Sunday 3 April 2011

In Russian We Speak...

We had our first Russian lesson yesterday from a delightful woman.  She was impressed with how fast I seemed to catch on to what she was saying, and now I have several phrases/words to practice with most on them set into my brain. 
I guess practicing with the “Learn to Speak Russian” CD helped out a lot with sounds, but I have to say in our first lesson, Milk, Tea, Water, Good Morning, Yes and No were the only words she didn't have to teach me.  Everything else is new.
So far I can say:
Good Morning (used in an office setting)
Yes
No
Hi
How are you?
Good.
Not Good
My body’s not good.
Not  (apparently No in Russian is extremely harsh, almost shocking to a child, she made it seem like it's a verbal spanking, so this is her replacement word)
I understand
I understand slowly (she assures me a child will understand I’m saying she’s talking to fast)
I don’t understand
Why?
Forelorn (Not quite sad, just missing, can be asked like a question)
Let’s eat (kids thought we were swearing with this one L)
Do you want...
Drink
Tea (apparently Ukraine children drink tea)
Water (too easy, it's like saying water but replace the W with a V and the T with the D and you ger vader)
Milk
It’s very hot...
Stove (her word since I already knew water, )
Danger
Stop (is already understood)
"Stay close" in Russian translates to "don’t get lost." So she suggested a phrase that I think translates to "Stay with me," and can be replaced with a name.
I want...
I love you, she added on more words like smart, beautiful, and girl but my brain was fried, so I only managed I love you.

Please hold my hand (I haven't mastered this one, but with all of the above set into my head I'll wait till next week to go over this one)

So now Dale and I are practicing Russian to each other.  The boys are starting to get into it too.  Cyrus who also practiced a little on the CD enjoys showing off a little to his friends.

I keep the sheets out on the dining room table so when we need to double check pronunciation its close by.

I’m so excited I can hardly wait to for next week’s lesson. 

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