RfK: Russian for Kids

Crooked man rhyme

2011-11-21T17:06:00.001-08:00

Project Gutenberg has a nice collection of public domain children's books and rhymes. Accidentally, I found one that I remember to read in Russian when I was little.
In English it comes from the book "The crooked man and other rhymes":

There was a crooked man,
and he went a crooked mile,
And he found a crooked six-pence
against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked hat,
which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
in a little crooked house.

The Russian version that I remember is a translation by Kornei Chukovski and it's calle "The crooked song", or "Скрюченная песня". It's longer, so I wonder whether Chukovski added a bit of his own there:

Жил на свете человек,
Скрюченные ножки,
И гулял он целый век
По скрюченной дорожке.

А за скрюченной рекой
В скрюченном домишке
Жили летом и зимой
Скрюченные мышки.

И стояли у ворот
Скрюченные ёлки,
Там гуляли без забот
Скрюченные волки.

И была у них одна
Скрюченная кошка,
И мяукала она.
Сидя у окошка.

А за скрюченным мостом
Скрюченная баба
По болоту босиком
Прыгала, как жаба.

И была в руке у ней
Скрюченная палка,
И летела вслед за ней
Скрюченная галка.

Translation: London bridge is falling down

2011-03-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

London bridge	Мост в городе Лондоне
London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, My fair Lady. Build it up with wood and clay, Wood and clay, wood and clay, Build it up with wood and clay, My fair Lady. Wood and clay will wash away, Wash away, wash away, Wood and clay will wash away, My fair Lady. Build it up with bricks and mortar, Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar, Build it up with bricks and mortar, My fair Lady. Bricks and mortar will not stay, Will not stay, will not stay, Bricks and mortar will not stay, My fair Lady. Build it up with iron and steel, Iron and steel, iron and steel, Build it up with iron and steel, My fair Lady. Iron and steel will bend and bow, Bend and bow, bend and bow, Iron and steel will bend and bow, My fair Lady. Build it up with silver and gold, Silver and gold, silver and gold, Build it up with silver and gold, My fair Lady. Silver and gold will be stolen away, Stolen away, stolen away, Silver and gold will be stolen away, My fair Lady. Set a man to watch all nigh, Watch all night, watch all night, Set a man to watch all night, My fair Lady. Suppose the man should fall asleep, Fall asleep, fall asleep, Suppose the man should fall asleep? My fair Lady. Give him a pipe to smoke all night, Smoke all night, smoke all night, Give him a pipe to smoke all night, My fair Lady.	Старый мост обрушился, рушился, рушился, Старый мост обрушился, Моя леди. Досками мост подобьем, подобьем, подобьем, Досками мост подобьем, Моя леди. Доски может смыть водой, смыть водой, смыть водой, Доски может смыть водой, Моя леди. Укрепим мост кирпичом, Кирпичом, кирпичом, Укрепим мост кирпичом, Моя леди. Кирпичи расколятся, Колятся, колятся, Кирпичи расколятся, Моя леди. Будет мост тогда стальной, Мост стальной, мост стальной, Будет мост тогда стальной, Моя леди. Сталь согнется-скрутится, Скрутится, скрутится, Сталь согнется-скрутится, Моя леди. Сделаем мост золотой, Золотой, золотой, Сделаем мост золотой, Моя леди. Золото взял и украл, И украл, и украл, Золото взял и украл, Моя леди. Сторож нужен день и ночь, День и ночь, день и ночь, Сторож нужен день и ночь, Моя леди. Сторож может вдруг заснуть, Вдруг заснуть, вдруг заснуть, Сторож может вдруг заснуть, Моя леди. Пусть наш старый мост стоит, Пусть стоит, пусть стоит, Пусть наш старый мост стоит, Моя леди.
London bridge is falling down...	Старый мост обрушился...

Dr. Seuss in Russian

2011-03-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

I've thought about translating Dr. Seuss for a while, but it seemed like a very time-consuming and therefore impossible task considering my other obligations. One translation of "The cat in the hat" that we own is somewhat awkward. The language is interesting, but not very smooth.

Today I found a couple of links shared at Polyglotting - Dr. Seuss in Russian to Russian translations of Dr. Seuss available online. I just started reading a translation of "Horton hears a who" (Хортон слышит нечто) by Masha Lukashina and so far I like it. Here is the beginning from Dr. Seuss and Masha's translation to compare:

On the 15th of May, in the jungle of Nool

In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool

He was splashing, enjoying the jungle's great joys

When Horton the elephant heard a small noise.

-----------------------

Однажды весной, в позапрошлом году,

Холодной водой обливаясь в пруду,

Слон Хортон услышал: – Ай-ай! Ой-ой-ой!

Прошу вас, не надо плескаться водой!

Pancake week - Maslenitsa

2011-03-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

This week is the Pancake week. The Russian word "maslenitsa" (масленица) comes from "maslo" (butter), so sometimes this holiday is also called Butter week. But since the main activity is to fry pancakes, I prefer Pancake week.

Maslenitsa is a holiday that is celebrated the last week before the Great Fast (a long fasting season mandated by the Orthodox Christian Church). Historically, Maslenitsa is the week when meat is already forbidden to eat, but eggs and dairy products are still ok. Hence, pancakes, or bliny in Russian. Wikipedia's article on maslenitsa provides details about traditions and activities for Maslenitsa. I don't remember anybody doing anything except bliny.

There are many ways to make bliny, if you read in Russian, here is a good collection of recipes. The main idea is that good bliny are thin and they have many tiny holes in them. And you don't need buckwheat flour as many English-language recipes seem to suggest. This recipe seems to get it right. To speed things up, we sometimes cut the waiting time in half. And don't forget that most of the times the first pancake is a flop - первый блин комом.

Blog update

2011-02-25T12:07:00.000-08:00

My blog has a new design now and hopefully will have more content posted to it. The older content was re-organized, so now it's easier to find translations of particular genres by following links above.

How to say it

2010-05-07T11:56:00.001-07:00

May 9th it the Victory Day in Russia. In 2010 it is the 65th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War (part of World War II).

What is the correct way to say in Russian "65 years since the Great Victory" - 65 лет Великой Победы или 65 лет Великой Победе? The correct answer is the latter - 65 лет Великой Победе, because the noun after the number of years is in dative (лет чему? - победе):

... в самостоятельной конструкции «количественное числительное + слово лет + существительное» следует употреблять ... существительные в дательном падеже. (see full explanation at gramota.ru)

More common but incorrect 65 лет Великой Победы probably comes from a longer phrase 65 лет со дня Великой Победы, where со дня is simply dropped. Another correct phrase though is 65-летие Великой Победы.

International Children's Book Day

2010-04-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today is International Children's Book Day. The day is celebrated since 1967 on the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author known for his fairy tales and stories for children. The slogan for this year is "A book is waiting for you, find it!"

Sad that the event received almost no publicity. It could be used to promote good books for children. H.C. Andersen books are great for children and adults, so here are online versions of some of his tales in English and Russian:

Some of the tales can also be found as Russian cartoons on youtube.

Clappity-clap your hands

2010-02-16T12:18:00.000-08:00

This is my attempt to translate rhymes from Russian into English. In Russia something similar to nursery rhymes is called потешки (poteshki), which can loosely be translated as amusing rhymes. I don't remember using this word "poteshki" when I was little. It seems that the come back of this word can be associated with the trend of using archaic and folklore terminology to emphasize the Slavonic and Russian roots (as opposed to the Soviet background). Nevertheless, I remember the rhymes pretty well. We just recited them and didn't bother to categorize them.

One of the famous poteshki is the one called "Ладушки" (Ladushki). It is an action question-answer rhyme, and it teaches the baby simple movements. First line is accompanied by clapping, then arms move apart, then eating and drinking gestures (optional and usually omitted), then hands up to imitate the flying, then the hands touch the head as if we landed on the head, and then flying again.
Here is the Russian version, followed by my translation.

RUS
Ладушки, ладушки,
- Где были? - У бабушки!
- Что ели? - Кашку!
- Что пили? - Бражку!
Попили, поели,
Полетели, полетели, полетели!
На головку сели!
Сели, посидели,
И опять полетели!

ENG
Clappity, clap your hands,
Did we go to grandma Ann's?
Yes, we had cereal there,
Yes, we had milk there,
After we had our share
We flew about in the air!
Then we landed, stayed there,
And again flew about in the air!

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake

2010-02-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

ENG
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can;
Pat it and prick it and mark it with B,
Put it in the oven for baby and me.

RUS
Испеки каравай, пекарь-друг
Пусть аромат несется вокруг
Яйца и сахар, мука и вода
Мне и детишкам радость-еда

Ring around the rosy

2009-10-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

Translating this nursery rhyme was challenging because there is no particular meaning in it. Some speculate that this rhyme has a hidden reference to plague outbreaks in 17th century England, but according to Wikipedia' article Ring_around_the_rosy, these claims are unsubstantiated. I did a lot of trial versions, so here are the best two.

ENG

Ring around the rosy,
A pocket full of posies;
ashes, ashes
we all fall down!

RUS

Под этот стишок обычно водится хоровод. Дети держатся за руки и ходят по кругу, а на последнюю строчку все падают на пол. На английском стишок не имеет особого смысла, поэтому даю два варианта перевода.

Круг вокруг веснушки,
Ушки на макушке,
Ходим, бродим,
Да и заснем.

***

Розочки-кружочки,
Травки да цветочки,
Апчхи, апчхи,
Нас унес ураган.

Old King Cole

2009-08-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

ENG

Old King Cole

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl
And he called for his fiddlers three.

RUS

Старый король

Старый король был весел душой
Ох, и весел душой он был
Он позвал скрипачей
И позвал трубачей
И вина попросить не забыл.

Baby lion and the Turtle

2009-08-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

ENG

There is a Soviet cartoon "How the Baby Lion and the Turtle sang a song". The cartoon is about a baby lion who saw a big turtle. The turtle lies in the sun and sings a song. The Baby Lion likes it so much, that he wants to sing with the Turtle. But he can't sing about himself because he is very active and can't lie down as the lyrics says. They finally work out something, sing the song and become friends.
I wanted my son's classmates at the daycare to understand this song, so I came up with the following translation (the cartoon can be watched on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK_EREb1gWo; the Russian lyrics and music score are down below).

In the sun I lie and laze,
At the sun I squint and gaze
Here I lie, lie and laze,
'N' at the sun I squint and gaze

Alligators swim and crawl
Rhinos stomp their feet and stroll
But I lie, lie and laze,
'N' at the sun I squint and gaze.

A baby lion is nearby
Trying hard to catch my eye
But I lie, lie and laze,
'N' I won’t turn away my gaze.

RUS

Я на солнышке лежу,
И на солнышко гляжу,
Все лежу и лежу
И на солнышко гляжу.

Носорог-рог-рог идет.
Крокодил-дил-дил плывет.
Только я - все лежу
И на солнышко гляжу.

Рядом львеночек лежит
И ушами шевелит,
Только я - все лежу
И на львенка не гляжу.

On vacation

2009-07-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I posted anything here. We've been on vacation in Moscow (Russia). Now we're back and new translations are coming.

The itsy bitsy spider

2009-05-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

ENG

The Itsy-Bitsy spider (scroll down for the scores and Russian lyrics)

The Itsy-Bitsy spider went up the water spout
down came the rain and washed the spider out
up came the sun and dried up all the rain
and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again

RUS

Паучок

Вверх по водостоку паучок ползёт
Вдруг он вниз скатился, это дождик льёт.
Cолнышко вышло и стало пригревать,
И вверх по водостоку ползет паук опять.

Rock-a-bye baby

2009-04-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

ENG
For some reason, this was a tough one. It seems that Russian words are longer in general, so it was hard to fit them into one syllable rhymes.

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop,

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

------------------------------------------------------------
RUS

Баю-бай, спи, малыш, засыпай
Ветер кроватку тихо качай.
Ветер подул сильней с высоты,
Кроватка упала, а с ней я и ты.

Twinkle twinkle, Little Star

2009-04-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

ENG

Twinkle twinkle little star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

RUS

Маленькая звездочка

Маленькая звездочка
Ты ярка, но далека
Над землей горишь-блестишь
И мигаешь, и дрожишь
Маленькая звездочка
Ты ярка, но далека

There was an old woman

2009-03-27T18:50:00.001-07:00

ENG

This is one of my favorite nursery rhymes. It has an unusual rhythm and tells a whole story in a few lines:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth,
without any bread,
Then whipped [kissed] them all soundly
And put them to bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------

RUS

Русская версия в моем переводе звучит так:

Одна странная дама жила в башмаке
У нее было столько деток, не хватит пальцев на руке
Она давала им суп,
Давала кисель,
Всех шлепала звонко,
И клала в постель.

Mary, Mary quite contrary

2009-03-26T11:17:00.001-07:00

ENG

This is one of the common versions of this nursery rhyme:

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

RUS

А вот мой перевод:

Мэри Мэри не поверить

Как хорош и мил твой сад

С цветочками, ракушками

И деревцами ровно в ряд

Head, shoulders, knees and toes

2009-03-21T21:34:00.001-07:00

ENG

Here is this simple action song in English:

Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes

RUS

Перевод довольно вольный. Эта песенка сопровождается показом частей тела, которые упоминаются в песне. Поется куплет несколько раз, сначала медленно, потом быстрее, потом еще быстрее и очень-очень быстро. В английской версии сначала касаются головые, потом плеч, потом коленок, а потом пальцев на ногах. Потом переходят на глаза, уши, рот и нос.

В моем переводе идут лоб, руки (можно перекрещивать руки, чтобы касаться противоположных предплечий), потом ноги (голени или колени), а потом животик. В таком варианте песенку можно петь под тот же самый мотив (послушать мотив на другом сайте).

Лоб, ручки-ножки, и живот,
И живот
Лоб, ручки-ножки, и живот,
И живот
И глазки, и ушки, и нос, и рот
Лоб, ручки-ножки, и живот,
И живот

Row your boat

2009-03-16T21:13:00.001-07:00

ENG

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

RUS

Раз-два, по реке
В лодке мы плывем
Весело, весело, весело, весело
Жизнь - она как сон.

Russian for Kids

2009-03-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has experience living or growing up in another culture, knows how difficult it is sometimes to preserve one's own native language and culture or teach children to speak that language properly. The Internet makes it a little bit easier, but the challenges pretty much remain. It is even harder to find resources that will help children to understand the value and beauty of speaking two languages.

The goal of this blog is to create and gather resources that can help kids appreciate their knowledge of two languages and learn and improve their Russian. Primarily, it is intended for parents with kids from English-speaking countries. Parents from Russian-speaking countries who want to teach their children English, will find this blog useful as well. "Russian for Kids" will contain my translations of English and Russian children's rhymes and songs and other materials that can make learning and speaking Russian fun. The blog will use both English and Russian languages.