Natary MURAVIJOVA Russian Language Class 2010

Natary MURAVIJOVA
Russian Language Class

TANAKA Akio

I met with her suddenly in 1969 at her Russian language class.
On the day, I received the lecture on general semantics at the her neighbouring room. The teacher was difficulty in writing the letters on the blackboard for the chalks all too short or chipped. So I went to get the right ones to use to her class for borrowing.
The room was tiny and a few students attended the lesson from her.  At that time I suddenly decided that the next year I absolutely would receive her Russian language because the scenery of her image to teach the lesson was fantastically fine for me.

Next year, 1970, I got her Russian lesson at the same little room.
At that room I also received Korean language from KAJIMURA Hideki and Russian grammar from CHINO Eiichi.
The lesson of her style was always natural and familiar for the students.
AT first few lessons were the pronunciation of Russian. The accent and diphthong was especially  important. She taught us many times using the blackboard writing the words and phrases.
Russian vowels have the two, Light and dark. The river Volga sound the Russian people always dark. She said so.

The Russian class had the the language festival in every Autumn,where I was urged to enter the Russian poem's recitation. Her choice for me was Lermontov. She gave me the note paper in that the poem was written in green colour pen. Its colour was warm and general as her personality.

She was the daughter of Russian army's high class official. She and her family came to Japan to escape from the Revolution. In Japan she kept teaching the Russian at the Japan-Russo Institute. Also taught at several universities.
She gave me the Russian name, Mikhail.  She called me Misha in a sense of closeness in the classroom.

One day I bought the Russian textbook of "Teach yourself" series for practise for myself. I used the phrases from the book in her classroom. She astonished my colloquial speaking unlikely in my real ability to the language. I apologized her that all was in the book I bought at the Kinokuniya bookshop, Shinjuku, Tokyo. She understood the situation and was smiling.

Her pronunciation  was of course excellent fine. I now remember her beautiful voice with her small build. Her Russian class image was always shining, through the Autumnal crisp light from the windows. 

Tokyo
17 July 2010
1 December 2014 revised
SIL