Russian Language
Filler words in the Russian language and how to break the habit of using them
Record yourself on a tape recorder. Three minutes, about anything. How the day went, what you watched yesterday. Then listen. The first feeling in your…
Official business style: why «please provide» is normal on paper but strange at the kitchen table
Here is a typical vacation request. It is rarely written, and the wording has to be recalled every time. «Please grant me annual paid leave with…
The child is silent during a video call with her grandmother and what to put in front of the camera
Grandmothers have a saying for grandchildren who haven’t visited or called in a long time: «You haven’t said anything at all.» Video communication,…
The child does not ask for help in Russian and how to offer him a word to hold
Sometimes when packing a gift, you really miss that extra hand. The paper, just neatly folded, gets wrinkled; you have to take it out of the box…
The child speaks Russian fluently and cannot write a message.
«Grandma, I'll come on Saturday.» It takes two seconds for the child to utter the phrase. He says it without hesitation and...
When «you» suddenly becomes «you,» we read one of Pushkin's poems with a teenager.
Our collection of poems about love includes eight lines by Pushkin that stand there without a single word of explanation. For a postcard, they…
«I feel sorry» or «I feel bad» to tell a friend whose favorite toy broke
My friend’s machine broke. The very same one he carried with him everywhere. The child knows what to say, and even doesn’t…
«I don't want to» and «I won't», what the child actually said before the Russian lesson
It's ten minutes until class. The child says, «I don't want to.» A minute later, the adult tells it to another adult. «He's refusing Russian again.» In between...
«Oh, come on!» might surprise and stop the argument, just as one might hear an intonation
The child comes up with the news. «I lost a tooth!» The adult replies, «Oh well!» The child remains silent. He knows the word «well» as «good,…”
In the family chat there are ten adults and one child; how should he start the conversation?
In the morning Auntia Olya sent a photo from the family cottage to the family chat; in the photo, a bucket of apples was sitting on the porch. In an hour, under the photo…
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