Anyone with a mixed family heritage that is the product of emigration over the last few generations may find it hard to describe their национа́льность. Look at the map below to find out about the grandparents of our students.
Soviet-period nationality policies defined Jews евре́й / евре́йка / евре́и as a национа́льность rather than solely as a religious identiy. To some extent this was a function of pre-Revolutionary discriminatory attitudes and practices against Jews that continued to manifest themselves in the 20th century in the USSR. The tendency to distinguish евре́и from other национа́льности persisted, and this is why the description of Josh’s grandfather uses an adjective-noun combination to indicate his origins.
Unlike Soviet passports (which listed национа́льность as the fifth item after surname, name, patronymic and date of birth), Russian Federation passports no longer record this information.
In the USSR smaller cities would often have telephone numbers consisting of only five or six digits. These days cities with shorter numbers usually have digits added at the front end to the city code, so that all these number are six or seven digits; this is the case in both Yaroslavl' and Irkutsk.
When Russians dictate phone numbers to each other, they may read them individually (оди́н-четы́ре-три-пять-семь-шесть-де́вять), but they may group them by twos or threes instead (one hundred forty-three, fifty-seven, sixty-nine).
You have already had some practice understanding two-digit numbers. If you need to review here is a link.
Help Josh and Caitlin check for accuracy the list of important phone numbers that they jotted down on the first day. You will hear each number in groups of two digits. Mouse over the answer you thing that you hear.
As you can see in the table, the numerals 50, 60, 70 and 80 are quite regularly formed and end in "-десят" ("tens"). Two of the new numbers do not resemble other numbers you have seen: 40 and 100. Listen to all of them carefully, noting how the words' stressed syllables affect vowel reduction. To make compound forms like 61 or 75, just say the single digit right after the double digit number.
| 40 | со́рок | |
| 50 | пятьдеся́т | = пять x деся́т (5 tens) |
| 60 | шестьдеся́т | = шесть x деся́т (6 tens) |
| 70 | се́мьдесят | = се́мь x деся́т (7 tens) |
| 80 | во́семьдесят | = во́семь x деся́т (8 tens) |
| 90 | девяно́сто | |
| 100 | сто |
Listen to the speaker read a numeral and choose which of the three listed you hear. Mouse over to check your answer.
| 1. | 86 | 16 | 68 |
| 2. | 17 | 47 | 48 |
| 3. | 39 | 93 | 19 |
| 4. | 84 | 48 | 18 |
| 5. | 83 | 13 | 38 |
| 6. | 52 | 25 | 32 |
| 7. | 92 | 19 | 29 |
| 8. | 23 | 33 | 13 |
| 9. | 76 | 67 | 56 |
| 10. | 124 | 142 | 114 |
| 11. | 159 | 119 | 195 |
| 12. | 136 | 163 | 160 |
You will hear a sequence of two numbers (for example: “21, 134”). Listen and then choose the correct sequence from the list.
| 1. | 43 94 | 94 43 |
| 2. | 75 85 | 85 75 |
| 3. | 36 56 | 56 36 |
| 4. | 89 98 | 98 89 |
| 5. | 64 46 | 46 64 |
| 6. | 57 17 | 17 57 |
| 7. | 18 78 | 78 18 |
| 8. | 46 47 | 47 46 |
| 9. | 192 122 | 122 192 |
| 10. | 135 153 | 153 135 |
| 11. | 79 119 | 119 79 |
| 12. | 82 128 | 128 82 |
Of our four students, Josh is the one who likes fast food, and he was curious about the Russian Макдо́налдс. He decided to visit one of the firm's many branches in Moscow before heading off to Irkutsk. Listen to the prices and then mouse over the item to check your answer.
