Learn how to use the Russian verb for "to play" when talking about musical instruments, sports, and games
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Erik: Erik here. Newbie series, season 1, lesson 10. I am sorry. I thought you asked what sports I play in Russia. |
| Anna: Hello everyone and welcome back to russianpod101.com |
| Erik: With us, you will learn to speak Russian like a native. |
| Anna: We also provide you with cultural insights and tips you won’t find in a textbook. Thank you for joining us for this newbie series at russianpod101.com. |
| Erik: The focus of this lesson is talking about sports. |
| Anna:And this conversation takes place in the park. |
| Erik: The speakers are friends. So they will be speaking informally. So let’s listen to today’s conversation. So Anna and I will both be playing ourselves. Okay here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Анна: Эрик, ты занимаешься спортом? |
| Anna: Erik, ty zanimaesh’sya sportom? |
| Эрик: Да, я играю в теннис. А ты Анна? |
| Erik: Da, ya igrayu v tenis. A ty Anna? |
| Анна: Я в шахматы играю. |
| Anna: Ya v shaxmaty igrayu. |
| Erik: : One time slowly. |
| Anna: Ещё раз, медленней. |
| Анна: Эрик, ты занимаешься спортом? |
| Anna: Erik, ty zanimaesh’sya sportom? |
| Эрик: Да, я играю в теннис. А ты Анна? |
| Erik: Da, ya igrayu v tenis. A ty Anna? |
| Анна: Я в шахматы играю. |
| Anna: Ya v shaxmaty igrayu. |
| Erik: One time natural native speed with the translation. |
| Anna: Ещё раз с переводом. |
| Anna: Эрик, ты занимаешься спортом? |
| Erik: Erik, do you play sports? |
| Anna:Да, я играю в теннис. А ты Анна? |
| Erik: Yes I play Tennis. How about you Anna? |
| Anna: Я в шахматы играю. |
| Erik: I play chess. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Erik: So Anna, I noticed here that you said, you play a sport called chess. |
| Anna: Yes this is a very good sport. |
| Erik: Sport? |
| Anna: Yes. |
| Erik: Okay. So in America, we call chess a game usually but Russians take their Chess seriously nah? |
| Anna: Yes because we have a lot of champions you know. |
| Erik:Ah I see. So I remember getting in not an argument but I was just puzzled when my host brother said, ah I like to play other sports like chess and I went, excuse me! Sport. So then he said yes. In Russian, it’s a sport. Oh okay. So that’s something to note for our listeners. |
| Anna: Yeah but actually Russians joke about this themselves. So don’t worry too much about that. |
| Erik: Do they? |
| Anna: Yes. |
| Erik: I didn’t know that. |
| Anna: Of course. |
| Erik: That’s interesting. Anna, ты играешь в шахмоты? |
| Anna: I used to play chess in my school but I forgot how to do this Erik so don’t try to play with me. |
| Erik: Okay. So Anna, can you tell me some popular sports in Russia? |
| Anna: I think Russians like to play team sports like футбол or soccer or хоккей or ice hockey. |
| Erik: Okay great but none as physically demanding as the sport of Chess right Anna? |
| Anna: It’s mentally demanding Erik. |
| Erik: All right. Well let’s go into our mentally demanding vocabulary. |
| Anna: Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Erik: Okay let’s take a look at today’s vocabulary. Our first word is |
| Anna: [заниматься] |
| M: To do something or be occupied with something. |
| Anna: [заниматься] |
| Erik: Next. |
| Anna: [ты занимаешься спортом?] |
| Erik: Do you play sports? |
| Anna: [ты занимаешься спортом?] |
| ERIK: Next. |
| Anna: [играть] |
| Erik: To play. |
| Anna: [играть] |
| Erik: Next. |
| Anna: [теннис] |
| Erik:Tennis. |
| Anna: [теннис] |
| Erik: Next. |
| Anna: [шахмоты] |
| Erik:Chess. |
| Anna: [шахмоты] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Erik: Ok, let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Anna: And the first phrase is [ты занимаешься спортом?]. |
| Erik:Or “Do you play sports?” Is this a common way of asking someone if they play sports, Anna? |
| Anna: Yes, this is a very common way to ask a person. |
| Erik: So Anna, if you wanted to ask a question about a specific sport, like, do you play tennis, how would you say that? |
| Anna: I would say ты играешь в теннис? |
| Erik: So you need another verb? |
| Anna: Right. |
| Erik: We had this verb in our dialogue, [играть]. |
| Anna: Yes. |
| Erik: Or “to play”. So, to recap, in general if you want to ask somebody if they play sports, you use the verb [заниматься]. Can we have the phrase one more time? |
| Anna: [ты занимаешься спортом?] |
| Erik:Ok. And then if you want to ask about a particular sport, say tennis or chess, how would you ask? |
| Anna: You would need another verb, [играть]. [ты играешь в теннис] or “Do you play tennis?” |
| Erik:Ok, great. So Anna, we talked about chess being a sport and not a game but if you wanted to ask someone if they play a game… |
| Anna: For example Tetris. |
| Erik: Exactly, Tetris. How would you ask? Is there another verb for games? |
| Anna: No, the verb [играть] goes both for games and for sports. |
| Erik: Ok, so how would you ask someone if they play Tetris? |
| Anna: [ты играешь в тетрис?] |
| Erik: Anna, didn’t a Russian person invent the game of Tetris? |
| Anna: Yes, that’s right. |
| Erik: Oh wow. Maybe we can ask this to our listeners again, their research skills, but I think he did not become rich at first because of some Russian rule, but then he later became right. |
| Anna: Right. I think… |
| Erik: I'm not sure. So maybe our listeners can look this up online. I'm not sure about this. |
| Anna: That would be a great idea, Eric. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Erik: Ok, great. So let’s look at the grammar for this lesson. I noticed, when I first started speaking Russian, I said [Я играю теннис]. Literally, “I play tennis”. |
| Anna: Yes, you just translated directly from English. |
| Erik: Exactly. But there’s something that I was missing. What was I missing, Anna? |
| Anna: You were missing preposition [в]. |
| Erik: [в] |
| Anna: So you need to say [Я играю в теннис]. The phrase [Я играю] is used to say you do some sports, for example tennis, and you need preposition after this, preposition [в], and then the name of the sports. |
| Erik: So how would you say “I play basketball”? |
| Anna: [Я играю в баскетбол] |
| Erik: Anna, is it the same for instruments? Do you need the preposition [в]? |
| Anna: Oh no, for instruments it’s a little bit different. For example, if I want to say that I play guitar I would say [Я играю на гитаре]. |
| Erik: [на гитаре] |
| Anna: Yes. |
| Erik: Ah ok. How about the piano? |
| Anna: [Я играю на пианино]. |
| Erik: Ok, great. So, just to recap, Anna, with instruments we use the preposition [на ]… |
| Anna: Right. |
| Erik: And with sports we use the preposition [в]. |
| Anna: Right. |
Outro |
| Erik: Ok, great. Anna, [спасибо большое]. Thanks a lot. |
| Anna: [Пожалуйста, Эрик!] Don’t mention that. |
| Erik: So if you have any questions about today’s lesson, please stop by, leave us a comment and we’ll be sure to answer. |
| Anna: And don’t forget to check out the PDF file to this lesson. |
| Erik: See you later. |
| Anna: Пока, пока! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Анна: Эрик, ты занимаешься спортом? |
| Anna: Erik, ty zanimaesh’sya sportom? |
| Эрик: Да, я играю в теннис. А ты Анна? |
| Erik: Da, ya igrayu v tenis. A ty Anna? |
| Анна: Я в шахматы играю. |
| Anna: Ya v shaxmaty igrayu. |
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