June 12 – Russia Day Posted by Nadya on Jun 10, 2021
June 12 is Russia Day. What exactly are we celebrating on that day? Not Independence Day Russia Day (День Росси́и) is one of the newest national public holidays in Russia. It has been celebrated since 1992. This day marks the formation of the Russian Federation (Росси́йская Федера́ция) as a sovereign (сувере́нный/незави́симый) country after the collapse…
Sputnik V in Kazakhstan Posted by bota on Jun 4, 2021
It has been a little over a year since we’ve covered COVID news in Russia, and while today’s blog is about Russia’s vaccine Sputnik V, we focus on the country’s southern neighbor, Kazakhstan. *All photos taken and used with permission from author (Akbota Yergaliyeva) In general Since the end of February, Kazakhstan has been administering…
Russian Summer Sayings Posted by Nadya on May 28, 2021
We have already talked about Russian spring proverbs, winter expressions, and fall vocabulary. And, of course, today’s blog will be about summer sayings. Today, you can quickly check the weather forecast in seconds. To do this, you just need the Internet. But for millennia, people have followed the changes in nature and its phenomena. The…
Three Easily Confused Russian Verbs Posted by Nadya on May 24, 2021
In Russian, there are three verbs that have the same English translation – “to try.” Despite this, they have a slightly different meaning. These verbs are “про́бовать“, “пыта́ться,” and “стара́ться.” It is very easy to confuse them. If you want to sound more Russian, read below about their differences. Пробовать Meaning: “to try to do…
How do you say ‘to die’ in Russian? Posted by bota on May 19, 2021
Many Russians devoted May 11th this year to visiting the graves of their loved ones. Known as Роди́тельский день и́ли Радо́ница (Roditel’skiy Den’ or Radonista), this day is directly related to Orthodox Easter and you can read more about the gist of it in Yelena’s old blog here. For a more detailed account on this tradition…
News: US visas for Russian citizens Posted by bota on May 13, 2021
Originally, I had a Радо́ница (Radonitsa) blog for today and if I had to write about visas, this is the type of embassy-themed blog I would rather be writing right now, but alas. Russia and US relations like to frequent major headlines and while it’s not a surprise that the two got caught in the…
Ways To Say Goodnight in Russian Posted by Nadya on May 10, 2021
Below I will share the most popular phrases that people say to each other exclusively right before going to bed. Of course, first of all, you should understand how close you are to the person to whom you are addressing. You probably won’t be talking to strangers on your way to your bedroom. But just…