Thread: Pimsleur - Level 1

Originally Posted by Grogs

Here's Lesson 15:

Урок номер пятнадцать – Lesson Number Fifteen

Слушайте этот разговор. – Listen to this conversation
Л: До свидания, Сергей.
С: До свидания? Что бы вы хотели делать, Лена?
Л: Я? Я собираюсь купить что-нибудь поесть.
С: У вас достаточно денег? Сколько у вас?
Л: Не очень много. У меня только несколько рублей.
С: Сколько у вас?
Л: Четырнадцать или пятнадцать.
С: Вот десять рублей. Сейчас сколько у вас денег?
Л: Не знаю, но сейчас у меня много. Большое спасибо.
Только несколько – only a few
Достаточно денег – enough money

У вас есть пиво? – Do you have any beer?
Да, есть. – Yes, I have some.
Это пиво для вас. – This beer is for you.
Для меня? – For me?
Спросите! – Ask!
Да, вино для вас. – Yes, the wine is for you.
Вино для меня? – Is the wine for me?
Вы хотите вина? – Do you want some wine?
Сколько стоит пиво? – How much does a beer cost?
Пиво стоит один рубль – A beer costs one ruble.
А сколько стоит вино? – And how much does the wine cost?
Я не могу. – I can’t.
Я могу. – I can.
Вы можете. – You can. [Note: может быть (maybe) = it can be]
Вы можете что-нибудь выпить со мной? – Can you have something to drink with me?
У вас есть вино? – Do you have any wine [note the есть]
У вас нет вина? – You don’t have any wine?
Сколько будеть два плюс два? – How much will two plus two be?
Сейчас вы говорите с женщиной. – Now you’re speaking with the woman.
Может быть, в семь часов? В семь, хорошо? – Maybe at seven o’clock? At seven, OK?
Да, я могу в семь. – Yes, I can (do it) at seven.
Вы можете купить вина для меня? – Can you buy some wine for me?
Да, я могу купить вина для вас. – Yes, I can buy some wine for you.

Open question: 'для' sounds different in the phrase 'для меня' than it does in 'для вас.' Is it just because of the following letter (м instead of в?) [STATUS: Answered - See this thread for an explanation

Is anyone wanting to post a link to this, because that one isn't online? It sounds like that to me, too. When they say для for "for me" it sounds like dley, but when they say it by itself it sounds like dla.

Hmmmm... I myself have never felt this way, but I think I know why.

Actually "для" should be unstressed, the "я" is pronounced like "и" or like "е" here ("л" is soft). And no, it shouldn't sound different in "для меня" and "для Вас" at all. The letters "м" and "в" don't play a part.

- Оля

Vowel Reduction is a prominent topic in learning Russian and affects (basically) every word.
There are a few rule groups, and the е-ё-о triad comes into play a bit.

This is why Москва is pronounced 'muhskva' not 'mohskva'

It's a bit complicated. If you were to say для in a vacuum with no surrounding words - it would be with an /a/ sound. The thing is, prepositions [,words in general really,] never exist in a vacuum -- it's always going to be said with a word following it, meaning it's always going to be unstressed and the я will always reduce to a more relaxed ~е

I would say, for the time being, think of it as a я, say it as a я, and try to hear it as a я, and the rest will come with time. [mass data exposure]
After a while, the vowel reduction rules can start to feel like a very natural filter to the point where you hardly can tell that they are even happening.

I'm beyond level 20 of the first Pimsleur program and I have a couple questions but it's a different release than the one in the topic.

What is the difference between мне and меня? I assumed they were the same word being enunciated differently at first.

скажите мне – say to me.
спросите меня – ask me.

How do I know whether to say

У нас в машине достаточно бензина?
У вас в машине есть бензин?

Does достаточно result in it changing forms?

If you are saying you want to go, do you put в in front of Санкт-Петербург? It doesn't sound like he does in the recording.

The word for car is машина, and I see that cars is машины, then do you pronounce the ы at the end? In the program I do not hear it. I guessed it was машин legitimately.

Originally Posted by ironfist

What is the difference between мне and меня? I assumed they were the same word being enunciated differently at first.

Мне - Indirect object.
Меня - Direct object.

Originally Posted by ironfist

How do I know whether to say

У нас в машине достаточно бензина?
У вас в машине есть бензин?

Does достаточно result in it changing forms?

This use of достаточно, as well as of many other similar adverbs, results in the noun taking the genitive form, which, in some contexts, is considered partitive. With the affirmative есть, such a change does not occur.

Originally Posted by ironfist

If you are saying you want to go, do you put в in front of Санкт-Петербург? It doesn't sound like he does in the recording.

Yes; a preposition is required for that purpose.

Originally Posted by ironfist

The word for car is машина, and I see that cars is машины, then do you pronounce the ы at the end? In the program I do not hear it. I guessed it was машин legitimately.

You will often read or hear that there is no English equivalent. To get a feel for the pronunciation, your best bet would be to visit Forvo and listen carefully to words ending in ы.

Thanks.

I have a queston regarding the pronunciation of часо́в and часа́.
Why in Pimsleur I hear it as чисо́в and чиса́?
Even in google translate it seems to change from часа́ when the word is alone by itself, but it changes to чиса́ when I add the numbers.
Other resources like https://www.russianforfree.com/phrasebook-tell-time.php it always sounds like часа́.

So what am I missing? what is going on?

Originally Posted by pyc

I have a queston regarding the pronunciation of часо́в and часа́.
Why in Pimsleur I hear it as чисо́в and чиса́?
Even in google translate it seems to change from часа́ when the word is alone by itself, but it changes to чиса́ when I add the numbers.
Other resources like https://www.russianforfree.com/phrasebook-tell-time.php it always sounds like часа́.

So what am I missing? what is going on?

Unstressed syllables are just that... unstressed syllables, they don't get nearly as much effort from the speaker as the stressed ones do. In other words, they get mushed or in more technical terms "reduced." That's why it sounds like "чи" instead of "ча", /ча'са/ is just too much work it's not to say that all unstressed "а" get reduced like that, it's just that "ч", being a very soft consonant, absorbs the reduced vowel so much as to effectively sound like "чи." Unstressed "а" would sound a lot like "а" after hard consonants, just not that open and with less effort.

Other notable examples of vowel reduction are:

о -> а

Окно -> /ак'но/

е -> и

Берег - /'берик/

And regarding that link you posted. Now that I'm listening to it, it's clear the speaker there puts a lot of extra effort into sounding as coherent as she can possibly be, so that's why she "overpronounces" each and every syllable, besides she's basically spelling out each and every word syllable by syllable, I guess that's a beginner oriented video so she must be. We absolutely don't talk like that in real life though.

Thanks a lot.
Btw, in pimsleur they give the example, I want to eat as
Я хочу поесть

But in the Michel Thomas the teacher says:
Я хочу есть

Is it indistinct for the Russian speaker, or is it there some nuance between these?
Thanks a lot!

PS: I found the like button,haha

https://youtu.be/G5cnUj60g3A

Prefix " no".
____________________


"Поесть - is perfect. It means finished action.
2. The prefix "по-" does not mean only "a little".
It means - limitation in time (поговорить, поспать); used with the suffix "-ива/ыва" - intermittent action (постукивать, поглядывать, покашливать); beginning of action (побежать, пойти); finished action (поел, побил).
There are dual meanings: so, "полить" means both finished action "to have watered (a plant)" and beginning of action "полил дождь (it started to rain)". "

https://forum.wordreference.com/thre...D1%8C.2314039/

These could be good resources for beginners:

https://www.youtube.com/c/RushintoRussian

https://www.youtube.com/c/AmazingRussian