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Loanwords Frequently Mispronounced in Russian Posted by Maria on Mar 16, 2015
Once Russian learners whose first language is a Romance or Germanic one get past the “this language is like nothing I know” stage, they may start noticing that Russian has acquired and assimilated scores of loanwords. Many navigation terms come from Dutch (киль — keel); art, from French (бале́т — ballet) and Italian (пиани́но —…
Beyond ты and вы — formality in Russian Posted by Maria on Mar 12, 2015
One of the first things you learn in Russian is that there are two ways of addressing a person depending on your relationship with them. Ты is reserved for friends, family, and young children. Вы is the polite form of address to strangers, older people, officials, and anyone you are interacting with in a formal…
Territorial Disputes in Russian Literature Posted by Maria on Mar 9, 2015
Some of you might have seen the film “Leviathan” (Левиафа́н) by Andrei Zvyagintsev. This film won several awards and was nominated for an Academy Award. While there are several themes in the film, a land dispute between a working-class man and the mayor of the city, who wants the man’s property, is what precipitates the…
High-Profile Political Assassinations in Russia Posted by Maria on Mar 2, 2015
The news of Boris Nemtsov’s (Бори́с Немцо́в — not BAWris NEMtsov) murder has shocked the Russian Internet. The former deputy premier was walking home from a Red Square restaurant when he was shot dead by an unidentified assailant. The perpetrators are unknown, with theories ranging from the usual suspect — the current government (прави́тельство) — to…
Famous Quotes in Russian Translation Posted by Maria on Feb 23, 2015
There are certain quotes (цита́ты) from films, literature, folk sayings, and so on that have entered our everyday lexicon. This is the case with Russian, as well. Listed below are phrases originally said or written in languages other than Russian that are known to the vast majority of Russians. Can you finish these quotes? Hover…
How To Argue on Russian Sites Posted by Maria on Feb 19, 2015
I have noticed some passionate opinions in comments to some of the posts on this blog. This blog is not unique in this respect; many websites are home to heated debates. So I thought it might be interesting to learn to navigate online arguments in Russian. 1. Learn the etiquette First of all, you want to follow the…
Three Iconic Russian Love Stories Posted by Maria on Feb 12, 2015
As Valentine’s Day is approaching, I was thinking about the archetypal love stories — you know, the Romeo and Juliet (Роме́о и Джулье́тта) tales that are immediately recognizable and referenced whenever people want to evoke love. What follows is not complete or representative by any means, and I encourage you to share more examples in comments. However…