Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 What You''re Not to Read 3 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 4 Part 1: Getting Started 4 Part 2: Russian in Action 4 Part 3: Russian on the Go 4 Part 4: The Part of Tens 4 Appendixes 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 Beyond the Book 6 Where to Go from Here 6 Part 1: Getting Started 7 Chapter 1: Russian in a Nutshell 9 Discovering How Easy the Russian Alphabet Really Is 9 Tackling Basic Grammar 10 Easing into Common Expressions 11 Counting on Numbers, Times, and Measurements 11 Speaking Russian around the House 12 Using Russian in Social Scenarios 13 Starting conversations 13 Finding your way around 13 Eating out and buying food 14 Going shopping 14 Exploring entertainment opportunities 14 Doing business and communicating 15 Enjoying sports, hobbies, recreation, and more 15 Getting a Handle on Travel Topics 15 Chapter 2: Checking Out the Russian Alphabet 17 Recognizing Russian Letters (It''s Easier Than You Think) 18 Introducing the entire alphabet 18 I know you!: Familiar-looking, same-sounding letters 22 Playing tricks: Familiar-looking, different-sounding letters 22 How bizarre: Weird-looking letters 23 Sounding Like a Real Russian with Proper Pronunciation 25 Understanding the one-letter-one-sound principle 25 Giving voice to vowels 26 Enunciating consonants correctly 28 Surveying sticky sounds 30 Chapter 3: Warming Up with Russian Grammar Basics 33 Beginning with Nouns and Pronouns 34 Defining a noun''s gender 34 Making a noun plural 35 Replacing nouns with pronouns 36 The Case of Russian Cases: What Are They For? 37 The nominative case 39 The genitive case 39 The accusative case 40 The dative case 41 The instrumental case 41 The prepositional case 42 Putting Nouns and Pronouns in the Correct Cases 42 Checking out cases for singular nouns 42 Trying your hand at changing the case of a singular noun 44 Putting plurals in proper cases 45 Trying your hand at putting nouns into plural cases 47 Perusing the correct cases of pronouns 48 Decorating Your Speech with Adjectives 49 Making sure that adjectives and nouns agree 49 Adding Action with Verbs 54 Spotting infinitives 54 Living in the present tense 55 Describing action in the present tense 55 Talking about the past tense 56 Planning for the future tense 57 Using the unusual verb "to be" 58 Expressing possession with a special phrase 60 Helping yourself with modal verbs 60 Providing Extra Details with Adverbs 61 Describing how 61 Describing when and how often 62 Constructing Sentences Like a Pro 62 Enjoying the freedom of word order 62 Creating a Russian sentence step by step 63 Connecting with conjunctions 64 Forming questions 64 Chapter 4: Getting Started with Basic Expressions 67 To Whom Am I Speaking?: Being Informal or Formal 67 Comings and Goings: Saying Hello and Goodbye 68 Saying hello to different people 68 Greeting folks at any time of day 69 Handling "How are you?" 69 Taking your leave 70 The Name Game: Deciphering Russian Names 71 Breaking the Ice: Making Introductions 72 Getting acquainted 73 Introducing yourself 73 Introducing your friends, family, and colleagues 74 You Can Say That Again: Using Popular Expressions 76 Speaking courteously 76 Excusing yourself 77 Arming yourself with other handy phrases 77 Talking about Talking: The Verb "To Speak" 78 Chapter 5: Getting Your Numbers, Times, and Measurements Straight 81 One by One: Counting in Russian 81 From zero to ten 82 From 11 to 19 82 From 20 to 99 83 From 100 to 999 84 From 1,000 to beyond 84 Special rules for counting things and people 85 Ordinal numbers 86 The Clock''s Ticking: Telling (and Asking About) Time 87 Counting the hours 88 Marking the minutes 88 Distinguishing day and night 89 Understanding the 24-hour clock 90 Asking for the time 90 It''s a Date!: Checking Out the Calendar 92 Naming the days of the week 92 Talking about time relative to the present 93 Mentioning months and seasons 94 Delving into dates 95 Saying years 95 The Long and Short of It: Familiarizing Yourself with Metric Measurements 98 Chapter 6: Speaking Russian at Home 101 Taking a Tour of Your Home 101 The kitchen 102 The dining room 103 The living room 104 The bedroom 105 The bathroom 105 The laundry room 106 The garage 106 Home Is Where the Food Is 109 Get cookin'': The verb "to cook" 109 Eat up: The verb "to eat" 110 Drink up: The verb "to drink" 110 Enjoying different meals 111 Describing your food and drink preferences with the verb "to like" 112 Engaging in Daily Activities 115 Discussing your household chores 115 Talking about all the places you go 115 Bantering about bedtime activities 116 Part 2: Russian in Action 119 Chapter 7: Getting to Know You: Making Small Talk 121 Let Me Tell You Something: Talking about Yourself 122 Stating where you''re from 122 Talking about your nationality and ethnicity 123 Giving your age 127 Discussing your family 127 Telling what you do for a living 129 I''m Sorry!: Explaining that You Don''t Understand Something 132 Let''s Get Together: Giving and Receiving Contact Information 132 Chapter 8: Asking for Directions 137 Using "Where" and "How" Questions 137 Asking where a place is 138 Inquiring how to get to a place 139 The Next Step: Understanding Specific Directions 140 Making sense of commands in the imperative mood 140 Listening for prepositions 141 Keeping "right" and "left" straight 141 Going here and there 144 Traveling near and far 146 Chapter 9: Dining Out and Going to the Market 149 Eating Out in Russia 149 Finding a place to eat 149 Making reservations on the phone 150 Ordering a meal 151 Having handy phrases for the wait staff 152 Receiving and paying the bill 153 Going Out for Groceries 155 Meats and fish 155 Fruits and vegetables 156 Dairy products and eggs 157 Baked goods 157 A Russian tradition: Hot cereal 158 Beverages 158 Chapter 10: Shopping Made Easy 163 Shopping with Confidence: The Verb "To Buy" 164 So Many Stores, So Little Time: The Shopping Scene in Russia 165 Looking at different types of stores and merchandise 165 Finding out when a store is open 167 Navigating a department store 168 You Are What You Wear: Shopping for Clothes 170 Seeking specific items of clothing and accessories 170 Describing items in color 172 Finding the right size 172 Trying on clothing 173 This or That? Deciding What You Want 174 Using demonstrative pronouns 174 Comparing two items 175 Talking about what you like most (or least) 176 You Gotta Pay to Play: Buying Items 176 How much does it cost? 176 I''ll take it! How do I pay? 177 Chapter 11: Going Out on the Town 181 Together Wherever We Go: Making Plans to Go Out 181 On the Big Screen: Going to the Movies 183 Picking a particular type of movie 184 Buying tickets 184 Choosing a place to sit and watch 185 It''s Classic: Taking in the Russian Ballet and Theater 188 Culture Club: Visiting a Museum 190 How Was It?: Talking about Entertainment 191 Chapter 12: Taking Care of Business and Telecommunications 195 Looking Around Your Office 195 Indispensable office supplies 196 Rooms around the office 197 Simple office etiquette 197 Ringing Up Telephone Basics 198 Brushing up on phone vocabulary 198 Distinguishing different types of phones 199 Knowing different kinds of phone calls 199 Dialing the Number and Making the Call 200 Arming Yourself with Basic Telephone Etiquette 201 Saving time by not introducing yourself 201 Asking for the person you want to speak to 202 Anticipating different responses 202 Leaving a message with a person 206 Talking to an answering machine 209 Using a Computer 209 Familiarizing yourself with computer terms 210 Sending email 211 Sending Correspondence 211 Chapter 13: Recreation and the Great Outdoors 215 Shootin'' the Breeze about Recreational Plans 215 What did you do last night? 216 What are you doing this weekend? 217 What do you like to do? 218 Surveying the World of Sports 219 Listing a few popular sports 220 Using the verb "to play" 220 Talking about other athletic activities 221 Reading All about It 223 Talking about what you''re reading 223 Discussing genres 224 Sounding Off about Music 227 Taking note of a few popular in.