Tag Archives: Russian language
Using the Instrumental Case, Part 1 Posted by Natalie on Mar 21, 2011
«Дорогие друзья» [Dear friends], I have a special relationship (for some reason, my phrasing there is reminding me of the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain) with «творительный падеж» [the instrumental case]. You see, back in the good old days when I was first starting to learn Russian, «учебник» [the textbook]…
A Little Bit of Grammar: Irregular Plural Nouns Posted by Natalie on Mar 16, 2011
«Дорогие читатели» [Dear readers], «нам пора» [it is time] for us to do a little grammar. Some people love grammar, some hate it, but it is a necessity of learning a language. Today we are going to talk about irregular plural nouns. Judging from the comments, we have readers of all levels, so I…
A History of Kiev, Part 4 Posted by Natalie on Mar 7, 2011
«Я знаю» [I know] that it has been quite a long time since I posted about «история Киева» [the history of Kiev]. You have been in so much suspense about what happens next, right? 😉 Anyway, today we are going to talk about «гражданская война» [the civil war], which is a very serious subject…
In Which I See Sergey Lavrov Posted by Natalie on Feb 21, 2011
«Дорогие друзья» [Dear friends], there has been a reason for my long absence. «На прошлой неделе» [Last week], a series of events converged to make me extremely busy. «Мне было надо написать письменную работу» [I had to write an essay] and I managed to acquire «приглашение на выступление Сергея Лаврова» [an invitation to a…
Russian Poetry: Летний сад, Part 2 Posted by Natalie on Feb 9, 2011
«Дорогие друзья» [Dear friends], I did something very bad this Tuesday: «я пропустила занятие по русскому языку» [I skipped Russian class]. I really did not want to, I assure you. «Но мне было надо написать письменную работу» [But I had to finish my essay (literally “written work”)]. But luckily, this does not mean I…
Million Scarlet Roses Posted by yelena on Feb 3, 2011
«Миллионалых1роз» [Million Scarlet Roses], a song first sung by «Алла Пугачёва» [Alla Pugacheva] in 1983, is still very popular and well known in Russia. Our guest, David Roberts, will help us learn, among other things, a few new 4-letter words, where the modern past tense comes from, why we can sometimes use the past tense…
Learning Russian with Horoscopes Posted by yelena on Jan 24, 2011
I don’t care a bit about that new astrological calendar, the one that says I am no longer a Leo. Sure I am! Otherwise, this picture of me and a lion in Peterhof makes no sense at all (and it does too, rrrrrr!) Are you into «астрология» [astrology]? Unless you absolutely don’t give a hoot…