Breakfast in Russia and a brief culture trip to 1978 Posted by ryan on Nov 10, 2021
Dear Russian Language Blog, I’m writing to you from the comfort of my desk, where, as always, I am dreaming about the breakfast that, unfortunately, I did not have time this morning to eat. To eat, to eat. But what can one expect to eat for breakfast in Russia? бутербро́д sandwich Open faced sandwiches with…
Russians don’t cry over baked milk Posted by bota on Nov 2, 2021
Have you ever heard of топлёное молоко́? Baked milk is not a dairy product that frequents markets outside of post-Soviet countries but в России топлёное молоко́ лю́бят все, от ма́ла до велика. And as you will see today, it’s a nutritious drink that has a rich taste and even richer cultural significance in Russia. *Some…
Go East, Young Man: the Virgin Lands Campaign Posted by ryan on Oct 29, 2021
From this side of the Iron Curtain, we remember Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, as the man who promised the West that мы вас похоро́ним! We will bury you (which is somewhat a mistranslation and a good subject for a future blog), for his 1959 Ку́хонные деба́ты Kitchen Debate in Moscow with then-vice president Richard…
Koschei the Deathless, Part II Posted by bota on Oct 26, 2021
Before you continue reading, I highly insist that you catch up on what we covered about Koschei in Part I. Otherwise, you might be a bit lost. We left off discussing Koschei and his appearance in the American TV series Grimm, episode 9 of season 3 (warning: spoilers ahead). When transformed into his Koschei state, he…
Koschei the Deathless, Part I Posted by bota on Oct 19, 2021
In honor of Halloween approaching, I was rewatching the Grimm TV series. It’s spooky, imaginative, and nostalgic for me, since it was one of the first shows I watched in English. Grimm is a police detective story that weaves in a whole universe of fantastical creatures (Wesen) from many different folktales, especially the Grimm brothers…
The Russian Romance with the Guitar Posted by ryan on Oct 15, 2021
It is difficult to imagine modern music without the guitar. It occupies an irreplaceable space in the modern ensemble. Its repertoire is vast, having been adapted to all genres of music. Each place it goes, it is adapted, and it was adapted for Russia as well. When the guitar first came to Russia, it had…
More Macabre Sayings Posted by bota on Oct 11, 2021
While Halloween on October 31st might not be a widely recognized or endorsed holiday in Russia, there are plenty of macabre Russian sayings to use this spooky season. Some are very similar to English idiomatic expressions, for example: то́лько че́рез мой труп – over my dead body. Others are dark but humorous and colloquial. Спать как…