Здесь становится жарко. Так снимай с себя всю одежду! (It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes)… And I’m just going to add this – переодевайся в купальник и езжай на пляж (change into a swimsuit and go to the beach).

That’s exactly what I did last weekend. I even managed to find a few minutes in between rubbing on крем от загара (sunblock), watching after дети (children), chatting with friends, and riding a few волны (waves) on бугиборд (a boogie board) and shot this video.

Let’s talk about the basic words and phrases that might be useful at the beach, should you decide to practice your Russian:

Пляж (beach) – if you speak French, this will be an easy word to memorize since that’s exactly how you say it in French. Let’s decline now:

Nominative: Этот пляж – самый лучший в округе! (This is the best beach in the region!)
Genitive: От нас до пляжа рукой подать (We live very close to the beach)
Dative: Я люблю романтические ужины при свечах и прогулки по пляжу (I love romantic candle-lit dinners and walks on the beach)
Accusative: Ты собираешься на пляж в эти выходные? (Do you plan on going to the beach this weekend?)
Instrumental: Я пляжем сыт по горло, лучше пойду в бассейн (I’m fed up with the beach; I’d rather go to the pool)
Prepositional: Мы целый день загорали на пляже (All day long we sunbathed at the beach)

Note: although some Russian speakers do say на пляжу, it is incorrect and you shouldn’t follow their example unless you are (jokingly) say я лежу на пляжу (I am lying on the beach).

Море (sea) – many Russians would say мы едем на море (we are going to the seaside; lit; to the sea) even when they are going на океан (to the ocean). It’s not because they don’t know the difference. If you look at the map of Russia, you will see that the only ocean Russians can go to is Северный Ледовитый океан (Arctic Ocean). All the other very large bodies of water bordering Russia are моря (seas). Hence the habit that only gets broken after a few years of living in the US.

Волна (wave) – in Russia сёрферы (surfers) катаются на волнах (ride on waves) and not on прибой (surf). Most people I know don’t really swim in the ocean or sea, but rather плескаться в волнах (splash in the waves) close enough to shore.

Песок (sand) – in my (admittedly, limited) experience on Russian Black Sea beaches, I only encountered a few that were песчаные пляжи (sand beaches). The rest were галечные (pebble) ones. Here’s the flip side – the best ever sea glass is found on галечные пляжи.

Спасатель на водах (lifeguard) – is usually shortened to спасатель. Do not confuse with спаситель (rescuer, life-saver). This is a good example of how perfective and imperfective aspects carry over into nouns. Спасать and спасти both mean to save. Yet спасатель (lifeguard) who спасает из воды (is saving someone from the water) does not become спаситель (a life-saver) unless he can successfully спасти (save) the victim from drowning.

Купальник (swimsuit) – something women obsess about every year. The big issue for me is whether to buy раздельный купальник (a two-piece swimsuit) or сдельный/слитный купальник (a one-piece). For guys the issue is non-existent. Most get some sort of купальные шорты (swimming shorts) although you can always find a few who stick to плавки (speedos, swimming trunks).

For all the joys of going to the beach – солнце (sun), загар (tan), волны (waves), ракушки (sea shells), песчаные замки (sand castles), a trip to the beach is not without its dangers. Some of the most well-known are

солнечный удар – sun stroke – don’t forget to wear панама (light hat), stay в тени (in the shade) and пейте много воды (drink lots of water)
солнечный ожог – sunburn – apply крем от загара (sunblock) frequently; if sunburned, apply a thick layer of сметана (sour cream) to affected skin.
ожог от медузы – jellyfish sting – turns out, писать на ожог (to pee on the sting) doesn’t help. So don’t embarrass yourself. Russians use sour cream so much that it just might help here as well.
подводное течение – undertow – за буйки не заплывать (stay in the designated swimming area; lit: don’t swim past the buoys), stay где мелко (where it’s shallow)
акула-людоед – I watched Челюсти (Jaws) and, if I remember correctly, staying close to shore doesn’t help. Just watch for спинной плавник (dorsal fin) and бегите на берег (run to shore) as soon as you see one. Most likely it will just be дельфин (a dolphin), but бережённого бог бережёт (better be safe than sorry)

With that in mind, put on купальник (swimsuit) and go, go, go to the beach this weekend!