| Getting all bent out of shape |
[Июл. 10, 2009|07:40 pm] |
By Michele A. Berdy
Враскорячку: an awkwardly splayed, bow-legged pose/position/stance
I have to admit that my ears perked up the other day when I heard Prime Minister Vladimir Putin say: “ … у нас в народе есть такое не очень литературное слово … ” (Our people have a word that isn’t exactly standard literary language … ). Oh, boy. Time for another Russian lesson.
The context for this week’s lesson was this: Before his trip to Moscow, U.S. President Barack Obama said that he thought “Putin had one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.” Putin responded with his “nonliterary” (read: not quite fit to print) phrase: Мы враскорячку не умеем стоять.” ( Read more... ) |
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| (без темы) |
[Июл. 10, 2009|03:32 pm] |
hi netizen!
i was just asked if there is an argument of soljenitsyn's 'odin den ivana denisovicha' in spanish or in english ? |
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| (без темы) |
[Июл. 9, 2009|01:30 pm] |
Is "вы" always capitalized in writing when you are addressing only a single person? Or is this optional and you can leave it uncapitalized? Also, what about other forms of the word, such as
вас / вами /вам...
I assume they are also capitalized just as "вы" is?
What about the "вы"-based adjectives : ваш / ваши / ваша / ваше?
Thanks! |
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| Friendly. |
[Июл. 8, 2009|09:41 pm] |
I am trying to find a way to say that the Russian-speaking community in Washington is very friendly, and I'm not sure which word I want - I guess I'm trying to say welcoming and open to friendship. What are the differences between the words below? Are my impressions of them correct?
дружелюбный - This seems to me like a good word to describe a person, like "he's a friendly guy."
дружественный - Maybe this is what I want? I'm worried it sounds a little too abstract, like something that would be between organizations or countries instead of people.
дружеский - This seems like friendly in the sense of being on good terms, like дружеские отношения.
As I understand it дружный means "close" or "tight-knit," as in у нас очень дружная семья (our family is very close). |
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| (без темы) |
[Июл. 6, 2009|08:05 pm] |
I keep coming back to this prologue. I should probably just leave it alone, considering its length and its semi-poetic, invoking-the-muse style, and the fact that it's not on the audio book, but I guess I'm just a masochist.
...навести продуманныи лоск на щенячью угловатость...
What are we talking about here? Thanks. |
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| привет! |
[Июн. 30, 2009|09:50 pm] |
I am in the first part of two beginning summer Russian courses at my university. This is my third week. I am wondering if someone can explain the difference in usage between:
она / oн
and
её / его
The course I am taking is taught with the Начало text which can be a bit frustrating at times because it doesn't explain all the words it uses.
Also, any tips about learning Russian? I hope to get a pen-pal/chat thing going on sometime later in the year when I can actually say more than a few sentences but mostly I am pretty bad at pronunciation. The course moves really fast (one Начало chapter a week out of seven that comprise the book) and sometimes I'll only hear a word spoken by the professor once--in passing-- if it is not on the CDs that accompy the book.
Are there any good russian dictionaries with audio online?
спасибо! |
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| Песня про Ь |
[Июн. 27, 2009|08:49 pm] |
Кто возьмёт шест
Сделает шесть?
Чей один жест
Сделает жесть?
Один великий маг-
Он Ь!
Кто возьмёт мол
Сделает моль?
Так что на гол
Хитра будет голь?
На это всё мастак
Наш Ь!
Пока он ел,
Успел вырастить ель
И посадить лодку с мелом на мель.
Огромный пыл
Превращается в пыль,
Волшебник был,
Ведь написана быль.
Ничтожный вес
Прогремит на весь мир,
Лишь напишешь знак-факир.
Сказал мне Ден, мой дружок, «Добрый день»,
Подружек Лен считать уже лень,
Когда стишок нов,
Кто делает новь?
Кто пустит под кров,
Когда течёт кровь?
Ты готов? Так готовь
Яркий фрак,
Едет к нем не Щ,
Не Й и не Ъ,
Едет в гости Ь!
В оригинале: Песня Тома Лерера "Silent E"
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| Siberian speech? |
[Июн. 27, 2009|01:10 am] |
Hey everyone,
Random question, but is there anything I should know about the way people speak in Siberia, particularly the Altay Region? I'm going there this summer for a job, luckily it seems like my host family speaks English, but I just wanted to know if there was anything particular differences in speech that could be a source of misunderstanding. I'm used to Moscow and St. Petersburg speech. Just in case. |
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| Убедительная просьба |
[Июн. 24, 2009|11:00 am] |
Я ищу принимающую семью, в которой я мог бы жить в Санкт–Петербурге осенью с августа по декабрь. Я буду учиться в СПбГУ и хочу жить в русской семье (или по крайней мере снимать комнату у отдельного человека) чтобы поближе познакомиться с русской культурой и разговаривать по–русски, и т.д. Я могу платить умеренную сумму за это. Если вы кого–нибудь знаете, сообщите пожалуйста! Спасибо большое
I'm looking for a host family that I could live with in Saint Petersburg for the fall, from August to December. I will be studying at Saint Petersburg State University and want to live with a Russian family (or at least rent a room from an individual person) in order to see Russian culture more closely and practice speaking Russian, etc. I can pay a moderate amount for this. If you know anyone, please let me know! Thank you |
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| Russian Library Sign |
[Июн. 22, 2009|01:11 pm] |
As I've mentioned before, I work in a library with a Russian collection. We shifted some of the books to another location, and I'm trying to figure out how to say "The Russian books now begin on the other side of the staircase."
There is a staircase leading up to a balcony. The collection used to begin immediately to the right of the staircase. We added a new shelf to the left of the staircase, which is harder to see. So I'm putting a sign on the right side of the staircase, referring to the new shelf on the left side. Hope that's clear.
I'd asked my girlfriend through text message, and she suggested "КНИГИ НА РУССКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ НАХОДИТСЯ С ДРУГОЙ СТОРОНУ ЛЕСТНИСУ." (Keep in mind, I'm transliterating through text message, so any spelling mistakes, etc., are my own). I think maybe she misunderstood. An old Russian lady said it was wrong but couldn't really explain how to fix it. That line looks to me like it says "The Russian books are now on the other side of the staircase," as in all of the books. But it's only like A-B of the fiction books.
Thank you in advance. |
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| Usage tips |
[Июн. 19, 2009|09:05 am] |
For the benefit of the learners I'll repeat here a comment that several people found useful (it's gone along with the post).
The recent incident may be a good opportunity to learn some subtleties of Russian usage so that you'll avoid inadvertent offense and confusion.
In Russia the word "русский" in reference to a person usually implies ethnicity. So, words like "не русский", "не для русских" have an offensive ring. Think of something like "no Hispanics". The intent may be "not for native Spanish speakers" but the way it's stated it may sound offensive.
The words "россиянин", "россияне" may be a good alternative only in some contexts. For example, "президента поддерживают X% россиян". (The word "русских" here would imply that citizens of other ethnicities are not counted).
On the other hand, you wouldn't want to ask "Как употребляют это слово россияне?", unless you have a reason to believe that native Russian speakers elsewhere use the word differently (normally it's not the case).
Basically, you wouldn't use "россияне" to imply "native Russian speakers" pretty much for the same reason you wouldn't say "the British" instead of "native English speakers". A lot of native Russian speakers live in the former Soviet republics and other countries.
So, when you want to refer to "native Russian speakers" you should say "носители (русского) языка", "русскоговорящие", "русскоязычные".
There is a remarkable exception, however, that you should be aware of. Russian speaking emigrants outside of the former Soviet Union (in the US, Canada, Israel, Germany, Britain, Australia etc) do use the word "русские" to imply "native Russian speakers" regardless of their ethnicity in reference to fellow emigrants. This usage is actually borrowed from the surrounding cultures. Keep in mind, that it strikes people living in the former USSR as odd. This oddity has been widely mocked, sometimes in offensive ways.
You may, however, encounter this usage in your own country if you get to hang out with Russian speakers. |
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| Ошибки в Голливудских фильмах |
[Июн. 19, 2009|05:56 pm] |
Please watch the trailer till the end, there is a dialogue in Russian.
I have a couple of questions:
1. Do you know better/worse examples of 'Russians' in Hollywood movies (in terms of language)?
2. Do they employ consultants for every foreign language to be dealt with or not?
UPD
Красная жара:
И еще тут:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkE9Mx3elaQ |
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| Moderatorial II |
[Июн. 19, 2009|04:19 pm] |
Dear members,
the second moderator (who was flying from NYC to Moscow when you were at flame war) is back.
I have deleted two recent flame-inciting posts; as the personal question between the other moderator and a member is sorted out, there is no more reason why flame wars shall go on. This decision, as well as the decisions of the other moderator, are final, and not to be amended.
Furthermore, I personally warn the non-content: do not start flame wars here again. This community is strictly educational, and if you do not have enough heated discussions not directly connected whith educational issues, please do seek them elsewhere.
Again, this is learn_russian community, not fight_the_mods. Please help us keep it clean of off-topic issues, and respect the community rules (if you have not seen them yet, please follow the link and read.)
Yours truly,
Evil Moderator. |
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| Moderatorial |
[Июн. 18, 2009|04:15 pm] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) _warbear_ is banned from the community forever for the following:
1. Flame-inciting comments and personal attack on moderators
2. Commenting in Russian
Both are explicitly prohibited by the community rules (pp.2 and 4 respectively).
This posting is made upon request of _warbear_ himself. |
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| Russian summer courses in St. Petersburg? |
[Июн. 16, 2009|01:34 am] |
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Hi all! Maybe somebody can help me with information? A German friend of mine would like to come to St. Petersburg for approx. 2 weeks in August. She would like to refresh her Russian skills (which I would rate as intermediate), so we are looking for Russian courses for her. Could somebody recommend really _good_ courses? Thank you very much in advance! |
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| (без темы) |
[Июн. 13, 2009|08:21 pm] |
Could you give some examples of the use of "как раз"? I often want to use it in the meaning of "completely" or "100%", but I always feel uncertain.
How does it compare to совсем, "прям", вполне? Is как раз flexible or used only with certain phrases? |
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| Two more quotations from films |
[Июн. 13, 2009|08:48 am] |
Dorogie kollegi :)
What is the meaning of this quotation in contemporary Russian language? Кто возьмёт билетов пачку, тот получит водокачку
Туалет, типа сортир (обозначенный буквами «Мэ» и «Жо»)
Both from the film "Бриллантовая рука".
Thank you in advance
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