Archive for 'language'
Top 10 Russian phrases for expressing love & affection Posted by Jenya on Feb 12, 2014
Valentine’s Day is around the corner! If your Valentine happens to be Russian, you might want to update your vocabulary on the subject of love and affection. While there is hardly a person in the world who doesn’t know the meaning of “I love you”, conquering a Russian heart with some authentic Russian vocab might…
Talking about your immediate family – “родные” Posted by Maria on Feb 6, 2014
Родной is an interesting word in Russian. Literally, it means “native,” as in родная земля (native land) or родные просторы (literally, “native wide-open spaces” — incidentally, also the name of a popular chocolate). This word shares its root with such words as народ (a nation/people), родиться (to be born), Родина (homeland), день рождения (birthday), Рождество…
50 Easiest Russian Words to Remember Posted by Jenya on Feb 5, 2014
If you just started learning Russian, you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that you already know anywhere between 20 to 100 Russian words. How is it possible? Actually, there is a pretty simple explanation behind it. Every language has a slew of loanwords, e.g. words borrowed from one language and incorporated into another…
My Connection to Yuri Gagarin, The First Man in Space, and Other Fun Facts About Your New Russian Blogger Jenya Posted by Jenya on Feb 4, 2014
1. Yuri Gagarin and I are connected! My связь (connection) to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, did not become apparent to me until I was 27 years old. Yuri Gagarin was the first Russian космонавт (cosmonaut). Gagarin received his training and met his future жена (wife) in the city of Orenburg. Coincidentally, that…
To Boldy Go – Russian Verbs of Motion Posted by yelena on Dec 17, 2013
Russian verbs of motion are notoriously difficult. Take, for example, the verb “to go” which can be translated as either идти or пойти. The rules seem pretty straight-forward: Идти, the imperfective concrete verb, must be used if the action is continuous, repeated, or is ongoing as in А я иду, шагаю по Москве – I…
Using Mnemonics to Learn Russian? Posted by yelena on Dec 5, 2013
(Early Soviet poster pushes for literacy among women: “Woman! Learn to read!”. The young girl says to her mother: “Oh, mother! If you could read, you’d be able to help me!”) Memorizing grammar rules and, especially, exceptions to them, can be, to put it mildly, not fun at all. What’s worse, they tend to в…
TGIF and a Weekend Grammar Conundrum Posted by yelena on Nov 22, 2013
СБУП… What the heck is this? It sounds horrible! Ok, ok, let’s try the full version – слава Богу, уже пятница! (Thank God, it’s Friday!) Somehow coming up with a good-sounding Russian acronym is really hard. Anyway, it is Friday which means завтра – выходной (tomorrow is a day off) for many of us. What…