Russian langbr

Anastasia | Certified Russian tutor | 22 lvl

[russianwithasta]

I am back!

I have an idea to post here the information related to my work as a Russian tutor. So if any topic is interesting for you, let me know.

Now I am a certified Russian teacher, so I am more than happy to help other learn my native language!

One of my students studies Russian at university and we practice with him oral Russian, so he can feel more confident while speaking. He has a textbook which he uses to write down the words he can not understand. So in the previous lesson, I explained to him the meaning of some words and phrases, gave him a context to use them. And asked him to make a sentence, using these words and phrases.

Here are some of them:

- На халяву - бесплатно, не прилагая усилий (when you obtain something without any effort);

- Халява - что-то бесплатное (something that you obtained for free, without any effort);

- "Халява, приди" - то, что кричат российские студенты перед экзаменами (that's what Russian students cry out right before the exams).

So the question for you: what does "халява, приди" means for Russian students?

Вопрос для вас: что означает фраза "халява, приди"?

[lucylangblr-deactivated20220424]

NEW WEBSITE IS LIVE - FREE MONTH - NO BANK DETAILS NEEDED

frenchcorrection.co is live!

WHAT IS IT????

Welcome to FrenchCorrection!

FrenchCorrection is a website I have made to give people the opportunity to improve their written French.

How does it work?

1. sign up (with the first free month option you DO NOT NEED TO PROVIDE BANK DETAILS) at http://frenchcorrection.co/index.php/plans/membership-options/

2.You send me a piece of writing through the submission page once you have signed up and logged on. 

3. I correct it and send it back to you via email with grammar tips and suggestions. 

Philosophy of the Website

The idea isn’t that I do your homework for you, but that I highlight the things that you need to improve, and show you how to make your French more fluid. The service I provide is a great tool for improving your French. If you are signed up for a subscription (including free month), you can send me as much of your writing as you like, so I would suggest sending me lots of things. 

Write a diary! Write me a letter! Write a story! There is no limit to what you can do (but there is a word limit of 400 words)! I will correct you and get it back to you as soon as I can via email.

<3 please sign up! 

[lucylangblr-deactivated20220424]

And if you have any technical issues, please contact me at: [email protected]

[russianwithasta]

CHECK IT, IF YOU LEARN FRENCH

[languagessi-deactivated20210423]

Learning a language is not just memorizing vocabulary and grammar structures, but it is also learning about the country where it’s spoken and the culture and the people who speak it. This is why I made this challenge and I hope many langblrs will participate!

To participate in this challenge you have to learn something about the topics I’ve listed below for 30 days. You don’t have to follow the order I’ve provided and you can take breaks between tasks if you’re busy with real life. You can use whichever resources you want - the internet, books, documentaries, people living in the country you’re learning about, etc. If you want to, you can post about your progress (daily or every now and then) and tell what you have learned. If you do, please tag your posts as #langblrculturechallenge so that I and others can see what you have learned and learn something as well!

Extra challenge: learn a few new words related to the topic you’re learning about!

Topics

1. Basic information (the name of the country, location, area, capital, population, official languages, currency, time-zone, etc.) 2. History 3. Geography 4. Politics 5. Economy 6. Science, technology, inventions 7. Transportation 8. Education 9. Health 10. Population 11. Languages 12. Religion 13. Calendar, holidays, festivals 14. Traditions 15. Values and etiquette, manners and customs, taboos 16. Family 17. Cuisine 18. Clothing 19. Art 20. Literature 21. Music 22. Dance 23. Architecture 24. Handicrafts 25. Sports 26. Media 27. Folklore and mythology 28. Stereotypes 29. National symbols 30. Topic of your choice

[russianwithasta]

Join this challenge! I'll join it too :>

[arabic-langblr]

Space/sci-fi words and phrases

Can I request space/sci-fi words and phrases? Both in msa and levantine (if there’s a difference)

Requested by : @diloolie​

Space vocabulary

Asteroid / كُوَيْكِبٌ /kuwaikeb / [audio]

Astrology/عِلْمُ التَّنْجيمِ / ‘ilmu attanjeem / [audio]

Astronomy /عِلْمُ الفَلَك / ‘ilmu al falak / [audio]

Aurora / الشَّفَقُ القُطْبِيُّ / ash-shafaqu al qutbiy / [audio]

Big Bang theory /نَظَرِيَّةُ الانْفِجارِ العَظيم /nathariyyatul-infijaaril-atheem / [audio]

Black hole / ثَقْبّ أَسْوَدٌ / thaqbun aswad /[audio]

Comet / مُذَنَّبٌ / muthannab /[audio]

Solar eclipse / كُسوفُ الشَّمْس / kusoofu ash-shams /[audio]

Eternity / الأًبًد/ alabad /[audio]

Galaxy / مَجَرَّةٌ / majarra /[audio]

Horoscopes / الأَبْراجُ / alabraaj/ [audio]

Light year / سَنَةٌ ضَوْئِيَّةٌ / sanatun dhaw’iyya /[audio]

Lunar eclipse /خُسُوفُ القَمَرِ / khusoofu-lqamar/[audio]

Milkey way / دَرْبُ التَّبّانَةِ / darbu-ttabaana / [audio]

Moon /  قَمَرٌ / qamar /[audio]

Nebula / سَدِيمٌ / sadeem /[audio]

North Star /النَّجْمُ القُطْبِيُّ / annajmul-qutbiy / [audio]

Planet /كَوْكَبٌ / kawkab /[audio]

Shooting star / شِهابٌ / shihaab /[audio]

Space /  فَضاءٌ  / fadhaa’ /[audio]

Star /  نَجْمٌ / najm / [audio]

Sun / شَمْسٌ / shams / [audio]

Universe /كَوْن / kawn /[audio]

Science fiction vocabulary

Advanced society /مُجْتَمَعٌ مُتَقَدِّمٌ / mujtama’ mitaqaddim / [audio]

Alien / فَضائِيٌّ / fadhai’yy / [audio]

Another world / عالَمٌ آخَرٌ / ‘aalam aakhar/[audio]

Apocalypse / نِهايَةُ العَالَمِ / nihaayatu al’aalam /[audio]

Astronaut /رائِدُ فَضاءِ / raa’edu fadhaa’/[audio]

Brain washing / غَسيلُ دِماغٍ / ghaseelu dhimaagh/ [audio]

Cloning /استِنْساخٌ / istinsaakh /[audio]

Conquering space/ غَزْوُ الفَضاءِ / ghazwul fadhaa’ /[audio]

Cyborg/ سايبورغ / cyborg/ [audio]

Dinosaurs / دَيْناصورٌ / dainasor / [audio]

Dystopia/ الواقِعُ المَريرُ / alwaaqi’u al mareer / [audio]

Endangered species/ كائِناتٌ مُهَدَّدَةٌ / kaa’inaatun muhadddada /[audio]

Expedition / حَمْلَةٌ اسْتِكْشافِيّةٌ / hamlatun istikshaafiyya /[audio]

Experiment /  تَجْرِبَةٌ / tajruba /[audio]

Flying cars/ سَيَّاراتٌ طائِرَةٌ / sayyaraatun taa’ira /[audio]

Laser beam / شُعاعُ ليزِرْ / shu’aa’ul laiser / [audio]

Lost city / مَدينَةٌ مَفْقُودَةّ / madeenatun mafqooda / [audio]

Mind control / السَّيْطَرَةُ عَلى العَقْلِ / assaytara ‘ala al’aql /[audio]

Monster / وَحْشٌ / wahsh / [audio]

Mutant / مَسْخٌ / maskh/[audio]

Parallel universe / عالَمٌ موازٍ (العالَمُ المُوازِي) / al’aalamul-muwaazi /[audio]

Pirate / قُرْصانٌ / qursaan / [audio]

Radiation / إشْعاعٌ / ish’aa’ /[audio]

Robot / رَجُلٌ آلِيٌّ /rajulun aaliy / [audio]

Rocket / صاروخٌ / sarookh / [audio]

Science fiction / خَيالٌ عِلْمِيٌّ / khayaalun-’ilmiyy / [audio]

Science / العِلْمُ / al’ilm / [audio]

Ship / سَفينَةٌ /safeena / [audio]

Space ship / سَفِينَةٌ فَضائِيَّةٌ / safeenatun fadhaa’iyya / [audio]

Steam punk (victorian science fiction)/ خَيالٌ عِلْمِيٌّ بِطابِعٍ فِكتورِيٍّ /khayaalun ‘ilmuyyun bi taabi’in viktoriyy / [audio]

Sub marine / غَوَّاصَةٌ / ghawwasa / [audio]

Survivor/ ناجٍ (النَّاجي) /an-naaji/ [audio]

Telekinesis / التَّحْرِيكُ الذِّهنِيًّ /attahreek ath-thihniyy / [audio]

Teleportation / تَنَقُّل / tanaqqul / [audio]

Time machine / آلَةُ سَفَرٍعَبْرَ الزَّمَنِ /aalatu safarin ‘abrazzaman / [audio]

Time travel / السَّفَرُ عَبْرَ الزَّمَنِ / aasafaru ‘abrazzaman / [audio]

Treasure island / جَزيرَةُ الكَنْزِ / jazeeratul-kanz / [audio]

Treasure planet / كَوْكَبُ الكَنْزِ / kawkabul-kanz / [audio]

Treasure / ٌكَنْز /kanz / [audio]

Utopia / المَدينَةُ الفاضِلَةُ /almadeenatul-faadhila / [audio]

War/ حَرْبٌ /harb / [audio]

Zombies (the living dead)/ المَوْتى الأَحْياء/ almawtaa al-ahyaa’ / [audio]

Notes :

The diatrics/harakaat at the end of the word changes depending on the placement of the word in a sentence.

After a pause (fullstop or comma) the last diatric isn’t pronounced (becomes a sukoon)

I decided to add a cut because the post will get too long, below the cut are the same vocabulary lists in the Palestinian dialect, along with some notes and audio files.

Keep reading

[russianwithasta]

Great vocabulary! Especially for me, who loves Arabic and space

[witchofeindor]

So I found this cool website for learning ancient languages

go wild

[hot-firebender-archive]

holy fuck

[twilight-blossom]

I just did a quick perusal of the Coptic resources on this site, and it has all the resources I’ve personally found worthwhile and then some. These are resources that took me months, if not years, to discover and compile. I am thoroughly impressed. The other languages featured on the site are:

Akkadian

Arabic

Aramaic

Church Slavonic

Egyptian (hieroglyphics and Demotic)

Elamite

Ethiopic (Ge’ez)

Etruscan

Gaulish

Georgian

Gothic

Greek

Hebrew

Hittite

Latin

Mayan (various related languages/dialects)

Old Chinese

Old English

Old French

Old Frisian

Old High German

Old Irish

Old Norse

Old Persian

Old Turkic

Sanskrit

Sumerian

Syriac

Ugaritic

For the love of all the gods, if you ever wanted to learn any of these languages, use this site.

[russianwithasta]

Check it out, if you learn or wanna learn ancient languages!

I would like to learn Egyptian or old English but haven't time for it. But, mb, I can have 5 minutes every day or two hours on the weekend... Is there anyone, who would like to learn it? DM me, please. Let's learn together!

[russianwithasta]

EXAMS - vocabulary + student slang

Привет!

I passed all my exams last year, on December, 22. But some people still have exams every day. If you’re one of them… Good luck!

So, let’s talk today about exams. New vocabulary is here!

 Examination(s) – Экзамен (экзамены) | æk-za-men (æk-za-me-ny)

Pass-fail exam – зачёт (зачёты) | za-chot (za-cho-ty)

Test – тест (тесты) | tæst (tæs-ty)

Oral examination – устный экзамен | ust-nyy yek-za-men

Term exams – сессия | s æ -si-ya

Exam week – зачетная неделя | za-chot-na-ya ne-de-lya

Student’s record book – зачетная книжка | za-chot-na-ya knish-ka

Crib sheet – шпаргалка (шпаргалки) | shpar-gal-ka (shpar-gal-ki)

 Here are some student slang words and phrases:

Зачетка (za-chot-ka) = student’s record book

Иметь хвосты (i-met’ hvos-ty) = to have unpassed exams after the end of term exams | LT: To have tails

Закрыть сессию (zak-ryt’ sæ-si-yu) = to pass all exams | LT: to close the term exams

Шпора (shop-ra) = crib sheet  

Бомба (bom-ba) = crib sheet | LT: a bomb

Бомбить (bom-bit’) = to prepare or to have crib sheets | LT: to bomb

 Also, mb, you know, what “халява” (ha-lya-va) is. It’s something, that you can get free in an easy way. And here is a funny Russian tradition – to hang out the window and to call “халява” in the midnight, right before the day of the examination. I have never called “халява”. Will you try to do it? :)

[russianwithasta]

Tumblr accent challenge: Russian version

TUMBLR ACCENT CHALLENGE RUSSIAN VERSION

I found this challenge by @heckyeahtumblrchallenges , and I'm going to join it. Here's a version for those, who study Russian. I'll try to check all your records. So, please, join it. You can use https://vocaroo.com/ to record your voice if you haven't recording programs. Also, I can recommend program Audio Record Wizard for Windows PC.

Your name and username.

Where you’re from.

Pronounce the following words: мать, обязательно, жёсткий, пять, здравствуйте, дождь, хилый, рыба, шишка, достопримечательность, йод, пожалуйста, торжественность, слышать, цыпленок, мороз, цистерна, СССР, развеять, город, МГУ, ёж, знак, ложка, ваза, желудь.

What is the name of celebration on September, 1?

How do you say "Let's go" in Russian?

How do you say "Crazy" in Russian?

What do you call your grandparents?

How do you say "Washer" in Russian?

How do you greet your friend?

Choose a book and read a passage from it.

Do you think you have an accent?

Be a wizard or a vampire?

Do you know anyone on Tumblr in real life?

End audio post by saying any THREE words you want.

GOOD LUCK!

[russianwithasta]

2018 Goals: a motivation tag

Thank you, @studypent , for tagging me. I don’t usually write about my goals anywhere. Because if you want to do something, let nobody know about it. But why no? I hope, that I’ll reach all my goals this year.

Rules: List 5 resolutions you have for 2018 and tag any accounts to spread the motivation.

Here are my goals for this year:

Start studying on Cursera;

Reach a C1 level in English;

Reach a B1 level in French;

Start learning Korean;

Improve my drawing skills

@fourhundredthirteencityscapes , @letslangblr , @worldapprentice , @slav-reject , don’t you want to join? :>

[russianwithasta]

Vocabulary: Berries in Russian

Привет!

Sorry, I have been off-line for a long time. But I’ll post again now!

Let’s talk today about berries. I noticed, that I always confuse names of berries in English. But generally, you have the ending “-berry” in these words in English, so you can understand, what are people talking about. Even if you don’t know, which berry are they talking about.

We haven’t this ending in Russian. We don’t say, for example, “ягода клубника” (berry strawberry). Here’s the list of berries in Russian for you.

 Berry – ягода (ягоды) | ya-go-da (ya-go-dy)

Strawberry – клубника | klub-ni-ka

Raspberry – малина | ma-li-na

Blackberry – ежевика | e-zhe-vi-ka

Blueberry – черника | cher-ni-ka

Bog bilberry – голубика | go-lu-bi-ka

Barberry – барбарис | bar-ba-ris

Cowberry – брусника | brus-ni-ka

Gooseberry – крыжовник | kry-zhov-nik

Cranberry – клюква | klyuk-va

Currants – смородина | smo-ro-di-na

Redcurrant – красная смородина | kras-na-ya smo-ro-di-na

Blackcurrant – чёрная смородина | cher-na-ya smo-ro-di-na

Chokeberry – арония | a-ro-ni-ya

Goji berry – ягода (ягоды) годжи | ya-go-da (ya-go-dy) go-dji

Cherry – вишня | vish-nya

Sweet cherry – черешня | che-resh-nya

Grapes – виноград | vi-no-grad

Watermelon – арбуз | ar-buz

[thenamesjocelyn]

[jatel0-deactivated20150421]

For The Masses:

http://gen.lib.rus.ec

http://textbooknova.com

http://en.bookfi.org/

http://www.gutenberg.org

http://ebookee.org

http://www.manybooks.net

http://www.giuciao.com

http://www.feedurbrain.com

http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380

http://www.alleng.ru/ 

http://www.eknigu.com/ 

http://ishare.iask.sina.com.cn/

http://2020ok.com/

http://www.freebookspot.es/Default.aspx

http://www.freeetextbooks.com/

http://onebigtorrent.org/

http://www.downeu.me/ebook/

http://forums.mvgroup.org

http://theaudiobookbay.com/

More Here

[keomoto-deactivated20141214]

no one coulda reblogged this a month ago when i spent 500

[kreativegeenius]

momentsbymarcus

[trappunzelll]

Look at KB coming through

[kimreesesdaughter]

Every time you see this, reblog it. There is always someone in college that will see this.

[kingwuap-deactivated20170127]

On foe nem 😩😭

[anewdayy]

i needit

[blackberrybisexual]

hey guys I’m really bored and I want to listen to foreign music rn does anybody have any recs?? 

pls I don’t even care what language just anything besides english pls guys help me out??

[blackberrybisexual]

Yup I’m gonna bring this back again bc I’m in need of new music pls help

[geschiedenis-en-talen]

Dutch: Bazart, Tourist LeMC, Gers Pardoel

French: Vianney, Stromae

Italian: Coez, Giorgia, Francesco Renga

[lemonadeandlanguages]

Spanish: la oreja de van Gogh, Juan Luis guerra, Olga Tañon, Víctor manuelle, Romeo santos

[russianwithasta]

Russian: Канцлер Ги (Kancler Gi), Мельница (Melnitsa), Кино (Kino)

Korean: Pentagon, Triple H

[areahnel]

looking for new langblrs to follow!!

I’m fairly new to the langblr community so if you are any of the following please reblog so I can follow you 

-spanish langblr

-japanese langblr

-german langblr

-russian langblr

-offer very very advanced tips for non-native english speakers ( basically if your blog includes very fancy vocab that a non-native but a fluent english speaker might benefit of)

[russianwithasta]

Russian langbr 😉

[russianwithasta]

Sleeping vocabulary in Russian

Привет!

Did you sleep good tonight? I didn’t! Actually, I didn’t sleep at all, because I have problems with my biorhythms after end-of-term exams.

So, here is vocabulary about sleeping and everything, that connected with it.

Sleep – Спать | Spat’

Fall asleep – Засыпать | Za-sy-pat’

Dream(s) – Сон (сны) | Son (sny)

Nightmare(s) – Кошмар (кошмары) | Kosh-mar (kosh-ma-ry)

Insomnia – Бессонница | Be-so-ni-tsa

Pillow(s) – Подушка (подушки) | Po-dush-ka (po-dush-ki)

Blanket(s) – Одеяло (одеяла) | O-de-ya-lo (O-de-ya-la)

Pajamas – Пижама (пижамы) | Pi-zha-ma (pi-zha-my)

Bed(s) – Кровать (кровати) | kro-vat’ (kro-va-ti)

Bedroom(s) – Спальня (спальни) | spal’-nya (spal’-ni)

Go to bed – Идти спать or ложиться спать | Id-ti spat’ или lo-zhit’-sya spat’

Wake up – Просыпаться | Pro-sy-pat’-sya

To yawn – Зевать | Ze-vat’

Yawn – Зевок | Ze-vok

Sleepy – Сонный | So-nyi

Sleep-walking – Лунатизм | Lu-na-tizm

Sleepwalker(s) – Лунатик | Lu-na-tik (lu-na-ti-ki)

Moon – Луна | Luna

Alarm clock – Будильник | Bu-dil’-nik

“Good night” – “Спокойной ночи” | “Spo-koi-noy no-chi”*

“Good morning” – “Доброе утро” | “Dob-ro-e ut-ro”

*LT: “Calm night”

[crookedlanguagestudent-deactiva]

How to sound more natural in French

1) For questions, use “est-ce que”, or just the plain affirmative form with a question mark/rising tone.

 Où vas-tu ? (correct, but nobody actually speaks like that)

 Où est-ce que tu vas ? (much better) Tu vas où ? (most common) Partez-vous en vacances cet été ? (hello, I’m a robot)

 Est-ce que vous partez en vacances cet été ? (natural)

 Vous partez en vacances cet été ? (what I would probably say) => Note that even though I used the formal “vous” in this last example (could also be that I’m addressing multiple people, but let’s say it’s just one person), it’s still completely ok/common/natural to use these more “informal” question forms. Same goes for all the other tips below. This is how people actually speak, even in slightly more formal situations. 

2) Drop “ne” in “ne pas”

E.x. Je ne sais pas. => Je sais pas.

E.x.  Je n'ai pas faim. => J'ai pas faim.

3) Use “on” (conjugates like the third person) instead of “nous”

E.x. Nous habitons à Paris. => On habite à Paris. 

4) Shorten “tu” to t’ when the verb starts with a vowel of a “silent” H 

E.g. Tu habites où ? => T'habites où ?

5) Drop “il” in “il y a”. It turns into “y'a”

E.x.  Il y a un chat dans le jardin. => Y'a un chat dans le jardin.

E.x. Il n'y a pas de soucis. => Y'a pas de soucis. 

 These are the most important I think. Then there’s obviously vocab, with some words/contractions being more informal to varying degrees (“bouquin” for “livre”, “aprem” for “après-midi”…). 

And then, there’s pronunciation. There are a lot of sounds that can get slurred together, but I couldn’t really tell you the rules. As an example though, “je” followed by “sais” or “suis” will turn into j’, then ch if you’re really slurring.

 "Je sais pas" => “J'sais pas” => “Chaipas” (this last one is not usually written, but you will hear it) 

Some people will tell you that all these things are “incorrect” and “not proper French”, but I think that’s bullshit. You *need* to do all these things if you want to sound like a real person, and not like a textbook. Good luck!

 - with the help of a user from the HiNative App. When you have doubts about anything in particular, using HiNative is a great way to get the answers you’re looking for in a language you’re studying. 

 These were just some helpful tips I got from him/her about sounding more natural and gaining a better understanding of the language.

[educxtional]

spent years being confused as to why the basic french i learned (through speaking and interacting with teachers) at a french immersion school wasn’t considered perfect and this is why wow 

[letslangblr-deactivated20180604]

Hello Langblrs/Studyblrs!

I need some more good blogs to follow. ;) So if you are studying, interested or blogging in/about any of the following languages

- Korean

- Mandarin

- Arabic

- Russian

- French

please reblog this.

[russianwithasta]

Hello! I study Arabic and French. And I'm blogging about Russian, by native language. I'll be happy to help you, if you have any questions about Russian!

[senchais]

français | music

hi friends! sorry about the lull between this post and the last vocab list i made… school got to me heh. if you want any particular topics, send me a message/ask anytime!! (also if you just want to talk to me haha)

【 orchestra 】

brass

le cor (m) | french horn

les cuivres (m) | brass (section)

keyboards & harp

le clavier (m) | keyboard

les grandes orgues (f) | pipe organ

la harpe (f) | harp

le synthétiseur (m) | synthesiser

percussion

la batterie (f) | drum

la caisse claire (f) | snare drum

le carillon (m) | chimes

la cymbale (f) | cymbal

les percussions (f) | percussion

le tambourin (m) | tambourine

les timbales (f) | timpani

strings

l’alto (m) | viola

la contrebasse (f) | double bass

les cordes (m) | strings (section)

le violon (m) | violin

le violoncelle (m) | cello

woodwind

le basson (m) | bassoon

les bois (m) | woodwind (section) 

la clarinette (f) | clarinet

la flûte (f) | flute

le hautbois (m) | oboe

la trompette (f) | trumpet

【 instruments 】

l’accordéon (m) | accordion

la basse (f) | bass guitar

les castagnettes (f) | castanets

le clairon (m) | bugle

la cornemuse (f) | bagpipes

la flûte de pan (f) | panpipes

la guitare (f) | guitar

le luth (m) | lute

l’ukulélé (m) | ukulele

【 terminology 】

composition

la ballade (f) | ballad

le menuet (m) | minuet

le mouvement (m) | movement (of composition)

la rhapsodie (f) | rhapsody

le sérénade (f) | serenade

la sonate (f) | sonata

la symphonie (f) | symphony

la valse (f) | waltz

sheet music

l’accord (m) | chord

l’arpège (m) | arpeggio

la barre de mesure (f) | bar

le bémol (m) | flat

la clé de fa (f) | bass clef

la clé de sol (f) | treble clef

la coda (f) | coda

le dièse (m) | sharp

la gamme (f) | scale

la liaison (f) | tie

la mélodie (f) | melody

l’octave (f) | octave

la partition (f) | sheet music

la pause (f) | interval

le point d’orgue (m) | fermata

la portée (f) | stave

le rythme (m) | rhythm

le silence (m) | rest

la syncope (f) | syncopation

le ton (m) | key

【 extra 】

l’archet (m) | bow

la baguette (f) | conductor’s baton

le chef d’orchestre (m) | conductor

la dissonance (f) | dissonance

l’harmonie (f) | harmony

majeur | major

le médiator (m) | pick

le métronome (m) | metronome

mineur | minor

la musique (f) | music

le pupitre (m) | music stand

[russianwithasta]

Christmas in Russia + vocabulary

Привет!

Merry Christmas!

Today is a great day when our Savior was born. Actually, I’m not a Catholic. But Merry Christmas for you, guys!

And let’s talk today about Christmas in Russia. Why not? It’s not about language, but about Russian culture.

OK. We don’t celebrate Christmas on December, 25. Because the most popular Christian denomination is Eastern Orthodoxy. Yes, the major part of Russians celebrates Christmas on January, 7.

December, 25 isn’t an official holiday here. A lot of people work today, even if they are Catholics. That’s sad, yeah.

So, be ready to visit your university or workplace on this day, if you’re going to live in Russia.

The main holiday is New Year. So, in some family people give presents only on New Year day. I’ll write about New Year later, so let’s talk now about russian Christmas traditions.

1) Carolling

I saw people, who carolling only once. It isn’t a common tradition. I guess, there aren’t a lot of people, who even knows about it. When I opened my door about two years ago and saw singing girls, I was just like: “Wtf? What are you doing? What do you want?”

But it exists somewhere in Russia, I guess.

2) 12 dishes

We call 12 days after Christmas day “святки” | svyat-ki. These days are holy days. And you can find word root “свят” in this title. It means “holy” or “saint”.

Also, there were 12 Apostles, who joined The Last Supper. And there are 12 months in a year. A lot of ‘12’, yeah?

We cook and eat 12 dishes every Christmas. It’s obligated to have кутья | kut’-ya and взвар | vzvar on the table. Kutia contains steamed rice with honey or raisins. And vzvar consists of stewed fruit and berries. We always start to eat these dishes with kutia.

And don’t forget about Christmas baked duck! It’s the main dish of our Christmas.

Other 9 dishes can be different in different families. But everyone has to eat every dish. And, I guess, that’s not good news for vegetarian, who lives in the meat-eating family.

3) Divination

Yeah, that’s why many girls love Christmas. You can try to read fortune since January, 6 to January, 19. It’s funny.

Russians use candles, mirrors, books, paper, pens and etc. to read their fortune. You can even try to ask your mirror who is your love in the dark room with only one candle in your hands. It’s a really creepy thing. And we call this person “суженый-ряженый” | su-zhe-nyi rya-zhe-nyi, which means “the one destined for me, who is dressed up”.

I’ve never been interested in it. And, gosh, it’s so creepy to do it. But every Christmas me and my sister trying to read fortune with a book. You have just asked a question and think page and line on this page. For example: “Will I find a new friend this year? Page 16, line 25”. I don’t know if it works.

And also we write our wishes on 12 pieces of paper, put it under our pillow and on January, 7, take off only 1 piece of paper. This wish has to enter into life.

Well, I guess, that’s all. Hope, it was an interesting article for you. And here’s Russian Christmas vocabulary for you!

Christmas - Рождество | rozh-dest-vo

Christmas-tide - святки | svyat-ki

January - январь | yan-var’

Holy / saint - Святой | svya-toi

Apostle(s) - Апостол (Апостолы) | a-po-stol (a-po-sto-ly)

The Last Supper - Тайная Вечеря | tai-na-ya ve-che-rya

Jesus - Иисус | I:-sus

Kutia - кутья | kut’-ya

Vzvar - взвар | vzvar

Baked duck - запечёная утка | za-pe-che-na-ya ut-ka

Dish(es) - блюдо (блюда) | blu-do (blu-da)

Divination - гадание | ga-da-ni-e

Read fortune - гадать | ga-dat’

Candle(s) - свеча (свечи) | sve-cha (sve-chi)

Mirror(s) - зеркало (зеркала) | zer-ka-lo (zer-ka-la)

Book(s) - книга (книги) | kni-ga (kni-gi)

“The one destined for me, who is dressed up” - суженый-ряженый | su-zhe-nyi rya-zhe-nyi