Что такое счастье? (What is Happiness?) | Beginner Russian Story

In this beginner-level Russian story, an American family in Saint Petersburg learns to talk about happiness (счастье) while adjusting to their new life. The children, Anton and Vera, discover what makes them happy and create their own "rules for happiness," with the help of their talking bear Misha and family.

New Vocabulary:
счастье (schást'ye) — happiness

бояться (impf.) — to be afraid (as in не бояться нового – “not to fear new things”)

подруга — friend (female); подружиться — to become friends (e.g. мы подружились – “we became friends”)

пословица — proverb (a famous example from the story: Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.)

учить / выучить — to learn (impf./perf. pair, e.g. учить язык vs. выучить новое слово)

One key phrase highlighted in this story is "Что такое счастье?" — which means "What is happiness?" in Russian. This construction "Что такое ...?" is a common way to ask “What is ...?” when you want a definition or explanation of a concept. You can use it for other words too, for example:
Что такое дружба? – "What is friendship?" or Что такое успех? – "What is success?"
Try answering the questions in Russian for yourself! What would you say happiness is for you, and what do you need for your happiness?

Perfective vs. Imperfective: Notice the pair учим – выучить in the story. Учить means "to be learning/to study" (imperfective, ongoing process), while выучить means "to learn/master something completely" (perfective, completed action). For example, мы учим русский язык (we are learning Russian) vs. мы выучили новое слово (we learned a new word). Russian verbs often come in such pairs to show an ongoing action vs. a completed result.
Gender Agreement: The word счастливый ("happy") is an adjective that changes with gender. A male speaker says счастлив (short form) or быть счастливым, while a female says счастлива or быть счастливой. In the story, Vera says сделало меня счастливой because she is female.

Also, when saying "I need [something] to be happy," the word нужен/нужна/нужно/нужны will agree with the noun: e.g. мне нужен друг (I need a friend [masc.]) vs. мне нужна подруга (I need a friend [fem.]). Keep this in mind when you answer the question for yourself!

In the story, Grandma quotes a well-known Russian proverb: "Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей."
This literally translates to "Don't have a hundred rubles, but have a hundred friends," meaning that friendships are more valuable than money.
Russian language and culture are rich with such proverbs and wise sayings, often used in everyday conversation to share wisdom. Incorporating this proverb not only gives a glimpse into Russian culture but also reinforces vocabulary: рубль (ruble, Russian currency) and друг (friend). It’s a reminder that in adjusting to a new life, making friends can bring more happiness than material wealth – a lesson that our characters learn as they settle into their new home.



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