Archive for the year 2011
Playing Surgery Posted by yelena on Nov 8, 2011
A couple of days ago I went on a tour of «операционные залы» [surgery rooms] at a local hospital. It was absolutely fascinating, mostly because I remember nothing of my own first-hand experience of being «на операционном столе» [on an operating table] when I had a surgery. Which, I guess, is really a good thing…
Chemistry for Muggles – Part 3 Posted by yelena on Nov 7, 2011
This is the long-awaited third part of the Chemistry for Muggles by our guest blogger, Rob. Throughout Part 1 and Part 2, I’ve referred back to the «периодическая таблица химических элементов Менделеева» [Mendeleev’s periodic table of the chemical elements]. Mendeleev’s most important brainstorm was that elements with similar properties could be grouped into vertical columns…
Chemistry For Muggles – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Nov 4, 2011
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might remember the first part of Rob’s “Chemistry for Muggles” post. Well, this is the second part of it, as promised. And yes, there will be a third and final part appearing early next week. This post covers both some technical terms and some excellent…
November Writing Challenge Posted by yelena on Oct 31, 2011
Do you know that November is a National Novel Writing Month? If yes, then you’ve probably heard of «Нонараймо» [NaNoWriMo], a 30-day challenge that starts on Nov 1st of each year. Here’s the description: «Нанораймо-2011 ждёт своих героев, которые готовы… писать литературные произведения фантастической длины в кратчайшие сроки.» [NaNoWriMo-2011 is awaiting its heroes ready…
Scary Stories to Read This Halloween Posted by yelena on Oct 26, 2011
Well, it’s that time of the year again. Halloween is just a few days away. If you remember, last year we had a post about «празднуют ли Хэллоуин в России и если да, то как» [whether Halloween is celebrated in Russia and if yes, then how]. Sure, Halloween does not have deep roots in Russia…
Let’s Unite and Learn Russian Grammar! Posted by Natalie on Oct 21, 2011
I am back, «дорогие читатели» [dear readers], ready to explain obscure points of Russian grammar to you. What have I been doing in the past weeks? Many things, all of which relate to school. I am writing «тезис» [a thesis] on a famous Soviet leader and just generally studying for exams (I just took…
One Hard-Working Russian Word Posted by yelena on Oct 18, 2011
Do you know that in Russia the expression “birthday suit” translates as «костюм Адама» if talking about a male and «костюм Евы» if talking about a woman. But «фиговый листок» means exactly the same thing, a fig leaf, in its proverbial sense. Just be careful with the stress or you end up saying “worthless leaf”…