Monthly Archives: October 2008

Word of the Week: пить [to drink]

The word of the week today is a part of a delicate subject. I know. But this is Russian language and since some people tend to consider this language to have as many words for sipping drinks as the Eskimos do for snow, then I would like to set the record straight and clear up [...]

Проблема с iPod…ом? [Problem with the iPod?]

It was my favorite case already from the start. And no other case has ever been able to take its place as number one in my heart. Yes, I’m talking about «творительный падеж» [instrumental case]. Back when I first made my acquaintance with the six splendid cases of Russian language - yes, let’s all repeat [...]

Who Was Sverdlov? and what’s with his statue still standing?

Seemingly a day like any other, today I was present during a literary seminary at my university dealing with the heroic and historic short novel «Тарас Бульба» ["Taras Bulba"] by everyone’s favorite Николай Гоголь [Nikolay Gogol']. After about thirty minutes of pure literary theoretic discussion, all of the sudden the professor - the sweetest пушкиновед [...]

“Happiness in a time of Crisis” or «Крисиз как источник счастья»

It is my favorite word in any language, but especially I love the sound of it in Russian - «счастье» [1. happiness, 2. (good) luck, (good) fortune]. I love how the two first letters «сч» together are pronounced like a «щ» making it «щастье»; an all together soft and pleasing, lovable little part of speech. [...]

Word of the Week: «Учиться»

The word of this week is a verb (do note the «ь» [‘soft sign'] right after the «т», as that is a sure sign of the verb being in infinitiv, oh and don’t forget to pay attention to the «ся», because if you fail to do so, then you will not be aware of the [...]

A Ural Must-See: «Ганина Яма»

Next to this English version there is a Russian, slightly different, text: «Вблизи сей шахты в июле 1918 года огнём и серною кислотою (серной кислотой) были уничтожены честные тела святых царственных мучеников и их верных слуг» [Near this mine in July 1918 with fire and sulphuric acid were destroyed the honest bodies of the Holy [...]

Нечто о ВИЧ в России [Something about HIV in Russia]

«Для меня использовать презерватив также естественно, как есть» [For me to use a condom is as natural as eating].
The poster on the picture above I found hanging on a wall in one of the corridors of my university about a week ago. Since then I’ve seen two more posters like it with information about «ВИЧ [...]

Word of the Week: «бабье лето»

Taking the kids to play in the park on a lazy, sunny typical «бабье лето» day, is as mandatory if you’re Russian as…
It happens every year. Some years it lasts but for a couple of days («если нам повезёт - на выходных» [if we're lucky - on a weekend]), while other years it can remain [...]

A Closer Look At: «ВОГ» [Russian VOGUE]

Of course I’m only kidding. Even in Russia VOGUE is still VOGUE, and not «ВОГ», though it would be awfully funny if that was the case. Once upon a time, in a far away past, when I lived in Omsk and used to buy last month’s old copy of this magazine «в подземном переходе» [in [...]