Archive for the year 2011
Ten Little Words – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Sep 16, 2011
As promised, here’s the second part of David’s excellent post about the only ten neuter Russian nouns that end in -мя. Meanings and connections of the words After this digression you couldn’t be blamed if you’ve forgotten the list of «–мя» nouns, but now we’ll go through their meanings and their connections, this time in…
Ten Little Words – Part 1 Posted by yelena on Sep 15, 2011
Do you remember David Roberts of the “Million Scarlet Roses” post? He’s back with more and I mean lots more insight into Russian language. And don’t be fooled by the title of the post. You will learn way more than 10 little words. And that’s just in Part 1. So here it goes… Grammatical gender…
Confused About Russian Pronouns? Posted by yelena on Sep 13, 2011
Is Russian grammar confusing? You bet! Just check out this photo I snapped at a Russian store in New Jersey. Do you ever get frustrated with Russian grammar rules? Are you tired of declension tables, unpredictable word stress and having to memorize endless exceptions from the rules? Well, I am not about to offer a…
Check Your Russian Knowledge – Pop Quiz Posted by yelena on Sep 2, 2011
The summer is over, at least the summer break part of it. Or as a once-popular Russian song goes, «Вот и лето прошло, как его не бывало» [So the summer is over, as if it’s never happened]. It is time for many of us to get back to «учёба» [studying]. If you’ve been reading this…
From Earthquake to Hurricane in One Week Posted by yelena on Aug 29, 2011
First things first. It is time to announce «победители» [winners] of the giveaway. Yes, it is not a typo. I do have «два победителя» [two winners]. That was the last secret of the secret giveaway. The winners are Delia and Michael Thompson. «Поздравляю!» [Congratulations]. You will be receiving e-mails from Transparent Language with further details…
So What’s Being Given Away? Posted by yelena on Aug 26, 2011
By the time you’ll be reading the giveaway will be over, the winner chosen and the secret revealed. But at the time of writing of this post, there are still a few hours left in the giveaway. So the only thing I can do right now is to reveal the secret prize. I’m not exactly…
20 лет спустя – Twenty Years After, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Aug 22, 2011
Well, «друзья» [friends], it has happened again: I sat down to write «про грамматику» [about grammar] and instead I wrote about something completely different. I found this «фоторепортаж» [photo essay] on the website of «магазин Внешняя политика» [the magazine “Foreign Policy”] called, in English, “Russia’s Big Backyard.” I have opted to translate the title…