RL101 – 5 Revision of the first 17 letters

With 171 likes to 3 dislikes at the time of posting this up to Huliganov.tv blog, this remains one of my most popular pieces. The revision of the first half of the Russian alphabet contains already a list of words, 31 in total, using the letters learned so far, unlike the previous lessons, which concentrated on letter only.

The joke “I spoil that woman” and the song Katiusha sung by myself and Elena have also elicited flattering comments from the viewership.

The word-list for this lesson is as follows, in alphabetical order of both languages:

адвокат lawyer café кафе
вот here is country страна
где where daddy папа
город town, city garden, orchard сад
да yes glass стакан
дерево tree he он
дом house, home here is вот
кафе café house, home дом
кот tomcat it оно
кто who juice сок
мама mother just, straight on просто
медсестра nurse lawyer адвокат
метро underground train mother мама
налево on the left no нет
направо on the right not не
не not nurse медсестра
нет no on the left налево
окно window on the right направо
он he she она
она she sister сестра
оно it soldier солдат
папа daddy there там
правда truth, true toilet туалет
просто just, straight on tomcat кот
сад garden, orchard town, city город
сестра sister tree дерево
сок juice truth, true правда
солдат soldier underground train метро
стакан glass where где
страна country who кто
там there window окно
туалет toilet yes да

Protected: The Pursuit of Understanding – 1st Version for Claude Cartaginese’s Polyglot Project

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Introducing Viktor Dmitrievitch Huliganov


This was made on May 27th 2006, when I had been on YouTube already over three months. The day before had been my birthday, and my parents had been here in Warsaw. For my birthday gift they gave me my first ever webcam, and the next day I got on it and started to do characters. Viktor Huliganov was born. This is the first ever Viktor video – he was going to be an amusing shady Russian businessman at first, but developed into more of a crazy professor, once the Russian lessons started. Although, of course, the one does not necessarily exclude the other. This marks the end of my “early attempts” section, and is therefore the last film in this section. With this film I transferred into the next phase of what I’ve been doing on the internet ever since.

Viktor has come to life in more ways than one. He blogs, he makes Russian lessons, he writes books, he talks on the radio. People write to me as Viktor, talk to me as Viktor, some people still think after watching many Viktor films that there really is this Russian dude – more sophisticated viewers are aware that it is a persona but want the persona to live anyway, and so they continue to address and to follow Viktor Huliganov. I had no idea of the success that this would have when I started doing it.

Some people have accused me of doing a Borat, but there are big differences in style on the one hand, but on the other hand, I have been impersonating the Russian accent ever since Sacha Baron Cohen was running around in short trousers. There are many sources for the Huliganov persona, not all of them Russians, actually. If Borat is on that list anywhere it is not high on the list and not with any intention or awareness on my part.