«Моё первое русское лето» [My first Russian Summer] Posted by josefina on Jul 6, 2010
Russia is white not only in winter: during summer she’s («Россия» is after all a feminine noun!) covered in what I like to call «летний снег» [summer snow]. Other people call it simply «белый пух» [white down; fluff; fuzz]. The real name for it is «тополиный пух» [poplar fuzz] – and no Russian summer is…
Reading: Master and Margarita – Chapter 5 Posted by yelena on Jul 4, 2010
Don’t know about you, but with all the summer fun and travel I find it hard to find time to sit down and read even a few pages of the Master and Margarita. But a few paragraphs here, a page there and next thing you know you’re in Chapter 5 already. It just so happens…
Russian Language: The Lazy Man’s Version Posted by josefina on Jul 2, 2010
Some things in Russian language are not so difficult to learn and remember. Like this thing pictured above (the photo cold have been taken «в Челябинской области» [in Chelyabinsk Region], but it was not) – at first I wanted to call it «трактор» [a tractor], but that’s what happens when you bring a person from…
Reading “The Master & Margarita”: Chapter 4 Posted by josefina on Jun 30, 2010
In chapter 3 of «Мастер и Маргарита» [”The Master & Margarita”] we read about how «Берлиоз» [Berlioz] lost his head and died as a result. Chapter 4 is called «Погоня» [1. pursuit, chase; 2. pursuers] (think of the verb «гонять» which is the imperfective and indeterminate ‘friend’ of the verb «гнать» meaning ‘to drive; to…
Summer – Perfect Time for Russian Grammar Posted by yelena on Jun 29, 2010
Do you play lottery? I don’t. But I love imagining would it’d be like if I did play and, most importantly, if I won big. My dreams always include extensive travel although destinations vary depending on the day, time of the year, and the mood I’m in. Right now with the outside temperature in…
Meet the Verb: «собираться»! Posted by josefina on Jun 25, 2010
Maybe somewhere in between all the recent posts by Yelena on our blog – as well as Vickie’s excellent guest post two days ago – you might have asked yourselves: «А где же Джозефина?!» [“But where is Josefina?!”] I know there’s been a significant gap without me posting here about the wondrous world of Russian…
Summer Weekends, Russian Style Posted by yelena on Jun 23, 2010
I’m going to let you in on a secret… Move closer to the screen… Closer… Even though we just posted our guest blogger invite, we (Josefina and I) have been mulling over this idea for some time. We just needed a willing test subject (aka a guinea pig). Somehow our choice fell on Vicki, quite…