Reading «Мастер и Маргарита» Summer of 2010: The Schedule! Posted by josefina on Jun 6, 2010
With our blog’s new project you can do BOTH «одновременно» [at one and the same time]! During the summer of 2010 we’re all going to really apply ourselves. We’re going to read one and the same book together and share our experiences with each other. We’re going to expand our horizons and strike up conversations…
Juices, Waters and Bulgakov Posted by yelena on Jun 4, 2010
Do you know that most of Russia has «континентальный климат» [a continental climate]? This means very cold winters followed by short, but very warm dry summers with occasional temperatures “characteristic of tropical climates”. June’s barely begun and «температура» [temperature] is already in the lower 30ies in my native Volgograd. Josefina’s second home, Yekaterinburg, is expected…
More Russian Onomatopoeia or Is It? Posted by yelena on May 31, 2010
It occurred to me that the best way to get a grip on lots of Russian «звукоподражания» [onomatopoeia] is by reading children’s books. After all, onomatopoeia is used by Russian parents and grandparents to teach their little ones the first words. It’s much easier to say «би-би» [honk-honk] than «машина» [car]; «чу-чу» [chuga-chuga] is…
And the winner is… Posted by josefina on May 30, 2010
…«Мастер и Маргарита» [“The Master & Margarita”]! What are the stickers lying next to the book for? Read the post and find out! It was a close race on the poll “Russian literature is better than sex” on our Facebook page, but eventually it was clear to everyone what book had won! The final list…
Russian Onomatopoeia is Fun Posted by yelena on May 25, 2010
Indeed, «русский язык – велик и могуч!» [Russian language is great and powerful.] It has such wonderfully lengthy and unpronounceable words as «Интернационализироваться» – to undergo a process of internationalization «Одиннадцатиклассница» – female 11th grader «Восьмидесятичетырёхлетний»- someone or something who’s 84 years old, presumably the grandfather of the said 11th grader And «водогрязеторфопарафинолечение» –…
«Свой человек»: Unraveling a Possessive Pronoun Posted by josefina on May 21, 2010
«Свой» [one’s; his; her; their] is a «притяжательноеместоимение» [possessive pronoun] just like «мой» [my], «твой» [your (singular)], «наш» [our], «ваш» [your (plural)], «его» [his], «её» [her] and «их» [their]. Not all languages have this possessive pronoun – shout out to all you proud native speakers of English! – and that’s why it is not always…
Billion-Strong Russia Posted by yelena on May 19, 2010
The kind of stuff one can find on Internet without even trying never ceases to amaze me. For example, today I started off at Lenta.ru and drifted over to the brand-new «президент.рф» site, located on one of the first «нелатинский домен» [domain that does not use Roman alphabet]. While at президент.рф, I discovered that…