Practice makes perfect

Now that you know a little Russian, let's take what you have learned and apply it to a simple exercise.

Make a small list of people that are either writers, basketball players, musical artists, or actors.
Convert those names to Russian (remember, Russians spell names how they sound). Pretend that you don't know what the person's profession is and ask your imaginary friend Иван about them. Give Иван's answer.

Example:

You: Эдди Мерфи (Eddie Murphy) - это баскетболист? (remember to raise the intonation of your voice when saying "basketball player")

Иван: Нет, это актёр.

And then try this answer:

Иван: Нет, это не баскетболист, а актёр.