Archive for 'Soviet Union'
Look It Up in Ozhegov! (or, “Using a Russian dictionary”) Posted by Rob on Jul 11, 2012
From the earliest days of learning Russian as a foreign language, we all make frequent use of a переводный словарь (“translation dictionary”), whether it’s English/Russian, French/Russian, Chinese/Russian, or whatever our native language may be. But as you gradually progress in your studies, it helps to become familiar with a different kind of reference tool, namely…
We Still Carry On Posted by yelena on May 10, 2012
While I was watching “They Fought for Their Land”, it occurred to me that there was something missing from the movie. Unlike most other war movies, this one did not have a feature song. Sure, the main character occasionally breaks into a tune, but it’s a popular pre-war song called Люблю (I Love), but most…
They Fought for Their Land Posted by yelena on May 9, 2012
Today Russia celebrates День Победы (Victory Day) celebration is right around the corner. На кануне Дня Победы по телевизору показывают много старых фильмов про войну (On the eve of the Victory Day a lot of old war movies are shown on TV). With fewer and fewer ветераны (veterans) left, much of what we know…
Лениниана Posted by yelena on Apr 24, 2012
Guess whose birthday is celebrated on April 22? Well, lots of famous and important people were born on this day, for example, Alexander Kerensky and Vladimir Nabokov. And, of course, Владимир Ильич Ульянов (Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov) was born on this day back in 1870. He is usually better known by his alias, Ленин (Lenin). So let’s talk about Lenin’s influence…
Scary Stories to Read This Halloween Posted by yelena on Oct 26, 2011
Well, it’s that time of the year again. Halloween is just a few days away. If you remember, last year we had a post about «празднуют ли Хэллоуин в России и если да, то как» [whether Halloween is celebrated in Russia and if yes, then how]. Sure, Halloween does not have deep roots in Russia…
Советские Анекдоты [Soviet Jokes] Posted by Natalie on Sep 26, 2011
«Дорогие друзья» [Dear friends], it is with great pleasure that I inform you that I am in an advanced Russian class this year. We have been reading «советские анекдоты» [Soviet jokes] in class and I want to share a few of them with you, as they are often quite funny. «–Цензурируется ли переписка советских…
So What’s Being Given Away? Posted by yelena on Aug 26, 2011
By the time you’ll be reading the giveaway will be over, the winner chosen and the secret revealed. But at the time of writing of this post, there are still a few hours left in the giveaway. So the only thing I can do right now is to reveal the secret prize. I’m not exactly…