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Russian Poetry: Летний сад, Part 2 Posted by Natalie on Feb 9, 2011
«Дорогие друзья» [Dear friends], I did something very bad this Tuesday: «я пропустила занятие по русскому языку» [I skipped Russian class]. I really did not want to, I assure you. «Но мне было надо написать письменную работу» [But I had to finish my essay (literally “written work”)]. But luckily, this does not mean I…
Russian Poetry: Летний сад, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Jan 31, 2011
We are taking a break from posts about «история Киева» [the history of Kiev] to do something a bit more literary today. In my Russian class, we have been working on a poem for the past two weeks. It’s called «Летний сад» [Summer Garden], written by the wonderful «Анна Ахматова» [Anna Akhmatova]. «Когда я…
A History of Kiev, Part 3 Posted by Natalie on Jan 24, 2011
«Простите меня, дорогие читатели» [Forgive me, dear readers]. I have not posted in a long time because last week I arrived back at school and before that, «я задержалась в аэропорту» [I was delayed in the airport]. But now I am back and ready to teach you about Kiev’s history (parts 1 and 2 are…
Clothes, Russian-Style Posted by Natalie on Jan 10, 2011
We depart from our posts «об истории Киева» [about the history of Kiev] to talk about… «одежда» [clothes]! Don’t worry, I will resume telling you about the history of Kiev in another post very soon. «Я типичная девушка» [I’m a typical girl]: «я очень люблю ходить по магазинам» [I really love shopping]. «Я также люблю…
A History of Kiev, Part 2 Posted by Natalie on Jan 3, 2011
«Здравствуйте, дорогие читатели» [Hello, dear readers]. Due to the holidays, I have not been able to post as often as I ought to, but I have returned to bring you «история Киева, часть вторая» [a history of Kiev, part two]. «История Киева, часть первая» [a history of Kiev, part one] can be read here. …
A History of Kiev, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Dec 22, 2010
«Киев—очень старый город» [Kiev is a very old city], so there’s a lot to learn about its history. I’ll be splitting up these posts on «история Киева» [the history of Kiev] into multiple parts to make them more manageable. There exists «легенда» [a legend] concerning «основание Киева» [the founding of Kiev]. According to this legend…
Declension of Russian Last Names Posted by Natalie on Dec 15, 2010
Whoever said «Русский язык–великий и могучий» [the Russian language is great and mighty] wasn’t kidding. Nothing illustrates this more than склонение фамилий [declension of last names]. There are complicated rules and just when you think you’ve got it, you find out there are a couple of exceptions. Russian last names typically end in «ов» [ov]…