July 01, 2019 No, Nicely By Michele A. Berdy If it’s hard to gracefully say “no” in English, how much harder is it in Russian, where dissembling requires linguistic gifts that you might not have yet developed? Customs Language
May 20, 2019 Russian Grammar Wars By Katrina Keegan Tough time learning Russian? It’s not just you. Russians themselves frequently struggle to determine what is “correct.” Language St. Petersburg
May 19, 2019 An Alien's Guide to the Subway By Victor Pogostin Sometimes a subway is just that. And sometimes it is not. On the perils of inter-lingual travel... Humor Language Travel
May 01, 2019 Spring has (Not) Sprung By Michele A. Berdy In early March, when Moscow is still buried under more than a meter of snow and people are buried under many inches of fur and heavy wool, there is nothing more annoying than Instagram photos of daffodils, forsythia and cherry blossom buds. Customs Humor Language
May 01, 2019 The Genitive Case, or "If you have no aunt" By Yuliya Ballou In which we use one of the most beloved songs from a classic film to make some points about genitive case. Get singing! Customs Language Music
March 01, 2019 Diamond Arm at 50 By Yuliya Ballou In honor of the anniversary of the film «Бриллиантовая рука» (“Diamond Arm”), this edition of Учитесь looks at some of the famous крылатые фразы (“winged phrases”), or idiomatic expressions that the film gave to the Russian language. Film & TV Language
March 01, 2019 Funny Little Characters By Michele A. Berdy If a Russian fox met an American fox, would they get along? If Russian folklore is to be trusted, the answer is a definite нет (no). Language
January 01, 2019 Love and Separation By Yuliya Ballou In this issue’s Uchites, we look at a popular song by the poet Bulat Okudzhava and the composer Isaac Schwartz. It is about love and separation. Film & TV Language
January 01, 2019 Are You Old-School or New-Format? By Michele A. Berdy Some thoughts on backwardness, falling behind, and the challenges of change. Language
November 01, 2018 How Can I Thank You Enough? By Michele A. Berdy To thank (blagodarit) is one of the Russian language's most beautiful words. We go in for a deep dive. Humor Language
November 01, 2018 The Incomparable Uspensky By Yuliya Ballou The writer Eduard Uspensky passed away recently. In this language section, we look back at one of his contributions to Russian literature and folklore. Film & TV Language Literature
September 01, 2018 Get a Grip! By Yuliya Ballou In this issue’s Uchites, we look at common Russian idioms and the challenges of translating them into English. Language