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Is August a “Cursed” Month in Russia? Posted by Maria on Aug 26, 2019
Did you know August is seen as the month of trouble in Russia? Over the last 20 years, several accidents have happened in August (а́вгуст), which led people to regard August as a dangerous month (“чёрный а́вгуст,” literally “black August”). This post will look at some of these events and the reasons why August may—or…
Famous Russian Emigres Who Came Back Posted by Maria on Aug 22, 2019
As we have discussed in this blog, Russian speakers live in several countries around the world. Some of them might have moved abroad from Russia—but some may eventually return to their country of origin. In today’s post, we’ll look at several people’s stories of leaving and coming back. These individuals are included because I thought…
5 Russian Phrases To Get Past Comprehension Barriers Posted by Maria on Aug 14, 2019
Some approaches to learning a language, such as the communicative method, encourage teachers and students to only use the target language in the classroom. What do you do if you don’t understand what was just said or lack the vocabulary to ask the other person to repeat or explain? This post will equip you with…
Russian Words of Turkic Origin Posted by Maria on Aug 8, 2019
Russian is a Slavic language that has shares its origins with such languages as Ukrainian or Belorussian and, earlier, Polish or Bulgarian. Most of its vocabulary comes from this common Slavic “stock.” However, a few words in Russian have Turkic origins. They probably entered Russian from the Turkic languages (the group that includes Turkish, Tatar…
Life Finds a Way: “Natural” Adjectives in Russian Posted by Maria on Aug 1, 2019
How do you say “natural” in Russian? The answer depends on what you are talking about. This post will look at the different ways of referring to organic things and when each of them is appropriate. For the sake of variety, I will be listing the feminine forms of the adjectives in this entry. Есте́ственная…
4 Popular Instagram Accounts in Russian Posted by Maria on Jul 22, 2019
Are you looking for someone to follow on social media? We have already covered popular Telegram channels, and today’s post will look at four popular Instagram accounts in Russian. Olga Buzova Olga Buzova (О́льга Бу́зова; buzova86) is a Russian socialite who I would say is famous for being famous. 🙂 She started her career as…
Survey: What Do Russians Do For Fun? Posted by Maria on Jul 15, 2019
The Levada pollster recently published the results of a survey that asked what Russians liked doing in their free time. It turned out that more “highbrow” activities like reading fiction or going to the theatre are losing popularity, while watching TV shows has picked up. The survey (опрос) included over 1,600 adults in 50 constituent…