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Welcome
to episode 7 of Learn Russian Pronunciation. Today we’re going to
learn a sneaky little trick, a pronunciation hack, I guess they’d
call it, to help with a very common Russian word. I call it a whisper
vowel. So here’s the word we’ll be focusing on today: нравится

It
starts with an N – R combination. It’s very hard, for me, anyway,
to jump from pure silence, directly into that N sound. So I add a
whisper vowel in front of it. The sound “ih”.

Like
this: ih-nravitsa.

It’s
just for practice, so I can get a feel for the word. Then I alternate
back and forth. Like this:
ih-nravitsa…нравится….ih-nravitsa…нравится

What
does the word mean? It’s very tempting just to tell you the
translation, but again, that would be lazy teaching…and it’s not
the best way for you to really grasp the word. These examples are
gonna be a little awkward, but let’s just see what translation you
come up with. So…This woman…

(audio
clip)

I
find her voice very mellifluous. I love listening to it. But this guy
(annoying guy from Independence Day)…Ugh, his voice, to me, is not
nravitsa.

Or
this example: I find mushrooms disgusting. But onions, to me, are
very nravitsa.

Tricky,
isn’t it? Almost every course out there will translate нравится
as “like”. That is:

I
like pizza. – Мне нравится пицца.

And
I am telling you, that is not correct. Because the word literally
translates as “is pleasing.”

Pizza
to me is pleasing.

Пицца
мне нравится.

It’s
much more commonly phrased this way: To me….is
pleasing….whatever.

To
me is pleasing soup.

Мне
нравится суп.

Yes,
if I’m interpreting for someone, of course I’ll use normal English
and translate it as: I like soup.

But
to speak Russian grammatically, you have to think the way they think.
And with this verb, нравится…you’re
not “liking” anything. It is the food—or whatever it
is—that’s doing the action. The pizza is pleasing to you.

This
is called Super-Literal Translation. It’s an absolutely vital step in
trying to learn the language. So basically, here’s the process: I
want to tell say: I like rice. But before saying anything in
Russian, you have to think of the Super Literal way that Russians
phrase that idea, which is: To me…is pleasing…rice. And that is
the version that we then translate from: Мне….нравится…рис.

Again, this course is meant to focus on pronunciation issues, which is why I keep directing you my other, conversational courses like Russian Made Easy or my online video course, called Russian Accelerator. Because in those courses, I give you the SLT—the super literal translation—of every single phrase, training you to think in Russian. So be sure to check those out…but for now, let’s get back to our word of the day. Try to say: To me…is pleasing…football.

Мне
нравится футбол.

I
like basketball.

Мне
нравится баскетбол.

Try
not to pause between your words. Remember, that’s what fluency is all
about. No pauses.

So
not this: Мне. Нравится. Бокс. But
instead…Мне-нравится-бокс…Like
it’s one long word. Бокс by the way,
is the sport of boxing.

Alright,
let’s do some review. Ask your friend: Pavel was in the bank?

Павел
был в банке?

Change
Pavel to Maria.

Мария
была в банке?

Did
you add that ‘a’ to the end of the verb—была–because
Maria is a woman? That was our big vowel from the last episode,
right? Ы And do you remember the formal
way to say “you” in Russian?

Вы

Good.
And the version you’d use with friends?

Ты

Imagine
that a man is about to introduce himself. Listen?

Меня
зовут Игорь.

Repeat
his name and add, Very pleasant.

Игорь?
Очень приятно.

So
let’s use that word очень…(which
means “very.”) In normal English, I might say: I really
like tennis. In Russian, they would would phrase that idea like this:
To me very pleasing tennis. Listen…

Мне
очень нравится теннис.

Try
to say: I really like soccer. That is: To me very pleasing
football.

Мне
очень нравится футбол.

Remember,
keep that sound flowing. No pauses, especially not between очень
and нравится. If you want
to pause for effect, you could do this: Мне…ОЧЕНЬ
нравится.

Now
the word очень ends with a soft-sign.
So let’s compare. Let’s take away the soft-sign…

очен
(that’s not a word in Russian)

And
now, properly, with a soft-sign at the end: очень

Again,
side by side: No soft-sign: очен

And
with it…. очень

It’s
almost like the first “n” in the word onion. (slowly)
onion…There’s a nyeh sound. Listen again: очень

So,
imagine you’re at a Russian friend’s house having dinner. What do you
think she’s asking you:

Тебе
нравится суп?

To
you is leasing the soup? In other words, do you like the soup?

Say:
Yes. Very. Да. Очень.

Let’s
try that again. Тебе нравится салат?

To
you is pleasing the salad?

Say:
Yes. Very.

A
little more review from earlier episodes. What’s the Russian word for
‘boy’?

мальчик

And
the word for ‘toy’?

игрушка

And
speaking of rolled R’s…How do you greet someone in the morning?

доброе
утро

Quick
question—answer this in Russian: What’s the capital of Italy?

Рим

And
speaking of that city: The Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum, the
Pantheon…those are just a few of the….what’s the word?

достопримечательности

Say:
I really like Rome. Lit: To me very pleasing Rome.

Мне
очень нравится Рим.

I
really like Berlin.

Мне
очень нравится Берлин.

Alright.
Keep up the great work, and I’ll see you in Episode #8.