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Five Mistakes Native Speakers Make in Russian Posted by Maria on Apr 28, 2014
I hope my last post about frequently made mistakes did not scare anyone from learning Russian. Not only are mistakes a natural part of the learning process, but native speakers make them, too! In fact there are several points of the Russian language that native speakers struggle with so much that they can’t always tell…
Russian outside Russia Posted by Maria on Apr 14, 2014
Despite being from Russia, I find it bothersome when people equate the Russian language with the country of Russia. In my opinion, it not only leaves other Russian-speaking communities out of the discussion of the language, but also misrepresents them by implying that if you speak Russian, you must be culturally/politically/ethnically aligned with Russia. I…
Пирожки – Funny Internet Rhymes Posted by Maria on Mar 6, 2014
Continuing the topic of Russian humor, I would like to draw your attention to a humorous poetry form that emerged on the Russian Internet a few years back. You are probably familiar with limericks (лимерики), which have caught on in Russia(n), as well. However, there is a newer form that gained some popularity online. The…
Four Resources for Natural-Sounding Russian Posted by Maria on Feb 20, 2014
We struggle with sounding idiomatic in our second language(s). We may master vocabulary and grammar and be able to express ideas in a way that is technically not wrong, but… так не говорят (you don’t say that). Naturally, learners are encouraged to watch TV, listen to music and podcasts, and travel to the country of…
Russian Rebus Rules Posted by yelena on Nov 4, 2013
Have you ever tried solving a Russian crossword puzzle? How about “Найдите слово” (Find a word) challenge? Don’t feel bad if you haven’t. Crosswords are tough and “find-a-word”s can be downright boring. So, ditch those and try your hand at something way more fun instead. And what can be more fun than a ребус (rebus…
Sing-a-long with Khan and Igor! Posted by Rob on May 8, 2013
I’m not much of an opera fan — because most of them, in my opinion, have maybe 5 or 10 minutes of musically entertaining sections heavily padded with hours and hours of shouting and warbling. The typical opera is like one of those pop-music albums that contains exactly ONE hit anyone wants to hear again…
Three Whales and Other Russian Phrases for Counting to Ten Posted by yelena on Mar 13, 2013
I am trying to figure out a way to talk about the три кита русского мата (the three whales of the Russian obscenity) without crossing the line yet without having to use so many *** that it makes the post unreadable. If you have any ideas on how to do this, let me know. In…