Здравствуйте

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

'Lo there! Меня зовут Майкл. I'm a junior in high school in Ohio, and I've just started Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian, but I only know about two or three words so far (здравствуйте being one of them), but I'm eager to learn more.

Comments

[cema.livejournal.com]

Здравствуйте is a useful word. It is usually pronounced like [здрасьте] (usually spelled as здрасте, though), except in official circumstances (whenever you would say "Good afternoon" instead of "hello", more or less). As in any other language, there are alternatives, like привет (hi), добрый день/вечер/etc (good {part of day}).

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

I don't yet understand what the pronunciation difference between здрасьте and здрасте is, although I know it's described as putting a y after the c. And доброе очень (sp) and дас веданя (sp) are some of the other few phrases I know.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>доброе очень and дас веданя...
...do not make much sense, sorry.
Доброе очень literally means "good very". No idea what in fact you meant.
Дас веданя (sounds like a mighty Yoghi's name, isn't it? Das Vedanta Mahadharma :-)))))) probably means до свидания, I guess. До свидания (literally, "until [next] meeting") is the most common form of saying goodbye in Russian. Пока is also useful: it simply means "bye". There are other unformal ways to say bye in Russian; I normally say "счастливо" [щесли'ва] which roughly translates as "happy go".

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mangled those. I mixed up a few things. I accidentally put together доброе утро and очень приятно, and I did mean до свидания.

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

This is kinda random but I realized that I like the Cyrillic alphabet a lot just because of how there aren't as many letters which extend above the midline or below the baseline, so it has a nice linear, smooth look.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Привет, Майкл, добро пожаловать в сообщество! (= hi Michael, welcome to the community)

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

Спасибо!

I find one-consonant prepositions odd.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Hehe :)
Would you also find rather strange the trees that grow in other countries but not in your own country? ;-)))
BTW prononciation of "в" never makes you feel that this is a standalone consonant - it always sticks with the next word, so in this case it sounds close to [фсао'пщиство]. Russian prononciation is straighforward but sometimes tricky :)
Should the next word start with a vowel... well, let's say "в общество" (to the society,) then it would sound closer to [во'пщиство].