ASKING FOR AND UNDERSTANDING DIRECTIONS

You will leam

• to ask where places are
• and how to get to them
• to understand directions
and there will be some information and advice about public
transportation

Before you begin

A word of advice: when a person gives you directions, it is unlikely that you
you will understand every word. But remember, you don't need to! You want
the gist, the crucial words which will tell you where to go.

Study guide

-- Dialogues I, 2: listen without the book

Dialogues I, 2: listen, read and study one by one

---
Practise what you have learned
Dialogues 3, 4: listen without the book
Dialogues 3, 4: listen, read and study one by one

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Practise what you have learned
Dialogues 5-7: listen without the book
Dialogues 5-7: listen, read and study one by one

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Practise what you have learned
Study the Key words and phrases
Study the Grammar section carefully

--
Do the exercises in Read and understand
Read Did you know?
Do the exercises in Your turn to speak
Listen to all the dialogues once again straight through

H. Coynash, Russian
UNITS 97
© Halya Coynash and Brian Hill 1993
 Dialogues
n Lyena
Passer-by
1 Lyena is looking for a post office
BbI He CKIDKeTe, rne 3neCb n6'1Ta?
n6'ITa 'Iepe3 nop6ry.
Lyena CnacH60.
Passer-by nO)l{arryHcTa.
3~ecb here, in the vicinity nOqTa post office

• BM He cKIl)l{eTe••• ? you couldn't tell me ... could you? Like Bbl He 3HaeTe... ?, this is a way of
mellowing a request for information.
• qepe3,nop6ry across the road. Some other common answers to listen for are (the embarrassing)
nOQTa piI,nOM 'the post office is next door' and nOQTa 3a yrJloM 'the post office is around the

n
comer'.

2 Ira wants to get to the Arbat

Ira )leBYIIIKM, M3BMHIITe, rrO)KarrYHCTa, BbI He rrO)lCKIDKere, KaK rrpoHTlf Ha Ap6llT?
Young woman npiIMO M 'Iepe3 nepex6n.
Ira A :3TO n6nro?
Young woman HeT, rne-TO TPM MHHYTbl.
Ira TPH MHHYTbl. A Bbl He cKIDKeTe, TaM Hax6)lHTCj/ )lOM-MY3eH nYIIIKMHa?
Young woman )la, :3TO KBapTHpa nj/T ... )lOM H6Mep nj/TbneciIT TPH.
Ira lliTb)leciIT TPH, )la? CnacH60 6onblII6e, H3BHHHTe.
Young woman He 3a 'ITo.
Ap6aT a famous street in Moscow KBapTitpa apartment
nepexo,n subway He 3a QTO don't mention it
TaM there: the opposite of 3neCb
,nOM-MYleil TIywKHHa house-museum in
which the poet Pushkin lived for a while

• ,neBywKH girls. The age at which this word ceases to be appropriate would be difficult to fix.
H3BHHllTe, nO:lKaJlYHcTa excuse me please. and a smile work just as well and will never offend!
• BM He no,nCKa)l{eTe ••• ? There's little difference between this question and BM He CKa:lKeTe..• ?
• KaK npOHTlt Ha Ap6liT? How do I get to Arbat? You can use KaK npoHTH ••• ? in asking how to
get anywhere on foot.
Everybody knows what Ap61iT is, but usually the place you are looking for will be called YJlHna
street, npocneKT avenue or nJlOma,nb square. You might. for example. ask:
KaK npoHTH... How do I get. ..
Ha YJlHny .uOCToeBcKoro? to Dostoevsky street?
Ha npocneKT MHpa? to 'Peace' avenue?
Ha nJlOma,nb TIywKHHa? to Pushkin square?·
(See also the grammar section on page 105.)
• npiIMo H Qepe3 nepexo~ straight ahead and through the subway. Other words you should listen
out for are HanpaBo to the right and HaJleBO to the left. A series of instructions may be connected
by nOToM next.
• 3TO ~oJlro? will it take long? A rough translation since Ira's question is telegraphic. omitting
all but the key word. The woman replies in similar fashion:
r~e-TO TpH MHHYTbl around three minutes.

• TaM HaxonHTCj/ ,nOM-MYleH TIywKHHa? is the Pushkin house-museum there? If the place you
are looking for is a fair distance away, you can ask r,ne Haxo~HTcj/ ••. ? where is ... located?
• KBapTHpa apartment. The woman begins to say apartment No .... then corrects herself. It is in
fact ,nOM nj/Tb~eciIT TpH house No. 53.

98 UNIT 8