Search by tag «Russian language» 61 results

• 10 Essential Russian Riddles: Test Your Wit

  Who’s an elder dressed in a hundred coats and why does a maiden hide in a dungeon? Solve these riddles and learn a thing or two about Russian culture.

  03.08.2020

• ITMO’s Russian Language and Culture Summer School: A Passion for Learning

  Since 2016, ITMO University has hosted a Russian language summer school for language learning enthusiasts around the world. This year, from July 1 to 28, the school was held online for the first time with 22 participants from 10 countries including Canada, China, the UK, the USA and several countries in Europe. We talked to a few of the participants to learn about their experiences during the summer school and what attracted them to Russian language and culture. 

  28.07.2020

• Proverbs and Sayings to Sound Like a Native Speaker

  The Russian language has a proverb for every occasion in life. This week we’ll check out some of the most popular ones.

  29.06.2020

• Speak like a Russian: Cat Words

  It’s sometimes hard to come up with a new article idea, especially at times like these when all that comes to one’s mind has to do with either the risk of infection or the boredom of isolation. Today was different: the topic almost forced itself onto me. First thing in the morning, I find a whole rookery of cats lazing on my porch, and a half hour later, I learn that today is “International St. Petersburg Cats’ Day” - a new improvised holiday that I personally find rather odd, but still. So, it seems that there’s no way around it, and the language that we’ll be learning today will have to do with the purring little creatures that (almost) everyone loves!

  08.06.2020

• Love Diversity (and Exploring!) Like a Russian

  So have an irresistible urge to travel around Russia but that’s not exactly feasible right now? Besides, your attention span is down to a nanosecond? Cue in Multi-Russia, 55 postcard-style cartoons about the country’s various regions told by who else? A bear!

  01.06.2020

• Swear Like a Russian: of the Fool and the Devil

  As I promised, this article will be about “safe” Russian swear words, and first off, we’ll take a look at two that are very simple and common, yet very special to the Russian culture. 

  18.05.2020

• Don’t Leave the Room, Don’t Make a Mistake and Run: Poems Every Russian Knows

  Did you know that every Russian child spends their 11 years at school memorizing poems (and sometimes even prose excerpts) for literature classes? And while some might look back on these memories in terror, personally, I found the experience to be rather enjoyable. What’s true for most of us, however, is that we still remember quite a few lines and they’re sometimes all that’s needed to find a key to that mysterious Russian soul of ours. 

  28.04.2020

• Speak Like a Russian: Corona-Inspired

  Last time, I promised you to write about safe Russian swear words, which is a fun topic, indeed. However, as I watched everybody get so tense because of COVID-19 and self-isolation, I couldn’t really say what’s safe anymore! “Вот зараза!”, I mumbled as I scrapped yet another list of swear words, and this kind of inspired me to change the topic. But worry not - the swear words are coming next.

  20.04.2020

• Swear like a Russian (not): Russian Mat

  It's a common thing to ask someone to teach you a swear word in their native language: you think it’s funny and cool and wins you points. For some, knowing how to swear even helps build their confidence with a language. Then again, swear words and slang hold a special place in every culture, and are very easy to misuse. For this reason, we’ve decided to touch upon this topic, and start with Russia’s most notorious way of speaking: the infamous “mat”.

  23.03.2020

• Speak Like a Russian: the Unfathomable

  To tell you the truth, today started as a total disaster for me. Just yesterday, I had plans to post a nice winter-themed article, and the first thing that I didn't see this morning were any traces of snow. A few hours later, when I was working on a gloomier backup topic, the heavy morning rain gave way to some glorious sunshine, which messed up my plans once again. Needless to say, I was ready to burst out in anger! Then suddenly, I remembered one peculiar Russian expression which helped me calm down, contemplate on the situation that I got myself into, and recall the one word that you definitely have to learn in order to truly understand the Russian culture. 

  18.02.2020