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Autocomplete Question: “Do Russians Believe in God?” Posted by Maria on Sep 10, 2019
Sometimes, to make sure my blog posts stay topical, I draw inspiration from popular search queries. Some of you might have seen the autocomplete interview series, where celebrities answer the most-searched questions about themselves. This time, I typed “Do Russians,” and “believe in God” was one of the suggestions. I will attempt to answer this…
Russian Outdoor Games for Kids Posted by Maria on Sep 3, 2019
Have you ever wondered what kind of outdoor activities Russian children engage in? The games (и́гры) in this post are not unique to Russia and are known in the entire post-Soviet area—and beyond. Кла́ссики This one’s a classic (pun intended)! Кла́ссики is the Russian name for hopscotch. I imagine most people are familiar with it…
Survey: What Do Russians Do For Fun? Posted by Maria on Jul 15, 2019
The Levada pollster recently published the results of a survey that asked what Russians liked doing in their free time. It turned out that more “highbrow” activities like reading fiction or going to the theatre are losing popularity, while watching TV shows has picked up. The survey (опрос) included over 1,600 adults in 50 constituent…
Talking About Chernobyl in Russian Posted by Maria on Jun 17, 2019
The Internet has been abuzz lately with discussions of the HBO Chernobyl miniseries. The show is based on the real story of an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant (Черно́быльская А́томная Электроста́нция, ЧАЭС), and its release has reignited interest in the catastrophe, its causes, and how its been covered by witnesses, survivors, first responders, writers…
How To Write a Résumé in Russian Posted by Maria on Apr 25, 2019
A résumé (резюме́) is an important part of applying for a job anywhere, and Russia is no exception. However, some conventions used for Russian résumés are different from other countries. While recommendations and preferences vary depending on the applicant, company, and time period, this post will go over some common themes. Ли́чные да́нные — Personal…
5 Non-Russian Languages of Russia Posted by Maria on Jan 15, 2018
Russian is not the only language spoken in Russia. According to Wikipedia, there are more than 150 languages speaking in Russia, with varying numbers of speakers. It is impossible to cover all languages of Russia in one post, so let us look at five common ones and their current status. This post is not meant…
A Sign of the Times: Words with ‑знак‑ in Russian Posted by Maria on Sep 26, 2017
We are continuing our popular series on Russian word “families” with this post about words with the -знак- root. Знак means “a sign,” and you may know it from the following expressions: мя́гкий знак (soft sign, ь) or твёрдый знак (hard sign, ъ) вопроси́тельный знак (?) восклица́тельный знак (!) знак ра́венства (=) знак зодиа́ка (star…