Archive for February, 2019
Why a Sportswear Ad Campaign Blew Up in Russia Posted by Maria on Feb 28, 2019
We are now hitting the “gender” holiday season in Russia. Defender of the Fatherland on February 23 is usually seen as “men’s day,” and March 8 is International Women’s Day. Incidentally, a recent ad campaign by Reebok has started a heated debate—and backlash—around the subject of gender roles, feminism, and appropriate behavio(u)r. A couple of warnings…
3 Slang Sayings About Broken Dreams in Russian Posted by Maria on Feb 19, 2019
Russian has a few fun sayings for talking about getting your hopes up—and getting them crushed. Let’s look at three of them with examples and explanations. 1. Гу́бы раската́ть Гу́бы is the plural of губа́, lip. Раската́ть is related to ката́ть and means “to roll out.” So, all together, this saying means “to roll out…
What’s Considered a Healthy Diet in Russia Posted by Maria on Feb 12, 2019
With obesity being a worldwide problem, people are talking about the importance of eating healthy. However, it often comes up during cross-cultural encounters that different cultures have different ideas of what makes a healthy diet. Even though it’s impossible to generalize the preferences of an entire country, there are some common themes that come up…
Why You Should Learn to Read Russian Vowels Posted by Maria on Feb 7, 2019
The Russian alphabet is one of the first challenges a prospective student runs into. We have posted some advice for learning the alphabet on this blog, but if you don’t know where to start, start with the vowels. Learning to read and pronounce Russian vowels is a manageable task that has many benefits. Only 10…