Thread: Handwritten Russian Help 2

You mean to say when I give it to her? That's not a bad idea! Hwo do you pronounce that?

Originally Posted by tirednemo

Okay - I scanned what I've written so far with the translation you guy provided me in the other thread. Does this look like handwritten Russian, and can you understand what it says?

It's truly amazing! I can't write that good myself...

Kinda like, "SrazhdestVOM"

I'll record it for you later if noone else has, but I'm deathly afraid of waking my roommate. He already thinks I'm weird as it is

Your "л" are incorrect and look like "г" (I hardly can see any difference between "когда", "подруга", "увидела", "Эшли") or even english "r" sometimes. You need to write a little "hooks" on both sides of letter "л". It looks exactly like handwritten "м", but with one "top", while "м" has two.

Originally Posted by BlackMage

My handwriting sucks, doesn't it?

No, it doesn't. Many Russian students write at lectures so bad they can't recognize it even themselves :) Your handwriting is good.

One thing sucks though, it's white balance ;)

There is quite a bit of natural variation among people in cursive Russian, just like in English (except in English a lot of people apparently prefer to write in small print rather than cursive, i wonder if the schools encourage that here).

I think the first thing you do need to fix and which does affect legibility is the small "L", which does have hooks on both sides and so should never look like a cursive English "r".
Also, a lot of Russians write the small "t" as "T", even though they teach it differently in schools. Also, the school standard has changed a few times itself.

How's this? It's a simplified version of the last translation, or so I'm told. Are my letters any better? LoL

er... are you a guy or a girl? this one is from a guy.
also, it's "etI", "ljuBish'", "shekSpirA" and "schastlIvogo". otherwise it's fine.

The small L's are still missing the left hook, even though they are more legible now. When a letter (like "i") ends with a small low hook, and the next one begins from the same, both hooks should still remain and connect at the bottom.

LoL - a girl. So it would be "Твоя подруга", right?

Originally Posted by tirednemo

LoL - a girl. So it would be "Твоя подруга", right?

yes. and also "vspomnila", podumala" i "uvidela".

I'll suggest taking the first "Ya" away (it's better stylistically).
Rozhdestvo (aka Christmas) is starting with a capital letter.
The letter "v" in "zdorova" is written incompletely (the upper hook).
Good job, anyway

i wonder if the schools encourage that here

No, it's not ecouraged, just depends on teacher and pupil. Most of the time in school I wrote "r", "t" and "h" in small print, but ended writing "r", "t" in cursive. Teachers in school are more concerned in commas and grammar mistakes

PS Too bad I don't have a scanner around.

upd: Not "Ya vspomnila" but "Ya znayu".

Originally Posted by net surfer

No, it doesn't. Many Russian students write at lectures so bad they can't recognize it even themselves Your handwriting is good.

I suffer from the same problem with my lecture notes in English.
I do write small printed letters though, as someone noted.

As promised here is my non-native pronunciation of
С Рождеством! Believe me, she won't mind if you sound as bad as me.

Also, it means very simply, "Merry Christmas"

I can't scan my own handwritten text so I just typed it in one of computer fonts. It's not perfect but you can see here the difference between "л", "г" and "ч".

The words are:
Л уловка слон омлет
Г угол сговор алмаз
Ч учебник счет моллюск

EDIT: I don't see my attachment. How I can attach an image?

I think in native Russian's handwriting Г and Ч can look almost the same. But it's obvious from context which one it is.

tiredemo - Your ь are too big. The top of the vertical line should be in line with the top of the other lower case letters. Your В and ь look the same.
Nice handwriting otherwise!

Yikes!

Okay, guys - back to square one. Almost, anyway. I need your translastion help again. I went back to that bookstore, and I found THE perfect book to get her. And I know this because she was talking about the historian that wrote it the other day. She loves history. ANYWAY, I found a book on the Romanov Dynasty by some world renown Polish historian that focused on Russian history. So, I bought it, and am giving her this book along with the Shakespeare. So I want to write another message in this book. (Okay, so deep down I'm just fascinated with learning to write Russian, and that's why I want to write it in the front of this book as well.) So - how do I say...and it will be coming from me, a girl (so I'll know the proper way to say it from a girl)...

Svetlana,

I know how much you love history, and when I found this book on the Romanov Dynasty in Russian, I wanted you to have it. It is supposed to be a collectible. I hope it interests you, and that you enjoy reading it. If not, at least the cover is pretty and it will be a nice decorative addition to your shelf! Love you, and Merry Christmas!

Your friend,
Ashley

Originally Posted by tirednemo

Svetlana,

I know how much you love history, and when I found this book on the Romanov Dynasty in Russian, I wanted you to have it. It is supposed to be a collectible. I hope it interests you, and that you enjoy reading it. If not, at least the cover is pretty and it will be a nice decorative addition to your shelf! Love you, and Merry Christmas!

Your friend,
Ashley

Светлана,
Я знаю как сильно ты любишь историю и когда я нашла эту книгу о династии Романовых на русском, я захотела её тебе подарить. Это коллекционая книга. Я надеюсь она тебе будет интересна и её чтение принесет тебе удовольствие. Если нет, то по крайней мере у неё красивая обложка и она будет хорошим украшением на твоей полке. Счастливого рождества!

С любовью,
твоя подруга,
Эшли.

some mistakes from a non-native speaker would look much more nice than a properly translated text, you know it?

Anyway, the translation. I translated "collectible" as "collectible edition", am I right?

Svetlana,

I know how much you love history, and when I found this book on the Romanov Dynasty in Russian, I wanted you to have it. It is supposed to be a collectible. I hope it interests you, and that you enjoy reading it. If not, at least the cover is pretty and it will be a nice decorative addition to your shelf! Love you, and Merry Christmas!

Your friend,
Ashley

Светлана,
Я знаю, как сильно ты любишь историю, и когда я нашла эту книгу на русском о династии Романовых, я захотела подарить тебе это коллекционное издание. Надеюсь, книга тебя заинтересует, и тебе понравится ее читать. А если нет, по крайней мере, обложка красивая и будет симпатичным украшением на твоей полке. Люблю тебя, и счастливого тебе Рождества!

Твоя подруга,
Эшли

FWIW, an inscription that is not from the author or someone famous (who's to predict?) will make the book less valuable/collectible.

Okay - how's this?