On the snowy slopes – на заснеженном склоне Posted by Maria on Feb 13, 2014
With the Winter Olympics in Sochi in full swing, I thought the topics of winter sports may be worth revisiting. Что вы делали на выходных, дорогой читатель? (What did you do over the weekend, dear reader?) Let me tell you what I did, and we can note down some winter sports vocabulary. Я каталась на…
Top 10 Russian phrases for expressing love & affection Posted by Jenya on Feb 12, 2014
Valentine’s Day is around the corner! If your Valentine happens to be Russian, you might want to update your vocabulary on the subject of love and affection. While there is hardly a person in the world who doesn’t know the meaning of “I love you”, conquering a Russian heart with some authentic Russian vocab might…
2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi: When in Russia… Posted by Jenya on Feb 11, 2014
Some of you might wonder where Sochi is and why the winter Olympics take place in a city with palm trees? The city of Sochi is about 800 miles south of Moscow and is “located on the Black Sea coast near the border between Georgia/Abkhazia and Russia.” Due to its subtropical climate, the winters in…
Photography in Russia(n) Posted by Maria on Feb 10, 2014
Whether you shoot selfies by the bathroom mirror, take snapshots of your family at picnics, or do professional photoshoots, chances are you deal with photography in your life. When learning languages, we often chase the practical, “everyday” vocabulary, so arts and crafts tend to fall by the wayside. Let us go over some phrases that…
Talking about your immediate family – “родные” Posted by Maria on Feb 6, 2014
Родной is an interesting word in Russian. Literally, it means “native,” as in родная земля (native land) or родные просторы (literally, “native wide-open spaces” — incidentally, also the name of a popular chocolate). This word shares its root with such words as народ (a nation/people), родиться (to be born), Родина (homeland), день рождения (birthday), Рождество…
50 Easiest Russian Words to Remember Posted by Jenya on Feb 5, 2014
If you just started learning Russian, you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that you already know anywhere between 20 to 100 Russian words. How is it possible? Actually, there is a pretty simple explanation behind it. Every language has a slew of loanwords, e.g. words borrowed from one language and incorporated into another…
My Connection to Yuri Gagarin, The First Man in Space, and Other Fun Facts About Your New Russian Blogger Jenya Posted by Jenya on Feb 4, 2014
1. Yuri Gagarin and I are connected! My связь (connection) to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, did not become apparent to me until I was 27 years old. Yuri Gagarin was the first Russian космонавт (cosmonaut). Gagarin received his training and met his future жена (wife) in the city of Orenburg. Coincidentally, that…