Basic Russian and English

Hello! My name is Sasha! My native language is Russian! I can help you learn Russian! And you can help me learn English! What is your name? Do you know Russian well?

Привет! Меня зовут Саша! Мой национальный язык-русский! Я могу помочь тебе учить русский! И ты можеш помочь мне учить английский! Как тебя зовут? Ты хорошо знаеш русский?

Polyglot-Learn-Languages is a great site to find friends to help you in your language learning. Join along with Sasha and I as we help each other learn English and Russian! And please leave your comments to let us know if you find this slidecast helpful. Пока!!

Obviously I was happy to get such a message and replied:

Hi Sasha! Nice to meet you!! Sure I can help you learn English. My name is Brian. I'm from Canada but I'm living in Indonesia. My Russian is still quite basic but reading what you wrote is no problem. It's perfect practice for me! Let's chat directly via email. Пока!

She was very quick sending me an email.

Hello! How old are you??? Have you ever been in Ukrainien?

Привет! Сколько тебе лет? Ты когда нибудь был в Украине?

English corrections and suggestions:

Have you ever been to Ukraine?

(note: I’m from Ukraine. I’m Ukrainian. / I’m from Canada. I’m Canadian.

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

I forgot to write russian part! I am 13 years old! You are from Canada, but you live in Indonesia! Why do you live in Indonesia?In what ukrainien country you were?

Я забыла написать русскую часть письма! Мне 13 лет!Ты из Канады, но живеш в Индонезеи! Почему ты живеш в Индонезии?в каком украинском городе ты был?

English corrections and suggestions:I forgot to write the Russian part!(note: …the other part. / ….the last part. / …the other one. / …the other piece.)

What Ukrainian cities have you been to? / …cities have you visited?Which Ukrainian cities did you visit? (Which city were you in?)

I’m not able to write in Russian yet, so we’ll just stick with Sasha’s emails for this learning exercise:

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

Hello! I live in Dnepropetrovsk! Have you heard about this city? I like sport, travelling! My favourite sports is Figure skating and football!I heard about windsurfing.Do you have a familly? Do you have a wife? Do you have any children?

Привет! я живу в Днепропетровске! Ты слышал об этом городе? Я люблю спорт, путешествия! Мои любимые виды спорта фигурное катание и футбол!Я слышала про виндсерфинг!У тебя есть семья? У тебя есть жена? У тебя есть дети?

English corrections and suggestions:Have you heard of it? (“..heard about this city?” is okay but this is better.)I like sports and travelling. (American spelling is ‘traveling’, but I like ‘travelling’.)My favourite sports are figure skating… (favourite sport is.. / .. sports are..)I have heard of windsurfing. (“I heard about…” is okay, but this is better.)Do you have a family? (spelling)

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

Hi Brian,I do not have brothers and sisters!Whom do you work?What is your son name?

Привет Браян,У меня нет братьев и сестер!Кем ты работаеш?Как зовут твоего сына?

English corrections and suggestions:I don’t have any brothers or sisters. (The original is okay too.)Where do you work? (or “Who do you work for?”) (not common to use ‘whom’)What is your son’s name?

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

Hi Brian,I liked your websites very much! You wrote that you like to read! What kind of books do you prefer to read? I like to read too! Do you have hobby? What is your hobby?

Привет Браян,Мне очень сильно понравились твои вебсайты! Ты писал что любишь читать! Какие виды книг ты предпочитаешь читать? Я тоже люблю читать! У тебя есть хобби? Какое твое хобби?

English corrections and suggestions:Do you have a hobby? (or “Do you have any hobbies?”)What is your hobby? (correct, or “What are your hobbies?)

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

I like to read adventures and fantasy stories! My favourite book is Harry Potter! Have you heard about this book?In this letter you wrote that I can help you with your sites! How can I help you?

Я люблю приключенкинские и фантастические истории! Моя любимая книга Гарри Поттер! Вы слышали о такой книге?В этом письме вы написали что я могу помочь вам с вашими сайтами! Как я могу помочь вам?

English corrections and suggestions:I like to read adventure and fantasy stories! (no ‘s’ on ‘adventure’)Have you heard of this book? (or “Have you heard of it?”)(use ‘heard about’ for some news or information; eg. Did you hear about the…?)In your email you wrote... (“In this letter…” is okay, but this is more common.)

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

Hello Brian,Maybe I will help with your websites! (but I still do not know!)By the way what is your favorite kind of music?

Привет Браян,Может быть я помогу тебе с твоими вебсайтами! (но я все еще не знаю как!)Кстати какой твой любимый стиль музыки!

English corrections and suggestions:Maybe I can help you…. (but I still don’t know how!) (same as in Russian)(If you say “Maybe I will…” the feeling is that you’re not sure if you want to or not.)(If you say “I still don’t know.” it means you haven’t decided yet.)(If you say “I still don’t know how.” it means you don’t yet understand how you can help. So, if you say it as suggested, then it means you’d like to help but don’t know how you can help.)

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

Hello Brian,You asked me what is good, and what is bad! I can answer your question! There is a little piece of rhyme by Maiakovskii! I transleted it myself from russian!What is good and what is bad?

Привет, Браян!Ты спросил меня что хорошо и что плохо! Я могу ответить на твой вопрос! Вот маленький кусочек стиха, который написал Маяковский! Я перевила его сама из русского!ЧТО ТАКОЕ ХОРОШО И ЧТО ТАКОЕ ПЛОХО?

English corrections and suggestions:I translated it myself from Russian! (Doing a GREAT job with your English!!!)

Learn Russian online while discovering the real Russia!

WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS BAD?Little son came to his father and asked:What is good and what is bad?I have no secrets, listen, children.(Papa put this answer in the book.)If the wind tears the roofs,if the hailstones roars,everybody knows that it is bad for walks.Rain driped and stoped(Sun in the whole world.)It is very good for grown-up and children.

and here is a full rhyme: Did you like this rhyme?

I LOVED the rhyme and the cartoon, so I made a webpage of it and Sasha helped by writing out the Russian for the songs and talking at the beginning and the end. You can visit it here: What is Good and What is Bad?

ps: should say: “And here is the full rhyme:” ..and spelling: ‘dripped’ and ‘stopped’

ЧТО ТАКОЕ ХОРОШО И ЧТО ТАКОЕ ПЛОХО?Крошка сын к отцу пришел, и спросила кроха:Что такое хорошо и что такое плохо? У меня секретов нет, слушайте, детишки,папы этого ответ помещаю в книжке.Если ветер крыши рвет,если град загрохал,каждый знает это вот для прогулок плохо.Дождь покапал и прошел.Солнце в целом свете.Это - очень хорошо и большим и детям.

а вот весь стих: Тебе понравился этот стих?

Hope you enjoyed that. I’ll continue it soon, and in the meantime, please come visit our website:

www.elearnrussian.com

ЯReLearnRussian.com