14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
1. hello and goodbye 1. hello and Goodbye Привет и пока
We start by introducing children to where the Russian language is spoken. They hear and learn to say their first Russian words, so they can greet people, and say goodbye. From this tiny initial vocabulary, you can develop a surprising number of enjoyable activities. These will help give pupils the satisfaction of using the new language for real and purposeful communication. With Russian, there’s the exciting extra dimension of seeing a whole new alphabet, and starting to work out the relation between what you read and the sounds you hear and say. You start developing children’s awareness of the typical sounds of the new language, with a first look at how those sounds are recorded in spelling. We will explore the idea that a language reflects the culture of the people who use it, and that what you say depends on who you are speaking to and when. Part A of this chapter offers ideas for “getting started”, with a first glimpse of Russia to prompt comparisons with your own community and how children use their mother tongue. Parts B and C introduce saying ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in the new language. Children can practise while the sounds are fresh in their minds.
Part A: introduction to russia Activities
Start by exploring what pupils think they already know about Russia: n What do they first think of when ‘Russia’ is mentioned? n As a class, make a list of things you know about Russia. n Has anyone in the class heard of any famous Russian people? ❑ Watch Presentation A1: ‘This is Russia’ Watch presentation A1, which shows Russia’s position on a world map; key places in Russia and highlights some important facts about the country and its history. The presentation shows children the size and diversity of Russia. It may confirm some of children’s preconceptions, e.g. it can be very cold! - but it also suggests interesting contrasts that can be explored as this introductory course unfolds.
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EARLY START RUSSIAN Part b: saying hello Activities
Warm up
online Teacher Preparation
❑ You can talk with pupils about some of the ways they greet people both in and out of school. You can look at this in more detail after viewing film B1.
b1: NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
привет - hello/hi [informal,
❑ Watch Film B1: “Hello” Children greet the viewers informally: “Привет!” We then see more children and their families greeting each other. Start of the school day
e.g. to friends & family]
здравствуйте - hello [formal,
e.g. child to teacher]
доброе утро - good morning
This sequence is intended for “gisting”. Pupils don’t need to understand every word that is spoken. They can make sense of what is happening by picking out familiar greetings and watching the images.
Click the online Teacher Preparation section which presents the pronunciation of all the new words and phrases - together with simple language awareness points.
We see pupils arriving at the Saturday Russian School. The teacher greets the children using the more formal “Здравствуйте”. Teacher: “Здравствуйте дети”. (Hello children). Pupils greet the teacher with her first name and second name (patronymic - see Talking Point 2 Ch. 3): “Здравствуйте, Анна Петровна”. The teacher asks the children to sit down. ... and in another classroom: The teacher calls the register and pupils respond with: “Доброе утро”. (Good morning). Teacher: “Доброе утро”.
Film B1: children greet their teacher: “Доброе утро”
GET USED TO THE SOUNDS - online flashcards with sound and optional text Children are natural mimics, and will pick up how to pronounce the new Russian words from the native speakers on film B1 and the online flashcards which will also introduce the written word.
SHOW 01 FLASHCARDS Hello / goodbye ❑ Echoing: Select ‘Hello’ on the e-flashcards. Show each picture; - click to hear sound, pupils echo, e.g. “Привет!” ❑ Individual echoing: physical activity helps! Move round the room and greet individuals with “Привет” and a cheery wave. The pupil echoes your greeting. ❑ Now ask pupils to move around the room and to greet each other by saying “Привет”. ❑ Echoing: This time you circulate amongst the children and greet individuals in your role as “teacher” using the more formal “Здравствуйте”. The pupil echoes your greeting. When you feel they are ready, include “Доброе утро” (Good day). Pupils echo the phrase.
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14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
1. hello and goodbye
❑ Clapping game: As you say each word (or show the e-flashcards with sound “ON”), clap each syllable. e.g. “Прив - ет” or “Здра - вствуй - те”. Pupils clap and echo. RESPOND WITH UNDERSTANDING ❑ Point to yourself and say your full name, e.g. “Anna Smith”. Now greet the class using
the formal “Здравствуйте”. The class responds with “Здравствуйте Anna Smith” as the children do in film B1. ❑ Beginning with confident pupils, greet individuals with the formal “Здравствуйте”. Each child replies,“Здравствуйте Anna Smith”. If the children are coping well, you could also say “Доброе утро” (Good day).
❑ Greetings game 1: The children form a circle round you. Throw a soft ball to different children greeting them with either the informal “Привет”, the formal “Здравствуйте” or “Доброе утро”. As they reply to the greeting, the children throw the ball back to you. Pupils can then take turns to be the person throwing the ball from the centre of the circle. ❑ Greetings game 2: As you throw the ball, change the pace at which you speak and the intonation of your voice. For example, try whispering “Здравствуйте” for the duration of several throws; then speak louder and speed up the pace between throws; finally call out “Привет!” as if you had just bumped into a friend you had not seen for a long time. Pupils echo your intonation. If a child makes a mistake, praise their attempt, then say it again correctly. ❑ Musical greetings Pupils form two circles. The outer circle moves clockwise, the inner circle moves anticlockwise. When the music stops, pupils greet the person facing them with any of the greetings.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Time is short in the primary school day, but you can give children more practice with the foreign language by using it during other lessons, while you are doing routine administration, and at other odd moments. ❑ Starting class: use “Доброе утро” (Good day) as pupils arrive in the classroom each morning and “Здравствуйте” when you greet the whole class at the beginning of the day. Pupils respond “Здравствуйте” (plus your full name). ❑ Calling the register: You can call the register each day just as the teacher does in film B1. Pupils reply, “доброе утро” when they hear their name called. ❑ Meeting children away from the classroom: say “Привет! ” or “Здравствуйте” whenever you meet pupils around the school or out of school. You could also encourage the school secretary, the caretaker and other colleagues to take part.
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EARLY START RUSSIAN ❑ Music: pupils could use percussion instruments to make up chants based on the rhythm of the words. You could also ask them to compose their own tunes which will fit the rhythm of the words. In Ch. 2, you will find a “Hello - how are you?” song for pupils to sing.
online Teacher Preparation
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES
молодец - well done
When everyone has had the opportunity to practise a little of the new language, make a short interlude to introduce this chapter‘s “talking point”about the ways people greet each other.
This is a really useful word that you can use to praise pupils in the classroom.
Click the online Teacher Preparation section which presents the pronunciation of all the new words and phrases - together with simple language awareness points.
Talking point 1:
EVERYDAY LIFE IN RUSSIA Meeting people As part of your class work with this section, you can use film B1 to prompt discussion about how we meet and greet people in different cultures. We suggest you encourage the children to talk about a range of situations in their own lives and in your community. If your pupils have already had experience of learning other foreign languages, they can make comparisons with what they know about greetings in other cultures. It is likely that they will already know that in some countries there are informal and formal ways of addressing people e.g. the French “vous” and “tu” or the German “Sie” and “du”. q Ask children to discuss: n How do they greet their friends every day? n How would they greet a new child they had never met before? n How do they greet their teachers? n What about when they meet parents, or elderly relatives? n How would your headteacher react if they greeted her/him in the same way as one of their friends? n What do they observe when adults greet each other? In a multi-cultural community there will be more to talk about. Some children may use one language to greet their parents or elderly relatives, another for their friends. Exploring these ideas will help show that greetings are not just words. What you say and do when you meet someone is all about who you are, who they are, and the relationship between you. We are all influenced by what is expected as polite or proper, “cool” or fashionable - in other words, by social customs and manners.
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14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
1. hello and goodbye
Russian greetings If you now take another look at film B1, the class can look at what Russian people do. The film shows a variety of people greeting each other in different contexts: We see children, family and friends greeting each other using the informal “Привет” . When family friends arrive at the door, the adults greet each other with a kiss on the cheek.
Film B1: Adult friends and family kiss each other on the cheek
Russian men will often shake hands when meeting for the very first time. They would also shake hands when meeting an acquaintance or work colleague, even if they saw them every day. Women who meet for the first time would generally just say “hello” using the more formal “Здравствуйте”. Russian children do not kiss. Fun facts about Russian greetings ■ Russians never shake hands across the threshold as it is considered very bad luck. When visiting someone’s house, you must either go all the way in, or wait until the other person has come all the way out before you greet each other! If you look closely at the friends arriving at the door in Film B1, you can see that the women kiss each other once they have stepped over the threshold. ■ Traditionally, the Russian greeting was to kiss three times on alternate cheeks, as three is a lucky number. Nowadays, a triple kiss on the cheeks is still sometimes used between close friends and family - and a triple kiss is still occasionally used by politicians at high profile meetings! The Russians say “God loves the Trinity” whenever things happen in threes. Until recent times, it was very common for the top leaders of Russia and some other Eastern European countries to kiss each other on the lips when they met. It was as normal as the modern Western handshake. This custom has now virtually died out - due to Western influence. ■ Before leaving on a long journey, Russians sit down in silence together for a few moments. This gives the travellers a chance to sit and reflect about the journey to come. It also gives them a moment to think of anything they may have forgotten. It is considered a guarentee of a good journey. ■ The custom of welcoming guests with bread and salt has been known in Russian since ancient times. Salt was considered to be sacred. It was the symbol of loyalty, friendship, wealth and prosperity. Princes and kings in ancient Russia were offered bread and salt by the leaders of the conquered lands and tribes.
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EARLY START RUSSIAN Today, the tradition of welcoming guests with bread and salt remains only as part of official ceremonies when Russians greet important guests. The guest must break a piece of bread, salt it and eat it. The offering of bread and salt is still often part of Russian wedding ceremonies. The custom is thought to have originated in the 17th century when the cost of salt was extremely high. At the beginning of the century, Russia had suffered from extremely poor harvests. All through the summer months, nighttime temperatures were often below freezing and the crops were ruined.
Salt Riot on Red Square, by Ernest Lissner
A terrible famine spread across the country which killed about two million people - a third of the population. There was great political instability and upheaval at the time and the government chose to raise money through new taxes, including a “salt tax”. This pushed up the price of salt and hit people very hard as salted fish was a mainstay of the Russian diet. Eventually, in 1648, the people rebelled and rioted against the “salt tax”.
Part c: saying goodbye This section extends pupils’ small but already useful Russian vocabulary to include saying “goodbye”. This provides more opportunities for spontaneously using the language in real settings. Learning a language is cumulative - children need opportunities to become familiar with hearing, saying and reading the new words, and to use them alongside the Russian they already know. We suggest planning a series of brief activities that help children feel comfortable with a growing body of language, i.e. as well as practising “goodbyes” they also continue to work on “hellos”.
Activities
Warm up ❑ Before watching film C1, have a brief “warm up” session to remind pupils of the Russian words and phrases they already know. Play one or two of the games in Chapter 1B. ❑ Then you could discuss with the class different ways in which they say goodbye in their
own language. Compare what you might say and what gestures you’d use: n to someone leaving on a long journey; n to someone you will see tomorrow. ❑ Explore how different farewells go in and out of fashion: ■ How many can they think of? ■ Do children and adults say goodbye in different ways?
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14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
1. hello and goodbye
online Teacher Preparation
C1: NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
пока - ‘bye [informal,
e.g. to friends & family]
Film C1: Sasha’s family greet the viewers: “Пока!”
до Свидания - hello [formal,
❑ Watch Film C1: “Goodbye”
e.g. child to teacher]
Click the online Teacher Preparation section which Saying goodbye to friends and family presents the pronunciation of all the new words and Children say “goodbye” to the viewers phrases - together with simple language awareness “Пока!” points. We then see children and adults saying “goodbye” in a variety of everyday, informal contexts.
Saying goodbye to teachers at school Teachers and pupils say goodbye at the end of the school day using the more formal “До свидания”. Celebrations at the Russian School Father Frost and the Ice Maiden say goodbye to the viewers. (They have been celebrating 6 January. We will see more of the celebrations in Ch. 11). GET USED TO THE SOUNDS - online flashcards with sound and optional text
SHOW 01 FLASHCARDS Hello / goodbye ❑ Echoing: Select ‘Goodbye’ on the online flashcards. Show picture C1 flashcards, with a click
to hear the SOUND Pupils echo the word(s) for each flashcard, e.g. “Пока!”.
❑ Echoing: Give the children a wave and head for the door to leave the classroom. As you do this say “Пока!” Pupils echo “Пока!” Repeat this using the formal “До свидания”. Talk about the difference between the two ways of saying “goodbye”. RESPOND WITH UNDERSTANDING
❑ Play “true or false” Show the flashcards for both greetings and goodbyes. As you show a picture, say either a phrase which matches the picture or, occasionally, one that is not appropriate to that context. If your word or phrase matches the picture, pupils echo it. If it doesn’t, they remain silent. To avoid any ambiguity, we suggest any “incorrect” phrases are the direct opposite of the picture shown, e.g. “Привет!” (hello) when the picture clearly shows “Пока!” (‘bye).
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EARLY START RUSSIAN ❑ Play greetings and goodbyes 1 The children form a circle round you. This time throw a soft ball to different children greeting them with either the informal “Привет”, or the formal “Здравствуйте”. The child who has caught the ball throws it back to you, saying the appropriate “goodbye” either the informal “Пока!” or the formal “До свидания”. Pupils can then take turns to be the person throwing the ball from the centre of the circle. ❑ Musical greetings 2 Pupils form two circles. The outer circle moves clockwise, the inner circle moves anticlockwise. When the music stops, pupils greet the person facing them. Then say goodbye as the music starts again.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Classroom routines: use Russian farewells whenever you say goodbye to the whole
class or to individual children.
❑ Drama/role play: the teacher suggests different situations in which pupils might greet
each other and/or say goodbye. They could be angry with each other; they may be really pleased to see each other, or they may be very sad to be saying goodbye.
When everyone has worked with a partner for a short time, ask the pairs to move round the room greeting and saying goodbye to other pairs in as many different ways as possible. Some pupils may choose a context which requires the formal greeting and /or farewell. It is a good idea to join in yourself to keep ideas flowing. ❑ Music: Pupils can make up simple tunes or rhythms to fit the Russian greetings and goodbyes.
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