Posts under "News"

Meet Michael McFaul, the New US Ambassador to Russia

Posted by Natalie 2 Comments
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 apt to you. However, the American ambassador to Russia was recently in the news and I thought it would be interesting to write about him. I present, without further ado, a post about ambassadors and other diplomatic-related vocabulary. In the photo: «посольство Российской Федерации в Лондоне» [embassy of the Russian Federation in London].

The new United States ambassador to Russia is named Michael McFaul (his name is transliterated into Cyrillic as «Майкл Макфол»). «Он работал профессором в Стэнфордском университете» [He worked as a professor at Stanford University]. As ambassador he lives in «Спасо-хаус» [Spaso House], the official residence of the United States ambassador in Russia.

There has been controversy ever since McFaul arrived in Russia because he met with some opposition leaders. Plus, he was involved in the «перезагрузка» [reset] policy with Russia that does not seem to have been entirely successful. McFaul does not speak Russian as well as his «предшественник» [predecessor], John Beyrle. «Байерли свободно говорит по-русски» [Beyrle speaks Russian fluently]. (Seriously, Beyrle’s Russian is amazing. Listen to an interview with him sometime.)

Some more general vocabulary: in Russian, ambassador is «посол», so it is pretty logical that «посольство» is embassy. «Консульство» is consulate. (And remember, the two are different! In general, embassies are usually larger and are led by an ambassador, whereas consulates are led by a «консул» [consul].) «Дипломат» [diplomat] is nice and easy to remember. «Паспорт» [passport] and «виза» [visa] are also nice cognates.

What do you think of the new United States ambassador? Do you have any questions about diplomatic-related vocabulary? Let me know in the comments!

Reading the News – In Russian

Posted by Natalie 1 Comment
Jan 23 2012

«Добрый вечер, дорогие читатели!» [Good evening, dear readers!] Today I want to share with you a technique I have used for learning Russian that has helped me immensely: reading the news. «Я люблю читать новости и по-английски, и по-русски» [I love reading the news in both English and Russian]. It is always interesting to read what is going on «в мире» [in the world], and what better way to learn about this than in Russian. «Давайте читать!» [Let's read!]

The article I am referencing can be read here (but don’t worry, I will be quoting from it right on this blog, so you do not need to worry about click the link to read it). It is called «Путин предложил организовать в интернете дискуссию о будущей госструктуре по нацполитике» [Putin has proposed organizing an online discussion about the future state agency for national policy].

«Премьер-министр РФ Владимир Путин предложил развернуть дискуссию в интернете о том, какую организационно-правовую форму придать будущей госструктуре по вопросам национального развития и межнационального благополучия, о создании которой он написал в своей программной статье.» That sentence is long and looks intimidating, but we can easily break it down and translate it: The prime minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has proposed developing a discussion on the internet about which organizational and legal form the future state agency on national growth and interethnic welfare will take. He wrote about creating this in his {election} program article. Yes, I know the original Russian is one long sentence, but the grammar stickler in me will not let me translate that into a run-on sentence in English!

To continue: «Путин, баллотирующийся в президенты РФ, в статье, размещённой в понедельник в “Независимой газете”, в частности, предложил создать в РФ госструктуру по вопросам нацполитики, ужесточить правила регистрации мигрантов и санкции за их нарушение, а также обязать мигрантов сдавать экзамены по русскому языку и основам права.» [Putin, who is running for president of RF (Russian Federation), in the article published on Monday in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, in part proposed to create in Russia a state agency for {working on} the question of national policy, toughening the laws of migrant registration and sanctions for transgression, and also requiring migrants to take exams on Russian language and fundamentals of law.]

«Выступая на Форуме народов юга России в Кисловодске в понедельник, Путин отметил, что, “к сожалению, мало внимания уделяется работе по межнациональным и межконфессиональным отношениям, она у нас на втором плане”. “Но это не должно быть простым бюрократическим образованием”, – сказал Путин о новой госструктуре.» [Speaking at a forum in southern Russia in Kislovodsk on Monday, Putin noted that "unfortunately, little attention has been given to work on inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations. It is for us in second place (i.e. not the first priority). But this should not be a simply bureaucratic entity," Putin said about the new state agency.]

This was how I used to learn Russian vocabulary, my friends: I would slog through news articles, looking up every word I did not know (and there were quite a lot!). Also, my translation is not so polished – I tried to stick to a fairly literal one, because I feel that helps the most while learning.

The New Facebook: What Do You Think?

Posted by Natalie No Comments
Sep 22 2011

You may be wondering right now «Где же Наташа?» [Where is Natasha?]. I know I have had a long absence from «наш русский блог» [our Russian blog], but I am pleased to say: «я вернулась» [I have returned]. And in a later post, I will answer the questions: «Где я была? Что я делала?» [Where was I? What was I doing?] But for now, another post about social networking…

I have blogged about social networking before, and I mentioned the website «Фейсбук» [Facebook]. Well, in case you have not noticed, «Фейсбук» has made some «изменения» [changes] in the past few days. Over on our Facebook page (if you did not know it, my friends, I am telling you now: Transparent Language’s Russian blog has a Facebook page, and we would love it if you clicked «Мне нравится» [Like]), there is quite a discussion going on.

In response to «вопрос» [the question] “Use your Russian to say what you think of the new Facebook layout!” there are over two hundred responses. Yes, my friends, I do mean «двести» [two hundred]. Here is a selection of what some of you have been saying:

  • «Это мусор!» [It's trash!]
  • «Очень плохо!» [Very bad!]
  • «У меня ещё не поменялся слава богу!!!» [Mine still hasn't changed yet, thank God!!!]
  • «Это кошмар!» [It's a nightmare!]
  • «Я хочу, чтобы они просто оставить его в покое.» [I just wish they'd leave it alone.]
  • «Всё равно, я никогда не мог найти ничего здесь.» [It's all the same, I can never find anything on here anyway.]

«Честно говоря» [To be honest], I agree with that last statement. I do not like the new format, but I was not overly fond of the old one either.

A few people like it, such as one commenter who wrote «очень хорошо» [very good]. And some others really, really hate it and have used «мат» [bad language (okay, so I recognize that my example is not technically considered «мат», but it is still a word you really should not use in polite company)]. A common word I see in this discussion is «говно» [s**t].

But my favorite comment is this one: «Я люблю Россию» [I love Russia]. No matter what Facebook decides to do when changing its interface, «мы любим Россию» [we love Russia], right?

What do you think about the changes? Will this affect how many people use Facebook? Let me know in the comments!

20 лет спустя – Twenty Years After, Part 1

Posted by Natalie 10 Comments
Aug 22 2011

Well, «друзья» [friends], it has happened again: I sat down to write «про грамматику» [about grammar] and instead I wrote about something completely different. I found this «фоторепортаж» [photo essay] on the website of «магазин Внешняя политика» [the magazine "Foreign Policy"] called, in English, “Russia’s Big Backyard.” I have opted to translate the title as «ближнее зарубежье» [the near abroad] since that’s basically what the English title implies. In the photo: a map from Wikipedia of what exactly «ближнее зарубежье» is.

I do not know much «авторское право» [copyright], which is why I am not putting any of the excellent photos in this post. Instead, I will provide links to appropriate photos throughout this post, so you can click on them if you want.

Since it is «двадцать лет после СССР» [twenty years since the USSR], many news websites are writing about what has happened «за двадцать лет» [for twenty years]. «В центральной Азии» [in Central Asia] there are «две религии» [two religions]: Christianity and Islam. There are still remnants of Soviet rule in «Узбекистан, Туркменистан, Таджикистан, Казахстан, и Киргизия» [Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan], like «этот памятник Ленину в Таджикистане» [this monument to Lenin in Tajikistan].

Unfortunately, «в сельской местности» [in rural areas], it can be difficult for people to get access to health care and social services. These countries’ political systems are not perfect, either. Most of them could be classified as «диктатуры» [dictatorships].

«Узбекистан» [Uzbekistan] has a large Russian minority, though many have left «в Россию» [for Russia].

«Казахстан» [Kazakhstan] appears to be doing the best of all the Central Asian countries. «Экономика» [The economy] has grown a lot. Unfortunately, «Нурсултан Назарбаев» [Nursultan Nazarbayev] has had power «за двадцать один год» [twenty-one years]. «Я очень хочу поехать в Казахстан» [I really want to go to Kazakhstan] just to see the world’s largest tent. «На последнем этаже – пляж!» [There is a beach on the top floor!]

I do not know much about «Киргизия» [Kyrgyzstan], except for the fact that there was a revolution there recently. Oh, and one of my friends was there recently, and she rode a horse, just like the people in this photo.

You would probably be fine with speaking just Russian in all the countries I’ve mentioned so far, with one exception: «Туркменистан» [Turkmenistan]. The first president had «культ личности» [a cult of personality] that included emphasizing native culture over the Soviet-era Russification. Luckily, there is less of a personality cult since the first president died — «его преемник» [his successor] was his personal dentist, of all people. The current president «очень любит лошадей» [really loves horses].

I’ve never been to any of these Central Asian countries. If you have, please share your experiences in the comments!

I’m planning four parts for this series. «Часть первая» [Part 1], this part, is about «центральная Азия» [Central Asia]. «Часть вторая» [Part 2] will be about «Беларусь, Украина и Россия» [Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia]. «Часть третья» [Part 3] will be about «Кавказ» [the Caucasus]. «Часть четвёртая» will be about «балтийские страны» [the Baltic countries]. I originally was going to write «прибалтика», which is what I had learned to call the Baltic countries, but a native-speaking friend told me that is an imperialist term that should be avoided. Thoughts?

Putin vs. Medvedev

Posted by Natalie 7 Comments
May 16 2011
YouTube Preview Image

Well, «дорогие читатели» [dear readers], I owe you an apology for abandoning you for so long. I was delayed in returning to England and «в результате» [as a result], I had to do extra work to catch up. «Весь день» [All day], I would be reading. However, now I seem to have caught up, so I am back to posting, and I hope the fantastic video in this post makes up for my long absence.

I know we usually try to stay away from politics here on the Russian Blog, but I cannot resist getting just a little bit political today. You see, I found this excellent video on YouTube and I cannot resist sharing it. It is «шутка» [a joke] about «выборы 2012» [the 2012 elections]. Best of all, it is «на русском» [in Russian], so we can learn from the phrases. I have picked out some of my favorite bits so we can analyze them grammatically and learn new vocabulary. They are in order of appearance in the video, but I won’t tell you where they are – you will have to listen and find them. (If there is something that you do not hear in the video even after a few viewings, just let me know in the comments and I will tell you where it is.)

So, you should probably watch the video first. Then, read about these phrases I have selected.

  • «Я думал у нас будет больше времени.» [I thought we were going to have more time.] Notice two grammatical points in this sentence: when saying that you have something in Russian, you typically use «у» plus the genitive case. And «больше» takes the genitive case as well.
  • «Два кандидата» [Two candidates] This phrase demonstrates a rule of quantification in the Russian language: with «два, три, и четыре» [two, three, and four], we use the genitive singular. I do not want to go into these rules too much on this post – if you would like me to post about quantification in Russian, please let me know.
  • «У нас сложился очень эффективный тандем с президентом Медведевым.» [President Medvedev and I have formed a very effective tandem.] I confess, this is a new expression to me. One thing I find interesting is that the imperfective of «сложиться» is «складываться».
  • «Вот это да.» [Wow; Well, how about that.] I actually have a story about this expression. My Russian professor told my class once that he was talking to a family friend’s young son (in Russian) and the child used the English word “Wow.” My professor said that he was teasing the child for not using the Russian version of the saying since, after all, there is a perfectly good expression in Russian.
  • «Предвыборная гонка начинается.» [The electoral race is beginning.] When talking about something that is beginning, you have to use the reflexive form of the verb. But if a person said that he or she was starting something, the verb would not be reflexive.
  • «В ход пойдёт всё.» [Everything comes into play.] A useful little expression, showing how the word order in Russian can be very fluid.
  • «Время пришло.» [The time has come.] I have not read a specific rule on this, but I have noticed that the verbs of motion usually used with «время» [time] are the ones used for motion on foot.
  • «Выбора нет.» [There is no choice.] This sentence shows how we use the genitive case for negations.

There appears to be a strange little advertisement at the end for «КПРФ» [KPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation)]. I am not sure why that is – perhaps the video’s creator supports «Геннадий Зюганов» [Gennady Zyuganov (leader of the Communist Party in Russia)].

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the video. I think it is completely and utterly brilliant (and very amusing as well).

Comments? Questions? Let me know using the form below!

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