«Вести дневник» [To Write a Diary], or «Крутой маршрут» Евгении Гинзбург [Yevgenia Ginzburg’s “Journey into the Whirlwind”] Posted by josefina on Aug 18, 2009
Don’t let the fact that it takes a while to pronounce the long title above today scare you from reading today’s post! This long title is an attempt of mine to combine two equally interesting subjects worthy of one post each but really also equally interconnected with each other and thus worthy of being mentioned…
Word of the Week: «Съездить» Posted by josefina on Aug 14, 2009
The week might almost be over (it is after all «пятница» [Friday] already as I’m posting this) but it is not too late to learn a new Russian word before «воскресенье» [Sunday] is upon us, inevitably followed by yet another «понедельник» [Monday]. The word of the week this time is a verb and a rather…
It’s all about the Learning Process! Posted by josefina on Aug 8, 2009
Always when I’m back home in Sweden and thus living outside of Russia, one and the same question is constantly on my mind: «Как изучать русский язык вне Российской федерации?» [How to study (learn; read; explore) Russian language outside of the Russian Federation?] The main point within this simple question could also be posed in…
Авось! or a Really Russian Expression Posted by josefina on Aug 3, 2009
Have you ever wondered if the things that work (i.e. are able to function/have a function) in Russia can ever work outside of Russia? I sure have! For example, in Russia your best friend’s «бабушка» [grandmother] will shower your breakfast «гречка» [buckwheat] with «масло» [butter] and «сыр» [cheese] until all of these three ingredients melt…
«Пилорама 2009» [Pilorama 2009] Posted by josefina on Jul 26, 2009
Only on the way back from «Международный форум Пилорама» [The International Forum Pilorama] held in the village «Кучино» [Kuchino] outside and on the territory of formerly GULAG camp, presently museum of political repressions «Пермь-36» [Perm’-36], did I see a real-life (as apart from online) advertisement for it. Inside a bus stop in «Чусовой» [Chusovoy], which is the…
«По уральским местам Варлама Шаламова» [Visiting Varlam Shalamov’s Ural ‘Sites’] Posted by josefina on Jul 18, 2009
The map on the left shows a ‘cluster’ of towns in the Ural Mountains connected with the fate of the great Russian writer and poet «Варлам Тихонович Шаламов» [Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov], all four of them are located in the northern part of «Пермский край» [Perm Administrative Division (of Russian Federation)]. (The red dot marked with…
Another Russian Eternal Question: Soul [«одушевлённый»] or No Soul [«неодушевлённый»]? Posted by josefina on Jul 15, 2009
Pictured above is «Марфа» [Marfa], a handmade «кукла» [doll] given to me by my very talented and close friend in Tomsk in May earlier this year. Even though I would argue – being as it is that I’m an adult nowadays – that Marfa in her capacity as doll is «неодушевлённое существительное» [‘without soul’; an…