Saved by the bell.

Tamara Aleksandrovna made my kasha a different way this morning. She spent ten minutes explaining to me what she had done, and when I didn't understand she reached for the coffee grinder and motioned putting coffee into it. I also had mini hot pieces of bread that she made herself. My Russian was still in bed, but I'm learning that "da", "ya ne znayu" and "yasno" are perfect answers to most questions, of which there are many.

No lessons at the language school today, as Viktor had arranged for us to spend a morning in school 49 on ulitsa Svobody. It has five floors, and takes children from six to eighteen. Our first class was maths with the very youngest group. They looked so smart; the boys in suits and ties, the girls in white blouses and long black skirts and all with shiny black shoes. Their teacher did sums with them, 'plus' and 'minus' from one to five, on a fold-up blackboard. Then half way through the lesson they got up from their wooden desks, and stood in four rows; one little boy went to the front of the class and led some gymnastic exercises for five minutes to keep them awake.

After that they each took out a cardboard chest of drawers the size of a pencil case that they had made themselves, and used the straws inside to do puzzles. They really are the cutest little chaps I've ever seen, I didn't want the lesson to end! When it finished the teacher asked them to stand up if they thought they had worked well today, so they could receive a gold star. I realise why Russian students have such a good work ethic - imagine how you would feel being told to sit down.

In the break I bumped into Katya, a girl I met at Joy Party who lives near me. The next class was Russian Literature with the oldest group, but unfortunately she wasn't in it. The teacher spoke about Pushkin so enthusiastically, and I enjoyed being there even though I didn't understand much. She was so charismatic that the students really seemed to want to learn, and they gave their opinions much more freely than British pupils. When the lesson finished the class crowded around us to ask questions about England, and to practice their English on us. Answering questions about "what's London like?", "who's better, Shinnik or Manchester United?" and "why on earth did you decide to live with a babushka?" at the same time was a bit of a challenge!

We should have had a lunch break, but Alexei invited us to his next class. The only takers were myself (to be able to say that I've been taught algebra in Russian!) and Chris U, who is a professional engineer and knows mathematics already. The teacher was ill so they were supposed to do their homework, but we were too much of a distraction so they kept on talking to us, I felt quite comfortable chatting in Russian, knowing that they could speak some English and they wouldn't get cross if I said I didn't know what they meant.

By the time the bell rang the rest of my classmates had gone home. Chris left too, but Alexei invited me to his last lesson so I went on my own. Obviously it was very different to the Russian language lectures I'm used to. And it turned out that Alexei was the class clown, so while I was trying very hard to concentrate he was passing me notes and trying to annoy the teacher! The lesson ended with a spelling bee, when every student went to the front of the class in turn to write three complicated words on the blackboard. Alexei volunteered me, but thankfully there wasn't enough time.

My best day at school ever - I wish I was as popular nine years ago! The rest of my translation is going to seem very dull tonight.

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