Environmental Issues

Talking about the planet

Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and this module gives you the core words to talk about the environment. You will learn the key terms, from окружающая среда (okruzhayushchaya sreda), the environment, to переработка (pererabotka), recycling, then practise recognising them before writing about an environmental issue in English.

Environment, pollution, processing

Learn each Russian word with its transliteration and meaning:

Match each word to its meaning

What zagryazneniye means in Russian

What does the Russian word загрязнение (zagryazneniye) mean in English?

• Pollution
• Recycling
• The environment
• Global warming

Longer Russian words

глобальное потепление (globalnoye potepleniye), global warming, is one of the biggest environmental problems. Russian environmental terms are often two words, like окружающая среда (okruzhayushchaya sreda), literally the "surrounding environment". Read them by breaking them into their parts.

Which are about the environment?

Select the TWO Russian words that are about the environment.

• переработка (pererabotka)
• загрязнение (zagryazneniye)
• книга (kniga)
• билет (bilet)

Problems and actions

Some words name environmental problems; others name nature and how we protect it.

Environment words in Russian

The world around us is the _____. Dirty air and water are called _____. Sorting waste so it can be used again is _____. The planet heating up is _____. Materials from nature, like water and wood, are _____.

Spot the environment words

Tap the TWO Russian words that are about the environment.

• переработка (pererabotka)
• книга (kniga)
• загрязнение (zagryazneniye)
• билет (bilet)
• дом (dom)

Choose the right word

Which Russian word means 'recycling'?

• переработка (pererabotka)
• загрязнение (zagryazneniye)
• окружающая среда (okruzhayushchaya sreda)
• книга (kniga)

Russian needs no word for is

The environment words become sentences without any word for "is". Russian leaves it out in the present, and a grade-9 answer always gives a reason: - Переработка важна для природы = "recycling is important for nature". Nothing stands for "is". важна ends in -а because переработка is feminine, and природа becomes природы after для. - Я люблю природу, потому что это важно = "I like nature, because it is important". потому что (potomu chto - because) joins the reason to the opinion. Note природу here rather than природы, because after люблю it is the thing being liked.

Attach a reason, in Russian

A grade-9 answer attaches a reason to the opinion. Which of these does that?

• Я люблю природу, потому что это важно (ya lyublyu prirodu, potomu chto eto vazhno)
• Я люблю природу (ya lyublyu prirodu)
• Переработка важна для природы (pererabotka vazhna dlya prirody)
• Я люблю природу, это важно (ya lyublyu prirodu, eto vazhno)

Writing about the environment

You can now recognise the key words. In the exam you might write about an environmental issue, and you can weave these terms in. A strong answer names a problem (such as загрязнение, pollution, or глобальное потепление, global warming) and a solution (such as переработка, recycling, or protecting природа, nature).

Help the environment

Three ways to help the environment. Choose the best action each time.

• You want to reduce загрязнение (pollution) in your city. What helps?
• You want to practise переработка (recycling) at home. What should you do?
• You want to protect природа (nature) near your town. What fits?

Write about an issue, in Russian

Name the issue and an action IN RUSSIAN, then add ONE sentence in English saying why it matters. Write the Russian in Cyrillic - the transliteration in brackets is a reading aid only.

• Name the issue: загрязнение (zagryazneniye - pollution) or глобальное потепление (globalnoye potepleniye - global warming)
• Name what it affects: окружающая среда (okruzhayushchaya sreda - the environment)
• Name an action: переработка (pererabotka - recycling)
• Then, in English only, say why this issue matters