A Few Useful Russian Phrases – Phonetically Spelt Of Course!!

This will no doubt increase in size, but here are some very basic phonetically spelt words and phrases to get you through the first few days…..hmmm, well first few minutes of arriving in Ukraine/Odessa.  They are in no particular order:

Skolka – How much?

Ya nee gavaroo pa Ruski – I don’t speak Russian

Nee poinial/Nee panimeyeish – I don’t understand

Toilet – Toilet

G’dear – Where

Kak-da – When

Kak – How

Leever – Left

Prava – Right

Preimer – Straight

Ulitza – Street

Daroga – Road

Telephone – Telephone

Internet – Internet

WiFi – WiFi

Chay – Tea

Coffee – Coffee

Voda – Water

Gas – Gas

Electrichestva – Electricity

Svyit – Light

Pajaulsta – Please

Spasiba – Thank You

Peevo – Beer

Pashi-tiety – The bill/cheque

Taxi – Taxi

Accrita – Open

Zaccrita – Close

Militzia – Police

Doctor – Doctor

Universitet – University

Pirividee – Translate

Business – Business

Robotet – Work

Tourist – Tourist

Idoo – Go

Stop – Stop

Balneetza/Hospital – Hospital

Yerliznodorojenee Vagsal – Train Station

Airport – Airport

Port – Docks/Port

Hotel – Hotel

Apartment – Apartment

Greevna – Ukrainian currency

Dollar – Dollar

Euro – Euro

Foont/Foont Sterling/Angliski Foont – UK Pound

Bank – Bank

ATM – ATM

Biggum/Bistray – Quick/Fast

Daveye – Give me

Minuta – Minute

Chas – Hour

Seevoydna – Today

Zaftra – Tomorrow

Ootram – Morning

Veecherum – Evening

Dneum – Afternoon

Postly – After

Reinsha – Before

Zaftrak – Breakfast

Obeard – Lunch

Dinner – Oojinn

Dentist – Dentist

Apteka – Pharmacy/Chemist

Marshutka – Bus

Restaurant – Restaurant

Ti moshesh pa moch mnea? – Can you help me?

Skorraya Pomosh – Ambulance

Horosho – Good

Ploha – Bad

Clooch – Key (As in door key)

Carta – Map (As in Cartography)

Da – Yes

Neyet – No

Nee – Not

Pass Mortrem – We will see

Shaz – Wait

Hachoo – Want

Boodoo – Want

Minsher – Less

Bolsha – More

Ya – I

Moy – My

Ti/Tebeya – You

Si-ow – All

Nicheevo – Nothing

Dill-a-yesh – Do

 

These few words are spelt phonetically.  Getting of the plane at Odessa airport and putting the above words into a sentence to equate to:

“I want a taxi – Hotel Mozart please” – you would say “Ya hachoo taxi – Hotel Mozart Pajaulsta.”

 

It is in no way a correct translation from one alphabet to another as this would read in cyrillics:

“я хочу такси – отель моцарт пожалуйста” – or a direct translation into the English alphabet would be: “Ya hochy taksi – otel mocart pojaluista”………but that is not how it sounds when it comes out of your mouth unless you have an understanding of how the Russian letters actually sound when pronounced.

The Steak House – Odessa

Well, the like advertisement for Ronsil, The Steak House “does exactly what it says on the tin.”

Extremely popular with foreigners, The Steak House is on Deribovskaya.  It is impossible to miss it.  It has a large, life-size statue of a cow outside on the pavement (although Deribovskaya is actually a pedestrianised zone).

This cow changes colour……..not as you look at it – it is not some art students  phsycaldelic experiment,  but weekly as it is repainted in different colours and patterns which can go from the sublime to the ridiculous.  It remains though, a focal point for those who do not know their way around, to meet.

The restaurant is obviously aimed at the carnivores amongst us, and particularly the steak lovers……although the menu has more variety than a choice of “well-done, medium or rare”.  The menu is in English and Russian and the staff are also generally bilingual.  Although not my favourite restaurant, it scores well for customer service, food quality and general ambiance.  There are certainly worse places to eat than here!

Do not be surprised to see large numbers of people having their photograph taken with the statue of the cow outside the restaurant……in a seemingly endless number…….particularly women and/or children.  Eastern European women are all keen for their photographs to be taken.  This is probably due to a massive proportion being extremely photogenic of course.

Anyway – nice restaurant, easy to find, foreigner friendly and serving food which the less adventurous recognise with ease.  Nuff said!