Russian "Sesame Street"

[Justin Langseth]

For Seelangers who may have missed this segment (like me), you can =
listen
to it over the World Wide Web:

This segment from NPR's Morning Edition from Jan 31 is available on the
World Wide Web at http://www.realaudio.com/contentp/npr/me.html ...
You need to have the ability to listen to "RealAudio" files, and you =
need
a free account on the RealAudio server.  Instructions are provided at =
the
URL listed above.  The Sesame Street segment is the last segment of the
1/31 show.

To answer one of Rachel's questions, the program is called "Ulitsa =
Sayzam",
a direct translation of "Sesame Street".
                                                - Justin Langseth
                                =09
----------
From:   Burton & Rachel Davis[SMTP:twoofus at execpc.com]
Sent:   Wednesday, January 31, 1996 11:44 AM
To:     Multiple recipients of list SEELANGS
Subject:        Russian "Sesame Street"

Hi Everyone!

I was listening to NPR this morning and they had a story on a truly =
"Russian" version of "Sesame Street" being produced in Russia.  Although =
the producers are apparently free to borrow from the archives of the =
American program, it's more than just a translation of the American =
program into Russian.  The producers are Russian and they're actually =
recreating the program for Russian children and focusing on their =
culture and their lives.  What I found really interesting is that from =
what I understand they have deliberately decided to stay away from =
"escapist" themes like aliens coming in and fixing the problem instead =
of Russians fixing it themselves, or stories about leaving the country, =
etc.

It seems to me that this would be a great language tool at any level.  I =
know that when I was a T.A., my students seemed to enjoy children's =
programming more than any other type and I think that something with as =
familiar a format as "Sesame Street" would be very popular and very =
useful.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the programming schedule, let =
alone the actual name in Russian, but I would *love* to get hold of some =
of these programs!  If anyone, anywhere can get some tapes of the show =
to send to me, *please* let me know!  I will pay whatever costs are =
associated with it.  If anyone else has heard about the show, I'd be =
interested in hearing from you.

Rachel Kilbourn Davis
University of Wisconsin - Madison
twoofus at execpc.com