Archive for 'language'
Let’s Practice Translating a Dialogue Posted by yelena on Mar 29, 2012
One of the blog readers, David, left a comment on the previous post that included a short translation. Now, this translation was done by David and other members of кружок «Журавли» (the Zhuravli group), first using Google Translation (Welsh into Russian). The members of the group then worked on improving the results produced by Google…
Sex in ПГТ Posted by yelena on Mar 27, 2012
While it’s too early in the week to have a proper Russian movie night, let’s watch this very short video called Секс в п.г.т. Note: Whenever you see this sign * it means there’s a related question at the bottom of the post. Ok, so the first word секс is pretty easy to understand (sex)…
Woman’s Work – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Mar 19, 2012
I am pretty sure that most Russians over 30 are familiar with the opening lines of Gianni Rodari’s poem Чем пахнут ремёсла (What jobs smell like): У каждого дела Запах особый (Each trade Has its special smell) This short poem mentions quite a few jobs, all using masculine nouns – маляр (painter), стекольщик (windows installer)…
Spring Has Sprung Posted by yelena on Mar 16, 2012
This has been a harsh winter in Russia and it’s not quite over yet. The snow and cold are lingering well into March in many regions of the country. It’s a balmy 26 degrees F there today and snow is expected tomorrow. And weather reports include до боли знакомые строки (painfully familiar verses) by Feodor…
Cinderellas Among Us – Household Chores in Russian Posted by yelena on Mar 14, 2012
In the US there is a good saying “woman’s work is never done”. Or as Russian women might say делам по дому конца краю не видно (lit. can’t see the end to house work). So what is considered женская работа (woman’s work) in Russian households? Let’s find out and, since house chores have to be…
And the Winner of Russian Presidential Election 2012 is Posted by yelena on Mar 5, 2012
Way back, when the genre of рекламный ролик (advertising clip) was in its infancy in Russia, there was a commercial with a tagline При всём богатстве выбора другой альтернативы нет (Given all the choice, there is no other alternative). Coincidentally, at about the same time свободные выборы (free elections) in Russia were also in their…
Not So Nuclear Russian Family Posted by yelena on Mar 1, 2012
If you have the time, you might like the Russian-language sitcom Сваты. Much of it is available on YouTube. It’s a good sitcom to practice conversational Russian as well as to try to figure out who’s who in this crazy extended family. Want to play a quick game of associations? I’m going to say (ok…