Day 102 of 175

Day 102: Homework From the Thirteenth Century

At the museum in Veliky Novgorod, a guide shows a teenager some birch bark letters from the thirteenth century.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title.
  2. Read the dialogue and its translation. The audio for this lesson is coming soon.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Russian audio, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day

  1. A

    Посмотри сюда. Это берестяные грамоты, найденные при раскопках прямо здесь, в Новгороде.

    Look over here. These are birch bark letters found in excavations right here in Novgorod.

  2. B

    Какие-то нацарапанные буквы и человечки... А что там написано?

    Just some scratched letters and little men... What does it say?

  3. A

    Писал их мальчик Онфим лет шести-семи, больше семисот лет назад. Он так буквы учил.

    They were written by a boy called Onfim, about six or seven, more than seven hundred years ago. That's how he learned his letters.

  4. B

    Серьёзно? А рядом всадник с копьём, это тоже он нарисовал?

    Seriously? And the rider with a spear next to them, did he draw that too?

  5. A

    Он самый: нарисовал себя воином, который побеждает врага. Видно, урок был скучный.

    He did: he drew himself as a warrior defeating an enemy. The lesson must have been boring.

  6. B

    Так у меня в тетради по математике точно такие же рыцари!

    But I've got exactly the same knights in my math notebook!

  7. A

    Вот видишь, ничто не ново под луной. Может, и твою тетрадь через семьсот лет в музее покажут.

    There you go, there's nothing new under the sun. Maybe in seven hundred years they'll show your notebook in a museum too.

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