Archive for 'Soviet Union'
Playing Board Games… In Russian Posted by yelena on Jan 20, 2011
Do you like playing «настольные игры» [board games]? Let me tell you, board game «любители» [fans] in the US are absolutely «избалованны» [spoiled]. There’s such a variety of board games here «для всех возрастов» [for all ages] and «на любой вкус» [for every taste]. Growing up, I remember playing just a few board games –…
Celebrating the First of September Posted by yelena on Aug 30, 2010
I live 5 houses down from «начальная школа» [an elementary school]. It’s a pretty useless piece of trivia, except that every year since we moved into our house, I have had an acute case of «ностальгия» [nostalgia] at about this time of year. «Моя ностальгия – по Первому сентября» [I am nostalgic for the First…
Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 10 + 11 Posted by josefina on Aug 12, 2010
And this week «мы читаем Булгакова у бассейна» [we’re reading Bulgakov by the pool]. «Да, да, знаю, знаю» [yes, yes, I know, I know] – it has been almost two months since we all started reading «Мастер и Маргарита» [“Master & Margarita”] together and we haven’t made it further than chapter ten. «Честно говоря» [honestly…
Spy v Spy Posted by yelena on Aug 9, 2010
«Песня о далёкой Родине» [Song about a faraway Motherland] aka «Где-то далеко» [Somewhere far away] I chose the video because of a very good (IMHO) translation in the comments (by SoundofMusic777). It seems that hardly a day goes by without another Russian spy story in the news. First it was «горячая десятка» [the hot ten]…
Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 9 Posted by yelena on Aug 2, 2010
What is «жилплощадь»? Ah, the wonderful or rather wonder-inspiring language of «Совдепия» [Sovietdom]! «Жиплощадь» is short for «жилая площадь», meaning «обитаемая, предназначенная для жилья площадь дома, квартиры» [floor space of a living areas of an apartment or a house]. So why not say «квартира» [apartment] or «комната» [room] when referring to one’s living quarters? Back…
Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 7 Posted by yelena on Jul 19, 2010
Have you ever been hung over after an especially rowdy night of partying? If yes then you can probably relate especially well to the opening of the Chapter 7 of M&M, «Нехорошая квартира» [The Evil Apartment]. After all, poor «Стёпа Лиходеев» [Styopa Likhodeyev] suffered through a horrible «похмелье» [hangover] all through this short chapter. Another…
Reading «Мастер и Маргарита»: Chapter 6 Posted by josefina on Jul 12, 2010
It doesn’t really feel like «лето» [summer] until you’ve spent an entire afternoon doing nothing but the following simultaneously: «лежать в траве» [to lie in the grass], «пить холодное молоко» [to drink cold milk] and «читать Булгакова» [to read Bulgakov]. «Россия» [Russia] is a wonderful country in many, many ways – but during my six…