Day 108 of 175

Day 108: Counting Cranes at Dawn

At dawn in May, in a marsh near Saint Petersburg, a student volunteer and an old ornithologist count cranes from a hide.

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

    Геннадий Иванович, а журавли далеко? Я в бинокль пока ничего не вижу.

    Gennady Ivanovich, are the cranes far? I can't see anything through the binoculars yet.

  2. B

    Рукой подать, вон у тех берёзок. И не шепчи всё время, распугаешь.

    A stone's throw away, over by those birches. And stop whispering all the time, you'll scare them off.

  3. A

    Я только спросить: а как их считать, если они всё время ходят?

    I just wanted to ask: how do you count them if they keep walking around?

  4. B

    Вместо того чтобы шептать, сиди не двигаясь и считай по головам.

    Instead of whispering, sit still and count heads.

  5. A

    Семь, восемь... одиннадцать! Ой, а что это там гудит, будто в бутылку дуют?

    Seven, eight... eleven! Oh, what's that booming, as if someone's blowing into a bottle?

  6. B

    Неужели выпь? Лет десять её не слышал... Доставай скорее телефон, записывай!

    Could that be a bittern? I haven't heard one in ten years... Quick, get your phone out, record it!

  7. A

    Записываю. Только теперь вы, Геннадий Иванович, потише, а то журавлей распугаете.

    Recording. Only now it's you who should keep it down, Gennady Ivanovich, or you'll scare the cranes off.

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