Russian language rules
Why do the letters j and sh have an I at the end, while j and sh are hard consonants?
Write next to the child two familiar words in the plural, «tomatoes» and «frogs.» Say them out loud and listen to the end. In…
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…
Solid and soft consonants, like a child hearing the difference between the words "luch" and "luk"
Say the word «leek» out loud. Now say «leek». The words are short, three letters each, and they end the same way. The difference is in the beginning. It's...
Father's Day in Russia and why we should start greeting our fathers again in October, if we were greeting them in June
In June of last year, Tima had Donuts with Dad at school. That’s when the dads come in at 7:00 in the morning…
The child speaks Russian with adults and keeps quiet with peers
In the morning, Grandma asked about school on video, and the grandson answered, briefly but in Russian. In the afternoon, my mother's friend came with her son, also...
How to read an American address to an elderly person in Russian and not «misinterpret» the street name
The grandmother asks over the phone. «Type in your address for me, I'll write it down.» The child takes a envelope from the table and reads what's on it...
How the Russian question is structured and why there is no auxiliary verb in it
In February, Nicke was assigned a school project called family history. They required him to interview the oldest relative, record the conversation, and…
Why proverbs and jokes are difficult to translate literally
Imagine a family history. Someone mistakenly signed the box with Christmas toys «soup». They left the inscription, and now at the New Year in…
Why Russians write ZY instead of P.S. and where the vowels went from «spasibo»
At the end of the message, the person adds: «PS. I'll be later tomorrow.» If you type PS without switching from the Russian keyboard layout, you get ZY. In...
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