| Erik: Once more slowly. |
| Анна: Меня зовут Анна. A как вас зовут? |
| (Anna: Menya zovut Anna. A kak vas zovut?) |
| Эрик: Эрик. |
| (Erik: Erik.) |
| Анна: Очень приятно, Эрик! |
| (Anna: Ochen’ priyatno, Erik!) |
| Эрик: Взаимно. |
| (Erik: Vzaimno.) |
| Erik: Once more, this time with the English translation. |
| Anna: Меня зовут Анна. A как вас зовут? (Menya zovut Anna. A kak vas zovut?) |
| Erik: My name is Anna, what’s your name? |
| Anna: Эрик. (Erik.) |
| Erik: Erik? |
| Anna: Очень приятно, Эрик! (Ochen’ priyatno, Erik!) |
| Erik: Nice to meet you Erik. |
| Anna: Взаимно. (Vzaimno.) |
| Erik: Same here. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Erik: So Anna, was that conversation pretty common? Do you think having these guys meet somewhere else say at the library that the way of introducing oneself would differ from the example we just provided? |
| Anna: Not really. You always start with these standard phrases but what do you say next depends pretty much on the occasion and the place. |
| Erik: Okay but what would you say next after introducing yourself in a bar to a guy you met for the first time. |
| Anna: It’s not even a question Erik. Of course, I would say [За здоровье] which is cheers in English. |
| Erik: I bet you’d be best friends from that time on. |
| Anna: Sure. This is the way Russians make friends. |
| Erik: So here is how the process works for the vocabulary section. Anna will read the word in Russian at a normal native speed. After that, I will provide the English translation. Next, Anna will give the word or phrase syllable by syllable. Then Anna will provide the word or phrase one more time in natural native speed. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Erik: So here we go. First word. |
| Anna: [меня] |
| Erik: Me. |
| Anna: [меня] |
| Erik: Next word. |
| Anna: [зовут] |
| Erik: They call. |
| Anna: [зовут] |
| Erik: Next word. |
| Anna: [как] |
| Erik: How. |
| Anna: [как] |
| Erik: Next word. |
| Anna: [вас] |
| Erik: You, formal. |
| Anna: [вас] |
| Erik: Next word. |
| Anna: [очень] |
| Erik: Very. |
| Anna: [очень] |
| Erik: Next word. |
| Anna: [приятно] |
| Erik: Nice. |
| Anna: [приятно] |
| Erik: Next we have a word that can function as a phrase. |
| Anna: [взаимно] |
| Erik: Likewise. |
| Anna: [взаимно] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Erik: Now let’s have a look at the usage for some of the words and phrases in this lesson. The first word we will look at is [вас]. Can you give us an example sentence please Anna? |
| Anna: [Как Вас зовут?] |
| Erik: What’s your name? Is that right? |
| Anna: Yes, you are right. |
| Erik: Okay good. So [вас] is the formal word for you and when meeting someone for the first time, [вас] is commonly used. However, you may hear its informal counterpart [тебя] in less formal situations. |
| Anna: Exactly Erik. For example, talking to a child, you would use informal pronoun [тебя] |
| Erik: So Anna, if you want to ask a child what their name is, how would you do that? |
| Anna: I would say [Как тебя зовут?] |
| Erik: One more time a little slower please. |
| Anna: [Как тебя зовут?] |
| Erik: Excellent. So you just change [вас] for [тебя]. |
| Anna: [Да] Yeah. |
| Erik: That’s the only thing you change. |
| Anna: Yes. |
| Erik: Okay excellent. Okay Anna, I just got an idea. Why don’t we do the conversation from today but instead of [вас] we can use [тебя]. |
| Anna: Okay so we will try to be not that polite right? |
| Erik: Ah that’s fine with me. |
| Anna: Okay. |
| Erik: Okay. |
| Anna: So here we go. [Меня зовут Анна. А как тебя зовут?] |
| Erik: [Меня зовут Ерик.] |
| Anna: [Очень приятно, Эрик.] |
| Erik: [Взаимно.] |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Anna: Now Erik, you know, I don’t know how it works in America but girls in Russia; they don’t start the conversation saying their names first. So why don’t we reverse the roles? |
| Erik: No problem Anna. |
| Anna: Oh my god! |
| Erik: I have approached many girls in Russia. |
| Anna: Ooh! Let’s try that. |
| Erik: With not much success. All right, here we go. [Меня зовут Эрик. А как тебя зовут?] |
| Anna: Probably I would not answer this question you know if I hear this once, okay. |
| Erik: Well, hypothetically speaking, say I am really good looking. I know it’s not true but you can’t avoid me. |
| Anna: Okay only in this case Erik. |
| Erik: Okay. |
| Anna: Okay, let’s try it again. |
| Erik: Okay. [Меня зовут Эрик. А как тебя зовут?] |
| Anna: [Анна.] |
| Erik: [Очень приятно, Анна.] |
| Anna: [Взаимно.] |
| Erik: Not too bad eh! So you are saying I have a shot. |
| Anna: No way Erik. I was just acting. |
| Erik: Aha! Right of course all right Anna. |
Outro |
| Erik: I think this is a great place to end today. Be sure to pick up our PDF at russianpod101.com. Also if you have any questions, feel free to use our forum or comment on today’s lesson. See you again tomorrow. |
| Anna: [Пока, пока!] |
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