So, you've got the swanky Cyrillic alphabet under your belt, and you're hoping now to begin learning a few Russian phrases? Well you've come to the right place my friends, you'll be saying Доброе утро with the best of them!
Доброе утро - Good Morning - I'm going to assume you have the alphabet nailed and not put a pronunciation part, just remember that in Russian sometimes the 'o' is spoken like an 'a' so the 'poe' part of this makes an 'aiye' sound. So it would be: Do-braiye-ootro. Phonetically.
Добрый День - Good Afternoon - Here we see the 'soft sign' (ь) come into play, making the second word (Day) become 'Den' instead of being spoken as 'Dyen'. This sentence is spoken as: Do-bree-den.
Добрый Вечер - Good Evening - This is another phrase where the Russians decide they want to discard their alphabet, the first 'e' in 'Вечер' is pronounced like an 'И'. This as spoken as: Do-bree-vee-cher.
Спокойной Ночи - Goodnight - This is another case of what I will refer to as 'O-switching' expect it in most Russian words, it is very common. This is spoken as: Spak-oy-noy-nochee.
Next we will learn some of the easiest words, and a few more practical phrases, one thing you will learn to love about Russian: loads of one/two letter words!
Да - Yes - Easy as pie, as Russian as Vodka. Spoken as: Daah. *Suddenly becomes aware he is listing pronunciations despite saying that he wouldn't*
Нет - No - Probably the first word of Russian I memorized. Spoken as: Ny-et. DO NOT say 'neeyet' I heard that so often, it's a horrible mistake.
И - And - On its own, it means 'and', if you don't know how to say this then you need to practice the alphabet.
Я - I - Probably the most common word you will use because you're a self centred megalomaniac, admit it!
Меня зовут - My name is - Translating literally as 'Me called' this is another O-Switch word, and the 'e' is harsh once again. Spoken as: Meenya-Zavoot.
Привет - Hi - Another simple word 'Preevyet' is spoken exactly how it looks, no tricks here luckily!
Здравствуйте - Hello- A pain in the rear to spell, and possibly the most drawn out greeting ever, this is a silent letter nightmare. Spoken as: Zdras-voy-tye.
That's it for this lesson everyone, but to truly engage with a language, you must immerse yourself, so here are some links to Russian songs of various genres:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWiYh2Kvafo (Metal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9YYxviWAxk (Folk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J__ZdvsZaE (Opera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCfjjacnMe4 (Pop)
Have fun! (DISCLAIMER: I do not own/claim to own these songs, all rights, ownership, and credit go to the artists.)
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Ruff Guide to Russian Language
NonfiksiA colloquial guide to Russian, and detailed teachings of the language as I have learned it so far. (DISCLAIMER: I am not fluent, or a teacher of the language, I write this purely for entertainment, and the hope that fellow learners out there enjoy m...
