Posts tagged with "russia"

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.

Russian Holidays: День народного единства

Posted by Natalie 5 Comments
Nov 9 2011

A funny experience happened in my Russian class today, «дорогие друзья» [dear friends]. We are reading «Дама с собачкой» [The Lady with the Lapdog]. My professor said of the main character, «Гуров» [Gurov], «Он верен своей жене?» [Is he faithful to his wife?] I smiled and gave a resounding «Да, конечно» [yes, of course]. Unfortunately, that was wrong. I misread the bit where it says that «Гуров» is unfaithful to his wife: «Изменять ей он начал уже давно…» [He had started to be unfaithful to her a while ago]. And here I was thinking that meant she had perceived him to be a changed person or something like that, which admittedly did not make much sense in context. It just goes to show you: you learn something new every day! In the photo: «памятник Минину и Пожарскому» [the monument to Minin and Pozharsky (two commanders who defeated Polish-Lithuanian forces)].

I want to talk about a Russian holiday, «День народного единства» [Day of People's Unity] that was recently on November 4. I am always interested to learn about foreign countries’ holidays, so I was reading about this one a little bit last week.

«День народного единства» is a recent holiday. It is observed on November 4, «начиная с 2005 (две тысячи пятого) года» [beginning with 2005] and is «нерабочий день» [a non-working day]. And even though it is recent, its history actually dates back pretty far. «27 (двадцать седьмого) октября 1612 (тысяча шестьсот двенадцатого) года гарнизон в Москве сдался» [On October 27, 1612, a garrison in Moscow was surrendered]. One year later, «земский собор избрал новым царём Михаила Романова» [the Zemsky Sobor chose Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar]. This ended the Time of Troubles and began the new Romanov dynasty.

«С 1649 (тысяча шестьсот сорок девятого) года до 1917 (тысяча девятьсот семнадцатого) года» [From 1649 to 1917] November 4 was a holiday because it marked the liberation of Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian force.

There has been controversy about the holiday because of groups espousing «национализм и ксенофобия» [nationalism and xenophobia] demonstrating on this day, like in the photo below:

The banner says «Вернём Россию русским!» [We will return Russia to the Russians!] This is a reference to some people’s dislike of immigrants from certain regions to Russia. It is an important issue today and there are quite a few politicians in Russia who say some pretty crazy things on this matter.

Scary Stories to Read This Halloween

Posted by yelena 12 Comments
Oct 26 2011
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Well, it’s that time of the year again. Halloween is just a few days away. If you remember, last year we had a post about «празднуют ли Хэллоуин в России и если да, то как» [whether Halloween is celebrated in Russia and if yes, then how].

Sure, Halloween does not have deep roots in Russia where it’s a recent addition to the holiday lineup. But this doesn’t mean you can’t find some really good scary stories to enjoy on October 31.

If you have enough time, you can read the story of «Вий» [Viy] by Nikolai Gogol (also English translation). I read it when I was about 10 or so and it made a huge impression on me. In fact, I tried carrying a small piece of «мел» [chalk] with me whenever possible for a couple of months afterwards. Of course, «мел» was «дефицитный товар» [a hard-to-find item] which only confirmed my belief in its magical protective powers.

Interestingly, the spell disappeared just as soon as I watched «одноимённый фильм» [a movie by the same name]. The “Viy” movie is worth watching not just because it’s sort of scary-ish, but also because it’s the only «фильм ужасов» [scary movie] made in Soviet Union. Can you imagine, growing up not knowing what «ужастик» [a scary movie] was?

Besides, it wasn’t really a scary movie at all. After all, it started off with the disclaimer, read calmly in a pleasant voice of a male narrator:

«Вий есть колоссальное создание простонародного воображения. Вся эта повесть есть народное предание.»

[Viy is a colossal creation of popular imagination. This entire tale is a folk legend.]

But if you are short on time or would like to read a simpler story, then Viy is not for you. Instead, I highly recommend «страшилки» [bogeyman stories]. These are not found in books. Instead, they are part of an oral tradition, being passed from child to child, remaining practically unchanged for years.

Told late at night, when all lights are out and no adults are present, these stories can be absolutely terrifying in their straightforwardness, abruptness, simple narrative and uncanny way of making everyday objects terrifying.

Here’s a sample:

«Чёрные занавески» [Black curtains]

«Жили мать, отец, девочка и её брат. Один раз мать послала девочку купить занавески, но сказала, что не покупай чёрные занавески. Девочка пришла в магазин, а там были только чёрные занавески, и она купила чёрные.» 

[There once lived a mother, a father, a little girl and her brother. Once mother sent the girl to buy curtains, but said not to buy black ones. The girl went to the story, which only had black curtains and so she bought them.]

«Мама повесила их на окно. Ночью чёрные занавески задушили отца. Отца похоронили. На следующую ночь занавески задушили мать. Её тоже похоронили. На следующую ночь занавески задушили брата.»

[Mother put them on the window. At night the curtains choked the father to death. So the father was buried. Next night the curtains choked the mother to death. So she too was buried. The night after that the curtains choked the brother.]

«Тогда девочка пошла в милицию и всё рассказала милиционерам. Они ночью спрятались под кроватью, а девочка легла в кровать. Когда занавески захотели задушить девочку, милиционеры выстрелили в них. Занавески закричали, у них полилась чёрная кровь, и они умерли.»

[The the girl went to the police and told everything to policemen. They hid under her bed at night and the girl laid in bed. When the curtains wanted to choke the girl, policemen shot at them. The curtains screamed, black blood poured out of them and they died.]

Morbid? For sure! Interestingly, of all the lessons that could be learned for this little tale – listening to one’s parents, calling the police right away, not waiting until the last moment – the only lesson that really stuck in my mind was the one about not buying black curtains.

After a few trips to summer camps, a couple of sleepovers and a very short stay at a children’s hospital, I also learned to avoid the following objects:

  • Food, including «красное печенье» [red cookie]
  • Clothing – «красные перчатки» [red gloves], but also pretty much any other article of clothing as long as it was either «красное» [red], «чёрное» [black] or «белое» [white], including «тапочки» [slippers], «колготки» [tights], «платье» [dress] and even «ленточка» [ribbon]
  • Any and all furniture and décor items that were «чёрные» [black] or «красные» [red], including «шторы» [drapes], «занавески» [curtains], «пианино» [piano], «картина» [picture] and many more
  • Bare walls and floors weren’t safe either. They had to be carefully examined for the ominous black or red «пятна» [spots].
  • Flowers, such as «чёрные тюльпаны» [black tulips] and «чёрные розы» [black roses]
  • Toys, including «стеклянная кукла» [glass doll]
  • And, most disturbingly, ones relatives, as shown in stories about «бабушка-оборотень» [werewolf grandmother] and «дедушкины руки» [grandfather’s hands].

As you can see, pretty much every object in a child’s surroundings was covered by these stories, from «Автобус с чёрными шторками» [a bus with black curtains] to «Я в доме хозяин» [I am the master of the house] and from «Чёрная голова» [head - black head] to «Красные ноги» [red legs]. You can read these and many more on this excellent site called «детские страшилки» [children’s scary stories].

Which story do you like most/least? Or maybe just add your own story here.

By the way, when I fact-checked the movie “Viy”, all the sites mentioned that it was “just about the only Soviet scary movie”. Do you know any other ones?

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?

19 Memories of 1991 Russia – Part 2

Posted by yelena 21 Comments
Aug 22 2011
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Quick Reminder

Yes, the secret GIVEAWAY is still going on. It will close in just a few days, at 11:59pm EST on August 26th. So there’s still time to enter by leaving a comment either on this post or on my previous post. Remember, you can leave more than one comment. The more you comment, the higher your chances are for winning this secret giveaway.

I’m excited that so many of you liked my previous post. I am quite a «болтушка» [chatterbox] and wouldn’t blame you for getting tired of my «болтовня» [chatter]. I might not be beyond hope yet since I love listening to you just as much (or more) as I love writing on this blog. Usually I respond to the comments you leave, but this time I’m running a cool secret giveaway and each comment is counted as a giveaway entry. So I’m abstaining from commenting myself even though it’s very hard. I promise, I will answer all as soon as the giveaway is over.

«Рекламный ролик» [TV commercial] – Can you imagine watching TV without a single commercial break or listening to a radio program that doesn’t get interrupted for “a word from our «спонсоры» [sponsors]? Well, that was Soviet Union before 1991-1992 when first Western-style «появились» [appeared] on TV screens and airwaves. Here’s some trivia for you – one of the first, if not the first, Western commercial shown in Russia was a Snickers commercial.

«Поле чудес» [lit. Field of Miracles] – Ok, I know, the show itself started in 1990. But it was in 1991 when «Леонид Якубович» [Leonid Yakubovich] became its host and once-and-forever, its symbol. Without him this show, a Russian analog (way more awesome, IMHO) of American “Wheel of Fortune”, is unthinkable. Even before the show, everyone was familiar with the phrase «поле чудес в стране дураков» [a field of miracles in the land of fools] which came from a movie «Буратино» [Russian version of “Pinocchio”].

«Виват, гардемарины!» – I don’t think this title was ever officially translated into English. «Гардемарин» is, from what I understand, a naval cadet, a midshipman. Anyway, this was the second movie in a series of 3. «Дмитрий Харатьян» [Dmitri Haratyan] and «Сергей Жигунов» [Sergey Zhigunov] once again became «предметы обожания» [heartthrobs] of girls all across the country. Interesting fact – the movie was supposed to premier on August 19th, but because of the attempted coup was postponed until August 31st.

«Малиновый пиджак» [crimson jacket] – ah, I love the fact that «малиновый пиджак» phenomenon has its own Wikipedia page. It became practically synonymous with «новые русские» [New Russians], a new social element that became the butt of so many «анекдоты» [jokes]. The wiki page gives a few theories of why crimson jackets became so popular. But I recommend watching a Soviet anti-utopian satire «Кин-дза-дза!» [Kin-dza-dza!] instead. And don’t be intimidated, it has English subtitles (ok, the movie doesn’t have any crimson jackets in it, but it does show a society in which certain things, including garish clothes, become status symbols)

«Будильник Кашпировского» [Kashpirovsky alarm clock] – quite a few of you mentioned that you would had liked to live in Russia in the early 90s and witness the historic changes taking place. I am not sure how many Russians would agree to re-live those days, when given a chance. For most people it was the time of great «стресс» [stress] and «неуверенность в завтрашнем дне» [uncertainty about the next day]. In a country where religion was suppressed and ridiculed for decades, a new outlet had to appear in the form of «экстрасенсы» [psychics], «белые маги» [white magic practitioners] and «ясновидящие» [clairvoyants; lit. those who see clearly]. They filled the newspapers and airwaves with «массовый гипноз» [mass hypnosis] promising «вылечить всех от всего» [to cure everyone from everything].

«Алан Чумак» [Allan Chumak], for example, had weekly sessions on TV passing “healing energy” from his hands into glasses of water people set up in front of their TV sets. One of the signature promises of another hypnotist, «Анатолий Кашпировский» [Anatoliy Kashpirovsky], was his long-distance treatment of «энурез» [bedwetting], in which he talked about an internal alarm clock.

«ПК» [PC] – this is the acronym for «персональный компьютер» [personal computer], something that started appearing in more and more homes around that time. In many cases these were home-made and used a cassette player for input and a TV for output. My first computer was a version of «Синклер Спектрум» [Sinclair Spectrum] that my dad assembled from scratch. I still remember how my brother and I spent hours winding thin wire for its «трансформатор» [transformer]. I’d love to say that we used our PC to learn programming, but that would be a lie. Instead, we mostly used it for gaming, playing «Арканоид» [Arkanoid].

«Школьная форма» [School uniform] – in Soviet Union school children had to wear uniform to school. It wouldn’t be too bad if it was something attractive or comfortable, but it wasn’t. Boys had to wear a dark-blue suite with a white collared shirt. Girls’ uniforms consisted of a brown dress and a «будничный» [everyday] black or «праздничный» [special occasions] white apron. Oh, and girls had to deal with removable «воротнички» [collars] and «манжеты» [cuffs], again, black for everyday and white and lacy for special occasions. I think most kids I knew hated their uniforms or at least preferred to change out of them as soon as they could. Fortunately, sometime in 1991 or 1992 the mandatory wearing of school uniform was abandoned and we all started wearing our families’ newly acquired «благосостояние» [wealth] or lack of it on our multicolored and variously styled sleeves.

«Лебединое озеро» [Swan Lake] – this beautiful ballet is firmly associated with «Августовский путч» [August attempted takeover]. Do you know this old joke about how there were just 2 TV channels in the Soviet Union? Communist Party meetings were on Channel 1 and on Channel 2 there was a «гэбист» [KGB official] ordering viewers to switch to Channel 1. Well, ok, we did have 2 channels for a very long time and the programming wasn’t all that fun or varied. But boy, did we come to appreciate that on August 19th, 1991! On that day, by order of «ГКЧП» [GKChP] or «Государственный комитет по чрезвычайному положению» [The State Committee on the State Emergency], also known as “The Gang of Eight”, all regularly-scheduled TV programming was cancelled. Instead, all we had was «Лебединое озеро».

«Путч» [military takeover] – isn’t it a German word? Well, it sounded just right for the occasion. I’m not sure why it was chosen over «переворот» [takeover]. One of the reasons that come to mind is that it’s shorter, sounds more efficient and way more sinister. Personally, unlike «переворот», «путч» wasn’t even in my «лексикон» [vocabulary] until August 19th, 1991. Once it was all over, there were quite a few jokes that used the wordplay of «путч» [putsch] and «пучить» [experience gas].

 

So here you go, between Part 1 and Part 2 (this one), there are 19 tidbits of my personal «воспоминания» [memories] about 1991. What were yours? I’d love to hear! And don’t forget, you still have a few days left to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment either on this post or on Part 1.

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