Archive for 'Culture'
10 Essential Words For Celebrating the Russian New Year Posted by Maria on Dec 29, 2016
As we mentioned many times on this blog, New Year’s is probably the main holiday in Russia. Whether you are celebrating it in Russia or talking about it to your friends, here are the words that are certain to come up when discussing New Year’s celebrations in Russia. 1. Ёлка The most important hallmark of New…
Друзья-товарищи: Degrees of Friendship in Russian Posted by Maria on Dec 22, 2016
There are several words for talking about your social circle in Russian. Are all friends created equal? Not so in Russian. There may be some overlap between different words referring to friendship, but let’s concentrate on what’s specific to each of them. Друг The notion of a friend (друг) is more restrictive in Russian than…
Radio Shows Where Russians Talk About Russian Posted by Maria on Oct 20, 2016
I am sure many of our readers would enjoy listening to shows dedicated to the Russian language. I have listed a few program(me)s that touch upon the challenges in the language that even native or advanced speakers struggle with. “Говорим по-русски. Передача-игра” (Эхо Москвы) This is a show about the Russian language on the “Эхо Москвы”…
What’s Physical Comfort for Russians? Posted by Maria on Oct 18, 2016
Many visitors are surprised to find life in Russia, especially in large urban centers, closer to a developed country than they expected. At the same time, some fixtures they are used to may be missing. Conversely, there are some things that Russian are used to having and will likely feel uncomfortable without, no matter how…
Does Russian Sound Different in European Russia and the Far East? Posted by Maria on Oct 13, 2016
Very often I hear people say that, Russia being so large, there must be distinct regional accents. A person from Moscow surely speaks differently than someone from Novosibirsk. However, in the case of Russia we find that the variation is not nearly as drastic as one would expect. As explained in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “The degree…
Not In My Back Yard: Describing Russian Community Spaces Posted by Maria on Oct 3, 2016
Since Russian cities are often laid out differently from those in Western Europe, North America and elsewhere, the labels applied to various parts of the city may be specific to the Russian language and lack exact equivalents in other languages. The situation may be similar in other countries that use the Russian language. Подъезд The…
Popular Children’s Poems in Russian — Part II Posted by Maria on Aug 8, 2016
We are continuing from last week’s post about children’s poetry. The poems (стихотворения) in this and the previous post are likely to ring a bell to most people who grew up in Russian-speaking households. I will cite two short poems and excerpts from longer poems and will point out interesting structures and vocabulary. Агния Барто…