We started a Russian language class onboard the ship, and so far, it has provided some of the biggest laughs and scary moments of the cruise. Svetlana, a scientist onboard who is “half student/half instructor” of the Summer School, volunteered to lead the class. She is a good instructor, but tough. So you have to listen and behave (hence the periodic bursts of laughter, as grown scientists try to behave and get the right answer). I’m excited that after a couple days, I can recognize the letters and what sounds they are supposed to make, so when I see signs around the ship, I can at least sound out the words (this does not mean I can necessarily pronounce the words however). Want to try it?
Here are some familiar (and not so familiar) letters, and some examples of words that start with that sound:
A a (Anna)
E e (Elena)
К к (Katya)
М м (Masha)
Н н (Neck)
О о (Olga)
С с (Steve)
Т т (Tobias)
Р р (Robert) – make sure to rrrrrrroll your “r”
Г г (Gift)
Д д (Delta)
Л л (Lamb)
П п (Pie)
У у (Ooze)
Ф ф (Phillip)
Х х (Help)
Ы (at the end of a word, adds an “ee” sound)
Now try this Russian tongue twister:
Карл у Клары украл кораллы, а Клара у Карла украла кларнет.
Hi Lindsay! I’m Ashley a student at Law Enforcement Memorial High school in Ms.Gilbert’s class. I have to say, I tried your tongue twister, and let me tell I’d rather stick with English and Spanish. My question for you is, are the lectures strictly Science or are you taught anything regarding History, Math, and Literature?
Dear Ashley, the tongue twister is hard I know! Almost all of the lectures are science, because they are given by the scientists onboard who want to share with each other what they do. But yesterday, there was a history presentation about Vilkitskiy and other Russian explorers who discovered the Northwest Passage, so that was really interesting too!
i am also a student of the Law Enforcement officers memorial high school and i also wonder l do you learn how to spell the words out or just learn how say the word?
Hi Heaven, we are learning the Russian alphabet (which as you saw is different from the English alphabet), then learning some new vocabulary, which we then try to spell and pronounce, and put into sentences. I am getting better at pronunciation, but I still am having a hard time remembering well enough to speak it!
Hi my name is Alexis Levros and I’m from L.E.O.M.H.S and I wanted to know do you speak more than one language? Are you fluent with them ?
Hi Alexis, I used to be pretty good with Spanish, but that was years ago, and I haven’t practiced enough to keep it fresh in mind. (But I need to do that!) We have started a Russian language class onboard the ship though, because English and Russian are the two languages spoken on the ship (and the crew mainly speaks only Russian). So I am learning a bit of Russian!