Archive for January, 2021
Russian Diminutives Part II Posted by bota on Jan 26, 2021
“Diminutives” is one of the coolest aspects of Russian, but you know what’s even cooler? Finding an old Part I blog on this channel about diminutives and realizing that there isn’t a Part II in the archives. Your insightful comments on that blog (and really all the blogs here) are so contagiously curious about the…
Не За Что Or Ни За Что Posted by Nadya on Jan 22, 2021
In today’s topic, we will talk about the difference between “нЕ за что” and “нИ за что“. Even some Russian speakers sometimes make mistakes in the spelling of these two phrases. However, it is important to realize that their meanings are different. Both sound like just one word. Let’s look at some examples of using “не…
Kitchen Appliances Posted by bota on Jan 15, 2021
What comes to your mind when you think of kitchen spaces in Russia? Maybe you think of beautiful hand-painted wooden cups and spoons like in the pictures below? Or is it a big samovar, an infamous symbol of Russian teatime and, in my opinion, the grandest of…
Two Main Russian Problems – Fools and Roads Posted by Nadya on Jan 12, 2021
This time we will touch on a hot topic in Russia — its roads. They are terrible. The driving culture is not better. “В России две беды́: дураки́ и доро́ги” “There are two troubles in Russia: fools and roads” is a catchphrase attributed to Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, sometimes Karamzin, or Vyazemsky, even Nikolai I. It is…
Whole-foods shopping in Russia Posted by bota on Jan 4, 2021
Whether your New Year’s resolution was to eat healthier and try new foods or your diet is already rich in plant-based meals, this collection of Russian words will come in handy for your next grocery outing. And one certainly doesn’t have to be a vegetarian (вегетериа́нец/вегетериа́нка), vegan (ве́ган/вега́нка), or rawtarian (сырое́д) to stock up their…