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In this chapter you learned how to send letters and packages in Russia. But these days we have an alternative to "snail mail" that delivers letters in seconds without stamps or envelopes. You guessed it: e-mail!
More and more Russians have access to computers and the Internet, either at home, work, in libraries or at Internet "салоны" and "кафе" that have sprung up nationwide (as you have seen in one of the Web activities for Chapter Five).
As a result, e-mail has become a fact of life in Russia. Visit the homepage of Яndex, a портал that features one of the best Russian search engines (поисковая система) along with news, e-mail and other services:
http://www.yandex.ru
Let's set up a Russian e-mail account!
The top window is labeled логин. What does this mean? As you've probably noticed by now, many words associated with компьютеры are Russified versions of standard terms (usually English) that are used around the world.
The lower box is labeled "пароль." Based on what you know about your own e-mail program, can you guess what this means? As yet you have neither логин nor пароль, so you can't 'войти в' (to enter) a mailbox. Click on the "зарегистрироваться" button.
Top section: Логин и пароль
Логин: Enter the логин of your choice in Latin letters. Pick something unusual to minimize the likelihood that someone else is already using this логин.
Пароль: Enter the пароль of your choice in Latin letters. It must contain no less than 4 letters and cannot be identical to your логин.
Подтвердите пароль: As you probably guessed, this means: "Confirm your password."
Middle section: Идентификационные данные (facts allowing Яndex to identify you if you forget your логин and/or пароль).
Koнтрольный вопрос (security question): To the right of this question is a horizontal bar. Click and hold on the arrows at the right end of the bar. For the sake of simplicity, select the second option: девичья фамилия матери. What does this mean? Hint: It is the most common security question in English as well (and you know the words 'фамилия' and 'мать'!).
Ваш ответ: Enter your response to the контрольный вопрос.
Bottom section: Персональные данные (facts about you)
When Яndex has accepted your логин и пароль, a page will appear with a horizontal box at the top labelled: выбор имени (selection of name) почтового ящика. If your логин appears in the window, click on the "сохранить" (save) button directly beneath it. Здравствуйте!
Now you have an e-mail account, and you know many of the words you'll need to use it! Your address is: (Ваш логин)@yandex.ru. The "at" sign (@) in Russian is called собака or собачка (Why? Who knows!). The "dot" (.) is called точка.
The "ru" at the end stands for Russia and is pronounced 'roo.' If you have to give your address over the phone or in conversation you should say: (логин) – собака – Яndex – точка – ру.
In the long horizontal strip near the top of the page you'll find several options. Which one will allow you to write a letter? Click on it. Now you're on the composing page.
You'll see four windows at the top of the page. The top window is labeled "Кому." This word you know from filling in envelopes on page 254 of the textbook. Write in the адрес of the person you'd like to write. If you're working as a class, write in the address of a classmate!
The bottom window is labelled "Тема." This is a cognate. What does it mean? What is this window called in English? The big empty box in the middle of the page is for your письмо.
You know the basics of how web portals work from English-language portals like Yahoo. The Яndex site works much the same way. Explore! You'll find another major Russian портал, complete with поисковая система, at: http:// www.rambler.ru
Some of the other popular news-and-search-engine sites are:
http://www.google.com.ru
http://www.emax.ru
http://www.aport.ru
http://bama.ua.edu/~mlc/russian/russification.html
