День 5 из 37: Кот на столе?! Нет!
📚 Слова́ дня · Words of the day: 8 – стол, стул, лимо́н, сли́ва, ми́ска, ви́лка, и, что.
🔤 Бу́квы дня · Letters of the day: 2 – И Л. Two letters that look like no English letter – so today there are no false friends! 🎉
⏱ Part 1 = 15 minutes – everybody finishes it. Part 2 = more, only if you want. · 🗺️ All days
Stand up! Yesterday's homework: put a biscuit into a bag 🍪👜: Торт – в су́мку! Look at the bag: Что там? Take it out: Торт! Hand on your chest: Меня́ зову́т… and your name. 🤚
You remembered it – that is your first win today. Now put the biscuit on the table: today everything goes on the table. 🍽️
- Don't read anything yet. Watch the table – and listen. 🍽️🐈
- Tap the words above to hear them.
Say every word aloud and show it – the gesture is under the picture. The movement falls on the loud syllable: ли-МО́Н – the sour face on МОН; СЛИ́-ва – you pick the plum on СЛИ; ВИ́Л-ка – the fork goes in on ВИЛ.
Tap a word or its picture – the dictionary opens. 🔊 = listen (when Natasha has recorded it).
🧠 A word you say and act out with your own hands stays in your memory much longer than a word you only hear. Feels silly? Do it anyway! 😄
🍽️ Lay the table:
🍋 Fruit on the table:
- И = and. It joins two things: лимо́н и сли́ва, стол и стул, Сли́нки и Ска́ффлз.
❓ Who or what?
- A cat or a person – кто: Кто там? – Кот! A thing – что: Что там? – Торт! 🎂
- «Что» is a word to hear today – its first letter comes later. Кто you met on День 2.
- Two new letters – and this time no false friends. They don't look like any English letter, so nothing old gets in the way.
- И looks like an N in a mirror – but says ee as in see: И = ee (it means and).
- Л looks like a little tent – and says l: СТОЛ = stol.
- Small letters: и л – they are small capitals, just like small в and н yesterday.
- Now you know thirteen letters: А К М О Т Е Р С В Н У И Л. Read today's words: СТОЛ, СТУЛ, ЛИМО́Н, СЛИ́ВА, МИ́СКА, ВИ́ЛКА, И – all of them! 🎉
- 😺 And one name: СЛИ́НКИ – today you can read Slinky's name! (Ска́ффлз still has to wait for her letters.)
- ✍️ Пиши́те! Write them by hand: И · Л – how each letter is written, and a sheet to print.
👂 Listen first, don't read yet. Everybody wants something. Reach out with your hand on the loud syllable: хо-ЧУ́, РЫ́-бу. 🤲 Nobody asks you to speak – just listen and laugh.
Сли́нки: Хочу́ торт! 🎂 Хочу́ во́ду! 💧 Хочу́ ры́бу! 🐟 — Ната́ша: Да! Так!
Ска́ффлз: Хочу́ ры́ба! — Ната́ша: Нет! Ры́бу. Хочу́ ры́бу. — Ска́ффлз: Хочу́ ры́бу… и торт! 😼- Ри́чард 👋: А я хочу́ сли́ву!
- Сли́нки (gives Scuffles a fish): На! 🐟 — Ната́ша: Даю́т – бери́! — Ска́ффлз (takes it, then swipes at Slinky): Р-р-р! — Сли́нки (runs) 🏃 — Ната́ша: Бьют – беги́! 😄
And you? Reach out: «Хочу́ лимо́н!» or «Хочу́ сли́ву!» – aloud, or just in your head. Both count. 😊 🌱 The seed of the day: «Хочу́…» = I want… Listen to the end of the word: ры́ба → ры́бу, сли́ва → сли́ву. Scuffles forgets it, Natasha says «Нет!» and puts her right. Just copy – the rule comes later. «Даю́т – бери́, бьют – беги́» = When they give – take; when they hit – run. An old saying, today only for listening (gesture: open hand on «бери́», run on the spot on «беги́»); you will read it on День 13.
Say the story aloud, with the actions. Then play: do the action – say the word. Mix them up!
Вот стол. Вот стул. 🪑
Ми́ска. Ви́лка. Лимо́н. Сли́ва. 🍽️
Лимо́н на столе́. Ви́лка на столе́. Сли́ва в ми́ске. 🍋
Кот на сту́ле. – Да! Так! 🐈🪑
Сли́нки и Ска́ффлз. Кот и кот. 🐈🐈
Что там? – Лимо́н! Кто там? – Кот! ❓
Лимо́н – на стул? – Нет! Лимо́н – на стол! 🍋
Сли́ва в ми́ске?… Нет! – Мя́у! Мя́у! 🥣
Ска́ффлз! Кот на столе́?! Нет, нет, нет! Брысь! 😾
Сли́нки – молоде́ц! 🐟
👀 your first proverb – you can read it, so say it: Рука́ ру́ку мо́ет. 🤲
- Lay your own table: a bowl, a fork, a fruit. Point and say: Вот стол. Вот ми́ска. Вот ви́лка. 🍽️
- Put the fruit on the table, then in the bowl: Лимо́н на столе́. Лимо́н в ми́ске. No lemon? Any fruit can be лимо́н today. 😄
- Sit down with the word: Стул! Stand up and smooth the table: Стол!
- Two things in your hands: лимо́н и ви́лка – hands together on И.
- Put a thing in a bag and look: Что там? – take it out: Лимо́н! Hand to your ear: Кто там? – Кот!
- Be the teacher: say стол, стул, лимо́н, сли́ва, ми́ска, ви́лка – a friend (or your cat) does the action. No friend? Do it yourself.
- Speaking is optional – listening and doing count too.
Can you do it without the video? – Молоде́ц! Go to the tap quiz.
Guess, then tap. A wrong tap is not a mistake – it is a guess. 😊
Хорошо́! Молоде́ц! Two small things left – two minutes.
Russian has two Л sounds – and English already has both!
- Hard Л – like the ll in full or bottle: the tongue is low and deep. сто-л-л, сту-л-л, ви́-л-ка.
- Soft Л – before И, like the l in leaf: smile a little. ли-мо́н, сли́-ва, Сли́-нки.
- Say them in pairs: стол – ли, стул – ли, ви́лка – лимо́н.
- 30 seconds, every day. The tongue is a muscle – this is aerobics. 💪
Tomorrow morning put a fruit on the table 🍋: «Лимо́н на столе́.» Put it into a bowl: «Лимо́н в ми́ске.» Then wash one hand with the other: «Рука́ ру́ку мо́ет.» 🤲
That is the first minute of День 6. You already know it – so День 6 starts with a win.
«Вот дом» · Here is a house – a little hand game, our own words for your old game «Стои́т лес» 🌲. 👂 Listen and copy the hands – you don't need to read it. (Natasha's recording to come.)
| Say | Do |
|---|---|
| Вот дом. 🏠 | hands make a roof over your head on ДОМ |
| В до́ме – стол. | both hands flat, palms down, on СТОЛ |
| На столе́ – су́мка. | one hand holds a bag on СУМ |
| В су́мке – кот! | the other hand goes into the bag on КОТ |
| Кот в су́мке! – «Мя́у!» | the hand jumps out of the bag – Scuffles says «Мя́у!» 😼 |
- Play it three times – a little faster each time.
- Gesture → word. Don't look at the cards. Make a gesture – say the word. Mixed order: 🍴 · 🪑 · 🍋 · 🥣 · 🤲 · 🍽️ · 🌳 · ❓
- Yesterday comes back. Mix in four words from День 4: су́мка 👜 · окно́ 🪟 · рука́ 💪 · нос 👃. Careful – СТОЛ and СТУЛ sound alike: for «стол» you smooth the table, for «стул» you sit down!
Remembering a word from the gesture works better than reading it again.
Is a fish «who» or «what»? – a real lesson: Natasha's student mixes up кто and что. 😄
Today's word что – and и, и́ли. Tap the title – the page opens; the bar at its top brings you back here.
Children's rhymes with a hand for every line – watch the video, copy the hands, say it with them. 👐
Like today's gesture game: a gesture helps you remember a word. Find today's letters И and Л and the little words и, на, в. One game a day is plenty. Tap a title – the page opens; the bar at its top brings you back here.
Only the thirteen letters you know: А К М О Т Е Р С В Н У + И Л. Read the word aloud, then tap it to check.
🍽️ СТОЛ · СТУЛ · МИ́СКА · ВИ́ЛКА
🍋 ЛИМО́Н · СЛИ́ВА · И
🍃 ЛИСТ · КИНО́ · МИР · ЛИСА́ · МОЛОКО́
😺 СЛИ́НКИ!
👜 СУ́МКА · ОКНО́ · РУКА́ · НОС · ТОРТ · КОТ
Now whole sentences:
КОТ НА СТУ́ЛЕ. · ЛИМО́Н НА СТОЛЕ́. · СЛИ́ВА В МИ́СКЕ. · СТОЛ И СТУЛ. · КОТ НА СТОЛЕ́?! НЕТ!
- Your first proverb – and you read it yourself! Every letter in it is yours. 🎉
- Write three words in big letters: СТОЛ, ЛИМО́Н, И. Is your И an N in a mirror? Is your Л a little tent? ⛺
One hand washes the other. You help me – I help you.
At the end of the video the plum is gone. Slinky miaows and shows Natasha where it is – Scuffles is on the table! Natasha says «Брысь!», and Slinky gets a fish. 🐟 Slinky helped Natasha – Natasha helps Slinky. And Slinky was very happy to tell on Scuffles – that is why Natasha winks. 😹 The saying is a straight translation of the Latin Manus manum lavat – Romans said it 2,000 years ago, and many languages have it. Russians sometimes say it with a wink, when two people help each other in something not quite honest. Gesture: wash one hand with the other on «РУ́-ку».
🔊 Sound, meaning, word by word: tap the proverb – it opens its own page.
Вот стол. Вот стул. Ми́ска. Ви́лка. Лимо́н. Сли́ва. Лимо́н на столе́. Ви́лка на столе́. Сли́ва в ми́ске. Сли́нки – на стул! Кот на сту́ле. – Да! Так! Сли́нки и Ска́ффлз. Кот и кот. Что там? – Лимо́н! Кто там? – Кот! Лимо́н – на стул? – Нет! Лимо́н – на стол! Сли́ва в ми́ске?… Нет! – Мя́у! Мя́у! Ска́ффлз! Кот на столе́?! Нет, нет, нет! Брысь! – Р-р-р… Сли́нки – молоде́ц! Рука́ ру́ку мо́ет. Молоде́ц! Пока́!
Here is a table. Here is a chair. A bowl. A fork. A lemon. A plum. The lemon is on the table. The fork is on the table. The plum is in the bowl. Slinky – onto the chair! The cat is on the chair. – Yes! That's right! Slinky and Scuffles. A cat and a cat. What's in there? – A lemon! Who's there? – A cat! The lemon – onto the chair? – No! The lemon – onto the table! The plum in the bowl?… No! – Miaow! Miaow! Scuffles! A cat on the table?! No, no, no! Shoo! – Grrr… Slinky – well done! One hand washes the other. Well done! Bye!
- И = ee, never u or n: и, лимо́н. Л = l: стол, стул.
- И = and: стол и стул, Сли́нки и Ска́ффлз.
- НА = on: лимо́н на столе́, кот на сту́ле. В = in: сли́ва в ми́ске.
- After на and в the end of a word changes a little: стол → на столе́, ми́ска → в ми́ске. Just copy Natasha – the rule comes later.
- «Хочу́…» = I want… – one block, learn it like a song.
- Tap a new word or its picture – the dictionary opens 📖. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
ударе́ние – stress – shows the syllable you say louder and longer, just like in English: LUN-dun (London), TEL-ih-fohn (telephone).
ЛО́НДОН – the stress is on the first syllable, as in English. But Russians say a real, round о: LON-d’n, not LUN-dun. The second о comes after the stress, so it is short and weak (like the a in sofa).
ТЕЛЕФО́Н – not like the English TEL-ih-fohn: the stress is on the last syllable: ti-li-FON (е without stress sounds like a short и). That is why we mark the stress.
🎯 Why does о sound like а?
Read it: ЛИМО́Н – l-i-m-o-n – lemon! 🍋 And СЛИ́НКИ – a cat's name in Russian letters. 😺
Брысь! = Shoo! – Russians say it only to cats. 😾
Shops and films that want to look "Russian" often write an English N back to front: И. Now you know the secret – a Russian reads it ee! 😄
🔬 Почему́ так · Why this way
- A win in the first minute – yesterday's homework. Remembering yesterday's words without looking is one of the best-proven tools – 50 classroom experiments: Agarwal · Nunes · Blunt 2021.
- 15 minutes a day, not one long lesson. Short daily sessions beat one long one: 35 min × 6 days scored 83 vs 70 for one 3.5-hour lesson. Study with adults – Stoltzfus · Sukseemuang 2018; gaps of 1–4 days work best – Rogers · Nakata · Chiu 2025.
- Only two letters today. After three days of look-alike letters (Р С, В Н У) – the ones English speakers misread most, even after a warning (study with adults – Showalter 2020) – И and Л are new shapes with nothing old in the way. One new thing at a time keeps the load on memory small (Sweller, cognitive load).
- We put things on the table – we don't explain endings. A word said with a matching gesture, made by the learner, stays in memory far longer than a word only heard. Study with adults – Macedonia · Knösche 2011 (Max Planck Institute, Leipzig).
- Watching helps too. Watching the gesture helps almost as much as doing it, so the video works even before you move. 7 studies, 309 adults – Oppici et al. 2023.
- The action on the loud syllable. A hand beat on the stressed syllable helps adults pronounce new words. Studies with adults – Prieto's group, Barcelona.
- A block before the rule. «Хочу́ ры́бу» is learned whole, like a song; the grammar inside it comes much later, after you have met it many times. Learners pick up such ready-made blocks whole (Wray 2002, formulaic language).
- Words come back. су́мка, окно́, рука́, нос (День 4) and торт, кот are in today's reading rows and the gesture game. A word met four times over several days is remembered far better than four times in a row (84 % vs 63 %, Wegener et al. 2023).
- Your first proverb – heard in the story, then read. Natasha says it once at the end of the video, where the story shows it; today all its letters are known, so you read it yourself. Its explanation sits in Part 2, outside the core lesson – extras inside the core lower learning of the main thing (Mayer, seductive details). An idiom learned with its picture and story is remembered better than with a bare translation (Boers 2001).
- The cat makes the mistakes. Nobody corrects the student. The student laughs and is never the one who is wrong.
- Our own method. Natasha's Language Aerobics – tested for many years with her students.
- Videos needed
- Russian стол
- Russian стул
- Russian лимон
- Russian слива
- Russian миска
- Russian вилка
- Russian и
- Russian что
- Russian кто
- Russian на
- Russian в
- Russian лист
- Russian кино
- Russian мир
- Russian лиса
- Russian молоко
- Russian сумка
- Russian окно
- Russian рука
- Russian нос
- Russian торт
- Russian кот
- Russian рот
- Russian нет
- Russian вот