School Activities

School activities in Russian

This topic is about the activities you do at school - lessons, sport, music, trips, homework and exams. Every word comes with its Russian script, a transliteration in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, written left to right.

Words for school activities

Here are six to learn first. Each shows the script, how to say it, and what it means.

What fizkultura means in Russian

What does физкультура (fizkultura) mean?

• PE
• Music
• Homework
• A library

Match each word to its English meaning

How the script works

Two things about the Russian script. First, Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, written left to right. Second, a few letters look like Latin ones but sound different: В is "v", Н is "n", Р is "r", С is "s" and Х is "kh". Watch these false friends and the reading gets much easier.

More school words

Four more, including a place and two objects you will need for the next check.

Which are activities?

Select the THREE words that are school ACTIVITIES, not objects.

• физкультура (fizkultura)
• музыка (muzyka)
• экскурсия (ekskursiya)
• книга (kniga)
• ручка (ruchka)

Match the script to how it is said

Where are you?

You go to the библиотека (biblioteka). What is it?

• The library
• The classroom
• The music room
• The exam hall

How do you say it?

A lesson урок is said _____. PE физкультура is said _____. Music музыка is said _____. A trip экскурсия is said _____.

Putting it together

Now you can talk about a whole school day. At school (школа) you sit in a lesson (урок), you might do PE (физкультура) or music (музыка), and there may be an exam (экзамен). There are also school trips (экскурсия) and the library (библиотека), and at home there is always the homework (домашнее задание).

Watch the Russian ending change after it

The school words become sentences with люблю (I like). Watch what happens to the ending of the word that follows it: - Я люблю музыку = "I like music". музыка becomes музыку after люблю. Russian changes the ending of the thing being liked, which is the accusative case. - У меня есть домашнее задание = "I have homework". Russian has no verb "to have". It says "at me there is homework": У меня (u menya) is "at me", and есть (yest) is "there is".

After люблю, a noun changes its ending

After люблю, a noun changes its ending. Which of these says "I like music"?

• Я люблю музыку (ya lyublyu muzyku)
• Я люблю музыка (ya lyublyu muzyka)
• Я музыка (ya muzyka)
• У меня есть домашнее задание (u menya yest domashnee zadanie)

Order the school day

Put a normal school day into a sensible order. (Each step tags its Russian word.)

• You arrive at school (школа)
• You have your first lesson (урок)
• You do PE (физкультура)
• You visit the library (библиотека)
• At home you do your homework (домашнее задание)

Pick the word

For each situation, choose the right Russian word.

• You want to talk about PE and sport at school.
• Your class is going on a school trip.
• You have a big test coming up next week.

Read the script

Three questions about the Russian script itself.

• Which alphabet does Russian use?
• In Russian, the letter Р sounds like which English letter?
• Which word is the Russian for "school"?