Снегирь!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.
Birdwatching
Originally uploaded by fylliska.
We made a bird feeder a while ago, but we've only been seeing crows come to it, because we didn't have anything other than bread to offer. Yesterday Will bought us bird seed, and today has been really busy in our window. We've had синици (yellow birds), sparrows, and even a снегирь (red one), my favorite! When the снегирь was here, we got really close to the window and watched for quite a while. Raia kept reaching for it and demanding that we give it to her.
And on the topic of Russian: I found this yesterday. See where Russian is listed? It's a "really hard" language. I was encouraged. No wonder I still struggle, even after more than five years here! Of course, it's not very happy news for someone who's just considering learning the language, but it was good for me.
8 comments:
Our birdfeeder brings us a lot of joy during the winter. This year we seem to have more finches and juncos than ever. The red squirrels and blue jays offer comic relief. The cats sit in the window and "talk" to the birds. They make this strange sound that's almost birdlike. What a great way to learn about nature. I'm glad you're feeling better.
Phyllis,
I remember hearing similar language statistics when we were on our trip. Something like Russian being one of the most challenging languages other than some in Asia. With the different alphabet and all those crazy cases, I never stood a chance. I struggled with French... Even though you feel like you struggle, I do believe you and Will have both been blessed with a gift for languages - even becoming "functional" in Russian is amazing!
Now do you understand why I cannot get the hang of Russian living here in the States ;-)We are having a tutor who is from Ukraine come to teach the children a little bit. She is a student attending the University. How amazing is that?! The University doesn't teach Russian so I have not been able to do a whole lot with learning the language on my own.
I love how you use Russian in your blog here because it is one way I can get exposure to it. The way you wrote about the red bird in Russian was perfect!! The bird pics were beautiful. I loved seeing the children so attentive to the beautiful red bird. I need to get cyrillic letters for my computer to practice don't I?! *lol*
I had an American guest from Slovakia here last week, and she heard me giving a devotional in Polish. She's just learning Slovakian (after working on Russian for 4 years in Moldova), and she said afterward she was hoping not to discover I had only been in Poland for two years. Ha! It will be ten years this July, and I doubt I could have managed the devotional after only 4 years in Poland. I don't feel that I "struggle" with Polish anymore, but I certainly haven't mastered it! At least we don't have cyrillic letters...(though I have been told again and again that they make things easier, I don't believe it!).
Am I the only one who thinks that red-breasted bird is a robin?
We just returned home to find a little bird trying to get a drink from the small puddle left by the air conditioning on John's car. I felt badly for him!
I immediately filled the bird bath and several other dishes of water for the birds. I think a rain would help.
Thanks for the language link. That is encouraging as I continue to study one of the Group IV languages while living in another Group IV environment. One Chinese language is enough for me.
Your Russian is impressive to me.
we have had a bird feeder this winter, but the only seed we have is sunflower seed. which does a good job attracting the common sparrow in droves and a beautiful little yellow and blue bird, which i found out is named, much to my dismay, the great tit. oh no. what do i tell my son? other than these, i have only seen ravens, pigeons and some kind of gulls here in galati. we got a bird identification book of birds of europe that has been helpful in identifying them.
dont despair with learning russian, you are doing great!!
No, the red bird is a bullfinch.
Monica, we're only putting out sunflower seeds now, too. In the past we've used rice and/or millet, but sunflower seeds seem to be best. We call those beautiful blue and yellow birds синицы. You can just teach your son the Romanian name. :-)
You should see what came to Aunt Lindy's feeder in Vermont! She sent us that photo this morning, and now my young birdwatchers are really inspired.
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