The other day I was walking by our student worker who said to the person on the phone, “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name” and I remembered a Russian speaker told me a story that she was talking once with a friend. The friend was not a native Russian speaker, and said to her in Russian, “Ну, мне пора! Мне нужно ловить поезд!” which Google Translate translates as “Well, I must go! I need to catch the train!”, which is literally correct, but incorrect in intention. The verb ловить means to catch something, like ловить рыбу [to catch a fish]. If you want to say, “I need to catch the train”, you’d probably want to say Мне нужно сесть на поезд or в поезд, I’ve seen native speakers say both. I think it depends on intent. This means literally, “I need to sit in the train”.

 So I started thinking about how many things we do with the verb catch.   I went to one of my favorite Russian grammar books: Using Russian – A Guide To Contemporary Usage by Derek Offord and Natalia GoGolitsyna. One of the things they do in the book is to list one section with examples of difficult English words to translate into Russian. Then they do another section where they list examples of difficult Russian words to translate into English. It’s very illuminating! Here are the examples they list for “to catch”.

ловить/поймaть: to seize, ensnare, e.g. поймaть рыбу, to catch a fish

хвaтaть/хвaтить оr схвaтить: to grab, snatch, seize

схвaтывaть/схвaтить: to grasp; also fig, e.g. схвaтитьсмысл, простуду, to catch the sense, a cold

зaстигaть/зaстигнуть: to take unawares

зaстaвaть/зaстaть: to find, e.g. Я зaстaл eго домa, I caught him at home.

зaрaжaться/зaрaзиться+instr: to be infected with,  e.g. Oнa зaрaзилaсь aнгиной, She caught tonsillitis.

улaвливaтъ/уловить: to detect, perceive, e.g. уловить звук, нюaнс, to catch a sound, nuance

зaцeпляться/зaцeпиться: to get caught up on, e.g. Pукaв моeй рубaшки зaцeпился зa иглу, The sleeve of my shirt got caught on a thorn.

простужaться/простудиться: to catch a cold

Pretty interesting, eh?  Well, it’s interesting to me.  But I’m easily amused.

I’ve been watching a lot of episodes lately of old Julia Child shows and I wish I had a “catch phrase” [крылатая фраза] for the end of my blog posts like Julia has “Well, that’s all today on The French Chef.  This is Julia Child.  Bon Appetit!” for her show.  I’ll try one out.

Ну, вот и все. Будьте здоровы, друзья!  Ваш приятель, Брюс  

Here is a sample, the wonderful Чего готовим, Док? (What’s cooking, Doc?)

Enjoy!

Enjoy! С новым годом! Happy New Year!

Part 1

Part 2

Additionally, our brains don’t like to remember unhappy stuff.  It’s why “the good old days” always seem like they were.  If you want to build those happy little neural pathways to learn a new language, USE the language and do it in a context that is pleasant and hopefully fun.  If you like to write – I mean using paper and a pen – then sit down in a comfy chair in front of the fire with a glass of port, your favorite fountain pen and practice writing.  If you like reading, substitute the pen and paper with a book in a foreign language.  If, like Chauncy Gardener, you like to watch, then go to http://russianremote.com and watch some Russian films.  No subtitles?  Don’t worry about it.  If you are just starting, ok, then watch some of the movies on my site with subtitles.   If you like conversing, use a site like http://sharedtalk.com and find some folks to chat with, either with IM or voice chat.  The site provides both.  The voice chat is kind of wonky at Shared Talk, so if you find someone you’d like to chat with, suggest moving to Skype.

For those of you who have been waiting, I have finished uploading the rest of the episodes of the 2003 production of  ”Idiot” and all are episodes available to watch on one page.

This really was an amazing adaptation.  Check it out and see if you don’t get hooked!

Hey, here’s a question for you newbies!  See if you can figure out why the title of the movie is spelled like it is.   First describe what’s unexpected about the spelling and then why it is spelled thusly.

I find myself in the unlikely position of quoting Sarah Palin if I try to answer the question, “What are your favorite posts in Don’s blog?” The only answer I can come up with is, “All of ‘em”.

Читайте!   Russian Word of the Day, вот  http://shininghappypeople.net/rwotd/

Now I’m curious…  Would Russians say, “Русское слово в день”?