rus' a comprehensive course in russian

RUS': a Comprehensive Course in Russian
This comprehensive foundation textbook is expressly designed for students embarking
on a Russian language programme. Accompanied by cassettes, it develops the four key
language skills ± reading, writing, speaking and listening ± and provides all the material
required to reach intermediate level either at high school or during the ®rst year of
university. Highly interactive and activity-based, the course puts students ®rmly at the
centre of the learning process, developing their autonomy as learners.
. Thorough grounding in the grammar and structures of contemporary Russian
. Wide-ranging tasks and exercises for both classroom use and self study
. Informative texts selected to foster cultural awareness
. Topics including family life, education, history, geography, work and leisure
. Clear, attractive layout with lively illustrations to reinforce learning
. Extensive reference features including section on basic concepts of grammar
. Teachers' guidelines to enhance practical application in the classroom
. On-line answerkey at />sarah smyth is a lecturer in Russian at Trinity College, Dublin. She is co-author of
two Russian language textbooks, Basic Russian, A Grammar and Workbook (1999) and
Intermediate Russian, A Grammar and Workbook (2001).
elena crosbie is lecturer in Russian at Heriot-Watt University. She is an experienced
interpreter and is on the editorial board of the Russian journal Rusistica. Her
publications include papers on language teaching.

RUS'
a Comprehensive Course
in Russian
SARAH SMYTH
Trinity College, Dublin
ELENA V. CROSBIE
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
cambridge university press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU,UK
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011±4211,USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
Ruiz de Alarco
Â
n 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa

# Sarah Smyth and Elena Crosbie, 2002
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and
to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2002
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
Typeface Times 10/13pt System 3b2 [ce]
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Smyth, Sarah.
RUS': a comprehensive course in Russian / Sarah Smyth, Elena V. Crosbie.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 64206 X (hardback) ISBN 0 521 64555 7 (paperback)
ISBN 0 521 01074 8 (cassette set)
1. Russian language ± Textbooks for foreign speakers ± English.
I. Crosbie, Elena V. II. Title.
PG2129.E5 S65 2001
491.782'421 ± dc21
ISBN 0 521 64206 X hardback
ISBN 0 521 64555 7 paperback

ISBN 0 521 01074 8 cassette set
ISBN 0 521 52955 7 audio CD set
Illustrations: Vitaly Palkus
Contents
Preface: to the students vii
Acknowledgements x
Outline of the course xii
Key to symbols used in the course xvii
Part I Course materials
Introductory unit 1
Unit 1 28
Unit 2 48
Unit 3 72
Unit 4 103
Unit 5 127
Unit 6 153
Unit 7 176
Unit 8 205
Unit 9 227
Unit 10 251
Unit 11 275
Unit 12 301
Unit 13 332
Unit 14 360
Unit 15 389
Unit 16 413
Unit 17 437
Unit 18 458
v
Unit 19 487

Unit 20 510
Part II Teachers' guidelines
General introduction 534
1.0 The course-type 535
2.0 The syllabus-type 537
3.0 The intended learners 539
4.0 The teacher 539
5.0 The structure of the course 540
6.0 The units 540
7.0 Reference tools 543
8.0 Study aids 544
Methodological pointers 545
9.0 What to do with the classroom materials 545
10.0 Developing knowledge 546
11.0 How to develop speaking skills 552
12.0 How to develop reading skills 553
13.0 How to develop productive skills on the basis of texts 556
14.0 Use of the key 558
15.0 Concluding remarks 558
Glossary of linguistic terms 559
Bibliography 560
Part III Reference tools and study aids
Language awareness 563
Grammar summary 613
Summary of functions 674
Vocabulary checklist 684
Index of texts 689
Index of grammatical concepts 694
vi
Contents

Preface: to the students
The course
The authors hope that you will enjoy studying Russian and using this textbook. It is the
result of many years' work and has been piloted in three educational centres over the last
ten years. It has thus passed through many students' hands, many of whom have gone
on to become professional Russianists.
The course is primarily intended for use in a classroom situation. Indeed, one of its
main aspirations is to provide learners with the motive and opportunity to explore and
use Russian as a tool for communication. This is not to suggest that classroom work
alone will make you pro®cient; experience has shown that the students who make the
best progress normally spend an hour in private study for every contact hour with a
teacher. Classroom tasks and activities provide you with the opportunity to interact with
other learners and your teacher in and about the language; private study, be it reading,
organising your notes, organising your vocabulary, doing exercises to reinforce
grammatical concepts or working with the tapes, allows you to consolidate what you
have learnt in class, to take stock of your progress and to monitor your learning.
Remember that learning a language is not easy. Textbooks that suggest you can do so
in three months are only misleading the gullible public. A language re¯ects a culture, its
history and its way of viewing the world. Avail of any opportunity that arises to practise
your Russian and to acquaint yourself with Russian life, past and present. You will ®nd
the experience broadens your horizons, develops your curiosity and makes you look at
the world and how we talk about it with a more open mind.
Language awareness
The `Language awareness' section is intended to help you situate your growing
knowledge and understanding of Russian in the context of knowledge you already have
about the functioning of other languages (and English in particular).
The language awareness component of the course is intended as an optional extra for
those who feel they need it and ®nd it helpful. If you are used to learning languages in a
formal classroom context, you may not need it at all. If, on the other hand, you ®nd
increasingly that the jargon used to refer to language is a useful short-hand and that you

would like to become more familiar with it, then you will probably ®nd it useful. The
main thing is not to be daunted byit.
The sequencing of concepts in this section closely parallels the sequencing of language
exponents in the units. In this way discussion of the key concepts may be integrated into
classroom interaction if you so wish.
In this section reference is made to other languages (Latin, French, German and
vii
Spanish) with which you may be familiar. The aim of including these languages is to
enable you to draw on knowledge you already have, not to teach you about other
languages and how they function. The exercises focus principally on English (and in later
units, Russian). Where exercises address other languages, you should restrict yourselves
to those you know.
Grammar summary
The `Grammar summary' is intended as a reference tool. Beware of becoming dependent
on it. It provides tables and texts outlining the grammatical patterns of Russian. It is not
intended as a descriptive grammar and is not a substitute for classroom discussion and
hypothesising about how Russian functions. If you have questions or come across
problem areas, the best person to ask is your teacher. The main use of the grammar
section is to check something. Its purpose is not to teach, but to remind.
Summary of functions
This is a table which lists the language functions introduced in the course. A function, in
the linguistic sense of the word, refers to the use to which we put language in social
interaction. The functions are listed in the order in which they are introduced in the
course. We recommend that you keep a record of what you can do in Russian by ticking
the relevant box as and when you feel you are comfortable with a given function.
Vocabulary checklist
The book also includes pages which list the main topics covered in the course. It is an
important part of learning to keep monitoring what you do and do not know. These
pages are intended as a tool to help you monitor your learning of vocabulary.
Though everyone has his or her own system for recording and learning vocabulary,

one suggestion is to keep a vocabulary ®le with a page dedicated to each of the topics
and sub-topics listed. The chart will help you assess how many words you have recorded
and feel you have learnt.
In your vocabulary notes it is advisable to differentiate between key and peripheral
words on a given topic. Possibly key words could be stored on one side of the page and
peripheral words on the other. How you decide which words are key, and which
peripheral, will in part depend on your interests, in part on your reasons for learning
Russian and in part on common sense.
It is also important to take note of common constructions used with particular words.
One way of doing this is to illustrate each entry with examples of a word's use: a phrase
or sentence from a dictionary or from the text where you came across a word. With
regard to verbs, make sure you note what case they govern. Furthermore, Russian tends
to use adjectives more than we do in English, so make note of common adjective and
noun combinations.
Since Russian is a word-building language, it is also helpful to group together words
which are derived from the same root. Many of these words will refer to the same topic:
for instance the word set exbnm, exbnmcz, extybr, exbntkm, extdysq, which are all
viii
Preface: to the students
derived from the root ex-, all relate to studying/teaching. Using a highlighter, common
roots can easily be identi®ed. Recognising word-building patterns considerably reduces
the load on your memory.
This might seem like an awful lot of work. It is. But it pays off in the long run. If you
are systematic about recording and learning vocabulary right from the start, you will
®nd it becomes part of your routine. Determine to work on a small number of words
every day. You will be pleasantly surprised at how much easier it gets with time.
This section also lists tasks relating to each of the vocabulary topics which you should
be able to do. Indeed, it is not simply enough to know a word: it is important to be able
to use it in speech and writing. Again there are boxes for you to tick off as a way of
monitoring your progress.

Most importantly enjoy your work and do not get downhearted. Work steadily and
regularly, do not be afraid to play with the language. When you crack your ®rst joke in
Russian, it will all have been worthwhile.
Preface: to the students
ix
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to all the people who have encouraged us,
advised us and supported us in the production of this course. First and foremost we
would like to thank our families: a special debt of recognition is due to David and
Stanford without whose forbearance and practical help this course could never have seen
the light of day. Thanks in particular to David for his technical advice and assistance.
We acknowledge our gratitude to the University departments which fostered the
production of the course and allowed us to pilot it extensively during the last ten years:
Edinburgh University, where the course was originally conceived, Trinity College and
Heriot-Watt Universities to where the authors subsequently moved. We would like to
thank all the students and colleagues whose feedback has been essential in the shaping
and reshaping of the course. In particular we would like to thank members of staff in all
the Russian departments which have been directly involved in the production of the
course: Mary Kate Halpin, John Murray, Una
Â
Nã
Â
Dhubhghaill and Connie Dowling in
TCD, Jim Halliday in Heriot-Watt and Elena Cook, formerly of Edinburgh University,
who contributed many ideas for activities and exercises at various stages of the
development of the course. We are grateful to all the specialists in teaching Russian as a
foreign language who have given us the bene®t of their experience, especially Elena
Mikhailovna Maksimenko, Liudmila Borisovna Seregina, Irina Abdalyan, Dmitri
Tsiskarashvili, Nikolai and Anna Kochurov. We would like to thank Olga Manakova
for contributing to the key to the exercises. Thanks are due to colleagues from the

German, French and Spanish departments for providing invaluable assistance with the
`Language awareness' section, in particular Sheila Watts, Claire Laudet and Susana
Bayo
Â
. We owe a debt of gratitude to Sean Devitt, Eimear Farren and Dee McGarry for
their comments on the `Teachers' guidelines'. Many thanks are also due to all those who
supplied the photographs for this textbook: Vladimir Kallistov, Connie Dowling, John
Murray, Vladimir Shugurov, Emily Finer, Anatoliy Tchikine, Aleksandr Olegovich
Sholokhovskiy and Aleksandr Asta®ev. A particular thanks to Vitaly Palkus for his
lively and imaginative line-drawings. Thanks to Elena Baburina, Manushak Hovsepyan,
Dmitri Tsiskarashvili and Vladimir Shugurov for their reading of the recorded material
and to John Murray for producing the recording sessions. Thanks also to John Grimes,
the sound engineer in the CEL Studios, Radio Centre, RTE for his contribution to the
production of the tapes. Thank you to Natalya Uvarova for her careful copyediting.
Thanks are also due to all the Russian publishers whose texts are included in this course:
every possible attempt was made to contact them and seek permission to reproduce
extracts. Many have ceased to exist, others failed to respond. We have assumed that
silence is consent. And last but not least many thanks to Rate Brett, Pauline Graham,
Camilla Erskine, Jacqueline French, Jenny Landor and Caroline Murray of Cambridge
University Press, for their support, perseverance and commitment to the project.
x
We accept sole responsibility for the mistakes, infelicities of style and imperfections that
no doubt remain in spite of the best efforts of all colleagues and advisors involved in this
project.
Sarah Smyth Elena Crosbie
Lecturer in Russian Lecturer in Russian
Trinity College Heriot-Watt University
Dublin Edinburgh
Acknowledgements
xi

Part I: Course materials

In this unit you will learn about:
. the Russian alphabet
. Russian pronunciation
. the importance of word stress in Russian
. the cursive Cyrillic script
You will also learn how to:
. pronounce Russian sounds and words
. recognise and read Russian letters and printed words
. write Russian letters and words
. hear and recognise the stress patterns in a word
. recognise and understand international loan-words
1
INTRODUCTORY UNIT
The Russian alphabet
printed form cursive form name of the letter similar English sounds
Ff
Aa ah a in bar
<d
n ´ beh b in ball
D^
Bb veh v in van
Uu
T¹ geh g in guy
Ll
Dg deh d in doll
Tt
Ee yeh ye in yellow
E

È
e
È
E
È
/ yo a clipped yo in yoghurt
:;
fd zheh s in pleasure
Pp
gc zeh z in zoom
Bb
Uu ee ee in feet
Qq
U
Æ
uÆ ee kra
Â
tkoe y in toy
Rr
K v ka k in kit
Kk
A q el l in lollypop
Vv
M a em m in mug
Yy
H u en n in nut
Jj
Oo o clipped shortened version
of o in open
Gg

t n peh p in pal
Hh
Pp airr a rolled r: r-r-r
Cc
Cc ess s in sock
Nn
h m teh t in tail
Ee
Yy oo oo in boot
Aa
sr eff f in ¯ag
{[
Xx kha ch in Bach or loch
Ww
i à tseh ts in boots
Xx
op cheh ch in cheap
Ii
w Å shah sh in sheep
Oo
j Æ shchah sh+ch as in Danish cheese
]
Ç hard sign (tvyo
Â
rdy znak) no sound
s
Ê eeh i in tint
m
Ë soft sign (mya
Â

hki znak) no sound
"'
kb eh e in debt
>.
l Î you you in youth
Zz
m ¯ yah ya in yap
2
Course materials
Classwork
A Recognising Russian letters
We have divided the alphabet into ®ve groups:
Group 1 These letters look and sound similar to their English counterparts.
Ff = [a] Tt = [e] Rr = [k]
Vv = [m] Jj = [o] Nn = [t]
Group 2 These letters look like English, but are pronounced differently.
D^= [v] Yy= [n] Hh= [r]
Cc= [s] Ee= [oo] {[= [kh]
Group 3 These letters look different, but are pronounced similarly to English sounds.
<d= [b] Uu= [g] Ll= [d]
E
È
e
È
= [yo] Pp= [z] Bb= [ee]
Kk= [l] Gg= [p] Aa=[f]
Qq= as [y] in boy
Group 4 These letters are peculiar to the Cyrillic alphabet.
:;= [zh] Ww= [ts] Xx= [ch]
Ii= [sh] Oo= [sh+ch]

"'= as [e] in `ten' >.= [you] Zz= [yah]
Group 5 These three letters never occur at the beginning of Russian words, so their capital forms
are only used in headings.
s = similar to [i] in `tint' m and ] = have no sound
. The soft sign m and the hard sign ] have no sound of their own, but affect the letters
which stand next to them.
B Russian pronunciation: general notes
Read these notes before listening to the ®rst cassette.
B1 Word stress
Only one vowel in a word is stressed, therefore words of one syllable do not need the
stress marked. Throughout this course the word stress is marked with a symbol (
Â
) above
the stressed vowel of words of two or more syllables, with the exception of the letter e
È
which is always stressed.
3
Introductory unit
The quality of Russian vowels differs signi®cantly depending on where the stress
occurs in a word, as you will hear on the ®rst cassette. You should try to reproduce the
Russian speaker's stressed and unstressed vowels in the `Listen and repeat' exercises.
Russian books and periodicals never mark the stress, as Russian readers know where
the stress falls. For purely technical reasons, in this course the stress symbol is not placed
above capital letters, e.g. at the beginning of names like Fyyf. In the body of the course
the stress is not marked for the written tasks in each unit. Do not use the stress in writing
tasks unless speci®cally asked to do so (e.g. in dictations).
B2 Russian vowels
There are ten vowel letters in Russian: f, t, /, b, j, e, s, ', ., z.
Five of them have a `softening' effect on the preceding consonant. It is useful to think of
them as ®ve pairs of similar sounds with `hard' and `soft' variants:

f and z = sound [a]
j and / = sound [o]
e and . = sound [u]
s and b = sound [i]
' and t = sound [e]
The `softening' effect of the vowels on the right not only changes the quality of the
preceding consonant, but also completely changes the meaning of words. Though it may
not be easy to hear at ®rst, this phenomenon will be dealt with in more detail later. There
is a special `Soft consonants' listening exercise at the introductory section of the ®rst
cassette. For a discussion of `hard' and `soft' consonants see the `Grammar summary'
(1.1).
B3 Russian consonants
Most Russian consonants can also be thought of as pairs of voiced and voiceless
consonants.
voiced voiceless
d [b] g [p]
^ [v] a [f ]
u [g] r [k]
l [d] n [t]
; [zh] i [sh]
p [z] c [s]
At the end of words all voiced consonants (in the left column) become devoiced, i.e.,
they are pronounced like their voiceless equivalent (on the right), just like in German.
The meaning of the word does not change with devoicing. For example, lju is
pronounced [dok] and means `a great Dane'; Ujhdfx/^ ends with an [f ] sound, Vflhbl
with a [t] and Gfhb; with a [sh].
4
Course materials
C Notes on individual letters
We have divided the alphabet into ®ve groups of letters. Please study the notes below

group by group, referring also to the general notes in section B, before going on to the
listening exercises on your cassette.
Group 1 Ff, Tt, Rr, Vv, Jj, Nn
Study these notes before you do Listening exercises 1 and 2.
. Russian n is more like a French or German [t] rather than an English `t'.
. j when stressed is pronounced like [o]; when un-stressed sounds more like [a] or like
the English inde®nite article `a'.
. t is pronounced [ye] as in `yes' at the beginning of a word or after another vowel;
when stressed it is pronounced [e] as in `let'; when un-stressed it is pronounced [i] as
in `become'.
. t is one of the `softening' vowels, which means that the consonants (r, v, n and most
consonants in Groups 2 and 3) are pronounced differently before t. This difference is
demonstrated in the `Soft consonants' Exercise 13 on your cassette. (See B2 above.)
Group 2 D^, Yy, Hh, Cc, Ee, {[
Study these notes before you do Listening exercises 3 and 4.
. Russian h is more like a Scottish or Spanish rolled [rr] than a standard English [r].
. Russian [ is like Scottish in `loch' or German in `doch', but not as vigorous as the
Spanish `jota'.
. Double consonants (yy, vv, kk, hh) are pronounced as double-length sounds, as in
Italian `mamma mia!'.
. e is pronounced [oo] wherever it stands in the word.
. The consonants ^, y, h, c are affected by the `softening' vowels after them. (See B2
above.)
. At the end of a word ^ is pronounced [f ]. (See B3 above.)
Group 3 <d, Uu, Ll,E
È
/, Pp, Bb, Qq, Kk, Gg, Aa
Study these notes before you do Listening exercises 5 and 6.
. b is pronounced like [ee] as in `feet' whether it is stressed or unstressed, with the
stressed b being slightly longer.

. / is pronounced like [yo] as in `yonder' at the beginning of a word or after another
vowel. In the middle of a word / is pronounced [or]. Remember that / is always
stressed in a word.
. Both b and / are `softening' vowels. This is demonstrated in the `Soft consonants'
Exercise on your cassette. (See B2 above.)
. The letter q occurs only after vowels and is pronounced like the English `-y' after a
vowel as in `boy', `day', `guy', etc. The capital letter, though rarely used, appears
mostly in foreign names: for example, Qohr (York), Ym Qjhr (New York), etc.
. The Russian l is closer to a French or German rather than an English [d].
Introductory unit
5
. At the end of a word the consonants d, u, l, p are devoiced. (See B3 above.)
d is pronounced g
u is pronounced r
l is pronounced n
p is pronounced c
Group 4 :;, Ww, Xx, Ii, Oo, "', >., Zz
Read these notes before you do Listening exercises 7 and 8.
The consonants in this group:
. ; is similar to a French `j' in `je'; at the end of words ; is pronounced [sh]. (See B3
above.)
. w is a combination of [t+s]
. x = English [ch]
. i = English [sh]
. o is a combination of [sh+ch]
The vowels which may follow these letters are determined by the spelling rules which you
will learn later. These consonants are not affected by `softening'. (See B2 above.)
The vowels in Group 4
. ' is pronounced like [eh] whether stressed or unstressed. It occurs mostly in foreign
words and names; a few Russian words begin with a stressed ¿.

. . is pronounced [you] as in `you' or `youth' at the start of a word or after another
vowel. In any other position . is pronounced [oo].
. z is pronounced [ya] as in `yard' at the start of a word or after a vowel. In other
stressed positions z is pronounced [ah]. Unstressed z is pronounced [i], similar to
unstressed e in `begin', `become', etc.
Both . and z are `softening' vowels in the same way as t, b and /. You can hear this in
the `Soft consonants' Exercise for group 4 on your cassette. (See B2 above.)
Group 5 s, m, ]
Study these notes before you do Listening exercises 9 and 10 (there are no examples with
] at this stage).
. Russian words never begin with these letters, so they appear mostly as small letters in
the middle or the end of a word.
. The unstressed vowel s, with a few exceptions, mostly occurs at the end of words in
the plural; and normally presents no dif®culty for English speakers. The stressed s is
not so easy at ®rst, but if you listen carefully to the cassette you will be able to imitate
the s as pronounced by the Russian speaker.
. m (the `soft sign') has no sound of its own. It occurs only after consonants, `softening'
them in the same way as the vowels t, b, /, ., z.
You will hear examples of this in Exercises 9 and 10 and in the `Soft consonants'
Exercise for Group 5 letters.
6
Course materials
. ] (the `hard sign') has no sound of its own. It occurs in very few words in modern
Russian. You will come across it in later units of this course. There are no examples
of it in the introductory section of the ®rst cassette.
D Recognising spoken words. Listening
Listening practice 1: reciting the Russian alphabet. Fkaf^bn
The Russian alphabet is read by a Russian native speaker. Listen several times and then try
saying it together with the Russian speaker. Refer back to the alphabet supplied at the
beginning of the unit.

Listening to words: exercises 1±10
There are two exercises (two tasks) for each of the ®ve groups of letters. You will hear
instructions in English at the start of each exercise.
Nask 1 Listen and repeat
Listen and repeat after the speaker all the words and proper names on the list in each of the
®ve groups.
Task 2 Listen and number
In the second exercise the order of words in each of the ®ve groups is jumbled up, and every
word (excluding proper names) is preceded by a number in English. Put the appropriate
number for each word on your list.
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Exercises 1 and 2 Exercises 3 and 4 Exercises 5 and 6
f, t, r, v, j, n^, y, h, c, e, [d, u, l, /, p, b, q, k, g, a
frn ^Äyyf frn/h
fnÄrf rÄrnec d¹pytc
rfr rfccÏnf ^Ælrf
rjn rÆcvjc ufpÏnf
rnj vÄcnth ubnÄhf
rÏnf yth^ lbhÏrnjh
rjvÏnf jhrÏcnh kÄvgf
vfr hfrÏnf vfufp¹y
vÄvf hfrÏnrf gfhkÄvtyn
vfn ctrc gthtcnhÆqrf
nfr cnfhn gjk¹nbrf
nfrn ntÄnh cgjhn
nfv nÏrcn cnelÏyn
nÏvf nthhÆh neh¹pv
njv [Äjc ajynÄy
njvÄn [jh
aendÆk

[jrrÏq
Introductory unit
7
Group 4 Group 5
Exercises 7 and 8 Exercises 9 and 10
;, w, x, i, o, ', ., zs, m,(])
Ärwbz den§krf
f'hjgÆhn dekmlÆu
ltktuÄwbz ukÄcyjcnm
;ehyÄk l;¹ycs
;ehyfk¹cn bynth^mÖ
blÏz Rhtvkm
vfnx rjvgmÖnth
vfi¹yf hedkm
vjnjw¹rk wfhm
htÄrwbz xfc§
wtynh
wbhr
xtvgbÆy
'rpÄvty
¿hf
'nÄ;
Follow-up work
Listen to exercises 1±10 again and try to imitate the Russian speaker's sounds, rhythm and
intonation.
Listening exercise 11: proper names
Listen to the list of names of people and places. Each name is preceded by a number (in
English). Put the correct number by the appropriate name in the table below.
GÔirby AhÄywbz LÔdkby
<jh¹c BnÄkbz Vjcr^Ä

Fyukbz Itrcg¹h "lbydÔhu
Rk¹ynjy XÏ[j^ NjkcnÆq
<Ïkmubz KÏhvjynj^ BhkÄylbz
L¹rrtyc GÆkmif IjnkÄylbz
Tkmwby CnÄkby Cjk;ty¹wsy
XfqrÆ^crbq KÆyljy Ym QÆhr
UÆujkm {heo/^ Fyyf RfhÏybyf
Hjcc¹z LjcnjÏ^crbq Ujhdfx/^
Listening exercise 12: months of the year
The names of all the months of the year are similar in English and Russian. But of course,
they sound slightly different in Russian. The spelling also differs: they do not start with a
capital letter. Listen to the tape, repeat each month after the speaker and insert the missing
letter in each word.
8
Course materials
z ± ^Ähm f± hÏkm bÖ± mj± n½dhm
at^± Äkm ± fq Ä^± ecn yj½± hm
vfh± bÖ± m ± tyn½dhm ltrÄd± m
Listening exercise 13: `soft consonants'
Listen to the Russian speaker and try to hear the different quality of `soft' consonants
affected by the vowels t, /, b, ., z and by the soft sign m.
Group 1 Consonants and the vowel å
nf ± nj ± nt nfv ± njv ± nÏvf
vf ± vj ± vt vfn ± vjn ± rjvÏnf
rf ± rj ± rt rfr ± rjn ± rÏnf
Group 2 Consonants and the vowel å
^f ± ^j ± ^t ^Änf ± ^jn ± DÏyf cf ± cj ± ct CÄhf ± cjr ± ctrc
yf ± yj ± yt jyÄ ± yÆnf ± ytn [f ± [j± [t [Äjc ± [jh± [tr
hf ± hj ± ht nhÄrnjh ± hjr ± hÏrnjh
Group 3 Consonants and the vowels è, å and ¸

df ± db ± dt dfh ± dbc ± <b-<b-Cb ±`<bu <ty'
uf ± ub ± ut ufp ± ubvy ± uÏybq
lf ± lb ± lt lÄvf ± l¹rnjh ± cnelÏyn
pf ± pb ± pt pfk ± ^bp¹n ± vepÏq
kf ± kj ± kb ± kt ± k/ kÄvgf ± kjnÆ ± kbcn ± KÏyby ± K/^f
gf ± gj ± gb ± g/ gÄgf ± cgjhn ± cgbhn± G/nh
af ± aj ± ab ± a/ afrn± aÆhvf ± a¹pbr ± A/ljh
Group 4 The vowels þ and ß
dj ± de ± d. djrc ± dev ± d.hÆ
nf ± ne ± n. nfrn ± neh ± nÖdbr
kf ± ke± k.± kz kfr ± keyÄ ± KÖdf ± K½kz
yj ± yb ± yz yÆns ± Y¹yf ± y½yz
Group 5 ü (the `soft sign') after consonants
The soft sign has the same effect on the preceding consonant as the `softening' vowels t,
/, b, . and z. It is important to hear the difference as each of the words means
something very different:
dhfn (brother) Ñ dhfnm (take) vfn (checkmate) Ñ vfnm (mother)
^tc (weight) Ñ ^tcm (whole) vtk (chalk) Ñ vtkm (sandbank)
lfk (gave) Ñ lfkm (distance) gÆkrf (shelf ) Ñ gÆkmrf (polka)
tk (ate) Ñtkm(Christmas tree) cnfk (became) Ñ cnfkm (steel)
tcn (eats) Ñ tcnm (is/has) Ôujk (corner) Ñ Ôujkm (coal)
itcn (a pole) Ñ itcnm (six)
Introductory unit
9
E Recognising printed words
Reading practice 1
On the left are some geographical names and, on the right, some well-known past and
present politicians' names. See if you can recognise them. Supply the English equivalent.
Geography Politicians
FvÏhbrf KÆyljy GÔnby KÏyby

Fahbrf Gfh¹; Ujhdfx/^ VbnthhÄy
RfyÄlf LÔdkby Rjkm {eccÏqy
<thk¹y NÆrbj Rk¹ynjy N¿nxth
DfibyunÆy Vflh¹l Tkmwby CnÄkby
:tyÏ^f "lbydÔhu VfylÏkf {heo/^
Reading practice 2
Write down the names of these Russian writers in English. What other Russian writers do
you know about? Discuss with the teacher how their surnames are written.
F. C. GÔirby Y. D. UÆujkm V. >. KÏhvjynj^
K. Y. NjkcnÆq F. G. XÏ[j^ A. V. LjcnjÏ^crbq
Reading practice 3
Study the map of the former Soviet Union and neighbouring countries.
3.1 Find the names of the 15 former Republics of the USSR on the map on p. 11. Match the
English names listed below to the Russian ones and put the appropriate number on the map.
Try reading the names of the countries aloud in Russian.
1. Armenia
2. Azerbaijan
3. Belarus
4. Estonia
5. Georgia
6. Kazakhstan
7. Kirgizstan
8. Latvia
9. Lithuania
10. Moldova
11. Russian Federation
12. Tadjikistan
13. Turkmenistan
14. Ukraine
15. Uzbekistan

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Course materials
Introductory unit
11
3.2 Now ®nd the following towns and cities on the map of Russia. Place the appropriate
Roman numerals next to them.
i. Archangel vii. Samara
ii. Vorkuta viii. Novosibirsk
iii. Irkutsk ix. Omsk
iv. Saint Petersburg x. Vladivostok
v. Volgograd xi. Yakutsk
vi. Murmansk xii Yekaterinburg
3.3 Find the following Russian rivers on the map of Russia. Put the appropriate English
letter next to thest rivers on the map.
(a) Fyufhf (d) Bhnsi (g) Ehfk
(b) Fveh (e) Ktyf (h) Djkuf
(c) Ljy (f ) Jdm (i ) Tybctq
3.4 List the countries which have a common border with the former Soviet Union in Russian
and English.
Reading practice 4
Read the following tickets and cards
and try to identify what they are.
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Course materials