Archive for 'Culture'
Popular Children’s Poems in Russian—Part I Posted by Maria on Aug 4, 2016
Children’s poems are an integral part of growing up in Russia — as they probably are anywhere. (I purposely don’t want to call them “nursery rhymes” as this separate genre of English rhymes is also well-known in Russia — in translation.) Anyone who grew up in Russia has heard them from their parents, siblings, or…
True Colors: Unexpected Hues in Russian Posted by Maria on Aug 2, 2016
We have covered basic color vocabulary on this blog before. However, it goes without saying that a direct translation from the learner’s first language into Russian will not work for all nouns. How do you say brown hair, blue eyes, or black horse? If you answered, “коричневые волосы,” “синие глаза,” or “чёрная лошадь,” keep reading…
Food For Thought: Food Idioms in Russian Posted by Maria on Jul 25, 2016
A good number of Russian sayings feature food. Let us take a look at their literal meaning and idiomatic usage. Scroll to the end of the post to test your understanding and fill in the blanks in authentic contexts. Аппетит приходит во время еды Literally, “appetite comes during the meal.” It is used figuratively to…
Test Your Knowledge of Russian Movie Quotes Posted by Maria on Jul 19, 2016
A local coffee house where I live in the US likes to use culture references for its wireless passwords. Sometimes I will know them, and sometimes it will be an obscure film or sports reference, and I will be too embarrassed to ask. The other day I was thinking, “What would be some of the…
Six Quintessentially Russian Concepts – Part II Posted by Maria on Jun 22, 2016
We are continuing from last week’s post on certain Russian expressions and underlying concepts that are specific to Russian reality. Нормально Нормальный as an adjective means “normal,” but it’s used in some unique ways. First, нормально is a common response to “Как дела?” (“How are you?”) Second, нормальный is used to express covert approval of…
Six Quintessentially Russian Concepts – Part I Posted by Maria on Jun 16, 2016
See Part II of this article here. Every so often, an article will pop up online talking about culture-specific or untranslatable words in other languages. In this post, I will not be claiming that the words I discuss are “untranslatable” — yet they are used in Russian in ways that may not be obvious from…
Biblical Phrases in Russian Continued Posted by Maria on Jun 9, 2016
Last time, we looked at some common Russian phrases that have a biblical origin. There was some interest in the topic, so let’s add a few more phrases — this time, let us concentrate on noun phrases. Just as last time, I cannot interpret these phrases theologically, but we can look at how they are used…