Pronunciation

[sashwizzled.livejournal.com]

I've just started learning Russian, and I've got most of the Cyrillic alphabet leanred and how to pronounce it (thankfully, I've had no trouble with Р or Х, like everyone else in my class!), but I'm still having a bit of trouble with the Ы letter.
My textbook says it's pronounced like the i in ill, but my teacher says it's pronounced like you're trying to say the ee in feet, but you're forcing your tongue to the bottom of your mouth while you do it - when I do that, it sounds like I'm pronouncing the ai in aim.

Err, can someone help, please?

(no subject)

[heyunyi.livejournal.com]

My lil brother received a message in Russian on his cellphone. Could someone tell us what it means and also tell us how to say "You have the wrong number" in Russian. (It will need to be in Roman letters though, as we can't enter Cryllic ones.)

"Dobroe ytro colnushko! Y je vushlo colnushko! Vremya prosupatbcya! Idtiymuvatbcya!"

(no subject)

[liquidmanifesto.livejournal.com]

My new addition:

(no subject)

[pooplina.livejournal.com]

happy new years y'all. For the Russians here, its a time to bust out the new years tree, sit for a thousand phone calls from relatives, and watch the old folks get hammered. Ah, New years.
In other news, I recieved an email from colgate (I'm applying so I guess that means they own my soul) about their daily news and there was a link to student responses to their time in Vladimir.
http://www.imakenews.com/colgatemedia/e_article000334250.cfm?x=b11,0,w

I'm reading this thing, and for some reason I got a little ...irked.. It might be part of my overall tendency post-trip to Vladimir to get possesive about "my country" but I hate how the student responses made the russians sound like freaks or subjects in some experiment :

"One thing that I have definitely noticed is that the Russian fashion sense is unique. For some reason young women seem to think, the tighter, whiter, brighter the better. Also, there are elfin-like shoes that appear on nearly every woman’s feet. I wonder how they manage to walk. The Russian woman’s love of fashion does not end after the age of thirty. I have seen many middle aged or even elderly women with florescent pink, deep purple, bright blond, or even blue hair.”

Yea ok, when I was there, I thought they dressed weird too. Then again, I spent most of time with teenagers, and they thought the way I dressed was strange as well . ("Vintage? So wait, you spend more money on used and old clothes?" )
I just hate the attitude of some Americans who go over to Russia, make generalizations about what they see, and come back thinking they know everything about Russians. The pointy shoes did bother me though. Thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

(no subject)

[gnomygnomy.livejournal.com]

Hey, anyone know of a Russian version of Popcap's Bookworm?