Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Reading Poetry in Russian Posted by Maria on Jun 11, 2015
A couple of weeks ago we read famous passages from Russian literature (see Part I and Part II here). These works were mostly realist novels written by male authors well known abroad. I would like to wrap up this series with something a little different — poetry by authors lesser known internationally, one of whom…
Read Famous Opening Lines in Russian – Part II Posted by Maria on May 28, 2015
We are continuing from last week’s post on reading famous Russian book beginnings. This time, let’s look at books likely to be known by Russian literature aficionados. Eugene Onegin (Евге́ний Оне́гин) Eugene Onegin is a famous rhymed novel by Alexander Pushkin (Алекса́ндр Пу́шкин). Several English translations have been done. While Pushkin tends to trail Tolstoy and Dostoevsky…
Read Famous Opening Lines in Russian – Part I Posted by Maria on May 21, 2015
I’m sure a few of our readers became interested in Russian thanks to their love of Russian literature. Whenever Russian literature comes up, people immediately respond with the name of their favo(u)rite Tolsotyesky 😉 book. At the same time, very few of these Russian lit buffs have read these books in Russian. This is understandable — fiction…
What Brings Foreigners to Russia Posted by Maria on Apr 6, 2015
Many of the readers of this blog may have visited Russia or other Russian-speaking countries at some point. A visit to Russia is a short-time experience for most people. What compels the chosen few to stay in Russia past the initial three months? 1. Intercompany transfer What: One category of foreigners, usually bestowed the moniker…
Territorial Disputes in Russian Literature Posted by Maria on Mar 9, 2015
Some of you might have seen the film “Leviathan” (Левиафа́н) by Andrei Zvyagintsev. This film won several awards and was nominated for an Academy Award. While there are several themes in the film, a land dispute between a working-class man and the mayor of the city, who wants the man’s property, is what precipitates the…
How To Argue on Russian Sites Posted by Maria on Feb 19, 2015
I have noticed some passionate opinions in comments to some of the posts on this blog. This blog is not unique in this respect; many websites are home to heated debates. So I thought it might be interesting to learn to navigate online arguments in Russian. 1. Learn the etiquette First of all, you want to follow the…
Digital Russian: How To View and Input Russian Text Posted by Maria on Feb 9, 2015
As we are irreversibly living in a digital age, it is no longer possible to stick to books and handwritten letters in learning and practicing languages. Russian is no exception to this, and even beginners soon encounter Russian websites, social networks, and other digital content. However, many learners, especially those from Anglophone countries, often have limited…