Thread: Another email

Can someone please help me with another email? I think he's asking me to buy him a Zippo - I might just tell him that smoking will stunt his growth!

Privet Jenny. Ya ochen' rad chto utebya vse vporyatke,i mne horosho chto ti ocen' skoro uvidesh svoih roditelei
i svoevo lyoubimovo kota.
A umenya vse normal'no takje rabotayou. A diski katorie ti poslala ponravelis' bol'shoe sposibo.
No est' odna proz'ba. mojesh mne poslat' ZIPPO?
Budu ochen' rad
Izveni shto ya tak retko peshu, nehvotaet
vremeni ochen' ustoyou na rabote.
A s Mashoi mi uje hodili v cher'kov' ob ven'chalis'.
YA POTOM ESHE NAPESHU. DIMA

Hey Jenny!

Yes, you're right, he's asked you to send him a Zippo, but I don't understand one thing - how old is he? He wrote he just got married (обвенчались). Ain't he pretty adult to grow? Btw, here in Russia every pack of cigarettes has a warning sign about the nicotine detriment, so any smoker already knows what the danger it is.

Here's the translation:
Hi Jenny!
I'm very glad that you are OK and it's very good that you'll see your parents and your favorite cat very soon. I'm OK, working at the same job. I enjoyed the discs you sent me, thank you very much. May I ask you to send me a ZIPPO? I'd be very glad. Sorry for writing so scarcely I don't have enough time, I get very tired at work. We've already been in church with Masha and got married. I'll write you more later.
Dima

Thanks very much for your help with the translation - you guys are a godsend! Yes, he is old enough to have stopped growing, but it's still hard to condone smoking! I am stunned at the marriage thing - does it definitely mean that he got married, and not someone else? His girlfriend is called Maria I think - is it possible that Mashoi is the same person? I understand that in Russia people have several variations on their name, and it always confuses me!

Yes, Masha is the informal form of the name "Maria"(for example, in the US, Liz is an informal form of the name Elizabeth). About "Mashoi" the name changes for case.

Bob The Duck: Do you plan to learn Russian? Sorry if you have written it somewhere else, I just didn't see it. By the way, I like your "nickname". (Bob The Duck)

Originally Posted by Bob The Duck

I am stunned at the marriage thing - does it definitely mean that he got married, and not someone else?

Yes, it definitely means marriage.
The word "венчание" means a wedding ceremony that takes place in church. However it is doesn't necessarily mean that they registered their marriage in a civilian registry office - unless this procedure is made their marriage is considered unofficial.

Zippos arent any more cheaper here than they are in Russia. However, for about 3 dollars you can get a cheap imitation from a peddler.

Wow - I must find out if he really is married now. Thanks for all you help and comments, everyone. No, I'm not intending to learn Russian. I know Dima through his brother, who emails me in English, but Dima's English isn't too good, so if he didn't write to me in Russian I wouldn't hear from him at all.

I certainly won't be buying him an expensive Zippo - I'm not even sure if I am allowed to mail something like that. I'll get him something else instead.

Cheers!

PS It's getting to be like a soap opera - you'll all be checking in next week to find out what else is happening in his life!