Chapter 5. Lesson 5

Table of Contents

Где вы рабо́таете?
Setting the scene
Диало́г №1
Вари́ант диало́га №1
Упражне́ние №1.
Упражне́ние №2.
Offices
Упражне́ние №3.
Упражне́ние №4.
Упражне́ние №5.
Упражне́ние №6.
Упражне́ние №7.
Упражне́ние №8.
Numbers from 11-20
Упражне́ние №9.
Упражне́ние №10.
Упражне́ние №11.
Упражне́ние №12.
Упражне́ние №13.
Упражне́ние №14: Кроссво́рд
Упражне́ние №15.
Упражне́ние №16.
Упражне́ние №17.
Упражне́ние №18.
Упражне́ние №19.
Days of the week
Упражне́ние №20.
Упражне́ние №21.
Упражне́ние №22.
Упражне́ние №23.
Упражне́ние №24.
Months of the year
Упражне́ние №25.
Упражне́ние №26.
Listening comprehension exercise
In case you were wondering
The locative/prepositional case
Personal pronouns
Упражне́ние №28.
Useful words and expressions
Numbers
Days of the week
Months of the year
Lesson №5
WHERE DO YOU WORK?
УРОК № 5

Many of your acquaintances in your new country will be interested in getting to know you better. One of the things they'll be asking will be Где вы рабо́таете? "What do you do for a living? Where do you work?" Don't be surprised if you're asked questions, especially having to do with how much you are paid, which Americans would find inappropriate. During the Soviet period, wage scales were standard and common knowledge throughout the Soviet Union. A bus driver in Moscow was supposed to make as much as one in Irkutsk; a university professor in Kiev had the same salary as his counterpart in Gorky.

In those years, manual labor was more highly valued (and better paid) than those professions which demanded more brain and less brawn. With the break-up of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the communist state, the nature and scope of many professions have been altered. And as the country moves toward a market economy, new professions are appearing (мэ́неджеры, банки́ры, бизнесме́ны and others) which enjoy varying degrees of popularity and respect. As a residual effect of the Soviet period, there are still many who think that any individual who is even mildly successful in business (and in economic and material terms) is obviously а спекуля́нт who could have acquired his/her wealth only through illegal means. We can expect to see this situation continuing for some time as the society gropes its way toward a new order.