Tag Archives: Russian news
In The News: Russian Director Eldar Ryazanov Dies Posted by Maria on Nov 30, 2015
A sad story was reported by the media this weekend — film director Eldar Ryazanov (Эльда́р Ряза́нов) has died at 88. Let us look at how this story was covered in various publications. Ryazanov’s Death Slon reports, “Росси́йский режиссе́р Эльдар Рязанов сконча́лся в Москве́.” Сконча́ться is a respectful, official way of saying “die, pass away.” According…
Introducing and Repealing Rules Posted by Maria on Feb 17, 2014
Many times when I would start to have Russian conversations with learners of Russian, the conversation would quickly slip into discussions about Russian politics. This is only to be cherished, of course; however, the problem is that learners often lack the vocabulary to talk about current events and, therefore, switch back to English. Let’s go…
Reading the Russian News: Opposition Protests Posted by Natalie on Jul 13, 2012
Доброе утро, дорогие читатели! [Good morning, dear readers!] Каждый день, я читаю новости на русском [Every morning, I read the news in Russian]. It is a habit I got into last year, when we had to bring a news story to Russian class every day. I am sure I have said this before, but…
Particle -ка and How to Use It Posted by yelena on Apr 4, 2012
As you’ve realized by now, my previous post about the letter Ё being removed from the alphabet was just первоапрельская утка (April Fool’s spoof). What шутки (jokes) did you play on your friends this year? What kind of розыгрыши (pranks) did they try to pull on you? This year, one of the spoofs prepared by…
Meet Michael McFaul, the New US Ambassador to Russia Posted by Natalie on Jan 30, 2012
In case you did not know, «я американка» [I’m American]. I grew up here and I go to university here, and I tend to look at foreign affairs through an American lens. I realize that a large portion of our readers are not American, so this post may not be as relevant or apply…
Russian Holidays: День народного единства Posted by Natalie on Nov 9, 2011
A funny experience happened in my Russian class today, «дорогие друзья» [dear friends]. We are reading «Дама с собачкой» [The Lady with the Lapdog]. My professor said of the main character, «Гуров» [Gurov], «Он верен своей жене?» [Is he faithful to his wife?] I smiled and gave a resounding «Да, конечно» [yes, of course]…
What Makes Russians Happy Posted by yelena on Aug 9, 2011
I’d like to thank Jarrod for the inspiring comment on our Facebook page and to Bob for sending me the infographics that started it all. Guys, you rock! A while ago one of the blog readers, Bob, e-mailed me the infographics you see at the top of the post. Honestly, while I really liked the…