ELEMENTARY RUSSIAN: Сегодня в кабинете! Today in the lab... (Unit 1 Week 2 Numbers and reduction)

Welcome back to the lab!

Здравствуйте, студенты! Вы знали, что первое сентября - День знаний в России? = Hello, students! Did you know that the first of September is Knowledge Day in Russia (when the school starts)...

Q. Where is День знаний celebrated?
День знаний по-прежнему отмечается в разных странах: в Белоруссии, Казахстане, Кыргызстане, Армении и Латвии. (See if you can figure out the countries where it's still celebrated as it was in the USSR.) I don't think most schools for most grades have classes, per se. It's more of a party: The kiddos march in groups, the teachers get flowers, fireworks, speeches are speeched. That sort of thing. The event figures large in the imaginations of children, to be sure.

This short video is a glimpse of how they celebrated the first of September 2021 in one of the Moscow schools. Can you hear the name and the patronymic of the teacher? Ask me about this video if you have any questions ...

Can you read the cursive below? It says ВСЁ БУДЕТ ХОРОШО! = Everything will be OK!

Сначала! First: Grab a LL хендаут!  here is the handout.

1) Work on vowel reduction (the first bit on your LL handout). Read the handout carefully and practice saying the words. The rule: Generally speaking, you pronounce the grapheme O when it's NOT under stress as /ah/ (that's the "pure" /a/ sound, like the first vowel in the word "automobile"). 

So the word хорошО is pronounced /kharashO/. 

Yes, there are more complicated systems of reduction, but if you only ever reduced the o to /a/ when not under the stress mark, then you'd sound like a Russian. Good enough! 

3) On a computer or heck even your PHONE, listen to & start learning the cardinal numerals 11-20. The numbers (Числительные) exercise is on the LL handout. If you're feeling confident, try to write the numbers out in words, not figures! (Links are below.) 
11 Одиннадцать 
12 Двенадцать 
13 Тринадцать 
14 Четырнадцать 
15 Пятнадцать 
16 Шестнадцать 
17 Семнадцать 
18 Восемнадцать 
19 Девятнадцать 
20 Двадцать 

Listen to the Числительные (Numbers) exercise here. 

Write down the numbers you hear here on your handout.

4) Now, listen to the three “разговоры” (conversations) and answer the questions. (Links below.) Don't worry that you cannot understand everything!!! Get used to it. Just jot down the responses, to the best of your ability, directly on the LL handout wherever there's room next to the corresponding questions. Remember: We listen to a lot of Russian in this class to train your ear. How can we train your ear if we only listening to stuff you understand? Here are some suggestions how to proceed:

• Read the questions in the hangout first
• Listen to the whole conversation to get the gist of it.
• Look out for words that sound familiar (the names of the US states for instance)
• Keeping the questions in mind, listen to the conversation again for more details.
• Listen one more time (3-4 times would be enough). Don't worry if you don't understand everything. (This cannot be overemphasized! 

Listen to the разговоры here: 

Разговор 1 Здравствуйте! | 

Разговор 2 Добрый день! | 

Разговор 3 Вы канадец?

5) With a partner (or me! Or the tutor! or by your lonesome dove!) read the Доброе утро dialogue on the LL handout. 

Can you read cursive above? :) It says:

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