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Russian Etiquette 3D Posted by Maria on Jun 5, 2014
Those of you who have visited Russia may remember your friends or study abroad advisor tell you about the peculiarities of your host culture. Perhaps they touched upon the etiquette and body language, as well. Still, we tend concentrate so much on the proper thing to say or do that we often overlook spatial awareness…
Caesars and Pushkins: Proper Names Used to Describe a Person Posted by Maria on May 29, 2014
You may be familiar with proper names being used generically for inanimate objects, such as aspirin. However, Russian often takes the name of a famous person to describe someone and to say they share some characteristic of that person. So what does it mean to be called a Pushkin? 1. Multitasker Julius Caesar (Юлий Цезарь)…
Uniquely Russian School Assignments Posted by Maria on May 26, 2014
In a comment to a previous post, I was asked what has changed in the Russian educational system since the Soviet times. From my (perhaps limited) experience with Russian education, the things that have changed actually bring the system closer to that of the US. Four-year university degrees, multiple-choice tests, typewritten papers — you name…
Ten Business Words You Shouldn’t Rely on English to Decipher Posted by Maria on May 19, 2014
You have probably run into quite a few loanwords from English in Russian. Some of them are older and almost sound native, e.g. футбол – soccer or лифт – elevator. However, recently a new wave of loanwords related to the economy and technology has entered Russian. These words are still largely perceived as foreign, and…
In a Russian schoolbag Posted by Maria on May 12, 2014
I was shopping in a pharmacy the other day and noticed that the stationery/back-to-school section didn’t have any pencil cases (пеналы) on display. It makes sense, with the school systems being different that the students’ “equipment” will be different, too. However, these differences may not be as obvious to someone who didn’t go to school…
Russian Nicknames That Became Popular Abroad Posted by Maria on May 8, 2014
We have talked about names before, but what fascinates me is how certain Russian names have a life of their own abroad. While their origin may be Russian or Slavic, the usage of these names in English may be drastically different from Russian in terms of formality and gender. 1. Natasha The Russian name Наташа…
Five Mistakes Native Speakers Make in Russian Posted by Maria on Apr 28, 2014
I hope my last post about frequently made mistakes did not scare anyone from learning Russian. Not only are mistakes a natural part of the learning process, but native speakers make them, too! In fact there are several points of the Russian language that native speakers struggle with so much that they can’t always tell…