Russian Cases: «Винительный падеж» [Accusative] (part I) Posted by josefina on Jul 13, 2009
Today’s case – «винительный падеж» [accusative] – is used in the sentence above «Добро пожаловать в музей!» [‘Welcome to the museum!’] as an answer to the question: «куда?» [where?]. Today’s post will be an easy, breezy post – and thus a perfect post to read on lazy summer days like these in the middle of…
A Russian Small Town: «Верхний Тагил» [Verkhny, or ‘Upper’, Tagil] Posted by josefina on Jul 10, 2009
The last post about a trip to a «деревня» [village], or more correctly a «посёлок» [settlement] in the Russian region of «южныйУрал» [Southern Urals] is followed up today as we continue our exploration of a part of Russia that I’ve come to love dearly after three years here: «Урал» [the Ural Mountains]! Today’s journey takes…
«Выходные в деревне» [A Weekend in the Village] Posted by josefina on Jul 6, 2009
This big piece of metal and stone is, «разумеется» [naturally; of course], a «Памятник В. И. Ленину от трудящихся Челябинска» [monument to V. I. Lenin from the workers of Chelyabinsk], standing in the very heart of the city of «Челябинск» [Chelyabinsk]. This city with more than a million inhabitants is located in «Южный Урал» [the…
Russian Summer Reading part I: «Портрет» Н. В. Гоголя Posted by josefina on Jun 30, 2009
When opening this brand new 21st century edition of this 19th century «повесть» [story; tale; ‘novella’] «Портрет» [“The Portrait”] you find the following information on the first page: «издаётся к 200-летию со дня рождения Николая Васильевича Гоголя» [is published for the 200th year anniversary of Nikolai Vasil’evich Gogol’s birth]. What else is special about this…
Russian Food: «Слава гречке!» [Glory to Buckwheat!] Posted by josefina on Jun 26, 2009
Introducing an essential part of Russian cuisine: «гречка»! «Гречка» is actually the ‘nickname’ («уменьшительно-ласкательный вариант» – don’t you just love the Russian language for applying diminutive even to such things as grains?) whereas the real name for buckwheat is «гречиха». In the stores you can also find it in boxes marked «крупа гречневая» [buckwheat] as…
Russian Cases: «Дательный падеж» [Dative] Posted by josefina on Jun 21, 2009
And where might one find this bold statement made out of red metal on red wood pictured above? I found it in an old and forgotten «дом культуры» [‘house of culture’] in Krasnoyarsk in July 2005. What does it say, anyway? «Мир народам, власть советам» [“Peace to the peoples, power to the soviets”] written in old…
А в то же время в Екатеринбурге… [And at the same time in Yekaterinburg…] Posted by josefina on Jun 16, 2009
Usually my Russian hometown «Екатеринбург» [Yekaterinburg] looks like this: «бесконечные пробки на улицах» [endless traffic jams on the streets] and «бесконечный ремонт домов и дорог» [endless reconstruction of houses and roads]. But not anymore! Now my «родной город на Урале» [hometown in the Urals] looks like this! Pictured above is the main street of the city…