A Spoonful of Russian - Learn Russian Online from Russian Tutor

Natalia Worthington
A Spoonful of Russian - Learn Russian Online from Russian Tutor

☜♡☞ A Spoonful of Russian Podcast with Natalia ☜♡☞ Get a taste of the conversational Russian from a native Russian speaker and a linguist by education. Audio and video lessons, including poetry reading, vocabulary, common phrases, Russian holidays, and more. Video lessons take you step-by-step through the process of learning to write cursive in Russian! For all ages. Head on over to http://speakrussian.blogspot.com for more supplemental material. SOR's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/spoonfulofrussian

  1. 20/10/2014

    a Spoonful of Russian 031

    The video that goes with this episode can be found on my YouTube channel: Episode 031 Toasting is a huge thing in Russia. Has been for ages. A full glass must be drunk to the bottom after every toast, because “a toast without wine is like a wedding without a bride!” A traditional Russian drinking party usually includes a sequence of several standard toasts. You can refresh them by watching my Most Common Russian Drinking Toasts/Phrases video. The most common first toast is... To our meeting! За встречу! [za FSTRYE-tchoo] … sort of an ice-breaker toast:) Another good opener toast is… To our health! Будем здоровы! [BOO-dem zda-RO-vy] The toasts that follow largely depend on the occasion that brought the people together. At a birthday party, the first toast (with wishes of health, success and a long life) is usually to the birthday guy or lady. The second toast is to their parents as a sign of honor. At a wedding, the first toast is “To the health of the newlyweds.” After that, the guests shout "Горько!"(Gorko!) often and loudly, all through the banquet. “Gorko” literally means "bitter” in Russian, implying the bitterness the wine being drunk. By yelling that the wine is bitter, the guests are inviting the newlyweds to make it sweeter by giving each other a sweet long kiss. As the bride and groom kiss, the guests count the seconds: “Один! Два! Три! Четыре! Пять! ... One, two, three, four, five..." until the kiss is over, whereupon they raise their glasses in a toast. At a funeral banquet, the first part of the toast is usually an uplifting or touching story about the dearly departed; it is concluded with the words Пусть земля ему/ей будет пухом! Вечная память! (Let the ground in which he/she rests be like goose down. Eternal memory to (him/her). When people in Russia drink to the dead it is customary not to clink glasses. Without a doubt towards the middle of the party someone usually proposes a toast “За женщин”! “To beautiful ladies!” or “To the ladies present here!" At this point someone else usually says that real men stand up when they drink a toast to beautiful ladies, and they drink to the bottom. All the gentlemen present promptly comply. The last toast, “На посошок!” / “Na pososhok", is usually pronounced when the guests are about to leave. In olden days, travelers used a walking stick, called posokh or, diminutively, pososhok in Russian, during long journeys. A toast to the walking stick, therefore, is meant to make sure that the return journey is safe. Learn some Russian today!

  2. 31/07/2014

    a Spoonful of Russian 028

    Today’s spoonful is going to consist of a useful Russian phrase and a poem in Russian. Don’t worry if you don’t understand the poem. The reason for reading out loud is so that you can get more familiar with the Russian sounds. As you’ve probably noticed I started this podcast with the expression Добрый день translated as ‘Good afternoon’. There is also Доброе утро (‘Good morning’) and Добрый вечер (‘Good evening’). So when is the appropriate time of the day to use these expressions? Most Russians use the following time frames for them. For example, use Доброе утро from 6am till noon. Use Добрый день from noon till 6pm...and Добрый вечер is used anytime past 6pm and before bedtime. Now here’s your chance to practice saying Доброе утро, Добрый день, and Добрый вечер in Russian. First I say the phrase, then you’ll hear a sound - that will be your prompt to repeat the phrase after me. Then I repeat the phrase one last time, so you can check your pronunciation. Давайте начнем. Let’s begin. Доброе утро Добрый день Добрый вечер Замечательно! Wonderful! And now for the poem. I will be reading one of the most popular poems written by Sergei Esenin in 1913. It’s called БЕРЕЗА (The Birch-Tree). It was part of my middle school program, and I can still recite it by memory. The Birch-Tree Just below my window Stands a birch-tree white, Under snow in winter Gleaming silver bright. On the fluffy branches Sparkling in a row Dangle pretty tassels Of the purest snow There the birch in silence Slumbers all day long And the snow gleams brightly In the golden sun. And the dawn demurely Going on its rounds With a silver mantle Decks again the boughs (translation by Peter Tempest) This is your spoonful of Russian for today. I encourage you, my Listener, to leave me a voicemail. It can be a question, a comment, a suggestion. Your feedback and ratings on iTunes means a lot to me. I read every single comment. It just makes my day. До свидания and stay hungry for the next Spoonful of Russian! - Leave a quick voicemail calling: 209-980-7877 (209-980-RUSS) - For longer question email: spoonfulofrussian@gmail.com - twitter: @russianspoonful (with hashtag #askNataliaW ) - YouTube: youtube.com/spoonfulofrussian

Acerca de

☜♡☞ A Spoonful of Russian Podcast with Natalia ☜♡☞ Get a taste of the conversational Russian from a native Russian speaker and a linguist by education. Audio and video lessons, including poetry reading, vocabulary, common phrases, Russian holidays, and more. Video lessons take you step-by-step through the process of learning to write cursive in Russian! For all ages. Head on over to http://speakrussian.blogspot.com for more supplemental material. SOR's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/spoonfulofrussian

También te podría interesar

Para escuchar episodios explícitos, inicia sesión.

Mantente al día con este programa

Inicia sesión o regístrate para seguir programas, guardar episodios y enterarte de las últimas novedades.

Elige un país o región

Africa, Oriente Medio e India

Asia-Pacífico

Europa

Latinoamérica y el Caribe

Estados Unidos y Canadá