Friday, April 21, 2006

Lesson 12 - Happy Birthday!

Topic - Birthday Greetings

• ❑1 intro


Добрый день, друзья! (Hello, friends!)
Как дела? (How are you?)
Надеюсь, что у вас все хорошо. (Hope you are doing well.)



Thank you for keeping up with this podcast even though I do not produce them as often as I'd like to. I am excited to get e-mails and comments on the spoonfulofrussian.com site. Your enthusiasm is contageous! For those who asked about the condition of our house, we just sold our restored home and are planning on moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, right after our trip to Russia in August. I can hardly wait!


• ❑2 Happy Birthday!

It's lesson 12 (двенадцатый урок). Tomorrow we'll be celebrating my youngest daughter's 6th birthday. I taught my daughters to say a few birthday greetings in Russian. Let me share them with you.

So, How do you say 'Happy Birthday' in Russian?
Эмили: "I know." It's "С Днем Рождения".
That's right, Emily. "С Днем Рождения" means 'Happy Birthday' . So, what are you going to say to your sister tomorrow?
Эмили: 'С Днем Рождения, Джулия". To which Julia will probably reply "Спасибо, Емили".

Then Russians usually wish health, happiness and longevity to the birthday person among other things. The phraze 'I wish you' will be 'Я желаю тебе...' (informal, to be used addressing friends, family, children) or ' Я желаю Вам'... (formal, to be used addressing older people, people you are not very close to, or just to show respect). Can you say 'Я желаю тебе...' 'Я желаю Вам...'?

Good. Let us wish Julia health. 'Я желаю тебе здоровья'. Emily: 'Я желаю тебе здоровья'.
Now, let's wish her happiness. 'Я желаю тебе счастья'. Emily: 'Я желаю тебе счастья'.
Let's also wish her long life - долгих лет жизни. 'Я желаю тебе долгих лет жизни.' Emily: 'Я желаю тебе долгих лет жизни.'
Молодец, Эми. What would I do without you? ('Что бы я без тебя делала?')
Emily: 'Пожалуйста, мама.'

Alright! Now you know what to say next time you are invited to a Russian birthday party. And if any of my listeners happen to celebrate their birthday today, we are saying 'С Днем Рождения' to you!

Here are the phrases again:











• ❑3 song

For the musical part of today's podcast I chose a song from a Russian cartoon "Cheboorashka". The character that sings this song is happy on a very dreary day. It's his birthday! The people passing by cannot understand why he's so happy. The singer also regrets that birthdays only come once a year.


" Чебурашка и Крокодил Гена"


День рождения


Пусть бегут неуклюже
Пешеходы по лужам,
А вода по асфальту рекой.
И не ясно прохожим
В этот день непогожий,
Отчего я веселый такой.

А я играю на гармошке
У прохожих на виду.
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году.

Прилетит вдруг волшебник
В голубом вертолете,
И бесплатно покажет кино.
С днем рождения поздравит
И конечно, подарит
Мне в подарок пятьсот "эскимо".


I even mada a video tutorial for you. Enjoy!



• ❑4 closing

I hope you enjoyed the song and learned something new today. As always, e-mail me if you have any comments or questions. My e-mail address is speakrussian at mac dot com. You can also leave your comments on this website. До свидания и всего хорошего! ('Good bye and all the best')!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spasibo Miss Natalia!

I have been trying to keep up on your podcasts while taking care of my 11 month old twins. We were just out today buying supplies for their upcoming birthday and now this episode! Absolutely wonderful! Now I will know how to say "Happy Birthday" to them!

Спасибо так!
Stacy

Anonymous said...

Hey, just wanted to say thank you, I really enjoy your podcasts. I will be going to Russia in July and I'm studying as much as I can.

Anonymous said...

thankyou for your podcasts - i'm not planing on going to russia anytime soon but i have always been interested in the country and everything about it from lennin and stalin to Chornobyl. what better way to learn abouta country than to learn to speak it's language. can you also reccomend some russian pop music for me to listen to? i am listening to Kristina Orbakaite & T.A.T.U at the moment

Muumi said...

Спасибо! Чебурашка просто вешь :)

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled on your pocasts as I was searching for some good French lessons. Your podcasts are excellent! I really have no intention to visit Russia now, but your classes are so good, I am going to subscribe and learn anyway.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much. I am new to Podcast and very excited that I found your web. It is a very well structured and richfull lesson. I have saved it in my folder, will come back more.

Anonymous said...

Hi Natalia,

Thanks again for a great lesson - love the song, it's been going around my head for days! Quick question with с днем рождения. When you say с днем, it sounds like с днём - dnyom as oppose to dnyem. I thought e should be pronounced ye and ё as yo. Which one should I use?

Thanks a lot Natalia,

-Zac

Natalia said...

Zac, thanks for the question. Lots of times Russians assume ё while writing e. But I see how this can be confusing for the listeners. So, "С Днём Рождения" is the way you should write it.

Anonymous said...

Natalia,

Your website is very good! My parents are russian, but I was born here in Brazil. I wish that my son learns to speak russian and I believe that this website will help him a lot. The song of this lesson is very nice, and Cheberiashka is a very cool cartoon (I've downloaded it!)
Best wishes from Brazil!
Tatiana

Mother Effingby said...

Emily and Julia are the exact names of my twins! How funny! I love this site. I am adding it to my favorites because I will be coming here, chasto! Ochen' chasto, druzya!

Bí Ngô NZ said...

hello

i'm so delighted to find this site. I love Russian culture, literature, and had learned this language for more than 10 years at school. However, as I haven't used it for a long time, I've lost a lot of it. I see the song "день рождения" on your website and feel so happy because when I was a little child my parents often played this song on my birthday (my father studied in Russia in the 1970s). I love to listen to it one more time; however, I can't find it on your download list. Would you mind uploading it again or mailing it to me via hanoian05@gmail.com
Tomorrow May 19 is my "день рождения" :)
Spasibo bolsoje

Anonymous said...

hallo!
please could you tell me the correct russian pronunciation for the name anoushka?

at home i am always called a NOO shka, but someone told me this is incorrect and it shouls be AH noosh ka. however, i thought that was the polish pronunciation.... please help!

Natalia said...

about the stress in the female name Аннушка ... You are absolutely correct. The stress is on the first syllable. I'll email you an audio file of me pronouncing the word for you:)

man vai kok said...

Dear Miss Natalia,
I want to download the podcast audio file for lesson 12, "Happy Birthday" from 2006 April, where can I download the file? please, thank you very much.
manvai

Violetygypsy said...

Just wanted to share I used this website and specifically the font used for "я люблю" for my first tattoo which I got last Friday. Thanks for being a great site for the Russian language!