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.


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До свидания and stay hungry for the next Spoonful of
Russian!



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