Archive for 'History'
We Still Carry On Posted by yelena on May 10, 2012
While I was watching “They Fought for Their Land”, it occurred to me that there was something missing from the movie. Unlike most other war movies, this one did not have a feature song. Sure, the main character occasionally breaks into a tune, but it’s a popular pre-war song called Люблю (I Love), but most…
They Fought for Their Land Posted by yelena on May 9, 2012
Today Russia celebrates День Победы (Victory Day) celebration is right around the corner. На кануне Дня Победы по телевизору показывают много старых фильмов про войну (On the eve of the Victory Day a lot of old war movies are shown on TV). With fewer and fewer ветераны (veterans) left, much of what we know…
12 Months in Russian – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Feb 9, 2012
In case you missed it, this is Part 2 of the story about old Russian names for the 12 months of the year. January through June are covered in Part 1. As for the video, it has a connection albeit tenuous to this post, specifically to one of the names for September. Июль (July) – the old…
The Russians and Their Vodka Posted by Transparent Language on Dec 12, 2011
Joseph Stalin once said, “We have to make a choice between… slavery and vodka.” That was in 1925, just as Stalin was beginning his brutal ascent to power, crafting a regime that would industrialize the Soviet Union on the backs of slave labor. And cheap vodka. Indeed, vodka and Russia have been bound together in…
So What’s Being Given Away? Posted by yelena on Aug 26, 2011
By the time you’ll be reading the giveaway will be over, the winner chosen and the secret revealed. But at the time of writing of this post, there are still a few hours left in the giveaway. So the only thing I can do right now is to reveal the secret prize. I’m not exactly…
20 лет спустя – Twenty Years After, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Aug 22, 2011
Well, «друзья» [friends], it has happened again: I sat down to write «про грамматику» [about grammar] and instead I wrote about something completely different. I found this «фоторепортаж» [photo essay] on the website of «магазин Внешняя политика» [the magazine “Foreign Policy”] called, in English, “Russia’s Big Backyard.” I have opted to translate the title…
19 Memories of 1991 Russia – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Aug 22, 2011
Quick Reminder Yes, the secret GIVEAWAY is still going on. It will close in just a few days, at 11:59pm EST on August 26th. So there’s still time to enter by leaving a comment either on this post or on my previous post. Remember, you can leave more than one comment. The more you comment…