1.1 First meeting
Let’s listen to two people meeting for the first time. Natalia is a Ukrainian refugee and Mary is her English host. We’ll meet them again during the course. Can you work out how to say ‘Good day’ in Ukrainian?
Audio 2 transcript
| Ukrainian | Transliteration |
|---|---|
| Наталя–Добрий день! | Natalia– Dobryi den! |
| Мері–Добрий день! | Meri–Dobryi den! |
| Наталя–Я Наталя, а Ви? | Natalia–Ya Natalia, a vy? |
| Мері–Я Мері. | Meri–Ya Meri. |
| Наталя–Дуже приємно! | Natalia–Duzhe pryiemno! |
| Мері–Мені теж. | Meri–Meni tezh. |
Take a closer look (Audio 3 transcript)
Let’s look at the dialogue in Audio 2 in more detail. Dobryi den means ‘good afternoon’. Let’s repeat it together: Dobryi den. Then first person says Ya Natalia, a vy?, which means ‘I am Natalia, and you?’ Ya means ‘I’, vy means ‘you’. And then we hear the answer: Ya Meri, which means ‘I am Mary’. The dialogue continues: Duzhe pryiemno! – ‘Nice to meet you!’ The finishing phrase is Meni tezh – ‘Me too.’
You’ll notice that the word for ‘you’ is vy. Ukrainians often use so called ‘polite plural’ when they address only one person. This shows respect to another person. Polite plural is used when you talk to people who are older than you and pretty often generally to adults. For example, teachers in universities normally address their adult students using vy, while school teachers use ‘normal’ singular ‘you’ –ty when they address children. However, adults use ‘ty’ talking to their friends.
Now listen to the dialogue again.
Table 1: Key language
| Ukrainian original | Transliteration | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добрий день | Dobryi den | Good afternoon |
| Я | ya | I |
| ви | vy | You |
| Дуже приємно | Duzhe pryiemno | Nice to meet you |
| Мені теж | Meni tezh | Me too |
Activity 1: Audio speaking practice
A. Now listen to the dialogue and repeat the phrases when you hear gaps.
Audio 4 transcript
| Ukrainian | How to say it |
|---|---|
| Олена– Добрий день! | Olena– Dobryi den! |
| Валентина– Добрий день! | Valentyna– Dobryi den! |
| Олена– Я Олена, а Ви? | Olena– Ya Olena, a vy? |
| Валентина– Я Валентина. | Valentyna– Ya Valentyna. |
| Олена– Дуже приємно! | Olena– Duzhe pryiemno! |
| Валентина– Мені теж. | Valentyna– Meni tezh. |
B. Now imagine you are meeting a Ukrainian person. Continue the dialogue with me. Say relevant phrases in the gaps.
Audio 5 transcript
| Ukrainian | Transliteration |
|---|---|
–Добрий день! | Dobryi den! |
_______ | _______ |
–Я Олена, а Ви? | Ya Olena, a vy? |
________ | ________ |
–Дуже приємно! | Duzhe pryiemno! |
__________ | __________ |
Answer
Well done. You can listen to the previous recording to hear the answers.
C. Match what you hear with the correct translation.
Answer
You heard option 2. Well done, if you spotted Добрий день! Dobryi den!, ‘Good day’ or ‘Good afternoon,’ and the names Tania and Iryna. Option 1 included the word for ‘Hello,’ which you’ll learn in the next section and the speakers were called Taia and Ira.
OpenLearn - Introduction to Ukrainian language and culture
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