 I am sure a lot of you
who are studying Russian and/or have been to Russia know about this wonderful
spring holiday. It is somewhat similar to the Mother’s day here in the US, but
celebrates all women and girls. It is definitely traditional to congratulate
your mom, grandmas, sisters, aunts, cousins, teachers, coworkers but at school
you will also see boys congratulating the girls in their class (similar to the
Valentine’s tradition in the US) with cards, small gifts or flowers.
It is common at
schools for the children to prepare special crafts for their moms, sisters,
grandmas, and teachers and then present it to them on the day of. Handmade
cards are also very popular.
Tulips, Mimosas and
Daffodils are one of the most traditional flowers during this season. Depending... Read more » |
 Есть много разных рецептов русского борща. Мы вам предлагаем свой вариант, опробованный и оценённый нашими американскими друзьями.
Вода 4 литра
Мясо – куриные грудки с косточкой или свинина на кости (желательно, чтобы были кости, т.к. из костей получается вкусный бульон) – 200 г
2 – 3 средних свеклы
1 морковка
2-3 картофелины
1 средняя луковица
1 стебель сельдерея
¼ кочана капусты
1 пучок петрушки
Соль и перец по вкусу
Мясо помыть, положить в кастрюлю, залить водой, довести до кипения, снять пену. После этого положить в бульон 2 стебля сельдерея и варить мясо до готовности 15-20 минут.
... Read more » |
 Following Easter and Christmas, Kreschenije (Baptism ) is one of the most important religious holidays in the lives of Russian Orthodox people. This day is in honor of John the Baptist who baptized Christ in the Jordan River.
To baptize you need to use water, so water is one of the big parts of this holiday. Lots of people go to Church to bring home bottle of Holy water. This water is considered healing and people drink it when they are sick or need strength. Many are also bathing in the cold water outside. This year there were about 50 authorized locations in Moscow for those who would like to follow the tradition and wash away their sins in the cold water.
To read more about this religious holiday follow this link http://www.pravmir.ru/kreshenie-gospodne-zhizn-vechuju/ |
 Many people say that
giving yourself a New Year’s resolution is a waste of time, but it is not so.
Just the other week I was listening to NPR and they said "And believe it or not
- believe it or not - a large percentage of people who make resolutions
actually do stick to them.”
What are your New Year’s
resolutions? Hopefully one of them is to learn Russian. Whether you are a
complete beginner and are just starting your journey with the Russian language
or have been at it for a while, a new year is always a good time to regroup and
invest into your studies.
Make sure you cover
all aspects of the language: read, write, speak and listen. If you go to the
gym, you need to do cardio and strength exercises, as well as exercises on
different muscle groups (arm... Read more » |
How long does it take to learn Russian or any other language?
It depends.
First of all what is your goal: do you want to be able to carry on a simple conversation or be fluent in Russian?
The kids that come from foreign countries become fluent in a year. Learning is getting more challenging with the age.
Companies that sell language learning products often guarantee you fluency in a certain period of time. Language experts though are skeptical of such claims.
Most language teachers tell you that the learning process is a complex thing that includes comprehension, grammar, reading, writhing, speaking, etc. The more time and energy you put in your studying – the better results are.
For the best results you need:
1) A good book with lots of audio
2) A good teacher
3) Somebody to practice your language outside the class.
Our Reading Russian Workbook has 6 lessons. Therefore, if you ... Read more » |
 Когда я была маленькой девочкой и ходила в детский сад и потом в школу, самым любимым и долгожданным праздником для меня был Новый Год. К его встрече и родители , и дети всегда готовились заранее. В доме каждой семьи почти за неделю до праздника, а то и еще раньше, наряжали живую ель. С игрушками в те времена было не так хорошо, как сегодня и поэтому многие гирлянды, фонарики и снежинки мы с сестрой делали сами из белой и разноцветной бумаги и особенно, если повезет, из гофрированной бумаги и фольги. Ещё на ёлку мы вешали стеклянные шары и бусы, а также шары с фосфорным покрытием, которые светились в темноте. Это было здорово и необыкновенно загадочно и красиво!
На нашей новогодней ёлке всегда было много различных фигурок животных из плотного раскрашенного в яркие цвета картона, а также всевозможных стеклянных зайчиков, белочек, з... Read more » |
Это не простой вопрос, потому что, во-первых, не
так легко понять, что считается за слово.
Самый большой словарь современного русского языка содержит около 200 000 слов.
Но в этот словарь не включены жаргон, мат или архаичные слова. Он также не
содержит специальную терминологию: медицинскую, сельскохозяйственную,
юридическую, и т.д. ... Read more » |
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It’s not an easy question, because it’s hard to tell what actually counts as a word.
For example a word shape. Is it one word or two, or even three? It can be a verb (meaning to form), can be a noun (meaning figure). In the expression shape of mind (state) it is translated into Russian with a different noun.
The biggest Russian Modern dictionary contains around 200,000 entries. This dictionary does not have jargon, swear or archaic words. It also does not contain a lot of special terms – for that purpose there are many other specific dictionaries: medical, agricultural, juristic, etc.
According to Oxford Press the Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use, and 47,156 obsolete words.
But what is more important that on average a well-educated person knows and uses only around 6000 – 8000 words.
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Many of my friends love
the fact that I speak Russian to my child and are surprised by the replies to
me in Russian and to them in English. At almost 2 already knows the difference
between the two languages and sounds differently in each of them. Some of my friends
are multilingual too and I myself love listening to them speaking their
language. As I speak a lot of languages, plenty of times I can actually
understand what is going on.
I love listening to people
speaking the languages that I don’t know. Sometimes I try to guess what language
they are speaking and then ask the people just to know if I was right. Even if I
don’t know what language they speak – to my ear each language has its own rhythm,
cadence, flow, variations of sounds and I was always wondering: "What does
Russian sound like to those who don’t actually know it?”
When a friend of mine shared this video with
me, I found... Read more » |
Многие мои друзья восхищаются тем фактом, что мой ребенок отвечает мне на русском а им на английском. Почти двухлетий ребенок уже может различить на каком языке к нему обращаются: на русском или английском. Некоторые из моих друзей тоже разговаривают с их детьми на родном языке, и я всегда радуюсь, когда это слышу. Так как я знаю много языков, то очень часто я понимаю, о чем они говорят.
Иногда в парке или в магазине, я слышу не знакомый мне язык. Иногда я пытаюсь угадать, на каком языке говорят, а потом подхожу к людям и спрашиваю, просто чтобы узнать – права ли я. Даже если я не знаю языка, зачастую я догадываюсь просто по тону, ритму, определенным звукам – это очень увлекательная игра для любителя языков. Часто я задавалась вопросом: « А как русский язык звучит для тех, кто его не знает?» Когда одна моя знакомая поделилась ссылкой на это видео, я не могла удержаться от смеха. Наконец-то кто-то ответил на мой вопрос! Этот парень явно дружит с ... Read more » |
Что это? = What is this?
Что это такое? = What is this?
What is the difference between these 2 questions?
Very often these two questions are interchangeable. The word такое adds a little bit more curiosity to the question.
But there is another phrase that could be very useful to memorize.
Что такое лампа? = What does лампа mean?
The reply can be:
Лампа - это lamp.
This is a very simple word, so the person should be a real beginner is he/she asks that. Therefore the best answer is just to translate the word лампа into English. On the higher level you can explain the word using Russian or just point at the obje ... Read more » |
The weather that summer day was nice. I love this kind of weather when it is rather warm, but not hot. I remember that day because such an unusual thing occurred that I will never forget.
It happened in August. I had a day off and decided to go to the forest to pick mushrooms. This is a favorite Russian pastime in August. It is a kind of hunting. We even call it "quiet hunting." I love to walk in the forest. I believe the trees can recharge me. As I said, the weather was perfect. And everything was okay in my life then. I loved and I was loved. My parents were healthy. My friends were nice. Even my job gave me satisfaction and enough money to feel independent. The air in the forest was fresh and clean. There were a lot of mushrooms, so I filled up my basket quickly. I continued to walk, thinking about many different things. After a while, I decided to take a little rest and began to search for a good place. I found a small meadow w ... Read more » |
После дождливого, обычного для Питера июля, август выдался теплым и солнечным. Всю неделю сослуживцы рассказывали о своих грибных достижениях в прошедшие выходные, и Грибов решил взять день из своих неиспользованных отпускных и поехать в лес. Накопившиеся проблемы тревожили, а лес как-то успокаивал и освежал и, казалось, заряжал его энергией. Собрался он как обычно с вечера и рано утром поехал в Сосново. Народу в электричке было немного и на станции вместе с ним сошли всего несколько человек, которые немедленно растворились в лесу. Грибов действительно было много, и через пару часов его корзинка была почти полна. Августовский лес был хорош: рыжеватые сосны, ковер из белого мха, лёгкие паутинки. Было, именно что, тепло, а не жарко. Солнце проглядывало сквозь кроны деревьев и грело, но не обжигало. Кто-то- он не помнил кто - назвал такое солнце "ласковым". В этот день и лес и сам день ... Read more » |
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How to memorize all those endings? Do the Russians really always think which case to apply?
No, of course the Russians don’t think about cases when talking. It’s embedded in their heads – it’s just their way of thinking. The English don’t think which tense to apply - they will never mix the verbs in the phrases: ‘I’ve read it already’ and ‘I read it yesterday’, which is, by the way Russians will use the same verb in both phases:
I’ve read it already = Я уже это читал.
I read it yesterday’ = Я читал это вчера.
Repetition is the key here. Listen to the audio regularly and try to repeat after the native speaker. Listening improves your comprehension, but repeating actually makes you think more.
Sometimes you have feeling that you understand everything, but when you try to repeat, you are confused and don’t know all the words and all the endings. So work with audio 30 min every day and eventually you will get it.
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There are 3 consonants in Russian that always sound hard:
Ж, Ш, Ц
These three letters, even when followered by the soft vowel or the soft sign, remain hard.
Listen to the following words usign Google Transate:
ЖЕНА МЫШЬ ЖЮРИ ШИШКА ЦИРК ШЁЛК
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