День 23 из 40: Хамелео́н
📚 Слова́ дня · Words of the day: 3 – хамелео́н, городово́й, чей.
🗣️ Глаго́л дня · Verb of the day: «Сними́-ка… Наде́нь-ка…» – снять / наде́ть пальто́ (take off / put on)
⏱ Part 1 = 15 minutes – everybody finishes it. Part 2 = more, only if you want. · 🗺️ All days
Your homework from День 22: a coat on, off, on again:
«Сними́те с меня́ пальто́! Наде́ньте на меня́ пальто́!» 🧥
You remembered it – that is your first win today. Today you see why a policeman can't decide about his coat. 😄
- Tap and listen. Then do it: palms up, a suspicious look 🤨 on «чья?».
- хамелео́н – a chameleon: a lizard that changes its colour – and a person who changes his opinion when it is useful. 🦎
Say every word aloud and show it – the gesture is under the picture. Tap a word or its picture – the dictionary opens. 🔊 = listen.
хамелео́н – a chameleon: turn your hand over and over, «now this colour, now that» 🦎 · городово́й – a town policeman (old word): stand straight, a hand at your cap 👮 · чей? чья? чьё? чьи? – whose? palms up 🤨
👂 Listen first. Coat off on «жа́рко», coat on on «зноби́т».
Ска́ффлз (looks at Slinky on her cushion): Чья э́то ко́шка? Плоха́я ко́шка! 😾- Ри́чард: Э́то ко́шка Ната́ши. 📒
- Ска́ффлз: Ах! Ко́шка Ната́ша? Кака́я ми́лая ко́шка! 😻
- Ната́ша: Ната́шина ко́шка, Ска́ффлз – и́ли ко́шка Ната́ши. А ты – хамелео́н! 😄🦎
Сли́нки спит на поду́шке. Ей всё равно́, кто что ду́мает. 😺
🤨 Whose? – чей, чья, чьё, чьи
Чей кот? · Чья соба́ка? · Чьё пальто́? · Чьи пе́рчатки? – the ending follows the thing, like мой / моя́ / моё / мои́.
Answers: соба́ка генера́ла (genitive) – or one word: генера́льская соба́ка · ко́шка Ната́ши = Ната́шина ко́шка · пальто́ Ри́чарда = Ри́чардово пальто́.
-ин after -а / -я names: Ната́ша → Ната́шин, ма́ма → ма́мин · -ов after other names: Ри́чард → Ри́чардов, па́па → па́пин!
🌱 The seed of the day: Chekhov laughs at people who change their mind for the boss – with two short lines and one coat. A short text can say a lot. 🦎
Say every line aloud – the coat off, then on. 🧥
Чья соба́ка? 🤨
Сними́-ка, Елды́рин, с меня́ пальто́… Ужа́сть как жа́рко! 🧥➡️🥵
Наде́нь-ка, брат Елды́рин, на меня́ пальто́… Зноби́т… 🧥⬅️🥶
Ми́лая соба́чка! 🦎
- Ask «whose?» about three things at home and answer: «Чья э́то ча́шка? – Ма́мина!» · «Чьё пальто́? – Ри́чардово!» · «Чей кот? – Наш!» 🤨
- Be a chameleon: say «Плохо́й чай!» – then hear it is the boss's tea – «Чуде́сный чай!» 😄
- Speaking is optional – listening and doing count too.
Can you say it without looking? – Молоде́ц! Go to the tap quiz.
Guess, then tap. A wrong tap is a guess. 😊
Хорошо́! Молоде́ц! Two small things left – two minutes.
ХАМЕЛЕО́Н – Russian Х is made at the back of the mouth, like Scottish «loch» – not English «h».
- холодно · Хрю́кин (the name sounds like a pig's grunt «хрю-хрю»! 🐷 – Chekhov chose it on purpose) · хорошо́.
- The Е's without stress sound «и»: «ха-ми-ли-о́н».
- Clap on the loud syllable: ха-ме-ле-О́Н 👏 · го-ро-до-ВО́Й 👏. 30 seconds, every day.
Tomorrow is a review day. Take a book from your shelf 📚 and say who wrote it the Russian way: «Э́то кни́га …» – and tell the riddle (in Part 2) to someone at home.
That is the first minute of День 24. You already know it – so День 24 starts with a win.
You may stop here – see you tomorrow: День 24 · Ру́сская кни́жная по́лка ▶
- The chameleon. One holds a coat 🧥. The others call out: «Э́то соба́ка генера́ла!» – coat off, «Жа́рко!» · «Нет, не генера́ла!» – coat on, «Зноби́т!» Faster and faster. 😄
- Whose is it? Put things in the middle. One asks «Чья / чей / чьё?» – the owner takes it: «Моя́!» · «Па́пин!» · «Ма́мино!»
- Change colour. Say one thing nicely, then nastily, as the «boss» changes – like a chameleon 🦎.
Chekhov is free to read (he died in 1904). The four parts above are our own short telling with Chekhov's two famous lines in it. The whole story – with a word list and an English translation – will get a page of its own later. 🦎
To keep your nose to the wind.
Said about a person who always goes where the wind blows – a chameleon. 🦎🌬️ 🤸 Gesture: wet your finger, hold it up to find the wind, then turn with it.
Read Chekhov's two famous lines aloud – coat off, coat on. 🧥 ✋
🙌 Today's words: ХАМЕЛЕО́Н · ГОРОДОВО́Й · ЧЕЙ
– Сними́-ка, Елды́рин, с меня́ пальто́… Ужа́сть как жа́рко!
– Наде́нь-ка, брат Елды́рин, на меня́ пальто́… Что́-то ве́тром поду́ло… Зноби́т…
-ка after a command makes it softer and more friendly: сними́-ка, наде́нь-ка, посмотри́-ка. 😊
наде́ть – to put on (clothes) ✅ · надева́ть 〰️ · оде́жда – clothes · оде́ться – to get dressed
Just look and smile – you don't have to learn these now. 😊
Чья э́то ко́шка? Плоха́я ко́шка! – Э́то ко́шка Ната́ши. – Ах! Ко́шка Ната́ша? Кака́я ми́лая ко́шка! – Ната́шина ко́шка, Ска́ффлз – и́ли ко́шка Ната́ши. А ты – хамелео́н! Сли́нки спит на поду́шке. Ей всё равно́, кто что ду́мает.
Whose cat is that? A bad cat! – That's Natasha's cat. – Oh! «Ко́шка Ната́ша»? What a lovely cat! (Scuffles's mistake: whose? – Ната́шина) – «Ната́шина ко́шка», Scuffles – or «ко́шка Ната́ши». And you are a chameleon! Slinky is asleep on the cushion. She doesn't care what anybody thinks.
- Чей / чья / чьё / чьи? – the ending follows the thing.
- Whose: ко́шка Ната́ши = Ната́шина ко́шка · пальто́ Ри́чарда = Ри́чардово пальто́.
- -ин after -а / -я (ма́мин, па́пин) · -ов after a consonant (Ри́чардов).
- -ка softens a command: сними́-ка, наде́нь-ка.
- снять / наде́ть пальто́ – take off / put on.
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?
Anton Chekhov was a doctor who wrote hundreds of short funny stories for magazines – «Хамелео́н» was written in 1884 when he was 24. English has the same word: a person who changes his views is «a chameleon». And Chekhov's names are jokes: Очуме́лов sounds like «очуме́ть» (to go crazy), Хрю́кин like «хрю-хрю». 😄
🔬 Почему́ так · Why this way
- Yesterday's homework first. Remembering without looking is one of the best-proven tools: Agarwal · Nunes · Blunt 2021.
- A short telling first. A text told in short parts with two real lines lets the student feel the whole story before reading the long original – the real text later is easier (Nation 2013, graded reading).
- The body does the word. A gesture on every form ties the form to a movement: Macedonia · Knösche 2011.
- The cat makes the mistakes. Scuffles says it wrong – the student laughs and is never the one who is wrong.