Archive for 'Culture'
Russian Word of the Week: «Халява» [Freebie] Posted by josefina on Sep 26, 2009
Looking through pictures from a couple of absolutely lovely and lazy summer days spent with my friend Marina’s family «в Кургане» [in Kurgan] in July, I came across this one: «Кафе Старая Прага. 20 июля в 18.00. Вход бесплатно (ХАЛЯВА) :-)» [Café Old Prague. July 20th at 18-00. Entrance free of charge (FREEBIE) :-)]. And…
«Мурка!»: a Russian musical «на мотивы русского шансона» [to the tunes of Russian chanson] Posted by josefina on Sep 20, 2009
Russia doesn’t just have a people with a ‘wide soul’ – «широкая душа» – but also a wide and diverse culture – «русская культура широкая и разная». Today’s post is about a part of Russian culture that is not among the first things you might find out about this country, but a part that is…
«Возвращение!» [The Return!] Posted by josefina on Sep 17, 2009
Today’s post is long overdue. «Я знаю!» [I know!] It’s been almost a week since the last post. «Простите меня!» [Forgive (pl.) me!] But there’s a reason for the delay – or, many reasons even! «Будьте снисходительны!» [Be (pl.) permissive; pardoning; forgiving!] Today’s post is named «возвращение» [return] but it won’t be about the splendid…
Word of the Week: «Время» [Time] Posted by josefina on Sep 4, 2009
Sometimes Russian Blog’s Word of the Week is solely grammatically interesting, sometimes purely culturally or historically fascinating. Seldom can our Russian word of the week be both. But this week’s word is actually both! The Russian word «время» [time] is grammatically interesting because it is a neuter noun despite ending on «я» [ya] (which is…
Breaking Russian News: «Авось» Goes International! Posted by josefina on Aug 26, 2009
Remember the post “«Авось!» or a really Russian Expression” in which I decided to try if «авось» [perhaps; possibly; maybe] works also outside of Russia? In the post I posed the following question: Can one say «авось повезёт» [maybe (I’ll) get lucky; perhaps (I’ll) have some luck] a day or two before taking the TOEFL…
«Вести дневник» [To Write a Diary], or «Крутой маршрут» Евгении Гинзбург [Yevgenia Ginzburg’s “Journey into the Whirlwind”] Posted by josefina on Aug 18, 2009
Don’t let the fact that it takes a while to pronounce the long title above today scare you from reading today’s post! This long title is an attempt of mine to combine two equally interesting subjects worthy of one post each but really also equally interconnected with each other and thus worthy of being mentioned…
Авось! or a Really Russian Expression Posted by josefina on Aug 3, 2009
Have you ever wondered if the things that work (i.e. are able to function/have a function) in Russia can ever work outside of Russia? I sure have! For example, in Russia your best friend’s «бабушка» [grandmother] will shower your breakfast «гречка» [buckwheat] with «масло» [butter] and «сыр» [cheese] until all of these three ingredients melt…