Russian Language Blog

In recent years, a new term has become popular on the internet: «социальная сеть» [social network]. Some of these sites seem to be «международный» [international], like «Фейсбук» [Facebook]. Others, like «В Контакте» [V Kontakte] are not. Not only are social networks fun, but they can also help you learn a language. How? Read on to find out.

«Что такое социальная сеть?» [What is a social network?] Wikipedia says that it is «интерактивный веб-сайт» [an interactive website]. Furthermore, «обычно возможно указать информацию о себе» [you usually put information about yourself], such as «дата рождения, школа, вуз, и т.д.» [birthday, school, university, etc.].

The whole point of social networking sites, of course, is to «найти друзей» [find your friends]. Usually you will be able to search for specific people so that, in Facebook terminology, you can «добавить в друзья» [add to your friends (list)].

«Сначала» [At the beginning] of the social networking phenomenon, usually «молодёжь» [the youth, young people] were using these websites, but now «много людей» [many people] use them.

So, how can using social networking sites help you learn a foreign language? In many ways! «Например» [For example], you can go to «настройки» and change your language settings. My Facebook is «только на русском» [only in Russian] and this has helped me learn computer vocabulary.

If you want to interact with Russian people, you could join «В Контакте» [V Kontakte]. «Этот веб-сайт похож на Фейсбук, но на русском.» [This website looks like Facebook, but in Russian.] The design is similar to the old Facebook design. «К сожалению, нужно приглашение, чтобы войти.» [Unfortunately, you need an invitation to log in.] If anyone reading this needs an invitation, I may be able to give you one (if I can remember my account password!).

You can also seek out Russian speakers on «Твиттер» [Twitter]. «Твиттер тоже на русском» [Twitter is also in Russian], so you can learn some new vocabulary. Also, with Twitter, you communicate with «короткие сообщения» [short messages], which means you won’t get too overwhelmed with very long sentences.

Do you have any tips for learning Russian by using social networking? Share below!

This is the third post in a series about «глаголы движения с приставками» [prefixed verbs of motion]. If you have not read the previous two posts, you can do so here and here. In the photo: «Дон в Воронежской области» [the Don (a river) in Voronezh oblast].

A commenter asked for example sentences with prefixed verbs of motion. I am happy to say that I have found sentences for you. Some I found on the internet, and others are what I or my Russian-speaking friends would say.

• «Все вышли во двор.» [Everyone went out to the courtyard.] Note how «во» is used because «двор» begins with two consonant sounds.
• «Я прилетела в Москву сегодня утром.» [I arrived in Moscow this morning.] Since this is a single action, I used the perfective form of the verb.
• «Завтра она улетит в/на Украину.» [Tomorrow she is leaving for Ukraine.] Ukraine can take «в» or «на». In general, I have noticed that Russians tend to use «на» and Ukrainians tend to use «в», but I do not know if this is a hard and fast rule.
• «Солнце восходит в шесть часов.» [The sun rises at six o'clock.]
• «Мы часто заходим к Ольге.» [We often drop in on Olga.]
• «Дети переходят (через) улицу.» [The children are crossing the street.] Notice how the «через» is optional.
• «Как пройти на Красную площадь?» [How do you get to Red Square?] This is an excellent question to ask if you are in Moscow, my friends.
• «Я прошла мимо аптеки.» [I walked past the pharmacy.]
• «Туристы дошли до Большого театра.» [The tourists walked up to the Bolshoi Theatre.]
• «Анна увидела свою подругу, когда она выходила из машины.» [Anna saw her friend as she was getting out of a car.]
• «Он стремительно подходил к половине.» [It rapidly approached the halfway point.] This is a quote from «Белая гвардия, написан Михаилом Булгаковым» [The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov]. It is talking about the month of December going by quickly, so perhaps a more poetic translation would be “Mid-month rapidly approached.” I like it because it uses a verb of motion in a more figurative sense (as opposed to these other sentences, which literally involve motion).
• Я отвёз Сашу в аэропорт.» [I took Sasha to the airport.] With the verbs «нести», «вести», and «везти», the prefix «от» can add the meaning of taking something or someone from one place and leaving it in another.

Questions? Let me know in the comments!

This post was supposed to be up last Friday, but I never had time to put it up. Sorry for keeping you in suspense! In the photo: a movie poster for the seventh and last film – «на русском» [in Russian].

A very bittersweet event took place on July 15, «дорогие друзья» [dear friends]. «Часть вторая» [Part two] of the film «Гарри Поттер и дары смерти» [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows] came out. This is «последний фильм» [the final film] of the series. And as someone who has ready «каждая книга» [every book] multiple times, I confess: I was very sad since there will be no more films. In this post, I will be writing about common Harry Potter-related terms, but in Russian. I will try not to have too many spoilers, in case some of you have not read the books.

So, what would it be like to live in Harry Potter’s world? First off, there are «волшебники и волшебницы» [wizards and witches], people who can do magic. Of course, they need «волшебная палочка» [a magic wand] to work magic. (Note that the word «палка» means stick, so that may be an easy way to remember how to say wand.)

Non-magical people are called Muggles (this is such a great word that the translators of Harry Potter into Russian kept the word, so it is «магл» in Russian) and «большинство из них» [the majority of them] do not know that the wizarding world exists. «Исключения» [Exceptions] would be «премьер-министер Соединённого Королевства» [the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom] and «семьи» [the families] of children with magical ability.

«Подруга Гарри» [Harry’s (female) friend (note how Harry’s name does not decline in Russian)] is one such person born into a Muggle family. In fact, I recall that she once says that both of her parents are «зубные врачи» [dentists]. In English, her name is Hermione Granger, but in Russian it becomes «Гермиона Грейнджер». She is one of my favorite characters: «она отличница» [she is a straight-A student] and is «очень умная» [very intelligent].

«Гарри и Рон» [Harry and Ron] do not do as well in school as «Гермиона» [Hermione] but they are also very likable characters. «Гарри» [Harry] is «смелый» [brave] and «Рон» is «верный» [loyal].

«Серия» [The series] is about the adventures of these friends as they make their way through their seven years of magic school at «Хогвартс» [Hogwarts], a prestigious school of magic in England.

Some may dismiss the Harry Potter series as simple «фэнтези» [fantasy], but the series is more than that: it is about «дружба» [friendship] as well.

I know some people who swear by reading novels as a method of learning languages. If you would like to try this, I would definitely recommend Harry Potter. In case you can’t tell, my friends, I am a huge fan.

«Как вы думаете?» [What do you think?] Let me know in the comments!