Привет, comrade!

In Russia Language Learns You!

[privet-comrade]

My English-Russian Dictionary

Artist: Сплин | Splin | Spleen Year: 2007

Anglo-russkiy slovar' My English-Russian Dictionary

Moy poyezd yedet v Stambul - eto "cool", (My train goes to Istanbul – This is "cool,")

No deneg net na obed - eto "bad", (But I don't any money for lunch – This is "bad".)

Kto mne pokazhet striptiz - tomu "kiss", (Those who will give me a striptease – will get "a kiss",)

A kto pokazhet kulak - tomu "fuck"! (And those who shake their fist – will get "fuck"!)

[chorus, 2x:] Davay, lama, davay, (Go on, lama*, go on)

Davay, otkryvay svoy anglo-russkiy slovar' (Go on, open your English-Russian dictionary)

Kogda povsyudu ty svoy - eto "joy", (When people know you – this is "joy",)

Kogda ty vsyudu odin - eto "spleen", (when you are alone – this is "spleen",)

Kogda nikto ne zvonit - eto "shit", (when no-one calls you – this is "shit")

Kogda vokrug vsyo ne tak - eto, eto- (when everything goes wrong – this is, this is-)

[chorus, 2x]

Kto nenavidit voynu - tot v plenu, (He who hates the war – is a prisoner of war,)

Iz dvukh velikikh kul'tur ya khochu sdelat' odnu (nu, nu, nu-nu-nu); (from two great cultures, I want to make one.)

Kogda vokrug vse poyut - eto "good", (When everyone around you is singing – this is "good,")

Kogda botinki ne zhmut - eto tozhe "good"! (When you're shoes are the right size – this is also "good"!)

Kogda rumyan karavay - eto kayf, (When the bread is freshly baked – this is “kaif”**)

Kogda na ulitse may - eto i est' nasha "life". (When it is May – this is it, our "life".)

[chorus]

* Like the dalai-lama 

** Kaif is a very hard word to translate, it's like the higness from drugs, but not nesecsarily from drugs. It was used a lot as a slang term in the 80s to mean any kind of enjoyment. It’s still quite popular.

Original lyrics (Cyrillic):

Мой поезд едет в Стамбyл - это COOL Hо денег нет на обед - это BAD Кто мне покажет стpиптиз - томy KISS А кто покажет кyлак - томy FUCK

Давай, лама, давай,

Давай откpывай свой англо-pyсский словаpь.

Когда повсюдy ты свой - это JOY Когда ты всюдy один - это SPLEAN Когда никто не звонит - это SHEET Когда вокpyг всё не так - это, это...

Давай, лама давай, Давай откpывай свой англо-pyсский словаpь.

Кто ненавидит войнy, тот в пленy, Из двyх великих кyльтyp я хочy сделать однy. Когда вокpyг все поют - это GOOD, Когда ботинки не жмyт - это тоже GOOD, Когда pyмян каpавай - это КАЙФ, Когда на yлице май - это и есть наша LIFE.

Давай, лама давай, Давай откpывай свой англо-pyсский словаpь. Давай, лама давай, Давай наливай да подставляй не зевай.

[privet-comrade]

My Friend (Plays the Blues Better Than Anybody Else)

Quick post to keep the blog updated. I’ve been planning to post Russian music with translated into English lyrics, so here you go, the first post like that. Hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. I also included transliterated lyrics, i.e. original Russian lyrics but written with Latin symbols (stressed vowels are written bold).

Artist: “Машина Времени” | “Mashina Vremeny” | “Time Machine”

Year: 1993

Moy Drug (Lutshe Vsekh Igrayet Bluz)

My Friend (Plays the Blues Better Than Anybody Else)

Podnyat vorot, pust karman, (His collar is raised, pocket is empty,)

On ne molod i vechno pyan, (He's not young, and he’s always drunk,)

On na vzvode, ne podkhodi, (He’s on edge of nervous breakdown, don't come to him)

On ukhodit vsegda odin. (He goes away always alone.)

[chorus:] No zato moy drug (But my friend)

Lutshe vsekh igrayet bluz. (plays the blues better than anybody else.)

Kruche vsekh vokrug (He's the coolest man around)

On odin igrayet bluz. (to play the blues.)

On ne znayet umnykh slov, (He doesn't know the intellectual words,)

On schitayet vas za kozlov, (He considers you to be the scum,)

Dazhe v morge on budet igrat', (Even in the morgue, he will play the music,)

Na vostorgi yemu plevat'. (He doesn't care about your delights.)

[chorus]

Notch na vydokh, den' na vdokh, (Night is for a exhale, day is for inhale,)

Kto ne vyzhil, tot izdokh. (Who has not survived, that man died.)

Obrechyonno letit dusha (His doomed soul is flying)

Ot saksofona do nozha. (From the saxophone to the knife.)

[chorus]

Podnyat vorot, pust karman, (His collar is raised, pocket is empty,)

On ne molod i vechno pyan, (He's not young, and he's always drunk,)

Obrechyonno letit dusha (His doomed soul is flying)

Ot saksofona do nozha. (From the saxophone to the knife.)

Original lyrics (Cyrillic):

Поднят ворот, пуст карман, Он не молод и вечно пьян, Он на взводе, не подходи, Он уходит всегда один.

[припев:] Но зато мой друг Лучше всех играет блюз. Круче всех вокруг Он один играет блюз.

Он не знает умных слов, Он считает вас за козлов, Даже в морге он будет играть, На восторги ему плевать.

[припев]

Ночь на выдох, день на вдох, Кто не выжил, тот издох. Обречённо летит душа От саксофона до ножа.

[припев]

Поднят ворот, пуст карман, Он не молод и вечно пьян, Обречённо летит душа От саксофона до ножа

[privet-comrade]

Ugh, I’m so sorry for not posting anything as I promised. I didn’t realize how little time I have to finish my graduate work :’( Sorryyyy.

[privet-comrade]

Idea

I’ve got an idea of making videos containing a block of new words and phrases on some certain topics, such as “New Year”, “Introduction”, “Shopping”, “Pets”, “Slang” etc, well, you got the idea. And I’m going to pronounce all these words in the video with my voice - slowly and normally! Only audio (obviously), as I will need the video stream to show how the words are written and translated.

Probably will look like this:

Now tell me how crazy is that! :D

Going to post my first video dedicated to Victory Day in the next 3 days! (well, I hope so D: I need to work on my graduation work first of all). I guess it’s going to be quite short, but I can’t say for sure, we’ll see.

[privet-comrade]

Victory Day is Coming

Victory Day (День Победы) in Russia is celebrated on May 9 and the country’s second most popular public holiday after New Year’s Day.

The holiday marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War in 1945. 

Unlike Europe where it is celebrated on May 8, Victory Day in Russia is celebrated on May 9 as Germany’s surrender was signed late in the evening on May 8, 1945 when it was already May 9 in Russia.

Victory Day in Russia commemorates millions of people who lost their lives in the Second World War, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, and honors the bravery of Russian soldiers and Russian people on the whole whose heroism saved the country from Nazi invaders.

On this day celebrations and commemorative events are held all across Russia, with military parades taking place in the country’s major cities, the most spectacular one in Moscow’s Red Square.

Victory Day in Russia is a sacred holiday for Russians who often say that there is not a single family in the country who did not lose someone in that war.

This day’s traditional mottos are “No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” (Никто не забыт, ничто не забыто | Nikto ne zabyt, nichto ne zabyto) and “I remember and I’m proud“ (Я помню, я горжусь | Ya pomnyu, ya gorzhus’).

People on this day often pin a Saint George’s ribbon to their clothes to show their respect to veterans.

[privet-comrade]

Hi, I was wondering what Ukrainian sounds like to native speakers of Russian? Also, this might be kind of random, but is it considered weird to smile in public in Russia? I know in some countries they think Americans smile like total fools...

I’m so glad you asked the first question, because Ukrainian language is a huge butthurt for many Russians, including me, lol.

Imagine that you have an extremely annoying retarded little brother. When he sees a bird, he shouts “Omg, tweetie!”. And he has a stupid name for literally every goddamn thing. He calls your cat “purrchie”, he wants a huge “yum yum” for his birthday, he calls your girlfriend “vaggy peggy”, and everything he says is just SO stupid and annoying and retarded that you just… UGGGH!!

Well, that’s basically how I and most people I know feel about Ukrainian language. It’s like a super unfunny parody of Russian language.

As for your second question, in big cities, many business owners teach their workers to behave like Americans - give customers a big American smile and ask “May I help you?” when they just entered. Many got used to it, many were okay with that from the beginning, but still, not everyone feel comfortable when a seller or a waiter serve them behaving like this, because this behavior is just not natural for Russians, you know? As for smaller places, I am from a very small town myself, and when I go to Moscow, and I enter a local store looking for a present or something, and a pretty young woman gives me this big American smile and says “Hello! How can I help you?” being just so so sooo nice and friendly, on the inside I feel like “Omg, why are you staring at me what do you want why are you smiling like this do i look funny what’s wrong with you stop looking at me like this you’re scaring me what’s going on haaalp”, lol. On the outside, I just look down, mumbling “Nevermind” and leave. Just because she scared me with her overly-friendly behavior. Of course, not all Russians are complete sociophobes from a village like me, but many feel uncomfortable when they see this American smile.

But enough about business. Let’s go back to people.

If you smile in Russia, there must be a good reason for it, or else people will think you’re weird, or stupid, or you have something mean in mind and they better stay away from you. Russians smile very seldom, it’s true. But if a Russian gives you a smile, you can be sure it’s sincere and they really like you.

[privet-comrade]

What's the difference between "черный кот" and "черная кошка?"

It’s all about the cat’s gender:

If you see a cat on the street, you can’t say what is its gender for sure. So if you want to tell someone that you saw a cat today, you may use any form you like; it depends only on what sex the cat was as YOU think. There is no special rule for talking about a cat of unknown gender.

Another example. A man can say,

“Я живучий, как кот♂” (”I have nine lives, like a cat♂”)

Or you can hear people saying about a woman

“Она грациозна, как кошка♀” (“She is graceful like a cat♀“)

As a biologocal species, a cat is called “кошка”.

So it’s correct to say

“Кошки - очень красивые животные” (”Cats are very beautiful“)

but not

“Коты - очень красивые животные“ (”Cats are very beautiful“)

[privet-comrade]

So I decided to post short cuts from popular TV series with Russian voice-over translation and English subs, plus the whole text in Russian below (for those who aren’t skilled enough to recognize Russian speech by just hearing).

I believe it’s a very nice idea, but on the other hand I’m afraid to get banned for posting these cuts, ‘cause, you know, Tumblr is an American site, and you guys have such a strict anti-piracy legislation it’s almost depressing.

So what do you say? Do you think I’m gonna have problems?

[privet-comrade]

Hi, I have a culture related question! I think a lot of traditional Russian shawls and scarves are really beautiful (especially with the Pavlovsky Posad floral patterns), but is it only babushki and tourists who wear them? Would it be strange for a woman in her 20s to wear one like a normal scarf?

Thank you for the interesting question.

In my opinion, you should never afraid of wearing something as long as you feel comfortable wearing it.

As for traditional Russian shawls, I believe they have always been considered quite fashionable, in my opinion, rather even hipster because of their authenticity.

As you can see in the following pictures, there’s nothing really wrong about wearing them and they actually look pretty cute on girls and young women :)

[privet-comrade]