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Welcome
to episode 5 of Learn Russian
Pronunciation. A lot of pronunciation courses, at some point, teach
you tongue twisters. Although there’s some value in trying to
pronounce them, they’re usually not very useful phrases. Right? I
mean, how often do you find yourself saying, Rubber baby buggy
bumpers. Or: She sells seashells by the seashore.

So,
instead of a tongue twister, let’s try to master the longest word in
conversational Russian. This is an actual word, used all the
time…especially in the domain of Russian tourism. Listen:

достопримечательности

For
the record that word has twenty-one letters. Here are just the first
two syllables:

до-сто
(“duh-stuh”)

We’re
going to learn it in four small chunks like that. And to make it sink
in, I’m going to mix in review from previous episodes. Because that’s
how memory works. You need delays between re-testing of new material.
Before getting to that review, though…What were those first two
syllables?

Started
with a ‘D’…..до-сто

Good.
And here are the next two:

при-ме
(“pre-myeh”)

So
putting the first two parts together we have: до-сто–при-ме

And
to get it fast, we can use the Consonant-vowel separation technique
from the previous episode.

Right?
We flatten all the vowels: duh-stuh-pruh-muh

Hit
pause. Try to get that fast. Now let’s alternate. Just the
consonants, and then we’ll being in the vowels.

duh-stuh-pruh-muh

duh-stuh-pre-myeh

Excellent.
Okay, now here’s our review. So…Imagine you’ve just woken
up. How should you greet your roommate?

Доброе
утро.

You’re
just had lunch with a friend and are parting ways. What’s the Russian
equivalent for “See you later?”

До
встречи.

Literally…what?
Until the meeting.

And
getting back to today’s new word…What did we learn of it so far? It
started with a “duh” sound.

досто-приме

More
review. Quick, what’s the Russian word for toy?

Игрушка

And
again, today’s new word? The first half of it, anyway.

досто-приме

Alright.
Now here’s the next part: ча-тель (“chah-til”)

And
the final two syllables are: но-сти

So
the second half was: чатель–ности

Let’s
again focus on the consonants by flattening the vowels:
chuh-tuh-nust-uh

Hit
pause and try that on your own.

Notice
just for fluency purposes I’m dropping the “L” from
чатель….

So
anyway, let’s get that going….chuh-tuh-nust-uh…then let’s bring
in the vowels…чательности

And
what was the first half again?

достоприме…….

And
the second half:

….чательности

So,
altogether now: достопримечательности

Phew!
Now, what in heck does that word mean? Well, in New York City, the
Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central
Park…those are just some of that city’s достопримечательности.

Can
you tell me what the достопримечательности are
in London? You have Buckingham palace, the Tower of London, Big Ben,
the parliament building.

So,
how would you translate the word достопримечательности?
It’s “the main tourist sites”

Quick
sidetrack here. The word meaning “center” as in, the city
center, the downtown area of a city…that word in Russian is a
cognate. But it starts with a “ts” sound like at the end of
the word “hits.” Listen?

центр

And
to say “in the center” it’s this: в
центре

There’s
a little “yeh” sound at the end.

So,
with that in mind, imagine I’ve told the desk clerk in my hotel that
I intend to see all the sights today. Сегодня
я собираюсь увидеть все достопримечательности.

She
might tell me…

Все
достопримечательности находятся в
центре.

Can
you translate what she said? Listen again:

All
the main tourist sites are located in the center.

Let’s
do some more translating.

мальчик.

boy

игрушка

toy

доброе
утро

Good
morning

добрый
день

Good
day

Where
is the cashier located?

Где
находится касса?

Меня
зовут Полина.

Me
they call Polina…in normal English: My name is Polina.

Tell
her: Very pleasant…as in, It’s very pleasant to meet you.

Очень
приятно

You
need to go but you’ll see her later. What do you say?

До
встречи

And
finally, in Moscow: Lenin’s tomb, Red Square, St. Basil’s
church….these are some of the…

what’s
the word?

достопримечательности

Alright, I’ll see you in the next episode. And in the meantime, if you want to focus on your conversational Russian skills, be sure to get my Russian Made Easy podcast.