Svetlana Flemming - Colloquial Russian - The Next Step in Language Learning

throughout on the ending. This includes all regular and some irreg-421111

ular first conjugation verbs:

196

|

Education

hita´t;

– hita´[, hitaéw;, hitaét, hitaém, hitaéte,

hita´[t

idti´

– idu´, ide¨w;, ide¨t, ide¨m, ide¨te, idu´t

Mobile stress: generally this conforms to one pattern. Many second conjugation and some irregular first conjugation verbs, stressed on the ending in the infinitive, are stressed on the ending in the first person singular but on the stem for the rest of the conjugation: pisa´t;

– piwu´, pi´wew;, pi´wet, pi´wem, pi´wete,

pi´wut

iska´t;

– i]u´, i´]ew;, i´]et, i´]em, i´]ete, i´]ut

prosi´t;

– prowu´, prośiw;, prośit, prośim, prośite,

prośqt

smotre´t;

– smotr[´, smo´triw;, smo´trit, smo´trim,

smo´trite, smo´trqt

Note also:

moh;

– mogu´, mo´'ew;, mo´'et, mo´'em, mo´'ete, mo´gut

The verb xote´t; is an exception to the above patterns: xohu´, xo´hew;, xo´het, xoti´m, xoti´te, xotq´t

Where a perfective verb has the prefix vy- it is always stressed: vy

´ pisat; – vy´piwu, vy´piwew;, vy´piwet, vy´piwem,

vy

´ piwete, vy´piwut

Exercise 13

Translate into Russian.

1 The introduction of a nation-wide Common State Examination worries many Russians. In their view the standard of education will inevitably fall.

2 Only those students who gained the highest marks in this exam will receive a grant and thus free education.

3 Russian parents now have a choice of which school to send their children to, of which textbooks to use, of which curriculum to follow.

Obrazovanie

|

197

1111

4 Not all private schools are better than state schools. But they do 2

have one advantage: the number of children in each class is much 3

smaller.

4

5 The biggest change in the Russian educational system in the 90s 5

was the appearance and growth of fee-paying private educational 6

institutions.

7

6 Engineering education is becoming popular again. Competition 8111

for places at some technical universities is very high, up to 20

9

students per place.

10

7 In my opinion education should be free and accessible to all. I 1

am against private universities and private schools.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

20111

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

40

1

421111

11 ROSSIJSKOE OB}ESTVO

In this unit you will learn:

◗ about the structure of Russian society

◗ how to form and use the subjunctive

◗ how to create conditional clauses

◗ about stress on the past tense of verbs

One of the big debates about post-Soviet society is whether Russia now has a middle class. Certainly, it does not as yet have a middle class which resembles that of Western society. The collapse of the Soviet Union caused great poverty for many members of society: pensioners, unemployed, those in low-paid state employment, many of them highly qualified and educated. Many of these people now live below the poverty line. But one glance at the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg with their designer shops and expensive restaurants, will tell you that Russia most certainly has a rich elite. There is also a group between the two extremes which can only be thought of as Russia’s emergent middle class: highly qualified specialists in information technology, finance or the law, who can command better than average salaries. This group suffered badly at the time of the economic crisis of 1998, but is fighting its way back.

Rossijskoe obwestvo

|

199

1111

Text 1

2

3

4

5

Sre´dnij klass

6