fun with Russian language, part 1

They say a woman wears 20% of her wardrobe 80% of the time. With the amount of clothes that I brought, this would mean rotating the same three shirts all semester, so right now at least that’s a false proportion. However, at the beginning of my study abroad, it might be accurate to my vocabulary usage. So. For anyone looking to live in Russia, here are the words I find most useful to life:

1. да. Especially when talking to a 10-year-old, this is probably the only word you'll be able to get in edgewise. Also, you usually want to say it 3-4 times in a row, very quickly, so make sure you know it.
2. можно. Need to order food? Need to ask permission? Need to ask anything? This is an all-purpose word. That actually gets used for all purposes, so it's okay.
3. интересно. Start all of your observation-statements with this word.
4. ну. Start all of your any-kind-of-sentences with this word. It buys you time.
5. вот. Your quintessential illiterate-caveman word. But why point and grunt when you can point and вот?
6. пожалуйста. To avoid actually sounding like a caveman. This is like a magic politeness pill that makes anything you say socially amenable.
7. достаточно. When your Russian babushka is feeding you more than you can handle, when you need to be done with something, when you’re just happy… this word.
8. минуточку. I am not actually sure this is the proper word, but it is very effective to buy you time while you run into the other room, finish chewing, or whatever. Without being rude.
9. извините. Knowing a word is more than knowing when you can use it. It’s just as important to know when you can’t, otherwise you get people staring at you, bug-eyed, when you use this word as often as Americans use the word “sorry.” Hint: even other Americans think we say “sorry” too much.
10. глаголы движения. I've taken it easy on you so far, okay? Just know your verbs of motion. You do actually need them.

If you know these words, you’ll be fine for at least a few minutes. If you don’t know these words, you might not be fine ever.