Привет, Русский! — Ep10 | Привет, Русский! Blog

Привет, Русский! — Episode Plan

Date: April 10, 2026

Spring & Nature (Весна и природа)

Vocabulary List (10 words/phrases):

Russian (Cyrillic): весна

Transliteration: ves-ná

English: spring

Example sentence: Весна — моё любимое время года.

Example translation: Spring is my favorite time of year.

Memory hook: Sounds like “west” + “nah” — imagine the cold winter finally saying “nah, I’m going west!” and warm spring arriving.

Russian (Cyrillic): солнце

Transliteration: sólnt-se

English: sun

Example sentence: Солнце светит ярко.

Example translation: The sun is shining brightly.

Memory hook: The middle sounds like “suntan” — the sun gives you a suntan!

Russian (Cyrillic): птица

Transliteration: ptí-tsa

English: bird

Example sentence: Птица поёт красивую песню.

Example translation: The bird is singing a beautiful song.

Memory hook: Sounds like “tweet-sa” — birds go tweet-tweet!

Russian (Cyrillic): кормить

Transliteration: kar-méet’

English: to feed

Example sentence: Летом мы не кормим птиц семенами.

Example translation: In summer we do not feed birds with seeds.

Memory hook: Sounds like “karma” — when you feed birds, you get good karma!

Russian (Cyrillic): лето

Transliteration: lyé-ta

English: summer

Example sentence: Лето теплое и зелёное.

Example translation: Summer is warm and green.

Memory hook: Think “Let’s go to the lake in summer!” — “lyeto” sounds like “let’s go.”

Russian (Cyrillic): дерево

Transliteration: dyé-rye-va

English: tree

Example sentence: Дерево высокое и зелёное.

Example translation: The tree is tall and green.

Memory hook: Sounds like “derivative” — trees give us wood to make lots of derivative things!

Russian (Cyrillic): цветок

Transliteration: tsvy-tók

English: flower

Example sentence: Я вижу красивый цветок.

Example translation: I see a beautiful flower.

Memory hook: The beginning sounds like “tsvet” which is also the Russian word for “color” — flowers are full of color!

Russian (Cyrillic): трава

Transliteration: tra-vá

English: grass

Example sentence: Трава зелёная весной.

Example translation: The grass is green in spring.

Memory hook: Sounds like “travel on the grass” — kids love to travel (run and roll) on soft spring grass.

Russian (Cyrillic): тепло

Transliteration: tyep-ló

English: warmth / it’s warm

Example sentence: Весной становится тепло.

Example translation: In spring it becomes warm.

Memory hook: Sounds like “tepid” or “teplo” = temperature low? No — tep-lo means nicely warm!

Russian (Cyrillic): помогать природе

Transliteration: pa-ma-gát’ pri-ró-dye

English: to help nature

Example sentence: Мы помогаем природе, когда не кормим птиц летом.

Example translation: We help nature when we don’t feed birds in summer.

Memory hook: “Pomogat’” sounds like “help a lot” — you help a lot when you protect nature.

Grammar Spotlight:

The verb “становиться” (to become)

In simple terms: Russians use this verb when something changes and becomes a new state (especially with weather and seasons).

How it works:

Становится тепло. → It becomes warm.
Весной становится зелено. → In spring it becomes green.
Летом становится жарко. → In summer it becomes hot.

Compare to English: In English we often say “it’s getting warm” or “it’s turning green.” Russian uses становиться + adjective in neuter form (тепло, зелено, жарко). It’s a very useful pattern for talking about seasons and weather changes. We will practice it slowly and repeat together.

Word Origins — Deep Dive: птица (ptí-tsa)

Did you know that the Russian word птица and the English word poultry are actually cousins? They both come from the same ancient Latin root “pullus,” which meant a young animal or chick!

This word started in ancient Latin, traveled through Old French as “poule” (hen), became “poultry” in English (meaning farm birds), and a slightly different branch came into Slavic languages as “птица,” meaning any bird. Along the way the meaning split — English kept the farm-bird meaning, while Russian uses it for all birds.

But be careful — this creates a fun “gotcha!” with the false friend петух (pye-tóok), which sounds a bit like “pet” but actually means “rooster”!

Next time you see the English word “poultry” on a menu or package, remember it’s cousins with the Russian word птица. That hidden family connection is your secret shortcut to remembering the word forever.

Cultural Corner:

In Russia, people have a very strong love for nature and the changing seasons. Many Russians wait excitedly for the first signs of весна — the melting snow, the first flowers, and the return of singing birds. There is even an old tradition of making and hanging birdhouses (скворечники) in spring to welcome back the birds after winter. Helping nature is seen as both practical and a way to show respect for the land.

Practice Challenge:

For kids: Draw a big spring picture with солнце, птица, цветок, дерево and трава. Color it and label each thing in Russian (you can pause the episode and repeat the words while you draw). Then sing this little song with me: “Весна, весна, солнце и трава, птицы поют — ура, ура!”

For adults & families: This week when you go for a walk or look out the window, say one Russian sentence out loud using today’s words: “Сейчас весна. Солнце светит. Птицы поют. Становится тепло.” Record yourself on your phone and compare with my pronunciation. If you can say the whole sentence, you’re already speaking real Russian about the real world!

See you next time on Привет, Русский! Keep practicing — you’re doing amazingly! 🌞🐦

Full Episode Transcript

Privyet! That means hello in Russian. Welcome to Привет, Русский!, episode ten, for April tenth, twenty twenty-six. I'm Olya, and today we're going to learn some really fun Russian words. Ready? Poyekhali! That means, let's go! Today our special word is весна. Ves-ná. Ves-ná. It means spring. Repeat after me. Ves-ná. Ves-ná. It sounds like west plus nah. Imagine the cold winter finally saying nah, I'm going west, and warm spring arriving instead. Vesná is my favorite time of year. Now let's use it in a sentence. Vesná — moyó lyubímoye vrémya góda. That means spring is my favorite time of year. Great job. You just said your first sentence about spring in Russian. Next we will build more spring and nature words. Here is солнце. Sólnt-se. Sólnt-se. It means sun. Repeat after me. Sólnt-se. Sólnt-se. The middle sounds like suntan. The sun gives you a suntan. Now say this with me. Sólnitse svétit yárko. The sun is shining brightly. Good. You are already talking about the sun. Our next word is птица. Ptí-tsa. Ptí-tsa. It means bird. Repeat after me slowly. Ptí-tsa. Ptí-tsa. It sounds like tweet-sa because birds go tweet-tweet. Listen to this sentence. Ptítsa poyót krasívuyu pésnyu. The bird is singing a beautiful song. Now you try. Ptítsa poyót. Wonderful. Birds are everywhere in spring. When we want to feed birds we say кормить. Kar-méet’. Kar-méet’. It means to feed. Repeat after me. Kar-méet’. Kar-méet’. It sounds like karma. When you feed birds you get good karma. We can say lyétom my ne kormím ptíts syémyenami. In summer we do not feed birds with seeds. That is important because nature knows best in summer. The Russian word for summer is лето. Lyé-ta. Lyé-ta. It means summer. Repeat after me. Lyé-ta. Lyé-ta. It sounds like let’s go. Let’s go to the lake in summer. Lyéto tyóploye i zelyónoye. Summer is warm and green. You are learning the seasons already. Next is дерево. Dyé-rye-va. Dyé-rye-va. It means tree. Repeat after me. Dyé-rye-va. Dyé-rye-va. It sounds like derivative. Trees give us wood to make lots of derivative things. Dyérevo vysokóye i zelyónoye. The tree is tall and green. Perfect. You can already describe a tree. Now we have цветок. Tsvy-tók. Tsvy-tók. It means flower. Repeat after me. Tsvy-tók. Tsvy-tók. The beginning sounds like tsvet which is the Russian word for color. Flowers are full of color. Ya vízhu krasívy tsvy-tók. I see a beautiful flower. Say that with me. Our next word is трава. Tra-vá. Tra-vá. It means grass. Repeat after me. Tra-vá. Tra-vá. It sounds like travel on the grass. Kids love to travel, run and roll on soft spring grass. Trava zelyónaya vesnóy. The grass is green in spring. You are painting spring pictures with words. We also need тепло. Tyep-ló. Tyep-ló. It means warmth or it is warm. Repeat after me. Tyep-ló. Tyep-ló. It sounds like tepid but actually means nicely warm. Vesnóy stanóvitsya tyep-ló. In spring it becomes warm. We will come back to that becomes pattern soon. Our last phrase is помогать природе. Pa-ma-gát’ pri-ró-dye. Pa-ma-gát’ pri-ró-dye. It means to help nature. Repeat after me. Pa-ma-gát’ pri-ró-dye. Pomogát sounds like help a lot. You help a lot when you protect nature. My pomagáyem pri-ró-dye kogdá ne kormím ptíts lyétom. We help nature when we do not feed birds in summer. You now have ten beautiful spring words. Let us look at one easy grammar pattern. Russians use the verb stanovítsya when something changes and becomes a new state. It is like English saying it is getting warm or it is turning green. We simply say stanóvitsya plus the describing word. Stanóvitsya tyep-ló. It becomes warm. Vesnóy stanóvitsya zelyóno. In spring it becomes green. Lyétom stanóvitsya zhárko. In summer it becomes hot. Listen again. Stanóvitsya tyep-ló. Stanóvitsya tyep-ló. Now you can talk about how the weather changes every season. That is very useful Russian. In Russia people wait excitedly for the first signs of vesná. They watch for melting snow, the first flowers, and the return of singing birds. There is an old tradition of making and hanging birdhouses called skvoréchniki in spring to welcome the birds back after winter. Helping nature is seen as both practical and a way to show respect for the land. Now here is something really cool about one of today’s words. Want to know a secret about ptítsa? The Russian word ptítsa and the English word poultry are actually cousins. They both come from the same ancient Latin root pullus which meant a young animal or chick. This word started in ancient Latin, traveled through Old French as poule meaning hen, became poultry in English for farm birds, and a slightly different branch came into Slavic languages as ptítsa meaning any bird. Along the way the meaning split. English kept the farm-bird idea while Russian uses it for all birds. But be careful. This creates a fun gotcha with the false friend pyetóok which sounds a bit like pet but actually means rooster. Next time you see the English word poultry on a menu remember it is cousins with the Russian word ptítsa. That hidden family connection is your secret shortcut to remembering the word forever. It is time to practice together. Do you remember what vesná means? Yes, spring. What does sólntse mean? The sun. Try to say this sentence three times today. Sólnitse svétit. Ptítsy poyút. Stanóvitsya tyep-ló. For children, pause the episode, draw a big spring picture with солнце, птица, цветок, дерево and трава. Color it and label each thing in Russian while you repeat the words. Then sing this little song with me. Vesná, vesná, sólntse i travá, ptítsy poyút — urá, urá. For adults and families, when you go for a walk or look out the window say one Russian sentence out loud. Seychás vesná. Sólnitse svétit. Ptítsy poyút. Stanóvitsya tyep-ló. Record yourself on your phone and compare with my pronunciation. If you can say the whole sentence you are already speaking real Russian about the real world. Molodets! That means, well done! Remember, every expert started as a beginner. Practice saying today's words out loud, even just once, and you'll be amazed how fast you learn. See you next time! Poka! That's Russian for, bye! This podcast is curated by Patrick but generated using AI voice synthesis of my voice using ElevenLabs. The primary reason to do this is I unfortunately don't have the time to be consistent with generating all the content and wanted to focus on creating consistent and regular episodes for all the themes that I enjoy and I hope others do as well.

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