E-mail etiquette and American undergraduates

[Vardanyan, Ashot]

Uvazhaemaya Prof. Goering!
 
When I greet my non-first year students in Russian, I write "Uvazhaemye studenty" at the beginning of a semester and "Dorogie rebyata" or just "Rebyata" later if I turn to more than one student. When communicating with one person, I use just his / her name, sometimes preceded by "Dorogoi / Dorogaya". Of course, there could be students who may need more formality -- then I use "Uvazhaemyi / Uvazhaemaya". Just the name is another possibility.
 
Also, when I write a letter to any student(s) in Russian, I keep the Russian style: the address in the middle of the top line followed by an exclamation mark.
 
In closing, I mainly prefer "Vsego dobrogo / xoroshego" or "Vsex blag", sometimes -- "Vsego, + the initials of my name and patronymic". Depending on the frequency of our messages, for the purpose of diversity, and / or the forthcoming meeting or class time, I can also use "Do vstrechi (na uroke)", "Do zavtra", "Do vtornika", "Do skorogo", etc.
 
Regarding my students' communication with me, regrettably, first I have to teach them to start with some address, otherwise, they just start with a sentence.
 
Second, I try to expose my students to the "name + patronymic" phrase preceded by "Uvazhaemyi" if they want, I don't insist on it. Another version is "Zdravstvuite, name + patronymic!" 
 
I also teach them the Russian style of the address position and punctuation (comma inside, exclamation mark at the end). As to the closing, I teach them to use the same phrases as I do but I also teach them to use "S (iskrennim) uvazheniem, + name on the next line" if it's a formal, official letter. Sometimes, if my message to them is very formal, I could use this closing as well.
 
I would be glad to know other possibilities as well.
 
S uvazheniem,
Ashot (Stepanovich)
 
Ashot Vardanyan
University of Iowa

________________________________

From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list on behalf of Laura Goering
Sent: Thu 17-Sep-09 14:56
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: [SEELANGS] E-mail etiquette and American undergraduates



Dear colleagues:

I would be curious to know what greetings and closings you use when writing e-mail messages in Russian to American undergraduates, and, conversely, what you teach them to use with you.

Thanks!

--
Laura Goering
Professor of Russian
Department of German and Russian
Carleton College
Northfield, MN 55057
(507) 222-4125

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