Tag Archives: speaking Russian
Fear of Speaking a Second Language Posted by Jenya on Nov 4, 2015
I can remember back to when I began learning English in school about 10 years before actually coming to America. It was fun, exciting, and quite difficult. My parents had always told me that I needed to learn English in order to have a brighter future. Before I’d graduated our version of high school, I’d…
Why Won’t Russians Answer Me In Russian? (Part I) Posted by Maria on Apr 16, 2015
So we’ve all probably been there. You spend a lot of time learning a language and finally get to a point where you can understand some spoken phrases and form coherent responses. You run into a native speaker and happily start talking Russian (or whatever language you’re learning) to them — only to get a blank…
How Dare You Speak a Foreign Language! Posted by Jenya on Jan 27, 2015
Lets imagine that you get invited to dinner at the home of a Russian couple and you don’t speak Russian. Would you find it rude if they occasionally spoke Russian in front of you? How about if they translated it so you could understand it? We all know what it feels like to be around…
What Your Russian Spouse Calls You (When You Are Not Listening) Posted by yelena on Jan 12, 2012
Ever wonder what your Russian spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend is talking about on the phone? Are they talking about you? First of all, it’s safe to assume that a phone call you have overheard is not all about you. The only exception is if it’s your Russian wife calling her лучшая подруга (best friend) or…
When Russians Get Busy, They Say… Posted by yelena on Aug 5, 2011
On my «личный» [personal] blog I frequently start new posts with «извинение» [an apology]. It goes something like this: “Well, it’s been a while since my last post, but things have been crazy-busy here”. Until very recently I didn’t think much of the “crazy-busy” phrase, but how would I say something like that in Russian?…
Open Invitation to the Russian Blog Posted by yelena on Jun 22, 2010
«Заходите к нам на огонек!» [Drop in for some company!] Wait, if you’re reading this, then you’re already here, wherever this “here” is for you. So assuming that you’ve made yourself comfortable and poured yourself «стакан кваса» [a glass of kvass] or «кружка холодного пива» [a mug of cold beer] or, for our friends in…