To help you learn Russian this lesson has sound. Click the green icon to listen. Now that you understand the Pleased to meet you russian letters and numbers, we will begin to learn some basic Russian phrases that you will commonly use as part of everyday communication.
We will not attempt to introduce any grammar in this lesson. It is more important to learn some basic communication skills in Russian. Once you have a ‘feel’ for the language, you will find it easier to understand how the grammar works. When you were young, you learnt to speak before you learnt the grammar. When you are in Russia it is important to realise that Russians have two manners of speaking, formal or friendly. It would be considered slightly rude to use the wrong form in the wrong situation. In situations where you have never met the person before you would use the formal form, for example in shops or with taxi drivers.
The two most important words you will learn in Russian are please and thank-you. You can just add these to any sentence to make it more polite. The word Пожалуйста is also used to mean “You’re Welcome”, after somebody says thank-you. You should always say this after someone thanks you. Пожалуйста is pronounced a little different than it is written, you can basically forget the “уй”.
Two other very important Russian words are “Yes” and “No”. When you are in Russia and you meet somebody, the first thing you will want to do is to say “hello”. There are two forms of this word. Здравствуйте may be a little difficult for you to pronounce at first, but it is the most common Russian greeting so you should try to practice it.
Привет is also commonly used with friends. If somebody says Привет to you, then it is normally safe to proceed in the friendly tone. In order to introduce yourself, you may need the following phrases. Note: The above 3 phrases are gramatically unusual. You should just learn the whole phrase, not the individual words. The most natural way to ask someone how they are in Russian is to ask: “how are things? There are also two words for saying good-bye.
You should generally use до свидания, which is appropriate in formal or informal situations. You may also hear people say Пока, but we suggest you only use it with friends. Russian, there is no difference between the question and the statement, except for the question mark. When you are speaking Russian you should ask questions in a different tone. The tone of your voice should rise if you are asking a question.
If you are making a statement your tone will naturally fall. You may find that you actually do this in English without meaning to. Don’t worry too much about this yet. It will be covered in another lesson very soon. Try saying each phrase after you hear it.
