Russian Lessons: Time Schedule

 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any 
manner whatsoever without written permission received from the author. 

---

2 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
 
Chapter Title 
 
Page 
Introduction. My Approach to Language Teaching 
 
4 
SUBJECT 1.
Russian Alphabet and Basic Grammar Principles 
 
9 
SUBJECT 2.
What Is Your Name? or How Are You Called? 
17 
SUBJECT 3.
Greetings, Polite Expressions, Introductions 
30 
SUBJECT 4.
 
Time and Space 
 
46 
SUBJECT 5.
 
Climate & Weather 
 
63 
SUBJECT 6.
Home and Family 
 
77 
SUBJECT 7.
Education 
 
96 
SUBJECT 8.
Work 
 
113 
SUBJECT 9. 
Public Transport 
 
139 
SUBJECT 10. 
Taxi and Private Cars 
 
152 
SUBJECT 11.
Post Service, Letters and Telephone Conversations 
 
174 
SUBJECT 12 
Outpatient Medical Service 
192 

---

3 
Chapter Title 
 
Page 
SUBJECT 13.
Hospitals 
 
 
212 
SUBJECT 14.
Shopping 
 
232 
SUBJECT 15.
Insurance 
 
 
252 
SUBJECT 16. 
Barbershop, Bathhouse, Laundry 
 
261 
SUBJECT 17 
Public Signs and Notices 
 
284 
SUBJECT 18 
Manners, Traditions and Superstitions 
 
289 
SUBJECT 19 
Mnemonic Rules in Russian Life and Language 
 
302 
SUBJECT 20 
100 Most Popular Russian Proverbs, Idioms, Quotations, And Other 
Catch Phrases 
 
317 
SUBJECT 21
Playful Linguistics
 
331 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

---

4 
 
INTRODUCTION. MY APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING
  
The lessons I offer are not conventional lessons of the Russian language. And not only 
because they will be conducted outside of a traditional classroom, with a teacher and a 
student separated perhaps by many thousands of kilometers. These lessons are not 
only about language, they are about many other things. 
My lessons are for anyone who is interested in the Russian language and life. First and 
foremost, the lessons are aimed at people who are going to Russia (either for business 
or pleasure).
Then there could be a significant category of those “teach-yourself” 
people who do not have immediate travel plans, but nonetheless are curious 
about Russia, its culture and history. And even college and university teachers of 
Russian with their rigorous approach to language study may still recommend my 
lessons to their students as a very helpful (and at the same time absorbing) 
supplement.
Most people, I presume, begin to study a foreign language not only because, for one 
reason or another, they want to be able to read, write, speak and understand this 
language. They are also interested in the culture, traditions, customs and habits of the 
people speaking the language. My lessons will try to satisfy such curious 
people. Introducing them to various sides of life in Russia, this course will put the 
student in different practical situations, as if he/she were living in that country. 

---

5 
I anticipate your questions: "How about the grammar? Will we study Russian Grammar? 
And if not, is it possible to learn a foreign language without knowing grammar?" 
May be it is indeed possible to avoid learning grammar. When you speak or write in 
your own language, you don't think about the grammar. You may not know that English 
verbs have 26 tenses and perhaps will be very surprised when you hear about this for 
the first time in your life. And how are all these tenses formed? I doubt if many of you 
have even thought about it. For you it is just natural: English language was with you 
from your birth. You just know how to speak. And to speak correctly, you do not need to 
know the structure and rules of your language. 
However, for a foreign student (unless he/she is a child), the process of learning is far 
from automatic and natural. You may learn by heart many words and some phrases of 
another language. But to use this language more or less properly, you need to know 
some grammar in order to build sentences which can be understood and appreciated by 
a native speaker. 
The grammar is certainly important. But one should not overestimate it. When I was a 
school boy, one of the subjects we studied at school was foreign language. It was a 
compulsory subject - as every other subject studied in Soviet Schools. In our school the 
foreign language was German. We studied this language for 8 years in a row (2 
one-hour lessons a week). 

---

6 
Still, in the end, even our best students could not boast that they could speak German. 
We knew German grammar, we could read German texts and translate them into 
Russian, but none of us could speak even limited German or understand it by ear. 
And the same system existed in nearly all Soviet schools (certainly, there were some 
exceptions: in a big city, such as Leningrad, among several hundred ordinary schools 
for ordinary children you could find a dozen or two of so called Special Schools where at 
least some subjects were taught in a foreign language). 
You can rightfully ask, why so obviously an ineffective system of learning foreign 
languages existed in so many schools for so many years. The answer will sound for you 
as an anecdote, but it was true. Until 1956, when Khrushchev denounced Stalin's 
personality cult, any foreign language textbook in its introduction emphasized the 
greatness of Stalin's works in the sphere of linguistics. They cited the famous words of 
comrade Stalin about Grammar, where he said that Grammar is the essence and the 
most important part of any language, and therefore students learning a foreign language 
should first and foremost master the Grammar. And we did it, but still never managed to 
master the language itself. 
When in January 1980 I arrived in New Zealand, I decided not to follow the doubtful 
wisdom of comrade Stalin and try to learn English in a completely different, practical 
way. From my very first days in this country I tried to do everything by myself: reading 
all sorts of mysterious (and in most cases useless for me) information inserted in my 

---

7 
letter box, going to the post office or the bank, filling in a Tax Return form and so on, 
and so on. And of course I needed somehow to communicate at my work place with 
more fortunate people, who happened to be born in an English speaking country. As an 
assistant engineer I had to read and write, talk face to face, and over the phone. 
Talking over the phone was for a long time my most depressing experience. Actually I 
began to shake uncontrollably each time when the telephone rang, and the aftershocks 
still continued for a long time after I hung up. 
Sure, I would have felt myself much more secure and comfortable studying at some 
intensive course of English language. But, apart from the obvious necessity to work in 
order to support myself and my family, I wanted to adjust to my new life as quickly as 
possible. I wanted to feel myself independent in everything. And there was only one way 
to achieve this: to try to do everything by myself, while overcoming the difficulties of a 
new language and solving numerous problems of everyday practical situations. 
And I think my determination paid off: soon I was able to do a job which required good 
communication skills, especially in writing. I was also able to teach English as a second 
language in Community Evening Classes. And the fact that I am writing this course now, 
hopefully, speaks for itself. 
I hope you have been persuaded by my own experience, and will agree, that the best 
way of studying a foreign language is to make the emphasis on practical situations. 

---

8 
Therefore, I will tell you in the beginning of this course only the basic principles of 
Russian Grammar in comparison with English ones. And then lesson by lesson (which 
are called here Subjects), using our creative imagination, we will put ourselves in 
different practical situations, as though we were living in Russia. 
Thus, your study of the language will not be passive. On the contrary, it will be very 
active, because I want you to be involved as much as possible: you should read and 
write, listen to Russian language broadcasts, and try to talk in Russian loudly with 
yourself or even better with somebody else. Do not worry about mistakes. Step by step, 
depending on your determination and time involved, you will increase your vocabulary, 
you will improve your spelling and pronunciation, and you will become more and more 
fluent in Russian which, as I hope you will find by yourself, is a difficult but at the same 
time a very rich and fascinating language. 
Obviously, all our imagined practical situations will serve not only the purpose of 
learning the language, but also will give you an opportunity to become familiar with the 
everyday life, culture and traditions of people living in Russia. Engrossing ourselves in 
these situations, we will not reject the grammar completely. But we will not study 
grammar for the sake of grammar. We will come back to grammar time and again, when 
we feel that we need it to explain the origin of a word, its spelling or the sentence 
structure - in general terms, wherever it can help us in our study. This approach is not 
only practical, but it will also save us a lot of time for much more exciting, colorful and 
useful discussions. 

---

9