Русскоязычные семьи

[EdnaMarie]

For all the Russian language families out there, dobro pozhalovat'!

I s prazdnikom... ;)

Just wondering...it seems that my dd's are motivated by the computer. Do you know of any computer games that would help them learn Russian? They are getting bored of Eurotalk and Talk Now Russian? Any other ideas ' moyee droozia?"

Just passing on dolphinkisser's question here... I do not know of any but I will ask DH.

[EVC]

I don't have an answer to dolphinkisser's question, I'm just saying привет :)

[dolphinkisser]

Spacebo bolshoya!!:love

[Oriole]

Hm, I don't know of any games either, and of course I can't find the website we order our stuff from *sigh* It's St. Pertersburg something something... maybe they have pc games as well?.. Other than that.. Depending on your budget and the age of kids, Rosetta Stone seem to be famous for language programs.

[aprilushka]

I'm avoiding computer games until my kids find out about them and really twist my arm, but if you "Гуглить" или "Яхуевать" (add those two to their Russian vocablulary :p) "полезные компьютерные игры для детей" you get a lot of hits, including this list on one site:


Развивающие компьютерные игры:
http://www.solnet.ee/games/g1.html Развивающие детские FLASH-ИГРЫ
http://www.baby.com.ua/igr.html - Подборка замечательных развивающих флеш-игр (счет, форма, английские слова и прочее)
Но если вы такого мультика и не видели, то игры от этого мало потеряют
http://www.hitentertainment.com/pingu - игры он-лайн (из наших любимых)
http://www.raskraska.ru/gameroom.html Несколько развивающих игр (на компьютере)
http://yarastu.narod.ru/cds.html - обзор обучаюших компьютерных игр
http://www.7ya.ru/pub/toys/comp_igry.asp - по сути - это нечто типа обзора нескольких компьютерных игр для малышей.
http://myfamilyschool.narod.ru/gamescollectionrus.html - компьютерные игры для детей
http://www.raskraska.ru/game.html - пара игр на тему букв


There's also arjlover.net with his extensive list of audio skazki and multiki for dowloading free. There's also online children's radio in Russian in a few places, also findeable through search engines. There's probably kids' tv also -- we have so many DVDs and use the downloading that we haven't looked, but I'm sure it's out there.

[EdnaMarie]

Thanks, Aprilushka (can we call you April for short even though it's the russkoyazychniy thread?).

That is a very exhaustive list and will have me, personally, on the net for longer than we can afford. :D

[elizaveta]

:wave I just posted in the old thread and didn't realise there was a new thread for Russians. :) So, if you didn't see my last post I'll just say basically what I said back there: My name is Liza, my dh is Semyon and my dd is Alyona and we're Russian-American, well, except for my dh. :) I had my dd in Russia and we plan on moving back once my husband turns 27 or we have a second child to avoid the Army. :wink We're from Krasnoyarsk region and I lived in Colorado when I was younger and we still go to visit some family I have there sometimes.

I work in a private Russian school and I may be able to get a hold of some school books for children: Русский язык and Родная речь. If anybody would be interested in something like that, let me know in pm. I can't make any promises, but I think I might be able to get a hold of some old books that were "lovingly" used (and possibly old - for instance I have a book of poems in English for children that are all full of Soviet love) if anybody would need them. :)

[aprilushka]

I just have to share -- I went to see Mumiy Troll last week in concert (the first concert we've been to post kids). It was really good (they were always my favorite Russian band), although DH was convinced it would have been more exciting to go the one in St Petersburg we couldn't get into 10 years ago when they were fresh and "the bomb". Whatever. I was quite happy to see them in the States, in a club with a much more intimate atmosphere than probably we could get in Russia (I was only about 12 feet away from Lagutenko), where they do still play pretty large venues, as far as I know. Their latest album is a lot better than the previous two and some part of the proceeds are to help the snow leopards.

[EdnaMarie]

I saw them in concert! I also saw Ruki Vverkh. :bag:

I did not know that their latest album went to help the snow leopards? Which charity?

[elka78]

Ну все, приехали - а нас не попрут за русский базар? :p
Thanks for starting the thread, this is wonderful!

[EdnaMarie]

а нас не попрут за русский базар?

Да хрен с ними!

Seriously, though, so long as we stick to the UA, I don't think so. ;)

Glad to have you here, Elka- nu otkuda? Gde? Kak? Let's all get to know one another. Again.

DH and I have been married 3.5 years and we were a Russian-English-Persian family until we had DD, who is now almost 1.5. Now we speak Russian between us (being a former Pioneer he has a distinct advantage), and our native tongues to DD. We live in Central Asia but are moving to the US for some time soon.

I learned Russian in Russia, which I love. I was only there two years and I still have toska. Impossible? I tell you my soul is at least 3/4 Russian. (The other 1/4 believes that Stalin really could have done a better job ;) ). Or maybe I am a reincarnated White Russian, except that White Russians, as far as I know, do not generally believe in reincarnation.

Anyway.

Давайте.

[aprilushka]

Sorry, the Amura tiger, not the snow leopard -- or the album is in the tiger's honor and the group generally supports their conservation (and other endangered big cats). I confess I do not know the difference between the two, I'll have to go wikipedia it.

From the nashe radio site:

Пластинка будет наименоваться не иначе как «Амба». В честь, как ни странно, амурского тигра. Вообще, запутанная история: вроде бы Илья Игоревич является чуть ли не патроном дальневосточного благотворительного фонда, созданного в защиту всяческих «зверушек». В декабре, как уже писал Jamsession.ru, Лагутенко с группой участвовали в вечере, посвящённом защите тигров и прочих кошачьих, где и рассказал о том, почему, собственно, «Амба»: мы, мол, такие же красивые, редкие и смелые, как амурский тигр. Что ж, ни приубавить, ни убавить.

[EVC]

And I've seen Mumiy Troll in concert :)

But, Aprilushka, I know what you mean about seeing Russian bands in the US. I have seen Vopli Vidoplyasova (OK, Ukrainian, not Russian) in concert probably 20 times and BY FAR the best was seeing them in New York, in a small restaurant/bar in Brighton Beach. There were probably less then 50 people there, some were just sitting at tables eating and drinking, and the rest were dancing on the dancefloor that went right up to the front of the stage. I could have spat on Skrypka I was so close :)

I also saw Ruki Vverkh. :bag:




As for Ruki vverkh, my office mate and I were just talking about them (and, uh, listening to them :bag:) yesterday and we were saying how the next time they come to San Francisco we should go see them :p We were only half joking..... :bag:


...

[EdnaMarie]

the next time they come to San Francisco we should go see them

Ruki vverkh have been to San Fransisco? We used to joke- which one do you like better, Ruki or Vverkh?

[aprilushka]

I'm just shocked Ruki Vverkh is still around.:p Didn't those Ivanushki guys (or whatever they were called) go the way of the Backstreet Boys a long time ago?

We also tried to see Zemfira a while back, but then she didn't come in the end (it was New York I think) and I don't think we got our money back either.

[EVC]

Oh, Ruki vverkh is still around :)

My office mate actually looked up their tour schedule the other day--apparently they are currently touring in Germany :D

Ruki vverkh have been to San Fransisco?

According to this same office mate, they have played SF several times. Hey, their music is of universal appeal :D

We also tried to see Zemfira a while back,
I like Zemfira--although I've never seen her in concert. I did make my students listen to Ya iskala last week, though, when we were doing the instrumental :) I forced Grebenshchikov on them yesterday :p

[aprilushka]

I can't get into those Perestroika era guys too much, too 70s oriented hard rock style for my taste, I tend to find it kind of grating (whereas I love 90s Brit pop rock style and hence Mumiy Troll), although I recognize their importance and certainly would much rather listen to them than silly Russian commercial pop, which seems to only get sillier with every year. DH has met Shevchuk a couple of times -- an artist friend of ours from Ufa knows him pretty well. Kudos to him for speaking his mind lately.

[EdnaMarie]

Ivanushki International, SOOO still making records, YES, and the red haired dude is looking so old nowadays. Dude, give it UP, Dima Bilan is here and you guys are all half dead. They are totally on RU.TV (San Fransisco... VSE smotryat RU.TV :lol).

For the record I think Dima is a дикуад but that is not the point.

The point is, I was just listening to Zemfira today. I like her old stuff better, perhaps because I'm used to it. Devushka sozrela, khochesh', arivaderchi... But, being a child of the seventies and perestroika, I :heart: KINO and Grebenshikov.

(Screw the four-letter transliterations.)

[EVC]

certainly would much rather listen to them than silly Russian commercial pop,

Ah, just wait until my students get "chtoby"--I've got "Takogo kak Putin" all queued up for that already :p

I :heart: KINO and Grebenshikov.


I'm really not that into Grebenschikov, although I used to like him. But the song worked really well (we did that pod nebom golubym song) because they had just gotten the instrumental AND colors. We've done one Kino song when we did the genitive plural (that u menya est dom tolko net kliuchei song), and we're going to do stan ptitsei tomorrow (because we just did stat + instrumental today). They actually really liked the first Kino song, so they will probably like this one as well. And when we get imperative soon, we'll be doing DDT's "Eto vsyo." Well, I figure it's better than doing grammar drills the whole hour, right? :)

[EdnaMarie]

Anything is better than an hour of grammar drills. Unless you are a total nerd like me and you enjoy them.

We used to end our parties with "Eto Vsyo" every weekend. A favorite... but I like Belaya Reka better.

[aprilushka]

Are these first years?

How about childrens' songs -- "Жили у бабуси" anyone? The lyrics are really easy to catch in kids' songs.

BTW, EVC, I was just browsing our old haunt for some kicks and saw that our dear old furry friend from Princeton has got himself an American невеста at last.

[EVC]

Yeah, these are first years. I've thought about children's songs and rhymes, etc., but I am guess I am just more personally entertained by Russian pop :) Although, I do sometimes show Vinni pukh :p

BTW, EVC, I was just browsing our old haunt for some kicks and saw that our dear old furry friend from Princeton has got himself an American невеста at last.

Really? Good for him! It's about time :)

[EVC]

OK, I just saw it (about the engagement). You know, I really just try to avoid that place these days--it just gets my blood pressure up. It is SO over run with trollish-types now. I mean, there were always a few, but it has gotten so much worse, imo. I also used to find it all somewhat amusing, but now I just find it aggravating and there are so many of the "old boys' club" types patting each other on the back and feeding each other's bloated egos that it's just pointless to even try to express an opposing viewpoint, which I did try to do, but have since decided to give up. Quite frankly I've got better things to do than to argue with them, especially knowing that it all falls on deaf ears. These guys need to learn the hard way and I actually take some perverse pleasure in knowing that most of them eventually do.


.....

[aprilushka]

Oh, I would never post there again and argue with them (total waste of time). I just sometimes look there, you know, like watching trash tv. Since I don't watch trash tv (or any regular tv programming), I guess I have this little trash need that's fulfilled by checking them out, as well as the pink nevyesta forum.

What I've noticed is that the incidence of bad grammar and lack of spelling has significantly increased along with the emmm... bad attitudes. Coincidence? I think not.:p

[EdnaMarie]

EVC- Have you used the Russian Sesame Street? It's freaking awesome.

I think Lyube is very good for learning Russian. He speaks so clearly. I can sing along to almost every song on their latest album.

[elizaveta]

EVC- Have you used the Russian Sesame Street? It's freaking awesome.

Russian Sesame Street is cute! :thumb I have a dvd of a bunch of episodes, but my daughter doesn't usually watch it. She likes to watch Smeshariki. :D But that one is really cute, so I don't mind. ;) My husband and I like watching it ourselves!

[EVC]

EVC- Have you used the Russian Sesame Street? It's freaking awesome.

I think Lyube is very good for learning Russian. He speaks so clearly. I can sing along to almost every song on their latest album.


I did use some Ulitsa sezam when I taught first semester last year--I showed the alphabet song which is cute, and I think I showed a counting one when they were learning numbers. I also did a few Liube songs in first semester--I remeber I did that one that starts otchego tak v Rossii beryozy shumyat and I also played their cover of the Russian national anthem :p


Just as an aside, that beryozy song always reminds me of the KVN team from Astana--they once did a parody with the words otchego tak v Kazakhtane beryozy ne shumyat/potomy chto nichego ne rastyot v Kazakhstane. I don't know why I find that so funny, but it works unexpectedly well with the melody :D


Russian Sesame Street is cute! I have a dvd of a bunch of episodes, but my daughter doesn't usually watch it. She likes to watch Smeshariki.

Yeah, my dd wasn't too into it, either. And yet she loves South Park dubbed into Russian....Go figure.

[Chi-Chi Mama]

:bag: can someone walk me through switching the keyboard to type in cyrillic online? the worst part is that I remember being able to do it in college...

- CBETA the dork (the best I can do, just lucky enough the latin capital letters work out for my name)

[EdnaMarie]

Just as an aside, that beryozy song always reminds me of the KVN team from Astana--they once did a parody with the words otchego tak v Kazakhtane beryozy ne shumyat/potomy chto nichego ne rastyot v Kazakhstane.

This made me snort and I almost woke my baby. I :heart: KVN but never see it nowadays... too addicted to the Internet, I guess. :bag:

Света- do you have a mac or a PC?

[Chi-Chi Mama]

pc

[sophi4ka]

Just wanted to say привет from another Russian speaker in San Jose, CA :wave

I speak Hebrew as well. Anyone???

Sophie

[EdnaMarie]

There is an Israel tribe, I think, Sophie, and you can also start a separate Hebrew thread. I know for sure you are not the only one BUT- you might not find your fellow Hebrew-speakers on this thread.

Sveta- Okay. I am on a Mac but I will try to do this from memory. First, go down to the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, where it has all the, uh, not tabs, you know... tools. Right click and I think you will get a menu that says "Language Bar". Go to language bar and click and you should get an option to show the language bar. Click that. Once you are showing the language bar, right-click again and go to options. I think then you will get a pop-up menu and on the first tab, you will have the option to move language keyboards into the language bar. (I am sorry that the names of the menus are all weird but I have not used a PC in a couple years.) Move Russian into the language bar. It will say at the bottom of that pop-up menu what the shortcut keys are for switching between keyboards (usually this is alt + shift). So when you save those options, then you can use this shortcut to change between languages.

You know what. I just typed all that out and figured- it's probably wrong.

http://www.pcdoctor-community.com/pcdblog/2008/01/15/how-to-change-keyboard-language-in-windows/

So, there you go.

[elka78]

Sophie, I speak Hebrew, too :wink In fact, DD1 is attending Sunday school that israelites founded, where they speak only hebrew to the kids - I hope she learns some... we are not good enough to speak it at home

I don't think I introduced myself on this thread yet.
I live in Chicago suburbs and have two daughters: 6.5 and 3.5 years old. We try to only speak Russian at home. I teach the girls to read and write Russian: DD1 is finishing up grade 1 according to russian curriculum (I buy textbooks from ozon) and DD2 is just starting to read two-letter slogi (hey, give her some break - the kid's not even 4yo yet!)

I have left the former union in 1991, so I'm pretty removed from goings on there, including pop culture. Originally from Odessa. How about everyone else?

[elka78]

if you don't want to learn another keyboard, go to translit dot ru and type latin there to convert to cyrilics

[EdnaMarie]

Welcome, elka! Interesting site- thanks! DH will be all over me for that. ;)

Ничиво себе! Давно бы нашла такой сайт! Теперь могу писать такие длинные, скучние сообшение и на английском, И на русском!!! Кайф!

Но, я очень боюсь, что ето не помогает мне с навыками печатантия на русской клавиятуре... уже путаю.

[elka78]

у меня обратная проблема - так привыкла к русской клавиатуре, что не могу печатать в транслите - постоянно "русские" буквы под пальцы лезут :eyesroll

[EdnaMarie]

oops we are getting google Russian ads including:

Создай сервис Знакомств
Это просто и бесплатно! Подключай
домен и получай от $1000 в месяц
p******.g********.ru

[sophi4ka]

There is an Israel tribe, I think, Sophie, and you can also start a separate Hebrew thread. I know for sure you are not the only one BUT- you might not find your fellow Hebrew-speakers on this thread.


Its OK. I am so "multicultural" that I probably don't belong to any tribe anywhere. Unless there is a tribe for russian-jewish-israelis married to romanian-christians, living in the US and doing all the AP parenting stuff :wink. I guess I am doomed to always be the weird one...

[udonandbroth]

Privet, everyone. I am still, rather slowly, trying to learn Russian, bit by bit. I am married to an Russian expat and we have three kids (who don't speak any Russian!) but they love Cheborashka and Genna and the other little cartoons that we pick up in NE Philly (where all the Russians are)- Three From the Sour Cream Village, Wolf and Rabbit, etc. :) I forgot about Sesame Street- have to pick that one up.

I have kind of pretty much given up, though, the idea of everyone in the family speaking Russian. Misha and I have been married 8 years now and I have yet to meet anyone from his family besides his 22 year-old nephew (who, if he is a typical representation of Russian/Eastern European youth, is a scary thought, indeed {try to picture someone spending 7 hours in front of the computer trying to find the perfect pair of Gucci sneakers...} So anyway, it seems like we'll never get to Russia and I'll never meet his family, sigh but on a brighter note, this thread is kind of getting me re-inspired.

I also <B Kino and Grebiishnakov (sorry, sp.) :) Victor Tsoi is/was the man.

[aprilushka]

I just came across this for some reason I don't remember what and it just about bust my gut -- esp Madonna and her ventilatory...

the wikipedia entry on Russian "olbanski"


http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%BB%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D 0%B9

[Chi-Chi Mama]

a friend recenly told me about this site: sharereactor dot ru

you can download all types of movies - American, Russian, European, kids', etc! dd is actually excited to watch cartoons and movies from the site and seems fine with the fact that they're in Russian - too bad she saw that they had the american Cinderella 1, 2 and 3. But we have a deal that after those, I"ll be downloading the kids movies of my choosing :wink

They have so many Russian movies I grew up with, I can't wait to see them.

the only downside is that it takes forever to download them.. and I'm using my old computer just in case... then you can either watch them on your computer (they come out as an '.avi' file) or convert them to divx if your dvd player supports it... or to a dvd-supported version which supposedly takes even longer.

so anyway, wanted to share.

[elizaveta]

a friend recenly told me about this site: sharereactor dot ru

you can download all types of movies - American, Russian, European, kids', etc! dd is actually excited to watch cartoons and movies from the site and seems fine with the fact that they're in Russian - too bad she saw that they had the american Cinderella 1, 2 and 3. But we have a deal that after those, I"ll be downloading the kids movies of my choosing :wink

They have so many Russian movies I grew up with, I can't wait to see them.

the only downside is that it takes forever to download them.. and I'm using my old computer just in case... then you can either watch them on your computer (they come out as an '.avi' file) or convert them to divx if your dvd player supports it... or to a dvd-supported version which supposedly takes even longer.

so anyway, wanted to share.

kinokopilka dot ru is a place where you can find a few cartoons as well, but I think they are all new. :) They have Алеша Попович и Тугарин Змей, which is one of my favourites and Князь Владимир. My daughter likes Илья Муромец и Соловей Разбойник! :) It's a torrent site though. Not a huge selection of cartoons, but a lot of other Russian films.

[EVC]

You know, my dd is such a little wierdo :p

Her favorite Russian-related entertainment right now is this video on youtube (from Sorochinskaya yarmarka): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CK0DIf_dYc

No idea why, but I have to admit that I find it rather amusing to hear a toddler singing "ya pil by tolko chai ili kvas....." And she sings it ALL DAY LONG!

She really does love kvas, though, so maybe that's the attraction to the song :shrug:

[elizaveta]

Ura! We're off to Krasnoyarsk in a few weeks! :joy: We haven't been back to Russia since we moved when dd was a few months old, so it's long overdue! It's been nearly two and a half years! So, we have the summer to lounge around. I can't wait to sit around and eat cucumbers and tomatoes and raspberries. :eat: Summer in Russia is the best!

[EVC]

Ura! We're off to Krasnoyarsk in a few weeks! :joy: We haven't been back to Russia since we moved when dd was a few months old, so it's long overdue! It's been nearly two and a half years! So, we have the summer to lounge around. I can't wait to sit around and eat cucumbers and tomatoes and raspberries. :eat: Summer in Russia is the best!

Have a wonderful trip!!!! I am envious, but it's belaya zavist :p

[dolphinkisser]

Has anyone tried to get their children on Myngle? I booked a lesson for dd and i installed skype but when we went on the website at the approved time nothing happened:(,Does anyone know what went wrong?