Archive for 'language'
Color Me Russian! Posted by josefina on Mar 19, 2010
To learn a new language is to enter into a new world. And in this new world you’re bound to come across things you didn’t know anything about before (hence why I’m stressing the importance of the concept ‘new world’ here), things that never even crossed your mind before. To speak a foreign language is…
Time to Make Money: «Пора рубить капусту!» Posted by yelena on Mar 15, 2010
Recipe for making money Russian-style includes cabbage, beans, ground meat and mysterious bablo.
Top Ten Russian Phrases Posted by josefina on Mar 8, 2010
So you’ve made it to Russia – now what?! Don’t feel discouraged by not having mastered Russian language fully yet. Life is long and there’s still plenty of time ahead for you to get a grip on all of those cases and to understand why so often the letter «о» sounds like the letter…
«Это вы всё-таки ждали…»: Answers to the Russian Poetry Quiz! Posted by josefina on Mar 7, 2010
Remember the post here on March 2nd – «Вот неожиданно»: Russian Poetry Quiz! – which disappeared for a while (but now it is back up on the blog, which the working link is living proof of). If you missed it the first time, feel free to have a look at it before reading the correct…
«Класс!» – On the Importance of Calling Things by their Proper Names Posted by josefina on Feb 17, 2010
There are days when «словарь» [the dictionary] is not you best friend. It might still be «друг» [a friend] of yours, «но не самый лучший друг» [but not the very best friend]. Why is that? Because on these particular days the dictionary fails to explain certain words to you. Or explains them in such a…
«Щас!» – What DOES it mean and what DO Russians mean when they say it? Posted by josefina on Feb 11, 2010
Sometimes Russians say things to you and you do not understand. «Это неизбежно» [it is inevitable]. «К сожалению» [unfortunately]. And this situation may be repeated. Over and over. The situation in itself will be different every time, but the word or phrase you didn’t understand the first time will remain the same. Until you figure…
«Кем быть?» [Who to be?]: The beginner’s guide to using the verb «быть» in both future and past tenses but leaving it out of the present tense altogether Posted by josefina on Feb 5, 2010
It is imperative for everyone to learn to be happy about the smaller things in life. An example of a small thing that can (and should!) bring happiness into everyone’s life is the fact that Russian verbs only have «три времена» [three tenses]: «настоящее время» [present tense], «прошедшее время» [past tense] and «будущее время» [future…