Essential Russian for socialising with and aiding a child?
"Здравствуте! Меня зовут Сэм. Добро пожаловать в Америку!"
I will be spending a few days with a Belorussian child (somewhere between 10-13 years old, not too much younger than myself) and need to know some helpful phrases a newbie to Russian should learn to help the child.
For example, I need a correction on this: Я не горовю по-Беларусский, но Я горовю немного по-русский. I'm attempting to explain that I cannot speak Belorussian, but I can speak a little bit of Russian. I need to know things like:
- Are you hungry?
- Are you hurt?
- Where does it hurt?
- What's wrong?
- Do you need help?
- Can I get you something? (For example, at dinner, "Could I get you more drink?")
- similar things that would aid in taking care of someone and keeping them entertained. There will also be other kids, about the same age, who speak English. They'll probably ask some questions like "What's it like in Belarus?" and such. I'd like to know some general phrases to aid in translating these questions as well as their answers.
On all the "are yous", I'd like to note that I know that "to be" isn't [commonly] used in Russian. Just like Вы...[verb]
Also, the child is not that much younger than me. Do I use (when first meeting him) the formal, semi-formal, or informal words? Would I say "Здавствуй" or "Здравствуте?" Would I use Вы or ты? How long should we be around each other before it is acceptable to talk informally (e.g. greeting him with "Привет") rather than [semi-]formally.
Спасибо,
Sam
Re: Essential Russian for socialising with and aiding a chil
Quote:
Originally Posted by hopelesslinguist
"Здравствуйте! Меня зовут Сэм. Добро пожаловать в Америку!"
For example, I need a correction on this: Я не говорю по-белорусски_, но я говорю немного по-русски_.
- Are you hungry? Ты хочешь есть?
- Are you hurt? Тебе больно?
- Where does it hurt? Где болит?
- What's wrong? Что-то не так? (depends on the context)
- Do you need help? Тебе помочь?
- Can I get you something? (For example, at dinner, "Could I get you more drink?") This one depends very much on the context
Also, the child is not that much younger than me. Do I use (when first meeting him) the formal, semi-formal, or informal words? Would I say "Здравствуй" or "Здравствуйте?" Would I use Вы or ты? How long should we be around each other before it is acceptable to talk informally (e.g. greeting him with "Привет") rather than [semi-]formally.
If he's about 10-13 years old, you can easily use ты with him and say привет. Вы and здравствуйте would be even strange.
Anyway, the correct spelling is Здравствуй and Здравствуйте.
Re: Essential Russian for socialising with and aiding a chil
Quote:
Originally Posted by hopelesslinguist
Do I use (when first meeting him) the formal, semi-formal, or informal words?
How long should we be around each other before it is acceptable to talk informally (e.g. greeting him with "Привет") rather than [semi-]formally.