Archive for June, 2012
A Dumpling’s-Eye-View of Digestion Posted by Rob on Jun 20, 2012
«Пищеварение, с пельменной точки зрения» We’re going to take a scientific экскурсия (“tour”) of the пищеварительный тракт (“digestive tract”), imagining ourselves as Raquel Welch and her fellow crewmembers aboard their microminiaturized подводная лодка (“submarine”) from the 1966 sci-film Fantastic Voyage («Фантастическое путешествие»). Passing the губы (“lips”) and entering the the рот (“mouth”), we’ll immediately notice…
Instrumental Case Revisited Posted by yelena on Jun 19, 2012
A couple of days ago, вечером (in the evening), I sat down с фотоальбомом (with a photo album) in my hands. I love looking through old pictures, especially those снятые моими родителями (taken by my parents). For some reason I have lots of photos from when I was младенцем (a baby) and then again, в…
Can’t Run Away from Verbs of Motion Posted by yelena on Jun 15, 2012
Are you confused by the Russian verbs of motion? When to use which and what verbal aspect to choose? I found that the best way of figuring out the correct usage of verbs of motion is to practice-practice-practice. So let’s practice using the pair of verbs бегать and бежать, both meaning “to run”. To make…
Learn Russian in 5 Minutes a Day Posted by yelena on Jun 14, 2012
How much time do you spend learning Russian? Пол-часа, час, два часа? (Half an hour, an hour, two hours?) Do you spend this much time каждый день, пару раз в неделю, раз в неделю (every day, a couple of times a week, once a week)? In other words, do you spend enough time studying…
Keep your shirt on! (Buttoning and zipping in Russian) Posted by Rob on Jun 13, 2012
Getting dressed is one thing. But unless you’re in some kind of tight-fitting spandex, you won’t STAY dressed very long if your clothes aren’t properly secured with some kind of застёжка (“fastener”). As young children have to learn, there are various types of застёжки. For instance, a пуговица (“button”) can help keep your рубашка (“shirt”)…
Let’s Go to the Beach! Posted by yelena on Jun 12, 2012
Здесь становится жарко. Так снимай с себя всю одежду! (It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes)… And I’m just going to add this – переодевайся в купальник и езжай на пляж (change into a swimsuit and go to the beach). That’s exactly what I did last weekend. I even managed to…
«Надеть одежду, одеть Надежду» Posted by Rob on Jun 11, 2012
“To put on clothes and to clothe Nadezhda” Maybe you recognize the title of today’s post — it’s a classic mnemonic device to help distinguish between the verbs надеть and одеть. Rest assured that it’s not only foreign students who have trouble with the two; do a Google search and you’ll find plenty of Russians…