Examining a Russian spice rack. Part II Posted by bota on Aug 28, 2020
In the second part of examining a Russian spice rack, we will explore the most common спе́ции (spices) used in baking recipes across Russian households. At the end of the post is a playlist of Russian words to help you practice pronouncing them. For starters, let’s cover the most basic baking ingredients: Са́хар (Sugar) is…
Давай Дружить! – Let’s Be Friends! Posted by Nadya on Aug 24, 2020
Friends play extremely important roles in our lives. Friendship in Russia means a lot and is appreciated. To be honored to be called a true friend, you need to do certain things. A close friend is almost a family member. We have already discussed the types of friendship (дру́жба) in Russia in this blog. Today…
Examining a Russian spice rack. Part I Posted by bota on Aug 18, 2020
There are a number of припра́в, пря́ностей, и спе́ций (spices) that are considered standard in any Russian household, whether you are многоде́тная семья́ (a family with lots of kids) or зако́нченный холостя́к (a long-time bachelor). This blog will focus on spices commonly used for savory dishes, while Part II will cover spices used for baking…
What Animal Are You Posted by Nadya on Aug 10, 2020
Humanity closely lives with animals under the same sky. It is no wonder that since ancient times, people have become accustomed to comparing each other to animals, birds, and fish. Such comparisons are made to describe a person’s appearance, traits of character, activity, behavior, or feelings. Animal similes in the Russian language In the Russian…
Timeless Russian Adverbs Posted by bota on Aug 5, 2020
I’ll never pass up the chance to start a blog post with a poem by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. This stanza is the beginning to a childhood favorite of mine, Руслан и Людмила (Ruslan and Ludmila) published in 1820, and it’s a great example of how to use adverbs of time in Russian…
Puerto Backyarda in Russia Posted by Nadya on Jul 31, 2020
Summer is the perfect time for a vacation. However, given the restrictive measures, it is difficult to count on a typical vacation trip. Travel plans have collapsed for most people. How do Russians rest in post-isolation time? Many tour operators have started reopening since June as the global health crisis begins to stabilize. However, the…
Derivative prepositions (производные предлоги) and how to get them right Posted by bota on Jul 23, 2020
Prepositions (предлоги) are functional words that work together with nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns to show direction, time, and relation to other objects. Other wonderful blogs on this platform have covered prepositions (Russian prepositions of direction, prepositions of time, “в” or “на”) and provided great guidance on when to use them and even how to…