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Saying “Goodbye” Posted by bota on Jul 27, 2022
My dear readers, Goodbyes are tricky, aren’t they? Maybe that’s why the majority of Russian speakers hang up the phone by saying «Давай, пока» or sometimes just the “Давай”. I wish I could do the same, but unfortunately, this will be my final blog here. I do not want our goodbye to be a sad…
Russian hocus-pocus Posted by bota on Jun 24, 2022
This title is just one of the combinations I used trying to search for the name of the super-duper fascinating language thing we are about to discuss. Would you like to guess what it is? An itsy-bitsy guess? I cannot give you another clue, but I will say this: googling ‘Russian hanky-panky’ will NOT take…
Monasteries, eyeliner, and poverty Posted by bota on May 18, 2022
Today is a deep dive into one Russian verb. Recently one of my students and I were casually talking about ways to express in English that you “подвёл кого–то” (as in ‘to let someone down’) when it dawned on me that I don’t know why we use “подводить” in that sense in Russian. What I…
A very polite hedgehog Posted by bota on Apr 19, 2022
If you are новичок, this blog is for you. If you are an advanced student or a native Russian speaker, this blog is also for you. How? Simple. The answer is ёжик. Или точнее, очень вежливый ёжик. As Russians like to say “Повторение — мать учения“.. For those of you new to Russian language, use…
Russian malaphors? Posted by bota on Mar 28, 2022
I have recently came across English malaphors – unique and often hilarious mix of idioms, aphorisms, or clichés. The one I saw was “Let’s burn that bridge when we get to it”. It is остроумно, and, as my mom noted, a poster that belongs in a divorce lawyer’s office. Of course, having chuckled at a…
Cat Stepan is safe Posted by bota on Mar 18, 2022
Even if you did not know who cat Stepan is before this blog, я уверена вы не останетесь равнодушным к этому полюбившемуся по всему миру котику из Украины. Here’s a little fanmade Youtube compilation of some of Stepan’s videos, in case you have missed them: Grammar note: “я уверена вы не останетесь равнодушным к этому…
Celebrating Ukrainian culture with vareniki Posted by bota on Mar 7, 2022
Following the horrific headlines of Russia’s war against Ukraine evokes many difficult emotions in all of us. It is even more heart breaking during the beautiful week of Масленица we just had. In his last blog, Ryan wrote a wonderful overview of this religious holiday before the season of Lent. Today, I continue our celebration…