RUSLAN RUSSIAN 1

RUSLANRUSSIAN 1A communicative Russiancourse by John Langranand Natalya VeshnyevaThis file contains the first fewpages, the alphabet pages, andthe whole of the first lesson ofRuslan Russian 1. Picturequality has been reduced togive a smaller file.Ruslan Limited1

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RUSLAN RUSSIAN 1A communicative course for beginners in Russianby John Langran and Natalya Veshnyeva.Fourth edition.Ruslan Limitedwww.ruslan.co.uk3

First published 1995Second edition 1997Third edition 2001, reprinted 2005Fourth edition 2008 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008 RuslanCopyright for the cartoons - Anna LauchlanRuslan 1 Textbook (fourth edition)Ruslan 1 Textbook and CD packISBN 1-899785-65-5ISBN 1-899785-67-1Copyright noticeTeachers using the Ruslan course with learners who have purchased thecourse book may copy and cut out the speaking exercise material to useas cue cards for group work and may copy the cartoons at the beginningof each lesson for classroom use. With these exceptions, no part of thisbook may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in anyform or by any means, without the written permission of the copyrightowner. Ruslan Limited does not subscribe to the Publishers LicensingAgreement.ErrataAny errors or amendments will be listed on the Ruslan website at:www.ruslan.co.uk/errata.htmAccompanying materialsRuslan 1 Audio CD (4th edition)Ruslan 1 Student WorkbookRuslan 1 ReaderRuslan 1 Teachers’ notesRuslan 1 CD-ROMISBN 1-899785-66-3ISBN 1-899785-22-1ISBN 1-899785-64-7Free from www.ruslan.co.ukISBN 1-899785-08-6Ruslan Russian 2 and 3 continue the courseto intermediate and advanced levels.Ruslan Limited - www.ruslan.co.uk4

INTRODUCTIONRuslan Russian 1 is a beginners course in communicative Russian for adultsand young people. The context is modern, with a clear and systematicapproach. The course can be used by groups with a teacher or by individualslearning on their own. As well as the Ruslan 1 Textbook, there is a StudentWorkbook, a supplementary Reader, and a DTI prizewinning multimediaCDRom version. Here is a sample screen from the CDRom:Try out the first lesson at www.ruslan.co.uk/demos.htmThe alphabet introduction describes the sound of each letter and givesexamples in words. These are recorded on the audio CD and CDRom. Thereare also examples of Russian handwriting.The ten lessons include:- a list of contents for you to check your progress.- a cartoon to help teachers introduce new vocabulary. These are alsouseful for practising questions and answers, and for revision.- dialogues to introduce new vocabulary and structures, following theadventures of Ivan, Vadim, Lyudmila and her family and friends;- a vocabulary with new words in the order in which they appear.- background information in English.- grammar explanations.- exercises based on the new language.- reading exercises with real or semi-real material.- writing exercises to practise the handwritten script.- listening exercises.- speaking exercises, with role-play situations, and suggestionsfor pair work and language games.At the end of the book you will find a key to the exercises, the texts of thelistening exercises, a grammar summary, and a full Russian to Englishvocabulary for the Ruslan 1 course.5

AcknowledgementsThanks to all who have helped with this project, especially:the Rossica Choir of St Petersburg, Olga Bean, Katie Costello, Ulla Frid,Paul B. Gallagher, Anna Garofalo-Kurman, Mikhail Kukushkin, Stef deGroot, David Harmer, Jelena Jefremova, Sergey Kozlov, Emma Lamm,Jonathan Madden, Tanya Nousinova and Brian Savin.Photos are by John Langran, by people listed above, from Wikipedia, andfrom other public sources. Recordings are by people listed above.Audio production is by Brian Savin and John Langran.The authorsThe authors are both experienced teachers of Russian to adults and youngpeople.Natalya Veshnyeva, who wrote most of the dialogues, was born and grew upin Moscow. She trained as teacher at Moscow Pedagogical Institute and hastaught Russian at a wide range of schools and adult education centres in theUK and New Zealand.John Langran, Director of Ruslan Limited, put the course together. Johnstudied Russian at the University of Sussex, and taught in Birmingham, wherehe was head of Brasshouse Centre, Birmingham’s language centre for adults.He has been Director of Studies for the Prime Minister’s Enterprise Initiative inRussia, and author of the BBC Russian Phrasebook (1995 edition).For teachersTeachers Notes, tests, and other materials for teachers are available free ofcharge from the Ruslan website. The Teachers Notes give additionalsuggestions for classroom activities, hints on teaching difficult points, andadditional photocopiable worksheets for each lesson.Contact Ruslan Limited for a user name and password for the Ruslan teacherpages.Ruslan Limited operates a scheme to help learners to find a local teacher.Details are on the website.www.ruslan.co.uk6

CONTENTSÑÎÄÅÐÆÀÍÈÅSounds and stress in RussianCyril and MethodiusThe Russian alphabetLetters in words. Handwriting991012Lesson 1 - AÝPÎÏÎPÒ - The airportNo word for “the” or “a”No verb “to be” in the present tenseHow to ask a question by raising your voiceMasculine and feminine nounsThe possessive pronouns ìîé and ìîµ, âàø and â‚øàThe personal pronouns îí and îí‚Information: Moscow14Lesson 2 - ÓËÈÖA - The streetÿ çí‚þ and âû çí‚åòå - “I know” and “you know”The prepositions â and íà meaning “to” a placeImperatives: Ñêàæ‰òå! - Èä‰òå! - Èçâèí‰òå! - èò‚éòå!The use of åñòü - “there is”Neuter nouns. The personal pronoun îí‹Numbers 0 - 10Information: Arbat. Bulat OkudzhavaÔîòîãàëåðˆÿ - Ìîñêâ‚26Lesson 3 - ÑÅÌÜß - The familyThe genitive singular of masculine and feminine nounsSpelling rule for the letters û and èSome common uses of the genitiveThe genitive after negatives, and after numbers 2, 3, 4ì‹æíî - “it is possible” - and íåëüçµ - “it is not possible”Information: Russian names38Lesson 4 - ÃÄÅ ÂÛ ÁÛËÈ? - Where were you?Infinitives in -àòü, -èòü and -åòüThe full present tense of çíàòü - “to know”Introduction to the past tenseThe prepositional case with â and íà meaning “at” a placeòû - the familiar form of “you”Numbers 10 - 100. Months of the yearInformation: Russian National Holidays, Moscow and the provinces48Lesson 5 - ÃÎCÒÈÍÈÖA - The hotelThe preposition c with the meaning “from”Short adjectives: îòêð›ò and çàêð›òThe present tense of ãîâîð‰òü - “to speak”A note on imperfective and perfective verb aspectsThe use of ó ìåíµ and ó âàñ for “I have” and “you have”Information: Hotels in Russia. GUM - The State Universal Shop607

Lesson 6 - ÐÅÑÒÎÐÀÍ - The restaurantThe verbs: õîòˆòü, èäò‰. The imperatives: ä‚éòå, ïðèíåñ‰òåThe accusative singular of nounsAdjectives in the nominative caseThe word for “which” - êàê‹éInformation: Russian food. A.S.PushkinSong: “Ñòåïü äà ñòåïü êðóã‹ì”70Lesson 7 - Î ÑÅÁÅ - About oneselfNeuter forms of verbsThe preposition o - “about” - taking the prepositional caseMasculine and feminine nouns in -ü and neuter nouns -ìÿImpersonal constructions: èíòåðˆñíîNumbers above 100Information: The River Volga82Lesson 8 - ÂÐÅÌß - TimeThe time in whole hoursThe nominative plural of nouns and adjectivesShort adjectives in the plural, and í æåí - “necessary”The genitive plural of masculine nounsThe irregular verb ìî ü - “to be able to”Information: Using the telephone in Russia9381Lesson 9 - ÒÅÀÒÐ - The theatreReflexive verbs in the present tenseThe dative singular of nounsThe use of ëþá‰òü - “to love” - and íð‚âèòüñÿ - “to please”The verb èãð‚òü with â and the accusative - “to play a sport”The use of ðàç - “à time”Information: Snegurochka104Lesson 10 - ÄÎÌ - The houseThe instrumental singular of nounsThe spelling rule for the letter oThe genitive plural of feminine and soft sign nounsThe verb èãð‚òü with íà and the prepositional - “to play an instrument”The verbs ñïàòü - “to sleep” - and ïåòü - “to sing”The declension of personal pronounsInformation: Housing in Russia114Key to the exercisesTexts of the listening exercisesGrammar ReferenceRussian to English Dictionary126129132136 7 are recorded on the audio cd. The number is the cd track.Dialogues markedWhere two numbers are given, the second is the same track with no sound effects. wwwItems markedare available as free recordings from www.ruslan.co.uk/ruslan1.htmwww in the margin indicates that there is a note for learners at www.ruslan.co.uk/ruslan1.htmSupport for teachers, including free tests, is at www.ruslan.co.uk/tests/tests.htm8

SOUNDS AND STRESS IN RUSSIANYou don’t need perfect pronunciation to be able to get by in Russian. It is likely tobe obvious that you are a foreigner and people will be trying hard to understandyou. But if you want to progress beyond a basic level it will be well worth spendingtime trying to pronounce the words as correctly as you can.Russian pronunciation depends a lot on the stress. In words of more than onesyllable there is one stressed vowel which is pronounced more strongly, or louder,than the others. The stress in Russian is unpredictable and has to be learnt.In materials for learners, the stress is marked with an acute accent. For examplethe stress in the word for “wine” is on the last syllable - âèí‹ - “veeno”. But in theword for “problem” - ïðîáëˆìà - the “î” is unstressed and therefore reduced.It sounds more like the English “a” in “dad”. Listen to these words in the AlphabetIntroduction to check the difference.In original Russian texts the stress is not marked. You have to learn it.CYRIL AND METHODIUSCyril and MethodiusThese were two Greek holy men, now Saints,who have been credited with the creation of thecyrillic alphabet.In 863 AD they began a mission to convert theSlavic tribes to Christianity. In the process theytranslated the Scriptures into Old ChurchSlavonic, and created a Slavic alphabet basedon existing Greek characters. Where there wereno characters in Greek that corresponded tothe sounds of Old Church Slavonic, theyinvented new symbols. The alphabet that theyproduced was amended at the time of Peter theGreat, and again by Lenin in the 1920s.In the days of the USSR, the cyrillic alphabet was in use in all the SovietRepublics. Today, as well as in Russia, cyrillic is the official script in the Ukraine,Belarus, Bulgaria and Serbia.Abbreviations used in this m.Masculinedat.Dativen.Neuterf.Femininenom. ivepl.Pluralprep.è ò.ä.Prepositionaletc.9

THE RUSSIAN ALPHABETThe Russian alphabet has 33 characters: 21 consonants, 10 vowelsand 2 phonetic signs.w2Six letters are more or less similar in Russian and English:àåìòîêExamples in ‚îòàêòSix letters are “false friends”. They look like English letters, but theirsounds are different:âíðñóõExamples in �óñThe remaining letters are unlike English letters:áãä æçèéôö øùûýþExamples in �ò ìàé �îðò ðñàë‚òøîêîë‚ä‚ðìèÿThe two phonetic symbols (the soft sign ü and the hard sign ú) have nosound of their own:êàðò‹ôåëü îáúˆêòwinepetrolchocolateRed Square10?