I was shopping in a pharmacy the other day and noticed that the stationery/back-to-school section didn’t have any pencil cases (пеналы) on display. It makes sense, with the school systems being different that the students’ “equipment” will be different, too. However, these differences may not be as obvious to someone who didn’t go to school in both countries, so let us go over what a typical schoolkid brings to school.

1. Рюкзак

A backpack is the first thing you will need. It may be referred to as рюкзак, ранец, or портфель (the latter can also be carried like a briefcase). What always amazed me in Russia is that the elementary school kids would have the largest backpacks of all age groups. This problem caused the government to limit the maximum weight for packpacks for each age group.

2. Сменная обувь

Believe it or not, some schools in Russia require that students bring “indoor” shoes (сменная обувь, or сменка for short) to change into at school. This makes sense in the winter, when it’s muddy and wet outside. In my experience, this rule is not as stringent for upperclassmen.

3. Учебники

It may be worth pointing out that the word книги refers primarily to fiction/non-fiction books that you read for pleasure or information. Textbooks are called учебники, and very rarely would you hear them referred to as книги, although they technically are. Textbooks may or may not be provided by the school, and often parents have to buy them from a list provided by the school.

4. Тетради

Requirements for notebooks (тетради) are usually fairly regimented in lower grades and become laxer in higher grades. A standard notebook is 170 by 205 mm (approximately 6.5 by 8 inches) and has 12, 18, or 24 sheets. A notebook with 24-96 sheets is called общая тетрадь and is used for classes where you need to take a lot of notes. Тетрадь в клетку (a checkered notebook) is used for math, where each square is supposed to be filled with one digit or mathematical sign. Тетрадь в линейку (a lined notebook) is used for all other subjects, especially for Russian. Тетрадь в косую линейку has additional lines at about 45 degrees that help you maintain a uniform slant in your handwriting. You can look at the different line patterns here.

4. Пенал

A pencil case (пенал) normally holds any writing/graphing utensils you may need. They include

• ручка –  pen
• карандаш – pencil
• точилка – pen sharpener
• линейка – ruler
• циркуль – compass
• транспортир – protractor
• ластик – eraser

and a few other things depending on the school and the student. Пеналы can be very elaborate, with multiple sections and little rubber loops to hold the contents in place.

5. Дневник

Дневник is the Russian combination of an agenda and grade transcript. Basically, it is a schedule of sorts, where every school day has blanks for subjects in the first column and blanks for homework in the second column. The third column is reserved for the teacher to give you a grade for that subject, if you received any on that day.

Teachers can also leave feedback on your behavior in your дневник. Stereotypically, children try to hide their “agenda” when they have bad grade they don’t want their parents to see.

As I said above, some of these things get shed as you progress to the higher grade levels. However, any person educated in or near Russia will likely know what they are. Do you have any unique things in your country that students in other countries don’t have to bring to school?