My New Years Gift

[mox 298]

Have I mentioned that I'm going to marry the most wonderful gal in the world?

Like many of you, I'm trying (operative word: trying) to learn Russian. Nadya gently teases me about my pronunciation and when I get a word completely wrong, but she's always very supportive. Well today I got a package in the post from her, completely unexpected. It consisted of 2 children's readers and a big wall poster with the Russian alphabet.

I scanned the book covers:

The second book ("My country - Russia") covers the major regions and holidays. Most of the pictures in the books are of the "children" variety, cute and cuddly, and then I got to this page about Victory Day on May 9. It's just such a great picture, I really love Russian artwork. Very gothic.

Anyway, thought I'd share. These books are going to be so much fun to work with. It's one thing to sit down with Rosetta Stone and try to slog my way through the language. Completely different trying to read it in context. Just browsing through them, I'm actually surprised at how much I already know. I can't tell you what most of the words are, but I can sound most of them out and sometimes make educated guesses.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Your Nadya is one clever girl! Love those books!

I tell you though, Rosetta Stone, books, and what have you have been very little help for me. Talking with Alla and forcing her not to help in English does. No better teacher than real life. I've already set aside a Russian day once a week. Only Russian will be spoken in the household. This way, I have to learn if I want something, especially if it's something good!

[slim 1,525]

Children's books are one of the best tools to learn with. Excellent gift!

I think most people concentrate way too hard on the Rosetta Stone, the Pimsleur, the Penguin, Berlitz, etc., and not enough on the basics that most average, everyday people use in the target language. We all learned English (those of us with English as a first language, anyway) through children's books, right?

And don't forget, speaking the target language at a child-like level is far better than speaking it "not at all."

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

That is very true. We learned English as a child from children's books. Yet now that we are adults, we feel we are beyond that? I frequently sat in with Alla's children while they did their home lessons and studied right along. I loved her son's picture dictionary.

Children's books are one of the best tools to learn with. Excellent gift!

I think most people concentrate way too hard on the Rosetta Stone, the Pimsleur, the Penguin, Berlitz, etc., and not enough on the basics that most average, everyday people use in the target language. We all learned English (those of us with English as a first language, anyway) through children's books, right?

And don't forget, speaking the target language at a child-like level is far better than speaking it "not at all."

[1HappyGuy 45]

I think I saw those books in a Russian bookstore in Sacramento. I might need to purchase some next time I'm there. Good luck on your Russian, but don't forget to help her with her English. That's pretty important too.

[mox 298]

I think I saw those books in a Russian bookstore in Sacramento. I might need to purchase some next time I'm there.

The second book ("My country - Russia") is the more interesting of the two. The artwork is visually interesting, and most of it seems to be written in verse. It starts out by talking about the 2 capital cities, then covers different regions of Russia, and then holidays. Can't wait until I can actually understand it, although I'm kind of amazed at how many individual words I can already pick out.

Good luck on your Russian, but don't forget to help her with her English. That's pretty important too.

She's taking English lessons, and we always speak English on the phone together. And when I write emails, I write in English and also include a translation from translate.google.com (best translation software, hands down, and it's free.). Her English has gotten so much better in just the short time she's been taking lessons. This will be her third language, actually. As well as Russian, she also speaks Mari.

[katya_and_besik 0]

owww, that is so cute

you'll have a lot of fun studying

[shikarnov 7]

And when I write emails, I write in English and also include a translation from translate.google.com (best translation software, hands down, and it's free.). Her English has gotten so much better in just the short time she's been taking lessons. This will be her third language, actually. As well as Russian, she also speaks Mari.

If you haven't already, you might also check out translation.paralink.com. It's got a back translator (which I find to be extremely useful), and can work with Transliterated Russian as well as Cyrillic. Plus, when some English words and phrases can be translated multiple ways, clicking translate twice or more will sometimes give different results.

Ira also said (after I tested her with a translated paragraph 2 minutes ago) that Paralink's was slightly better, even though both made some funny mistakes.

Z

[mox 298]

If you haven't already, you might also check out translation.paralink.com. It's got a back translator (which I find to be extremely useful), and can work with Transliterated Russian as well as Cyrillic. Plus, when some English words and phrases can be translated multiple ways, clicking translate twice or more will sometimes give different results.

Ira also said (after I tested her with a translated paragraph 2 minutes ago) that Paralink's was slightly better, even though both made some funny mistakes.

Z

Weird. I've used Paralink before, and found Google to be more accurate. Maybe it has to do with writing style. Maybe the way you write is more conducive to Paralink, and the way I write is more conducive to Google? Dunno. Wish I knew more about how languages actually worked. I do like the back-translation ability of Paralink though, I wish Google had it.

Nadya says the translations have some funny mistakes in them too, but she says she can always figure out what I was really trying to say. I always try to keep my sentences short and not cram too much into them, and that usually helps.

But whatever you do, always run the translation back to English again to make sure it doesn't get too mangled. A few months ago, I had written a completely arbitrary phrase like "I walked to the beach," (not the actual phrase, I can't remember what it was) but it translated to "sex above mother." It was completely random, very bizarre. I'm sure she'd have loved trying to figure that one out.

[shikarnov 7]

But whatever you do, always run the translation back to English again to make sure it doesn't get too mangled. A few months ago, I had written a completely arbitrary phrase like "I walked to the beach," (not the actual phrase, I can't remember what it was) but it translated to "sex above mother." It was completely random, very bizarre. I'm sure she'd have loved trying to figure that one out.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I can't tell you how many experiences like that I've had... Ira's family calls my Russian "Rushglish".

If you want a good laugh, here's an entry from my private blog...

What did I just say?!

Russian Lesson: Oshibka (Ошибка) = Big ### Mistake

It seems the Gods conspired against me this past week. Circumstances set up a recipe for one of the more embarrassing memories of life.

Early last week, my Russian professor and I were practicing. "I like _____" and "I don't like _____" would be repeated ad nauseam, as I practice basic vocabulary.

(For those interested, I mastered the "I like" portions almost immediately after arriving here, except it'd accompany "that" with a finger point, rather than an actual word.)

So it came to "I don't like alcohol" and then she asked why? I explained, and then she went on to explain that an ounce or so of vodka, each day, is very healthy, and can keep your arteries from being clogged. Men here, apparently, rarely die from heart disease or heart attacks. Preposterous, I thought.

But, being a bit overweight, I decided that I'd at least research the possibility. After all, who would know more about the affects of alcohol than a Russian? I was surprised to find several articles on the Mayo Clinic's website that corroborated her claims.

A couple of nights later, I found myself in the home of a very nice old woman -- the grandmother of some friends. And in typical Russian fashion, she offered me a shot of her home-made vodka -- to drink to our health. Normally I'd say no, but I decided that one wouldn't hurt. And, after hearing about the benefits, perhaps one might actually help a bit.

So, I accepted one, and since I almost universally rejected it in the past, she was elated and excited. That's a double play -- make an old woman happy AND clean out an artery or two. Maybe it's not an RBI, but it's nothing to sneeze at.

So, conversation drones on and I decide to ask how she makes this vodka. "Как повторить твоя водка?" I ask. Immediately, the old woman cries out with a cheer. My friends look at me like I'm crazy.

It became immediately clear that I said something wrong -- and as soon as they realized it from my face, they all busted out in hilarious laughter. "What did I just say?!" I cried out, but the only reply I got was that I shouldn't say things unless I'm sure about my vocabulary. I thought I was sure, though!

But, alas, I had accidentally used the wrong verb. My question asked how we could repeat the vodka.

So, with an elated old woman (with whom I clearly couldn't communicate well) pouring me another shot, and with hysterical friends hardly able to contain themselves watching me eyeball the glass in front of me, I did the only thing I could.

I raised my glass, and said "To Russian Language," and downed it. The old woman cheered. Luckily I didn't get drunk, but I also didn't feel too well for the next 24 or so hours.

I have a distinct feeling, this story will be told and retold for a long time here...

That entry was made nearly two years ago -- and, yes, the story is still told.

Z

[mox 298]

That entry was made nearly two years ago -- and, yes, the story is still told.

Z

LOL! I love it.

Don't feel too bad, it works both ways. Nadya's roommate Sveta knows English better than she does. When I was visiting in August, Nadya and I and Sveta and her boyfriend double-dated to a local nightclub. The boyfriend (can't remember his name, I'll call him Alex) didn't speak any English, so he relied on Sveta to translate. So Alex would say something, and then Sveta would say "She is asking you..." or "she says..." It was really funny. Nadya caught it right away, and they had a laugh at Alex's expense. But Sveta kept making the mistake (accidentally), and even Alex was correcting her after awhile. It was good fun, and somewhat embarrassing for Sveta who really prided herself on her English speaking ability.

Another time Sveta said "my glasses is tired." She doesn't wear glasses, so I asked if she meant contact lenses. Turned out she meant "eyes." That was a fun one to figure out because we would both point at her eyes and she would say "glasses" and I would say "contact lenses." We finally had to resort to the English/Russian dictionary that Nadya kept in her purse.

[slim 1,525]

While we were on vacation last week Elena and I went on a "safari" trip through the mountains and visited a working cocoa, coffee and coconut farm where a little boy was riding on a donkey. When we emerged from the touristy area, the little boy would ride off quickly, pluck a flower from the row of plants and hop down to present it to one of the ladies.

Elena was telling me the story of how she received the flower and she said "This little boy he see me and girls coming so he jump on his @$$hole and ride to get flowers then he jump off his @$$hole and give presents to girls."

(We had a nice laugh when I explained to her the difference between the English version of El Burro and the other name for Donkey. So did my family when we retold the story several times.)

Edited January 5, 2008 by slim

[mox 298]

Elena was telling me the story of how she received the flower and she said "This little boy he see me and girls coming so he jump on his @$$hole and ride to get flowers then he jump off his @$$hole and give presents to girls."

(We had a nice laugh when I explained to her the difference between the English version of El Burro and the other name for Donkey. So did my family when we retold the story several times.)

OMG that had me laughing so hard. That's hysterical!