Activity 2

As you remember, in Part Two of this chapter, Лена and her friend Маша discuss the Silins' new furniture, and Лена mentions that the new furniture is импортная.

Let's join Сергей Петрович and Наталья Ивановна on their next visit to the мебельный (cf. the ad on page 117), IKEA. The Swedish furniture store chain opened its first Russian outlet in Химки, a suburb of Moscow, in 2000. When you visit Moscow you're likely to see this store, which is located on the Ленинградское шоссе (the Leningrad expressway), the road into the city center from Moscow's main international airport, Шереметьево-2 (which is where Jim is headed in Part Four of this chapter, page 112).

The second IKEA store, in the southern suburb of Тёплый Стан, opened in 2001.

Visit the ИКЕА Россия home page (Note: IKEA is pronounced 'ee-KAY-ah):

http://www.ikea.ru


1			To start, the Silins should get acquainted with the huge ИКЕА Россия store so that he doesn't get lost! Help him take a virtual tour of the store. First, click on “ИКЕА рядом с вами” (‘IKEA Near You;’ the link is located directly under the IKEA Россия logo in the top left-hand corner of the page). You will be directed to a page with three links. How do Russians say "virtual tour"? Hint: the Russian words are foreign borrowings, and are similar to their English counterparts. Click on this link.




2			Open your textbook to page 48. Three of the room names on this page are also found on the right-hand side of the ИКЕА Россия tour. What are they? The words on the website differ in one important detail from those in the textbook. What is the difference?




3			The Russian word for "guest" is "гость." The second stop on our virtual tour is the "гостиная." What do you think the literal meaning of this word is? What is our normal English equivalent (Careful, "гостиная" is something of a "false friend" – see the note on page 184)? Click on the word “гостиные.” On the right-hand side of the page you'll see several pictures. Can you find a Russian word for 'photograph' on this page? Click on the pictures to enlarge them. How many types of furniture can you identify? Remember the words you learned in this chapter!




4			Now that you've identified the objects in the pictures, try counting them. How many chairs, tables, and so on, do you see? Try this exercise in some of the other rooms whose names we know: столовые, спальни, кухни.




5			You recall what Наталья Ивановна said when she first saw the Silins' new apartment in the video for Chapter Two: "Нет, комнаты очень маленькие." Keep this in mind as you help Sergei Petrovich choose new furnishings for the four rooms we've visited. In English, indicate which of the options you've seen best suit the Silins' needs. Justify your choices.




6			Compare the rooms on the ИКЕА Россия site with those you've seen so far in the video. What differences do you notice?




7			From what you know and have seen of Russia, which rooms do you think might be more typical of real Russian apartments? Can many people afford to shop in ИКЕА Россия? Who are they? Discuss your responses to these questions with your instructor and classmates.




8			А ЧТО ДАЛЬШЕ? For more information about furniture in Russia, from production to buying and selling, visit the "Мебель в России" website (with information in both Russian and English): http://www.furniture.ru

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