Tag Archives: Russian language
Cold Remedies – Tea and Onions and Mustard Posted by yelena on Nov 1, 2010
The approaching winter brings not only «холод» [cold weather], but unavoidable «простуда» [cold]. Everyone around you is sick. «Как дела? Что новенького?» [How’s life? What’s new?] you ask and a friend replies «Всё по старенькому, вот только я, кажется, заболеваю» [Things are as usual, but I think I’m coming down with something]. A passerby, rushing…
Halloween in Russia? Posted by yelena on Oct 27, 2010
When I left Russia back in 1997 we didn’t celebrate Halloween. In fact, we didn’t even know about this holiday. But here I am living in «Штаты» [the US] where this «праздник» is huge and of course we’re sucked into the celebratory frenzy. And of course, I’m not the only Russian in the States…
Reading “Мастер и Маргарита”: Chapter 16 Posted by yelena on Oct 25, 2010
Through the first 15 chapters of Master and Margarita I hoped that it’d be Josefina’s turn once we get to «Казнь» [Execution]. But now that she’s «отошла от дел» [withdraw from business], it falls to me to write about Chapter 16 of the Bulgakov’s novel… Personally, I find it hard to write about the chapters…
Есть такое слово! [There is a Word Like This!] Posted by yelena on Oct 18, 2010
I’ve been watching a lot of «русские мультфильмы» [Russian cartoons] lately. I justify it as education, not as entertainment. Seriously, cartoons can provide fantastic insights into the real everyday speech. The golden nuggets of linguistic wisdom – phrases, idioms, words – that can be found in many cartoons usually appear in «повседневная речь» [everyday speech]…
«Прощайте, дорогие друзья!» [Farewell, dear friends!] Posted by josefina on Oct 10, 2010
I would advice you all to continue doing what I always do – and sort of have instructed you to also take pleasure in – look for signs of Russian literature EVERYWHERE! I found this bumper sticker on a car in downtown San Francisco today: “What would Taras Bulba do?” [«Что бы делал Тарас Бульба?»]…
How to Procrastinate in Russian Posted by yelena on Oct 8, 2010
We all procrastinate from time to time. Some (and I’m pointing a finger at myself right now) do it more than others. If you love Russian and happen to procrastinate even ocassionally, then why not do it in Russian? That’s what total immersion is all about, isn’t it? But let me not delay this post…
Are There Too Many Letters in Russian Alphabet? Posted by yelena on Sep 27, 2010
What’s this, you ask? Well, this is Russian alphabet. Or rather, this was the old Russian alphabet used in times of Peter the Great. Letters in blue have been discarded by 1800. Letters in red were killed off or exiled in 1918. The remaining 33 letters form the present-day Russian alphabet. When I was little…