I eat breakfast. Я завтракаю

Find your state below, and perhaps those states where your friends and relatives reside. No need to memorize the whole list-just the ones that make sense for you.
USA STATES

НАЗВАНИЯ ШТАТОВ США

We can now create a small narrative about ourselves and our families using the words we have just learned. One little Russian word meaning to be «at home» might also come in handy: дома.

Я живу и работаю в Вермонте. Я завтракаю дома, работаю в университете, читаю лекции там (there) и обедаю там. Ужинаю я дома и отдыхаю.
Мама и папа живут в Нью Йорке и во Флориде. Они не работают. Мама играет в гольф.

Брат живёт в Калифорнии. Он бизнесмен и завтракает дома, но слушает радио и работает в офисе. Там он и обедаюет. Он ужинает дома, но не отдыьает.

Сестра работает и живёт в Виргинии. Она играет в теннис и в волейбол.
You get the idea. Let's learn more about you and your circle of family and friends. The Russian word for friend is друг for a male, and females talking about another female friend use подруга.

Doing Something

Often when we perform an action, that action has an object. For example, we can read a book or newspaper, watch television, listen to a radio program or a lecture, etc. These objects of the activity are the grammatical direct objects for the verbs. In Russian we will need to identify direct objects by using the Accusative case of the noun.

You have already effortlessly acquired the Nominative case of nouns and the Prepositional case. The Accusative case has different endings according to the gender of the noun-most often identified by the ending of the noun.
Let’s review some of what we have seen.
Russian nouns can end in consonant letter. These are normally masculine: парк, Лондон, брат, муж, сын, курс, балет, телевизор.
(When we say a noun ends in a consonant we are referring to the Nominative case form, the form listed in dictionaries as primary.)
Russian nouns can also end in –о or –е. These nouns are neuter:

озеро, окно, стерео, радио.

Russian nouns that end in –а or –я are said to be femininе: дочка, музыка, группа, опера, мама, лекция, армия, организация.
A much smaller class of nouns ends in the nominative case in the soft sign, -ь. These can be either masculine or feminine and you will have to learn that fact.
Note that we are referring to “grammatical” gender. A concert or ballet is not genetically masculine, but grammatically they both are.
Now back to saying how we can listen to or read something. When I listen to or read something in Russian, this action has a direct object, i.e. something or someone upon what or whom the action is carried out. This is indicated in Russian by the Accusative case.
Я слушаю концерт. Мама слушает музыку. Папа читает газету.

Иван слушает стерео и радио.

Note that the endings for the Accusative case of masculine nouns (inanimate ones) and neuter nouns stay the same. For feminine nouns the –а ending is replaced by -у. If it is an –я it is replaced by –ю.

Nominative	концерт	музыка	песня	биология	озеро	море
Accusative	концерт	музыку	песню	биологию	озеро	море

We will discuss animate Russian masculine nouns later. But for now we can expand upon our conversation dramatically, because the Russian phrase to take a college course is to “listen to mathematics, literature, etc.”

Now think of all you can say. Let's add a few words that most of you should recognize:
биология, экономика, политика, физика, математика, литература, музыка, английский язык (language), русский язык, французский язык, химия.
Use a dictionary if you must to identify the courses you are taking this semester. Type in the courses you are taking, but remember to keep it clear and simple.
Which courses are you taking this semester? Какие курсы вы слушаете в этот семестр?
Я слушаю ___________________, ________________________,

___________________________ и _____________________________.

Now let’s look at the course of study in the Biology department of Moscow University. Don’t try to read everything, but see what courses you can find according to the “specializations.” The categories along the top are for Anthropology, Zoology, etc. Down the left hand side you’ll see what subjects must be taken. So if you want to specialize in Anthropology you will need, for example, 1-3 semesters of a foreign language, one semester of mathematics, two semesters of Mathematical methods in biology, one or two semesters of physics, etc. Copy out the words that are most relevant to your own studies. Having problems? Cut and paste into a dictionary and translate the words you need to know.

Учебные планы биологического факультета МГУ по специальностям

В таблице указаны дисциплины и курсы, на которых их проходят. Если дисциплина изучается не в течение всего курса, в скобках указан семестр (1 - осенний, 2 - весенний).

Отделение	зоолого-ботаническое (второе)			физиолого-биохимическое (первое)				био- физики
Специальности	Антро- поло- гия	Зоо- логия	Бота- ника	Физио- логия	Гене- тика	Био- химия	Микро- биоло-гия	Био- физика
Иностранный язык	1-3	1-3	1-3	1-3	1-3	1-3	1-3	1-3
Математика	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1-2
Математические методы в биологии	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Физика	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	21(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)
Аналитическая химия	--	--	--	1(2)	1(2)	1(2)	1(2)	1(2)
Физическая химия	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)	2	2	2	2	2
Органическая химия	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	1(2)-2(1)	2	2	2	2	2
Ботаника	1-2	1-2	1-2	1	1	1	1	1
Зоология	1-2(1)	1-2(1)	1-2(1)	1	1	1	1	1
Антропология	1(2)	1(2)	1(2)	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)
Эмбриология	3(1)	3(1)	--	2(2)	2(2)	2(2)	2(2)	2(2)
Генетика	2(2)	2(2)	2(2)	3(1)	2(2)	3(1)	3(1)	3(1)
Биохимия	2(2)	2(2)	2(2)	3	3	3	3	3
Микробиология	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(1)	3(1)	3	3	3(1)
Вирусология	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)
Биофизика	3(1)	3(1)	3(1)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)
Молекулярная биология	3(1)	3(1)	3(1)	4	4	4	4	4
Теория эволюции	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)	3(2)
Экология	3(1)	3(1)	3(1)	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)	2(1)
Историческая геология	1(2)	1(2)	1(2)	--	--	--	--	--
Физическое воспитание	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2	1-2
Основы микробиологии	1(1)	1(1)	1(1)	1(1)	1(1)	1(1)	1(1)	1(1)

Tired of studying,

let's listen to some music. You can check out the latest in Russian rock by going to a Russian music store here in America.

Let's take a look at some of these groups and their songs. You can also use the internet to find the words to the Russian songs that appeal to you.

What kind of music do you listen to? Какую музыку вы слушаете?
Я слушаю поп-музыку.

Вера слушает рок-музыку.

Брат слушает хип-хоп.

Папа слушает классическую музыку.

Я слушаю группу «Тату».

Я слушаю песню (the song) «Ты, только ты». (You, only you).

Поп
Рок
Шансон
Барды
Сборники
Ретро
Фольклор
Рэп / Хип-хоп
Интернешнл
Киномузыка
Классическая музыка
Музыка эмиграции
Инструментальная

Grammar summary

What have we learned about Russian grammar? Keep in mind there is and must always be a reason for a noun case or verb form. So first you have to know the reason, and then you must be able to provide the correct form.

Verbs

We have already learned the Present Tense of the First Conjugation Verbs where the stem ends in a vowel or in a consonant. Let's review

Я работаю живу в Москве.

Ты работаешь живёшь в Москве.

Она работает живёт в Москве.

Он работает живёт в Москве.

Мы работаем живём в Москве.

Вы работаете живёте в Москве.

Они работают живут в Москве.
Note, that the choice between the е and the letter ё is dictated solely on the basis of where the stress falls. If the stress is on the ending, then you must use ё .
Make up a verb card for every verb you have learned so far. On a three by five index card list the forms this way.
Завтракать

To eat breakfast

Я завтракаю. Мы завтракаем.

Ты завтракаешь. Вы завтракаете.

Он, она завтракает. Они завтракают.
Nouns
As for the nouns, we have learned that nouns have a grammatical gender: masculine, neuter or feminine. We have already seen three cases. The Nominative case or the naming case is the dictionary form and also used as the subject in the sentence. It is marked by a consonant ending, an ending in -о or –е, or –а and –я, The Prepositional case ending occurs only after a preposition. The ending for most nouns is –е, which is added to the consonant of masculine nouns, or replaces the –о,-е, а, -я of neuter and feminine nouns. If a noun ends in –и after removing a final vowel, then we add –и. This works for nouns like армия, здание. Finally we have learned the Accusative case, used for direct objects. For masculine nouns that are inanimate, and for neuter nouns, the endings of the accusative case are identical to those of the Nominative case. For feminine nouns, the –а is replaced with –у, and the –я is replaced with –ю.
Look at the simplified table below.

Nominative	концерт	музей	озеро	море	здание	музыка	песня	армия
Prepositional	концерте	музее	озере	море	здание	музыке	песне	армии
Accusative	концерт	музей	озеро	море	здание	музыку	песню	армию

A few notes оn the grammar to date, that may not be so obvious.

Russian does not need a verb “to be” (am, is, are) in the present tense to connect two nouns, or a pronoun and a noun. In writing we often use a long dash to indicate the absence of the forms for “to be.”
I am a professor. Я — профессор.

Mama is a ballerina. Мама — балерина.

Some things that are logically masculine look like and behave like feminine nouns. Vanya, a boy, in Russian “Ваня,” and papa in Russian “папа,” will have an Accusative case like any other feminine noun.
Брат и сестра слушают маму и папу.
When we replace a normal feminine noun with a pronoun она, it is used for things actually feminine and a feminine noun like опера.
Что это? Это опера. Где она? В театре.

Кто это? Это папа. Где он. В парке.

Need a job?

Take a look at the job listings below and write out which jobs you might apply for. Note the difference in salaries (provided in dollars) between foreign firms, major Russian corporations, and local businesses in the town of Nizhny Novgorod.

Название позиции, $	филиалы иностранных компаний, $	Филиалы российских компаний, $	Крупные нижегородские компании, $
Глава компании/ филиала	1500-2500	800-2500	До 1500
Директор по продажам	1000-1500	500-1500	До 1000
Региональный менеджер	1000-2000	800-1300	-
Директор по маркетингу	1500	1000	500-1000
Директор по персоналу	800-1500	500-1000	От 300
Финансовый директор	1500-2000	1000-1500	До 1000
Главный бухгалтер	1000-1200	1000-1200	500-800
Технический директор	600-1500	400-1000	От 300
Администра- тивный директор	600-1000	600-1000	От 300