Posts under Traditions

Two Years with Russian Blog!

Posted by Josefina
Nov
9
2009

«Да!» [Yes!] «Наконец!» [Finally!] Today is not just another day, today is «девятое ноября» [the 9th of November] and a very special day. Why? Not simply because today is «день рождения великого русского писателя Ивана Тургенева» [the birthday of the great Russian writer Ivan Turgenev] - happy 191st b’day to the author of «Отцы и дети» ["Fathers and Sons"]! - but also because «в этот день» [on this day] two years ago I published my first post here on this blog. So it is finally official: «я пишу для этого блога про русский язык, русскую культуру и русскую литературу уже два года» [I have written for this blog about Russian language, Russian culture and Russian literature for two years already]. «Ура!» [Hurrah!] I thought I’d take today to switch to a more personal tone in this post - something I rarely do due to the enormous amounts of grammar that constantly need to be dealt with and explained. Today I will tell you a little something about «моя жизнь тут в России» [my life here in Russia]. After all, most of the readers of this blog have probably noticed a steady decrease in the amount of post published here these days, and there’s an explanation for this. This explanation is «моя русская жизнь» [my Russian life]. Before continuing any further I would also like to say that - just like I did in my post a year ago - all of your comments are very dear to me! I love it when you correct me and my sometimes sloppy grammar (big shout out to all the native speakers who read this blog! Thank you! both Russians and native speakers of English, that is…). I love it when you share your thoughts and experiences from Russia with me, and I would very much like this dialogue between us to continue also in the future. So keep reading, and I’ll keep writing - anytime I get - and keep commenting! I love the comments. They give me so many new ideas of what to write about, so keep them coming!

 On nights like these I fall in love with Russia all over again…

What can I say about myself, then? When I started writing this blog two years ago I was 22 years old and living my fourth year in Russia. Now I’m 24 years old and this is already my sixth year in this country. Originally I’m «из Гётеборга» [from Gothenburg] the second biggest city «в Швеции» [in Sweden]. I moved «в Россию» [to Russia] in late August 2004 when I was 19 years old. First I lived in Saint Petersburg for a semester, while I studied Russian as a foreign language. In February 2005 I moved «в Омск» [to Omsk] «в Сибири» [in Siberia] where I also studied Russian as a foreign language. I stayed in Omsk for a year and a half and even though it is pretty much impossible to sum up that experience in just a few words, I can say this much: it changed who I am forever. Summing things up even more I can say that I have grown up in this country. When I arrived here I didn’t know anything. I was a teenager with nothing but a huge dream: I wanted to become a professor of Russian literature. But at the time I didn’t speak Russian at all. All I knew when I arrived were two words: «пиво» [beer] and «привет» [hi]. Needless to say, my first week in this country was splendid… I am living proof that it is actually possible to «выучить язык» [to learn (completely, fully) a language] just by living in a country and studying hard and trying with all that you’ve got. Now I wasn’t always the best student. Right now I am the best student I have ever been, as a matter of fact, but I’ve always tried hard and spent a lot of time with Russians. And that’s how I learned this language and this country’s culture - from spending a lot of time with Russian friends. If you don’t have anyone to talk to, then you’re not going to learn how to talk. So during these past five years and plus-two months I’ve done a lot of talking! That’s one of the best advices I can give to anyone who wants to learn Russian - find Russian speaking friends! If you’re not in Russia, then go to a language club or café and sit there with your little phrase book and try your best at making conversation. Who knows? Maybe you’ll not only learn something new, but also find a new friend in the process….

I moved «в Екатеринбург» [to Yekaterinburg] in late August 2006 and have been living here ever since. All the time I’ve been a student «в Уральском государственном университете» [at Ural State University], «на филологическом факультете» [at the department of philology]. Now I’m a second year student «в магистратуре» [in the Master's program] and will be graduating in June next year with a diploma that says I’m «преподаватель русской литературы» [a university teacher of Russian literature] with all «отлично» [‘excellent', the equivalent of an A or a 5] grades - so far, anyway (keeping my fingers crossed). I have already worked as a university teacher, though, at Ural State University since October 2007. But I don’t teach what I’ve actually studied; I teach Swedish as a foreign language. And that’s one of the main reasons as to why I don’t have enough time to write here as much as I would like to since the beginning of this fall semester - this year I have three groups in different levels and I teach three evenings straight a week, leaving me almost dead by Friday night. I have two hour classes every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 18.30 to 20.30. But I love to teach, and I love my Russian students. We learn from each other, I teach them Swedish and they teach me Russian, they teach me about Russian reality and I try my best to show them what Swedish reality is like. I would also advice anyone who ever gets to chance to teach abroad to take this chance - it can give you so much! You’ll meet lovely people, though - of course - there are going to be many though times and rough patches and hard obstacles to overcome. Thankfully, I only have lectures in the Master’s program on Mondays and Tuesdays, so that leaves me with enough time to prepare my own classes the rest of the week. When I’m not stuck reading tons of Russian literature for seminars, that is…

I love Russian literature. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything as much as I love Russian literature (except for my family). That’s why I also love this painting of «Владимир Маяковский» [Vladimir Mayakovsky] that I came across on my way home one evening.

As you’ve probably noticed if you’ve been reading this blog already for some time, I have two favorite Russian writers that are dearer to me than all the rest of them (although I appreciate all of them equally!): «Фёдор Достоевский» [Fyodor Dostoevsky] and «Варлам Шаламов» [Varlam Shalamov]. My Bachelor’s thesis was on Dostoevsky’s time in Siberia, and my future Master’s dissertation will be on how he used material that he collected during his time there in his future novels. But in the future I would like to go on and research the connection between these two writers; I would love to write a doctoral dissertation on how Shalamov used Dostoevsky’s “Notes from the Dead House” in his “Stories from Kolyma”. To get even more personal I can reveal that I have applied to study at a graduate program in the U.S., but I’m not sure if I’m going to get in. Come early February and I’ll know where I’ll be headed next - perhaps, to California! If not, then I will continue to dedicate myself to Russian literature and Russian language somewhere else. Perhaps I’ll move back home to Sweden and start working at the university there instead. I would have loved to stay in Russia for all of my life, but for many reasons this is not the best place to start an academic career. And I really want to start an academic career! Does that sound silly? I suppose it is a little bit silly. But then again, most dreams are a bit silly… My ultimate life goal - or maybe it is just a dream anyway - would be to move back to Russia in a couple of years, once I’m done with my Ph. D. and go teach somewhere in Siberia. I love the city of «Томск» [Tomsk], where I’ve been twice, but I think I’d rather go to «Иркутск» [Irkutsk] and live there instead, even though I’ve never even been there… Not even traveled through!

I think it is true that once you’ve become very close to a foreign culture, when you’ve come to close that it has become a part of who you are, then you can never truly let go of it. Even if I’m not always going to live in Russia, a part of my heart will always belong to this country. People here often ask me about my future, and since I don’t know where I’ll end up, I always tell them: «Несмотря ни на что, душа моя требует России!» [Despite everything, my soul demands Russia!] There is still much in this country left for me to discover, and still I have many stories that I haven’t yet told anyone… This country has taught me a lot. And I am so thankful for everything that this country has given to me - education, experience, friendship. Maybe this sounds like I’m already saying «до свидания» [farewell] with another eight months left to spend here? That’s not entirely true. I’m just summing up what I’ve come to understand so far. And what I’ve come to understand is this - life is beautiful. And no matter what we must always appreciate, respect and love life.

 What it all comes down to is that I’m just «обычная девушка» [an ordinary girl] and like all other girls I love «пить вишнёвое пиво» [to drink cherry beer]. So is there a better way to end today’s post than to say «на здоровье!» [cheers!]?

 
Posted under Culture, History, Literature, News, The Russian Emotion, Traditions, language
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Riding «общественный транспорт» [Public Transportation] the Russian Way

Posted by Josefina
Oct
9
2009

Sometimes «остановка трамвая» [a tram stop] look like this in even a larger Russian city - this picture was taken on the central «площадь 1905 (тысяча девятьсот пятого) года» [‘The Square of the Year 1905'] here in «Ёбург» [‘Yekat', it's Russian slang for «Екатеринбург» (Yekaterinburg) since that takes far too long time to pronounce on a regular basis!]. Above you can clearly see how it’s done here in the wild East: you must both wait and get on the tram in middle of busy «проспект Ленина» [Lenin's prospect] as cars rush by…

Some people do not own a car. Other people do not even have any «водительские права» [driver's license]. These people have to «пользоваться общественным транспортом» [use public transportation]. I am one of these privileged people since «у меня нет ни машины, ни водительских прав» [I have neither a car nor a driver's license]. But what about this makes me feel privileged? Because I have the constant opportunity to choose from the abundance of different means of public transportation here in Russia! Even though I’m really a devoted «пешеход» [pedestrian] and love «ходить пешком» [to walk on foot], there are times in life when one must «ездить на чём-то» [travel on something] in order to get where one is going. Remember the last post, in which I tried to sort out when to use the prepositions «в» and «на» in Russian? Remember how I promised to sort out these «предлоги» in combination with means of transportation in a separate post? Well, this is it! This is the post in which I’ll try to sort things out in this regard. First we must understand that there are many kinds of public transportation in Russia, and that it functions in a different manner then in, for example, Europe. I’ve lived in Russia for more than five years and I’ve seen a «расписание» [timetable; schedule] almost «на каждой автобусной остановке» [on every bus stop] but I’ve never seen buses keeping these times nor Russians expecting them to do so. Public transportation comes and goes as it pleases in this country. For some this might sound crazy (it did to me also in the beginning) but as a matter of fact it is not the least crazy. Russian public transportation WORKS! You never have to wait for «автобус» [the bus] in Russia. If there’s no bus, then there’s always «трамвай» [a tram] or «троллейбус» [a trolleybus]. But if both of there fail to show up one can always jump on «маршрутка» [a ‘marshrutka'] of which there comes about one every minute in average big Russian cities. And then there’s also to possibility of riding «метро» [the subway] in many bigger cities. Therefore one needs not have wheels of one’s own in this country. Not only because you’ll keep getting stuck «в пробках» [in traffic jams] anyway, but because there’s plenty of other - cheaper and more environmentally friendly! - ways of getting around.

«Автобусы» [pl. buses] exist in many different sizes, color and shapes in Russia. Here we have «жёлтый автобус» [a yellow bus] and «зелёно-белый автобус» [a green-white bus]. Very often in Russian cities you can see «старые автобусы из Европы» [old buses from Europe]. For example, «в Перми» [in Perm] there are many buses «из Дании и Германии» [from Denmark and Germany] and for me while riding them it was very entertaining because I felt like I was back in the past century’s Europe…

The preposition used with means of transportation in Russian is «на» [‘on', ‘in', ‘at']. You can also use «творительный падеж» [instrumental case] with the very same means of transportation and the meaning remains pretty much the same. There’s of course nothing wrong with asking someone on the street on Moscow either of the following questions: «Можно добраться до музея Булгакова автобусом?»  [Can you to get to the Bulgakov Museum by bus?] or «А доехать до Большого театра возможно трамваем?» [And is it possible to get to Bolshoi Theatre by tram?]. But let’s keep it simple today and focus with means of transportation in combination with the preposition «на». In all of the examples below I’m going to use the verb of motion «ехать» in all ways it can be changed in present tense:

«Я еду на трамвае» - [I'm going by tram].

«Ты едешь на метро» - [You're going by subway (metro].

«Она едет на автобусе» - [She's going by bus].

«Мы едем на троллейбусе» - [We're going by trolleybus].

«Вы едете на маршрутке» - [You're going by marshrutka].

«Они едут на машине» - [They're going by car].

Behold my beloved: «троллейбус» [trolley bus; large vehicle which operates on electricity]. Since I come from a country where «троллейбусы» [pl. trolley buses] are a thing of the past - sadly - I was astonished the first time I saw one of these «в Санкт-Петербурге» [in Saint Petersburg] «в глубокой моей юности в 2004 (две тысячи четвёртом) году» [in my ‘deep' youth in the year 2004]. While living in Siberia I further developed my love affair with this kind of Russian public transport and if there’s ever an opportunity to ride on of these babies I take it! Though there’s no real logic behind my love for the «троллейбус»… Behind it you should be able to spot the smaller and very orange «маршрутка» [which is short for «маршрутное такси»].

But when we’re using the preposition «на» together with means of transportation in Russian, we’re actually not speaking of location as such, but of a way of moving ahead; getting where you want to be, so to speak. If you want to express location within a mean of transportation in Russian, then the preposition you should use is «в» which in this case translates very simply into ‘in’ or ‘on’. Does that sound tricky to you? Let’s have a look at two helpful sentences using the word «поезд» [train] which I’m sure will clear up things a little bit at least:

«Вика любит путешествовать НА поезде» - [Vika loves to travel by train].

«Вика познакомилась со своим мужем В поезде» - [Vika met her husband on/in a train].

Of course I had to save the best - and worst! - to last. What is this, you wonder? Let me explain! This little square thingy is called by «русский народ» [the Russian people] for «пазик» [‘pazik'] which is made from the abbreviation «ПАЗ» standing for «Павловский автобусный завод» [Pavlovo Bus Factory]. In some Russian cities ‘pazikis’ perform the role of local ‘marshrutkas’. That’s okay. But very often here in the Urals they also traffic roads between smaller towns and villages and since they are the most uncomfortable mean of transportation ever invented by mankind riding them for more than an hour equals shaking until your insides feels like milkshake. «Не хорошо!» [Not good!]

 
Posted under Soviet Union, Traditions, language
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«Мурка!»: a Russian musical «на мотивы русского шансона» [to the tunes of Russian chanson]

Posted by Josefina
Sep
20
2009

Russia doesn’t just have a people with a ‘wide soul’ - «широкая душа» - but also a wide and diverse culture - «русская культура широкая и разная». Today’s post is about a part of Russian culture that is not among the first things you might find out about this country, but a part that is larger than one imagines it to be initially and has a strong influence on many other parts of society as well. This part of Russian culture is called «блатная музыка» [‘thieves' music'; ‘music from the criminal world']. The adjective «блатной» translates into English as ‘rouge; thieves” and is used to define any noun that is connected with the Russian criminal world. Most of Russian traditional «блатные песни» [‘songs from the criminal world'] belong to a musical genre known in Russia as «шансон» [chanson], or even «русский шансон» [Russian chanson] since it differs some from the French music genre it originally took its name from. «Шансон» is loved by many, many people in Russia today; the most popular radio station «в Свердловской области» [in Sverdlovsk Region] where «Екатеринбург» [Yekaterinburg] is located, is none other than «радио шансон» [Radio Chanson]. Over 50% of all people in our region listen to this radio station on a daily basis. This radio station doesn’t only play «блатная музыка» but sometimes it is difficult to define what is what, especially for someone like me who first came in touch with the Russian «блатной мир» [criminal world] through the works of «Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский» [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky] and «Варлам Тихонович Шаламов» [Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov]. Both of these writers collected «выражения тюремного жаргона» [prison jargon expressions] while serving their sentences, but dealt with the material they gathered in completely opposite ways. Dostoevsky used them in almost all of his later works while Shalamov principally cleared everything he ever wrote from any word or phrase that sounded like «блатной язык» [‘criminal language']. Both of these opinions - Dostoevsky’s positive and Shalamov’s negative - are still current in Russian society today. Either Russians say this kind of culture is okay, or they don’t want to have anything to do with this part of society at all. This I knew before I went to see «Мурка! мюзикл на мотивы русского шансона» [Murka! a musical to the tunes of Russian chanson] this evening with my Russian friend Марина [Marina] and my Korean roommate Вика [Vika]. I received three free tickets on Friday afternoon while I was being treated to «кофе с коняком» [coffee with brandy] by one of my friends who happens to be both «преподаватель биологии» [a teacher of biology] and «мой студент шведского языка» [my student of Swedish language] at the university. A young woman was offering university teachers free tickets to see this new Russian musical and my friend said that he would never go since he «к шансону никак» [doesn't like chanson at all] and because he thinks spreading this negative culture is «плохо» [bad]. Now as you see, my Russian friend agrees with Shalamov and would rather wish this part of Russian society didn’t exist at all; at least he doesn’t want to look in that direction and acknowledge it. But I don’t agree with him and so I asked to give me some tickets instead. Why did I do that? Because I am a huge fan of criminal elements? No, but because I find this culture extremely fascinating. After all I am but a humble philologist and since Russian «блатари» [criminals] have their own «слова» [words] and «фразелогия» [phraseology] I cannot help my curiosity. And since I am not an expert on Russian chanson - except for what I’ve heard here and there due to have lived here for long enough - I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to brush up on my knowledge of classical tunes such as «Таганка» ["Taganka"] and «Мурка» ["Murka"; (did you know that «Мурка» [Murka] is short for «Маруся» [Marusya] that’s short for «Мария» [Maria])]?

Outside of «дворец культуры железнодорожников» [the railroaders' recreation center] before the show this Sunday evening. «Слева на право: я, Вика, Марина и снова я» [from right to left: I, Vika, Marina and once again I].

Upon entering a very average looking «дворец культуры» [recreation center] - anyone who has ever visited one of these traditional Soviet buildings knows that the saying ‘if you’ve seen one, then you’ve seen them all’ can be applied to them - I didn’t know what to expect. Neither did my friends know what to expect. All we knew was that we were going to hear Russian traditional songs in new versions and that’s what we received in the end. The musical was great! I might be a bit biased, though, since I have to confess to being both «большой любитель мюзиклов» [a big fancier of musicals] and «большой ценитель оперы» [big appreciator of opera]. This means that a show where people suddenly and/or continuously sing and/or dance cannot fail to be liked by me. But this show was somehow different; and perhaps it was the music that made that difference. As always in Russia, the actors and the dancers were all great performers and the singing was impressive. Both my friends were very impressed by the show and the evening was very pleasant. On our way out of the «дворец культуры» people all around us were singing the tunes from the musical and some were even dancing… That’s what great an impression it made on the audience! Can’t be anything but a good sign, right? And I couldn’t get the best song of all - «Таганка» ["Taganka"] - out of my head during our ride home «на троллейбусе» [on the trolley bus] so the first thing I just had to do when I got home was to find it on youtube… Which I did in a very nice version by «Михаил Шуфутинский» [Mikhail Shufutinsky] that I’m posting below, as well as the lyrics in Russian together with my very own translation in English. Now you can learn the words and sing along too! (P.S. «Владимир Высоцкий» [Vladimir Vysotsky] also has a version of this song on youtube, maybe you’ll like his version more…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFARFG4RYSQ

Цыганка с картами, дорога дальняя.

[A Gupsy woman with playing cars; a distant road.]

Дорога дальняя, казённый дом.

[A distant road; a house belonging to the state.]

Быть может старая, тюрьма центральная

[Maybe the old, the central prison]

Меня, парнишечку, по новой ждёт.

[awaits me, laddie, with a new term.]

Быть может старая, тюрьма центральная

[Maybe the old, the central prison]

Меня, парнишечку, по новой ждёт.

[awaits me, laddie, with a new term.]

 

Припев: [Refrain:]

Таганка, все ночи, полные огня,

[Taganka, all the nights full of light,]

Таганка, зачем сгубила ты меня?

[Taganka, for what have you ruined me?]

Таганка, я твой бессменный арестант,

[Taganka, I am your permanent prisoner,]

Погибли юность и талант в твоих стенах.

[youth and talent got lost inside your walls.]

Таганка, я твой бессменный арестант,

[Taganka, I am your permanent prisoner,]

Погибли юность и талант в твоих стенах.

[youth and talent got lost inside your walls.]

 

Я знаю, милая, больше не встретимся…

[I know, honey, we won't meet anymore...]

Дороги разные нам суждены.

[Different roads are destined for us.]

Опять по пятницам пойдут свидания

[Again on Fridays there'll be meetings]

И слёзы горькие моей родни.

[and my relatives' bitter tears.]

Опять по пятницам пойдут свидания

[Again on Fridays there'll be meetings]

И слёзы горькие моей родни.

[and my relatives' bitter tears.]

 

Припев: [Refrain:]

Таганка, все ночи, полные огня,

[Taganka, all the nights full of light,]

Таганка, зачем сгубила ты меня?

[Taganka, for what have you ruined me?]

Таганка, я твой бессменный арестант,

[Taganka, I am your permanent prisoner,]

Погибли юность и талант в твоих стенах.

[youth and talent got lost inside your walls.]

Таганка, я твой бессменный арестант,

[Taganka, I am your permanent prisoner,]

Погибли юность и талант в твоих стенах.

[youth and talent got lost inside your walls.]

 I don’t know why I came to like this song so much. There’s something about its «настроение» [mood], I guess… But then again, we don’t always have to understand everything.

 
Posted under Culture, History, News, Soviet Union, Traditions, language
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«Возвращение!» [The Return!]

Posted by Josefina
Sep
17
2009

Today’s post is long overdue. «Я знаю!» [I know!] It’s been almost a week since the last post. «Простите меня!» [Forgive (pl.) me!] But there’s a reason for the delay - or, many reasons even! «Будьте снисходительны!» [Be (pl.) permissive; pardoning; forgiving!] Today’s post is named «возвращение» [return] but it won’t be about the splendid movie «Возвращение» ["The Return"] by contemporary Russian movie director «Андрей Петрович Звягинцев» [Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev] - though I highly recommend you watch this movie in the original Russian (with subtitles if you can find it) - but about another «возвращение» [return]: «моё возвращение в Россию» [my return to Russia]. «Моё возвращение на Урал» [my return to the Urals] took place on Sunday evening, and since it’s already Thursday you might be wondering what I’ve been doing during the past four days? Since I’ve evidently been far too busy to blog about grammar and the like? Well, as always «моё ежегодное возвращение в Екатеринбург» [my annual return to Yekaterinburg] means dealing with a lot of stuff, mainly collecting «разные справки» [different ‘documents' - the magical Russian word «справка» means ‘reference; enquiry' in English but exists in Russian reality in the form of a small piece of paper that proves something or other about your person and is authorized by an official stamp and an accompanying signature]. Life in Russia demands a wide and assorted array of different «справки»! First of all I had to gather together a small collection of «медицинские справки» [medical 'documents'] in order to be allowed to live in the university’s «общежитие» [dormitory; hostel]. Most of you readers are already - I think - aware of the rule of having to obtain a negative HIV-test before applying for a visa to the Russian Federation. Well, actually you have to prove you’re even healthier than that once you arrive in the country - at least if you’re going to be living in a «студенческое общежитие» [student dormitory]. You have to а) «сделать флюориографию» [do fluorography (i.e. make sure your lungs are free from tuberculosis)]; and б) «пройти санпропускник» [pass a sanitary check-up (i.e. make sure your hair is free from lice)]. If you’re not sure what Russian «справки» might look like, check out my impressive collection below:

«Справка» - «существительное женского рода» [is a feminine noun] and that’s why it changes into «много справОК» when put in the case that we all love and know as GENITIVE PLURAL - meaning that they’re ‘many’. If you don’t have one then you have to say: «У меня нет справкИ». But thankfully - as you can probably tell by the picture above - I didn’t have that problem this week when I officially reclaimed my room in the dormitory for yet another year to come. My favorite is the one with the x-ray of my lungs… looking good, «не правда ли?» [is it not true (or: don't you think so)?]

Now the picture above is all that remains of these «справки». I had to hand them over to the «заведующая общежитием» [manager (fem.) of the dormitory] order to receive my new «пропуск» [pass] and be allowed to come and go here as I’d like for the next academic year.

 Generally speaking, I’m very excited to be back in Russia! Even though this is my sixth year in Russia - «мой шестой год в России» - and I should be getting tired of this country by now, I am not. Not at all! There’s always something left to explore here, and that’s one of the reasons why «я так люблю эту страну» [I love this country so]! Russia is always a surprise, sometimes not-so-pleasant, but most of the time very pleasant indeed. And one can never learn everything there is to know about Russia, not to mention everything there is to say in Russian! On Monday afternoon, as I walked the streets of Yekaterinburg for the first time in more than a month and a half, I couldn’t stop smiling. It feels good to be back. And I hope that my return to Russia will mean more inspired as well as more frequent blogging! The summer is always a slow time, but I have lots of new ideas that I would like to try on the blog this fall. I am hoping to be able to give you tips on Russian movies to watch (see the title of this post for where to begin if you feel like getting a head start). I thought we’d mix Soviet classics with contemporary Russian movies, and that I would only recommend the movies I’m sure you can get a hold on out there in the world. «Как вы думаете, это хорошая идея?» [What do you think, is it a good idea?] I’m usually not a movie person, but this summer I happened to watch the Soviet classic «Влюблён по собственному желанию» [‘In Love out of Free Will'] from 1983 and fell completely in love with it! Out of free will, by the way!

As a way of preparing myself for this fall’s new classes «в магистратуре» [in the Master's program] I bought «очень патриотические тетради» [very patriotic notebooks]… they only had three different ones and so I had to buy two with the red Kremlin on them. And that’s okay even though my personal favorite is the one with the big Russian flag…

 
Posted under Culture, The Russian Emotion, Traditions
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Word of the Week: «Время» [Time]

Posted by Josefina
Sep
4
2009

Sometimes Russian Blog’s Word of the Week is solely grammatically interesting, sometimes purely culturally or historically fascinating. Seldom can our Russian word of the week be both. But this week’s word is actually both! The Russian word «время» [time] is grammatically interesting because it is a neuter noun despite ending on «я» [ya] (which is usually the marker for feminine nouns) and has a highly intriguing declension in the six cases (just wait for it!) that might confuse you the first time but is well worth learning by heart. The Russian concept «время» [time] is culturally and historically fascinating since Russia is an enormous country with a total of eleven time zones. And that’s even though the entire «европейская часть России» [European part of Russia (that's all of Russia in front of the Ural Mountains)] has one and the same time - colloquially as well as officially known as «московское время» [Moscow time]. Historically the time in Moscow has been more important than the time in the rest of the ten Russian time zones; for example, all train times are according to «московское время». Though on your train tickets you’ll see that this is written as «время московское» [the change would make it correct to translate as ‘the time is Moscow time']. On plane tickets, however, the time marked for take-off and landing is always «время местное» [local time]. In Russia one often meets Moscow time on TV (news are often broadcast according to the capital), and also on the radio - yet after a while you will have learned to ignore it and apprehend that the popular provincial saying from the Soviet times: «Что Москва? Москва далеко» [What about Moscow? Moscow's far away], is very true indeed.

If you don’t live in Moscow and listen to the radio «в провинции» [in the province] you might hear the following: «Сейчас два часа дня по Москве». Probably you understand the part about ‘now it is two o’clock [p.m.]‘ but what does «по Москве» mean? Clearly not “on Moscow”. It is actually short for «по московскому времени» [according to Moscow time].

When talking about «время» [time] in Russian language and culture we could also bring up the Russian approach to time. What makes the Russian approach different from our own (now I mean to compare mostly with European or Western approach to time, since that’s closest to home for me)? Is it simply prejudice to say that «русские всегда опаздывают» [Russians are always late] or is there some truth to it? Speaking from my own personal experience I have to admit that it’s more than just a little bit true; even though one should always keep in mind that «все русские разные» [all Russians are different]. During five years in Russia I’ve learned that it is best to tell Russians to be somewhere at 11.30, for example, if you want to be sure that they’ll have arrived in time for 12.00. I don’t know why a majority of Russians can never be on time - is it because their lives are so full of stress? That they have too much to do? Or is it due to those «бесконечные пробки на улицах» [endless trafficjams on the streets] which we cannot even imagine before we’ve seen them (not to speak of getting stuck in one of them!)? When I discussed this with one of my professors in Yekaterinburg she said that before, «в советские времена» [in Soviet times], people weren’t at all late as often as they are now. She said it’s mostly «молодёжь» [young people; youth] that is never on time in Russia today. I couldn’t argue with her, obviously, since I’ve never lived in the Soviet Union due to being born in the beginning of «перестройка» ['perestroika' - or, more correctly translated as reconstruction; conversion; realignment; alteration]. That’s why I don’t know what kind of approach the average «гражданин Советского союза» [citizen of the Soviet Union] had. Maybe someone of you readers know more about this? Maybe someone has seen ‘time’ in both the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation?

Okay, enough with the cultural ponderings - let’s decline this noun!

A good way of showing what happens to «время» [time] in the six cases depending on whether it’s SINGULAR or PLURAL («времена» [times] - did you see how the stress just jumped from being on the first vowel in singular to the last in plural? Now that’s confusing to me!) is to give twelve sentences in which this word is portrayed in all of its twelve forms. Okay? Let’s do it then!

«ЕДИНСТВЕННОЕ ЧИСЛО» [SINGULAR]:

Nominative: «Время - деньги» - [Time is money].

Genitive: «У меня нет времени» - [I don't have the time].

Dative: «Поезд придёт в Иркутск в пять часов утра по местному времени» - [The train arrives in Irkutsk at five in the morning according to local time].

Accusative: «Какое время года ты любишь?» - [What time of the year do you love?]

Locative: «Он не ориентируется во времени и пространстве» - [He doesn't orientate himself in time and space].

Instrumental: «Со временем ты меня поймёшь» - [With time you'll understand me].

«МНОЖЕСТВЕННОЕ ЧИСЛО» [PLURAL]:

Nominative: «Что за новые времена!» - [What kind of new times are these!]

Genitive: «Кто сейчас помнит нравы старых времён?» - [Who remembers the manners of old times now?]

Dative: «А ты скучаешь по старым временам?» - [(But) do you miss the old times?]

Accusative: «Я-то стараюсь забыть старые времена!» - [I for one try to forget the old times!]

Locative: «Не будем говорить о старых временах тогда» - [Let's not talk about the old times then].

Instrumental: «Всё изменится с новыми временами» - [Everything will change with the new times].

I hope that you found these twelve sentences to be helpful and that you’ll be able to forgive me for only using the word combinations «новые времена» [new times] and «старые времена» [old times] in plural. Suddenly, while writing this post, I came to suffer from instant brain freeze and couldn’t come up with any other combinations in which you use the word ‘time’ in plural in Russian. If anyone else out there has a clue, please leave it in a comment! I love to read your comments; they help me make this blog better. And I really want this blog to be the best - the best for learning Russian and keeping one’s affectionate feelings for Russian culture in the best of shapes.

 
Posted under Culture, Soviet Union, Traditions, language
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