Archive for 'language'
100 Must-Know Russian Words and How to Learn Them Posted by yelena on Nov 8, 2013
Russian is one of the more difficult major languages to learn because of its crazy grammar (from the point of view of a native speaker of English). But grammar is only one piece of the puzzle. Another one is developing a good словарный запас (vocabulary) which means memorizing lots and lots of Russian words…
Russian Rebus Rules Posted by yelena on Nov 4, 2013
Have you ever tried solving a Russian crossword puzzle? How about “Найдите слово” (Find a word) challenge? Don’t feel bad if you haven’t. Crosswords are tough and “find-a-word”s can be downright boring. So, ditch those and try your hand at something way more fun instead. And what can be more fun than a ребус (rebus…
Word of the Day – Side Gig Posted by yelena on Sep 19, 2013
I have a friend who works as a bookkeeper during the week and as a landscaper in the evenings and on weekends. Another friend’s side gig is fixing cars. Yet another moonlights as a Снегурочка (Snow Maiden) during the winter holidays in Russia and her husband sticks on a white beard and accompanies her as…
Day of Rest and Volunteering Posted by yelena on Aug 29, 2013
In Russia, calendar week starts в понедельник (on Monday). So вторник (Tuesday) is the second day of the week. Can you guess what day of the week is субботник? Ok, so that was a trick question. Субботник is not a day of the week, but a concept. Суббота (Saturday) is the sixth day of the…
How to Say “I am Single” in Russian Posted by yelena on Aug 28, 2013
Superstitious Russian young ladies know that May is the worst month to tie the knot. As the saying goes, в мае выйти замуж – век маяться (to get married in May is to throw life away). Which sounds like a perfect excuse for single men to stay холостой just a bit longer. And the adjective…
Learn Russian and Stay Positive Posted by yelena on Aug 22, 2013
Learning Russian is not an easy task and it’s important to stay positive while tackling numerous grammar rules and even more numerous exceptions to them. So today’s word is позитив. While the word is a direct transfer from English into Russian, there are a few important differences to keep in mind. First, the stress in…
Ugly Word You Need to Know Posted by yelena on Aug 20, 2013
To learn lots of Russian words quickly, it’s critical to understand how they are built. And to better understand how Russian words are built and how they change, it is important to learn some most common Russian prefixes and suffixes. For example, today’s word is безобразие. It is built with the prefix без- or бес-…