Please Be Polite! (Part 2)

On that bright+, sunny summer day Andrew left his apartment to go to the mall because he needed to get something to eat for the dinner. He decided to take a bus, so he headed right off  for the bus stop. He was in a good state of mind+, joyfully whistling some popular melody. It didn't take him long waiting for the bus, but the bus was pretty much stuffed with passengers so he couldn't find a seat and had to stand up the whole way. Suddenly, someone from behind tapped on his shoulder (this is fine, but the most common phrase is "tapped him on the shoulder"). Andrew turned his head, looked down and saw a short old man. The old man was saying something, his voice weak and his mouth lacking more than 50% of teeth (it's much more common to say "half of his teeth"). Normally Andrew could understand Russians pretty well, but this time (whether it's ("it was" is better) because of of the noise from the busy street or the old man's specific pronunciation) he didn't. And at this point that happened. (it's unclear what you are using "that" to refer to. Maybe insert "the trouble started" or "something confusing happened" instead?) "Чего тебе надо?", he asked the old man in a pure Russian, which translated means "what do you need?" but used in a very impolite, even rude form. That+'s the form we use only when talking to a very close friend. Andrew's Russian friend in New Zealand +had taught him the phrase and they used it a lot when speaking to each other, but he didn't teach him any polite forms of addressing people, esspecialy old people in Russia. So, Andrew should have said "Что Вам нужно?" instead. In the polite form we use "Вы", "Вам", "Вас"and "Вами" instead of "ты", "тебе", "тебя" and "тобой". But Andrew didn't know anything about that. And if he had an accent, the people around could have realized that he's ("he was") just a foreigner and didn't mean to offend anyone, but... 

(to be continued)

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Excellent job :) Is it possible to say "Что Вам надо?" as well? Or is "нужно" still more polite in this situation? 

Please Be Polite! (Part 1)

I +once knew a guy from New Zealand (it's an extremely subtle mistake, barely noticeable -- it's just that we usually accompany "I knew [smb]..." with some sort of time reference. So you can also say "I knew a guy a few years ago...", "I used to know a guy...", "When I was younger/in school/living or working [smwhere], I knew [smb]", etc; basically some sort of reference to "mark" it in your life). His name was Andrew. He had been staying in Russia for one year on some kind of business when I first met him. Andrew didn't look like a foreigner - his face and the way he dressed didn't seem to say anything about his southern hemisphere background. And there was something else, something very special about him - Andrew spoke Russian without any accent! Of course, he couldn't speak as fast as normally we Russians do, but his pronunciation was just perfect. "How come you speak Russian so well?" I asked him on the very first day. He said that his best friend in high school was an immigrant from Russia. Andrew liked the Russian language, so they used it for their communication through all the school years ("all throughout school" seems more natural to me, but it might just be a personal preference) . "Wow, that's so amazing!" I marveled. "Your Russian is just perfect!". "Well, I'm not so sure now", he said with a wry smile. Then he told me what had happened to him only a couple of days before. (to be continued)

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Nice job, as usual! :) 

Where are the steps in American swimming pools?

I saw a few pictures of American swimming pools, and I can't understand where are the steps are in their swimming pools?

I mean, in Russia and Europe there are steps that help you to get up or get down from a swimming pool, but I don't see the steps in American swimming pools,. In that case, how do people get out of it?

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In America we call it "survival of the fittest"! Mwahahaha. >:)

Just kidding. :) There are steps built into the wall of the pool:

http://www.chesterpools.com/cpsImages/Photos/Equip_&_Accessories/Ladder_Recessed_370.jpg

A Puppet

I heard this story from my American friend. Her name is Pat. Although she's been an old lady, she used to visit Russia almost every year since 1992. So, there's no doubt that she's got a lot of Russian friends here. Mostly they were English teachers at schools and universities.
Once Pat was invited over by one of them (also an old lady) to have a little dinner together, because the lady just had her birthday the day before. When Pat came and they sat down to eat the lady started off by telling her about what had been happening with her lately those days. So she said: "As you know, yesterday was my birthday. And I was given a wonderful gift. My daughter gave me... you know what?!".(<<It's okay, but it's even better to say "And do you know what my daughter gave me?!" OR "Guess what my daughter gave me!") "What?", Pat asked, getting really interested. "A puppet!", said the lady. Pat was very surprised: "Wow, that's so unusual for a birthday gift...". "Tell me about it, I was totally shocked!", said the lady. "First, I thought 'what would I do with it'. And I even wanted to give it back. But the puppet was so cute and beautiful, so I agreed to keep it." And as the lady went on speaking about the puppet, a suspicion of something strange happening (<<better: "a suspicion that something strange was happening") began to grow in Pat's mind. The lady told her how she liked to play with it, and that she thought the puppet would have become a good defender for of the apartament... Bewildered, Pat finally asked the lady to show her that the magic puppet. At that, the lady heavily sighed and said: "It is so hard for me to tell you, but this morning, when I took it out for a walk, the puppet ran away from me, and I couldn't find it." Pat froze on her seat, her eyes wide open. "Is she insane or something?", she thought. But then, oh my goodness! It dawned on her that it was not a PUPPET! The Russian lady mixed up the two English words. She meant PUPPY!

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Hahaha, great story! And very nicely written!