Archive for 'Russian for beginners'
Swimming… in Russian Posted by yelena on Jan 18, 2011
Have you ever considered participating in «триатлон» [a triathlon]? I haven’t because… shhh… I can’t «плавать» [swim]. I know, I know, how could I, who grew up on the banks of the mighty «Волга» [Volga], not become at least a passable swimmer? Sometimes I wonder about this myself, but here I am nevertheless. «В…
How to Compare Things in Russian Posted by yelena on Dec 30, 2010
Do you know a Russian saying «зимой снега не допросишься»? It’s used when describing «скупой» [stingy], «жадный» [greedy] person from whom one literally can’t beg even snow in the winter. Well, we’ve had so much snow over the last weekend that I think even the worst tightwads are ready to part with some of the…
It Is Time to Take Stock: “Время подводить итоги” Posted by yelena on Dec 23, 2010
Russians are not alone in their «двойственный» [dichotomous] approach in the weeks before the New Year. On the one hand, it’s time for frantic and quite overwhelming preparations for the holidays, attending parties, buying gifts… On the other hand, it is time for slowing down, reflecting on «старый год» [the year that’s about to end]…
Make Every Single Word Count Posted by yelena on Dec 9, 2010
My aunt is visiting from Russia «через пару недель» [in just a couple of weeks] and I’m seriously contemplating asking her to bring me a pair of «валенки», the traditional Russian felt boots. «Зима!» [It’s winter!] «Подмораживает» [It’s getting frosty]. One of the beautiful things about Russian language is that you can build a…
Reading “Мастер и Маргарита”: Chapter 19 Posted by yelena on Nov 25, 2010
For those of the blog readers who’ve taken up our challenge to read «Мастер и Маргарита» [Master and Margarita] «по-русски» [in Russian], congratulations! We are now officially done with «часть первая» [part one] of the novel and are moving on into a very exciting «часть вторая» [part two]. It is only here, in Chapter 19…
Russian Greetings are Fun Posted by yelena on Nov 19, 2010
You’ve all likely heard an expression “nature abhors vacuum”. You can translate it into Russian quite literally as «природа не терпит пустоты» or more figuratively as «свято место пусто не бывает» [lit: the holy place is never empty]. This last one is especially appropriate when talking about people. And so now we have a new…
Russian Days of the Week Posted by yelena on Nov 9, 2010
«Как прошли выходные?» [How was your weekend?]. Mine was not so hot. And it’s not just the «прохладная погода» [cool weather] that’s to blame, but a nasty case of a 24-hour flu. Well, at least it was supposed to last only «сутки» [24 hours], but as of Monday I was still «в кровати» [in…