В моем иглу [in my igloo], or The Weather Forecast for Next Week Posted by josefina on Dec 21, 2008
This is the weather forecast for next week in my corner (read ‘igloo’) of the planet Earth. In Russia igloo is «иглу». This is not a Russian word, even though Russia is a cold country. One knows that some words are not Russian words by the way they’re written. If a word ends on an…
Ничего Себе! [Not Bad! Pretty Good! Pretty Well!] Posted by josefina on Dec 19, 2008
Wrapped up in a thrilling conversation in Russian (this also goes for in Russia) and feeling rather impressed with what someone else has just said, but at a loss for concrete words to express such notions, one does not always know what to say. Of course, you could always make the classical comment of «хорошо!»…
Russian Winter – An Annual Event Posted by josefina on Dec 14, 2008
Until I moved to Russia – and even more so after arriving in Siberia – I never knew the strength and power and glory of «колготки» [pantyhose; or just plain ol’ tights]. This word is plural, and only in plural (perhaps because there’s two legs to each pair, or because it is just that –…
The Russian Ironic T-shirt Posted by josefina on Dec 12, 2008
Walking down Yekat’s answer to Moscow’s Arbat – улица Вайнера – I came upon these two t-shirts on an ad for a souvernir shop. The first one says: «Лето на Урале было! Но я в тот день работал» [There was summer in the Urals! But on that day I worked.] The second one says: «Екатеринбург…
A Great Russian Writer: Варлам Шаламов [Varlam Shalamov] Posted by josefina on Dec 7, 2008
Though it’s been over a month since I finished reading his masterpiece «Колымскиерассказы» [“The Kolyma Tales”] I have not yet been able to let go of him as a writer. Not only the fate of Варлам Шаламов [Varlam Shalamov] but also his person has stuck on me for good. I wanted to write about him…
A Russian Facebook: вконтакте.ру Posted by josefina on Dec 2, 2008
When learning a foreign language communication is crucial. Without anyone to talk to while studying a new foreign language your vocabulary, your phrases are all bound to die (as goes for your native language too, when there’s no one around to talk to in it) sooner or later. If left unused, that is! I tell…
Introducing: «Советский анекдот» [the Soviet Joke] Posted by josefina on Nov 29, 2008
Russia is not only terribly fascinating just because it is the wildest, most chaotic and most unpredictable place on the face of the Earth, but also because it was once home to another country – yes, you guessed it – the Soviet Union. It is difficult to sum up the Soviet Union in a short…