Moscow

[benlehman]

I've arrived in Moscow. After a miserable arrival, I ate some really good food, toured red square, and am having a good time. I bought a digital camera in Helsinki, so I'll upload some pictures (and post my train journals) when I get a chance to connect my laptop to the internet, but that might very well be a long, long while.

I'm in Moscow for a couple of days. My train to Irkutsk leaves 11:30 tuesday night. 80 hour train ride. Wish me luck, unless you don't like me, in which case, please don't wish me harm!

Comments

[blankedyblank.livejournal.com]

Good luck.

I thought of a good pectapah word: vkoosna. It means tasty. It is the word they use to praise food.

oh-chen means very. plo-ha means bad (use flegm when you say the last sylable. sometimes it's transliterated plocha. It is a sound we don't have in english.

Actually there is a website, a very good one, that has little recordings of pronounciations of Russian words and sounds. If only I could remember...

nee znayoo means I don't know. ya nee panymayoo (rooskava yazika) means I don't understand (the russian language).

Have fun! Wish I was there!

[russiandude.livejournal.com]

Well, just to clarify on that and maybe get the pronounciation a little closer to the russian:

vkoosno = tasty.
Ochen = very. The n is very much like the spanish ñ The O is an "oh" sound.

A very common way to praise food is to say, "Ochen vkoosno."

Horosho = good.
Ploho = bad. The "h" sound (in both words) is hard to describe - it is like the ch in the German acht.

Ne = not. The n is yet again like a ñ, the e is sort of like an "eh" sound.

Ya = I/me.

Spasibo = thank you.
Izviniteh = Excuse me/sorry. Think of this as usually being used in an immediate apologizing/polite context. "Excuse me, can you ... / I am sorry I just did that."

Etoh = this.
Toh = that.

Tualet = bathroom.

Gde = Where
Kto = Who
Chto = What

Da = yes
Nyet = no

Privet = Hi
Poka = Bye

Expressions:
Menya zovut ... = My name is.
Ya hochu ... = I want ... (here the ch is a regular ch sound).
... kushat/est = ... to eat (either word works)
... pit = to drink (the t is soft, hard for me to explain)


Ya ne znayoo = I do not know.
Ya ne ponimayoo = I do not understand.
Ya ne ponyal [eto] = I did not understand [that].
Ya ne govoryu po russki = I do not speak russian.
Ya ploho govoryu po russki = I speak russian badly.

Please ask me anything else you think you need to know.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Anything that I should eat?

yrs--
--Ben

[russiandude.livejournal.com]

Well everything :) I can't think of anything you should not eat - just ask to try russian food as much as possible.

In case anyone tries to get you to eat a hamburger, explain that

Ya hochu kushat russkuyu yedu. = I want to eat Russian food.