Archive for January, 2011
Russian Poetry: Летний сад, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Jan 31, 2011
We are taking a break from posts about «история Киева» [the history of Kiev] to do something a bit more literary today. In my Russian class, we have been working on a poem for the past two weeks. It’s called «Летний сад» [Summer Garden], written by the wonderful «Анна Ахматова» [Anna Akhmatova]. «Когда я…
Senseless Tragedy in Domodedovo Posted by yelena on Jan 25, 2011
This blog rarely covers news. After all, this is a Russian language learning blog, not a current events and politics one. Today, however, is different. As you know, at 4:32pm Moscow time on January 24th, «в аэропорту Домодедово прогремел взрыв» [an explosion thundered through the Domodedovo airport]. At the time of my writing this post…
A History of Kiev, Part 3 Posted by Natalie on Jan 24, 2011
«Простите меня, дорогие читатели» [Forgive me, dear readers]. I have not posted in a long time because last week I arrived back at school and before that, «я задержалась в аэропорту» [I was delayed in the airport]. But now I am back and ready to teach you about Kiev’s history (parts 1 and 2 are…
Learning Russian with Horoscopes Posted by yelena on Jan 24, 2011
I don’t care a bit about that new astrological calendar, the one that says I am no longer a Leo. Sure I am! Otherwise, this picture of me and a lion in Peterhof makes no sense at all (and it does too, rrrrrr!) Are you into «астрология» [astrology]? Unless you absolutely don’t give a hoot…
Playing Board Games… In Russian Posted by yelena on Jan 20, 2011
Do you like playing «настольные игры» [board games]? Let me tell you, board game «любители» [fans] in the US are absolutely «избалованны» [spoiled]. There’s such a variety of board games here «для всех возрастов» [for all ages] and «на любой вкус» [for every taste]. Growing up, I remember playing just a few board games –…
Swimming… in Russian Posted by yelena on Jan 18, 2011
Have you ever considered participating in «триатлон» [a triathlon]? I haven’t because… shhh… I can’t «плавать» [swim]. I know, I know, how could I, who grew up on the banks of the mighty «Волга» [Volga], not become at least a passable swimmer? Sometimes I wonder about this myself, but here I am nevertheless. «В…
How to Learn Russian While Enjoying Yourself Posted by yelena on Jan 14, 2011
They say you need to practice something for 10,000 hours or so to get really good at it. This means that if you spend 2 hours a day studying and practicing Russian language and you do it every single day of the year, it’ll take you almost 14 years to get functionally fluent. It is…