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How to Count In the Russian Language

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By Patty Inglish, MS

Russia in the 21st Century. (public domain)
Russia in the 21st Century. (public domain)

 page from Azbuka, the first Russian language textbook. Printed by Ivan Fyodorov in 1574. (Photos this page public domain)
page from Azbuka, the first Russian language textbook. Printed by Ivan Fyodorov in 1574. (Photos this page public domain)

Count and Laugh Along with Us in Russian

In middle schools some of us learned to count from 1 to 10 in Russian and we had a good time learning the language and the history and culture of Russia, especially the arts and the music.

In high school Russian Class, we learned to sing the Russian lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas.

This means that we at least learned to count from one through twelve in this great language. Actually, we learned to count to a thousand and higher in Russian, and I will show you some of the numbers below.

We had a lot of fun with Russian language numbers and even held a bingo game for an entire class hour one day. Another time, we translated old TV shows into Russian - I did an old episode of The Honeymooners.

In addition, I have provided some fun videos that let you hear the language in numbers and also a Russian group singing the Twelve Days of Christmas in English.

I hope you enjoy these displays and wish them to bring you a smile or a laugh.

Na Zdrovye!

Click here for the entire lyric for the Russian Language version of the Twelve Days of Christmas



Comparison of Roman and Cyrillic Alphabets For Russian Numbers

(Click to enlarge images)
(Click to enlarge images)

Youngster Leaning to Count 1-20 in Russian

Moscow Boys Choir - 12 Days of Christmas


Russian Icon - King Solomon, Known for Counting

Russian icon from first quarter of 18th C. Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia.
Russian icon from first quarter of 18th C. Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia.

Christmas in Other Languages

I could not find the complete Russian Lyrics yet for The Twelve Days of Christmas.

However, I happened upon 12 Drummers Drumming. They are the Edinburgh military team precision drummers (of Scotland) and are completely syncronized.

They are unbelievably practiced and skilled and amazing to watch.

Enjoy!

Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2006 (Top Secret Drum Corps)

Matryoshka Dolls = 8 in this Set

(public domain)
(public domain)

Matryoshka Dolls Counting to 10


Flag of Russia in the 21st Century
Flag of Russia in the 21st Century
Imperial Russia pre-October Revolution
Imperial Russia pre-October Revolution
Imperial Russian Flags, 19th Century and 1914-1917
Imperial Russian Flags, 19th Century and 1914-1917

She knew how to count! This is a 1960s Era Russian underground comic that was later revived in the 1980s for a short time. (public domain photo)
She knew how to count! This is a 1960s Era Russian underground comic that was later revived in the 1980s for a short time. (public domain photo)

October Country

Oktyabrina or Octyobriana Is a female Russian name, which is in use since the 1920s is related to the month name (Oktyabr = October), symbolizing the Great October Revolution. There is much legend surroudning the original comics of the same name, but they were illegal in the USA in the 1960s.

A cult following has grown up around the newer version created in the 1980s and a live film version has been done.

You might find a rare copy of the 1950s-1960s comic on eBay or at a commics convention, or even a science fiction convention, by a slim chance.


Russian Language in the News

  • Medvedev names Khloponin Russian Security Council memberItar-Tass12 hours ago

    MOSCOW, February 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has included Presidential Representative to the North Caucasian Federal District and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin in the Russian Security Council, the Kremlin said.

  • What the Russian papers sayRussian Information Agency Novosti15 hours ago

    Yanukovych will not be a pro-Russian president/ Presidents of Russia, Sri Lanka agree on oil prospecting and arms/ Atomstroyexport forced to cut Chinese nuclear plant contract price/ Sberbank to cut director's 2009 bonuses by nearly 50%

  • Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995KYIV Post6 hours ago

    MOSCOW - Russia's top general said on Tuesday that differences over U.S. missile defence plans were directed against his country and were holding up an arms treaty with Washington, Russian news agencies reported.

  • Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995KYIV Post8 hours ago

    MOSCOW (AP) — U.S. missile defense plans are a threat to Russian national security and have slowed down progress on a new arms control treaty with Washington, Russia's top military officer said Tuesday.

  • Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995KYIV Post9 hours ago

    Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has taken a Kremlin-aligned broadcaster to court in London over the claim that he was behind the 2006 death of a former Russian agent in London.

  • Georgia turns to U.S. for Russian-language channel broadcastsRussian Information Agency Novosti5 days ago

    Georgia is in talks with U.S. companies on airing its Russian-language television channel in the Caucasus region after accusing its French broadcast partner of bowing to pressure from Russia, a Russian paper said on Friday.

Comments

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Zsuzsy Bee profile image

Zsuzsy Bee  says:
2 years ago

The only thing I have ever learned in Russian is NO. I remember the Russian space crafts Sputnik and the best seller movie Dr Zhivago from when I was a kid growing up in Belgium. It really surprises me that you had Russian classes in the US. When was that Patty? I find that so great. I love the sound of Russian it sounds so soft and smooth to my ears...

Great HUB

regards Zsuzsy

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

I was in experimental classes beginning in grade 7 in the sixties that were later dropped by the school system. By the time I reached 12th grade, I was the last student left out of 60 in two middle schools that had begun the language. I don't even know if it is taught in our city schools currently. German was dropped during WWII and picked up again by a very few schools in the 1960s.

Marye Audet profile image

Marye Audet  says:
2 years ago

Patty,

I attended an experimental school on the east coast in the 1960s as well. I ended up being a linguist in the military..LOL!

Nice hub.

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

A linguist with the military - like Uhuru and Soshi in the Star Trek/Enterprise series. I bet you're very skilled at this. I would have enjoyed it very much I think. Do you know about the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII? Very interesting.

Mr Nice profile image

Mr Nice  says:
2 years ago

I loved video of the boy counting 1-20. Overall your information is very comprehensive. I don't know how to count but I know some conversation in Russian. I love the language it's very sweet & soft. For example.. Da means yes, Paka means see you later & I love to say Kharosho which mean fine, ok & so on. I will continue my hubpage with basic Russian conversation. So check out later. Keep up the good work.

Marye Audet profile image

Marye Audet  says:
2 years ago

Patty,

yes I do.

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

Hello Mr. Nice! I originally learned the language from a Ukrainian and it was soft and nice as you say. Then I had an instructor from northern Russia and his speech was more harsh, so I prefer the first speaking style too. I look forward to your posted conversations on your Hub and will go there. I am a little rusty on conversational Russian at times I intermix Russian and English without meaning to do so. I am glad you are posting on Hub pages.

Marye, you probably know al ot of the WWII history fo the Code Talkers. I find it fascinating and hope PBS shows a film about them soon.

Best regards! 

Mr Nice profile image

Mr Nice  says:
2 years ago

My friend I learned Russian from is also Ukrainian. May be That is the sweet dialect of Russian. I have no experience pf northern Russian dialect. I know code talker was the coded language messages used in native languages during wwII. May be from PBS or some other network you can find the related film. Check at your local library you might find it there. If I come across I will let you know. Today I updated my hubpage please visit & you will find it interesting. Keep in touch.

Regards

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
2 years ago

As a native Russian speaker I would like to chime in with a couple of remarks - if you don't mind :)

You both made great hubs, guys. Patty’s seems to be more complete and self-sufficient, while Mr. Nice’s has better pronunciation markup – all “t” at the end of Russian numbers are soft and should be pronounced more like t’ in tee. (Well, English and Russian t are pronounced differently anyway, but this is the closest match)

Now, there is some confusion with Ukrainian and Russian among parties involved. Those are different languages. They are both Slavic of course, they are very close – but they are different. Different words, different rules, etc. I can’t speak Ukrainian, and I can hardly understand people speaking it.

However, there is a Ukrainian (or rather south Russian) dialect of Russian, which you probably meant. It is softer, and it has some funny sounds for classic Russian speaker’s ear :)

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

Thanks for the insights, Misha. My first instructor spoke both Russian and Ukrainian and I practiced the Russian Langauge with an uncle-in-law that was Ukrainian and also spoke both Ukrainian and Russian. Whatever accent or dialect these two wonderful people had, then I had/have it too. I know some Ukrainian, but I cannot carry on a conversation in it.

Do you happen to have the 12 Days of Christamas lyrics in Russian, Misha? I had a copy many years ago and cannot find one at this time. Perhaps the Slavic studies department at my local univeristy can help.

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
2 years ago

Patty,

I'm sorry, but I have no clue what 12 days of Xmas is. I asked my wife, and she does not have a clue either :( I might be able to help you, but you need to give me more details...

Isabella Snow profile image

Isabella Snow  says:
2 years ago

Misha - its a classic Christmas song!! Is your wife not American?? If she is, she must know it! 5 golden rings!!!!

Patty - I llke this hub cos it taught me that I know some Russian. :) I love that one Slavic language makes the others semi-understandable!

Misha - is the Russian pronunciation of sto, and šest the same as would be in CZ? It would be very cool if I was also pronouncing them correctly!

Isabella Snow profile image

Isabella Snow  says:
2 years ago

Ok, I watched the little boy counting and answered my own question! šest had a slight lisp going on, but I think its the same.. and p?t was definitely the same. Cool hub, Patty!

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
2 years ago

Isa,

My wife is Russian :) Half-Ukranian to be precise.

I don't know any czech and never been there, so I can't really say. The boy in this video has some accent, but he is pretty close to the right thing...

Just Surfed In  says:
2 years ago

Here is the last stanza of that Christmas song. The whole of it is long, but not as long as 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree!

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
2 years ago

Just Surfed, thanks for the hint :)

Patty, if you google "???? ??????? ?????????", first four results are translations of the song.

Disclaimer: I can't be held responsible for the quality of those translations. This song is NOT widely known in Russia, so those are some amature works from some enthusiasts...

PS OK, hubpages screw russian. You need to search for "sem' lebedej rozhdestvo"... russian characters of course

PPS well, i think I'll better post the links here :)

http://lel.khv.ru/poems/resultik1.phtml?ctg=23&bac

http://community.livejournal.com/just_christmas/

http://www.gorodfm.ru/broadcast/broadcast.146/date

Isabella Snow profile image

Isabella Snow  says:
2 years ago

Misha, its the same, I asked a few Czechs. They absolutely refuse to speak it, of course. ;-)

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
2 years ago

I can't blame them...

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

Thank you for all the wonderful and helpful comments. It si all so intersting. Thank you Misha for the links to Russian Lyrics. I will certainly look them over carefully. I don't know how I was going to find them without your help!

Elvis De Leon profile image

Elvis De Leon  says:
2 years ago

Interesting, nice amount of resources, too ;)

Thanks

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

Thank you Elvis, I couldn't get them all one one Hub though! :)

FaireMaid profile image

FaireMaid  says:
2 years ago

Wonderful graphics and very cute kids!

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

It was fun to do, FairMaid; glad you like it!

Kenny Wordsmith profile image

Kenny Wordsmith  says:
2 years ago

Delightful, unique hub, I had a great time here getting to know Russian, and then had a bonus time in the comments section. Thank you very much, Patty!

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

Hi Kenny! I hope this conversation continues, because it has been quite a long time since I knew anyone who speaks Russian, Ukranian or Polish. I love the sound of these languages and this is a lot of fun!

I was able to obtain a CD of Pope John Paul XXIII singing Christmas Carols in Polish a couple of years ago and it is delightful as well.

ReuVera profile image

ReuVera  says:
15 months ago

How nice of you to make this hub. I'm pretty new here and browsing a lot. Finding treasures here and there... Russian is my native language too (Misha, privet!) and the only language I speak without accent:) Russian singers Tatyana and Sergey Nikitiny have a nice song (Samoilov translation of Shakespeare text), called Christmas song (Rozhdestvenskaya pesnya), but I can't find where you can download it. May be Misha can help.

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
15 months ago

Dobroe ootro, ReuVera -

So nice of you to visit! I speak Russian with Ukranian accent, but can be understood a little.:) Misha is sure to be able to help you find what you need, because he helped me find 12 Days of Christmas in the Russian language. He led me to a Russian Language search engine, so if you use one of those, perhaps you can find Christmas Song. I would also like to listen to it.

Best wishes!

ReuVera profile image

ReuVera  says:
15 months ago

Thank you Patty again for your kindness. I have that song on CD at home, but I wanted to give a linkto it here, so you can listen to it too. Nice melody and there's counting there too:) I found where you can order their CDs, but I'll still try to search if you can download it from the web.

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
15 months ago

How wonderful - thank you! I learned a few days ago that one of my friends is beginning to learn Russian, so I will have someone to speak with for practice again. So much fun!

Vlad  says:
14 months ago

The boy in this video placed incorrect stresses on the numerals. He constantly shifted a stress to a first syllable from any place it must be situated.

It's strange to make such a mistake and have the correct pronunciation at all at the same time :-)

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
14 months ago

You're the first to comment on that, Vlad. I have the same problem among my students when I teach them to count from 1-10 in Korean. 90% stress the wrong syllable here or there and end up saying something about shaving and putting on makeup.

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