Angelos Georgakis's Blog

Learn Russian through Songs – Red Army Marches

Very quickly, let me tell you about myself! My name’s Richard Wess and I’m the creator of RussianFilmHub.com . Russian Film Hub is a library of free Russian and Soviet movies with English subtitles. You can filter by genre, decade, director, etc. Basically, it’s the website I wish had existed when I was studying Russian as an undergraduate student. I hope Russian Film Hub is a resource you find useful in your Russian learning process!

Watching Russian movies is a great way to improve your language level. And I for sure recommend Angelos’s detailed course for learning the Russian cases through the excellent film, The Irony of Fate / Ирония судьбы! I also think it’s super helpful to watch as many Russian movies as you can. If you’d like to do that in the company of other Russian enthusiasts, please join my new Russian Film Club Facebook group .

Red Army Marches – A Great Way to Improve Your Vocabularly

Angelos has created some superb resources for improving your Russian using music. He’s covered great songs like Кустурица, Вечная молодость, and Звезда.

I’d like to add to Angelos’s Russian song resources by sharing with you my love for Red Army marches!

Every language has topics that make for a good way to improve your speaking and understanding of the culture. For Russian, such a topic is war.

When you visit Russia, consume Russian literature, or explore Russian cinema, many of the places you see, books you read, and films you watch portray the Second World War or Russian revolution.

Red Square is drenched in military memorials and constantly paraded on. Novels like Grossman’s “Life and Fate” or Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” are some of the finest works of literature ever. And you can find no more harrowing, influential war cinema than movies like “Come and See” and “Ivan’s Childhood.”

What’s more, when you talk to Russians, war is a subject that often comes up.

The three marches below – Farewell of Slavianka, We Spin the Earth, and Sacred War – should prove helpful to you in improving your language level and connecting to Russians. I hope the backstory of each song gives you something to talk about with Russians and I also hope that you can retain some vocabulary from these songs’ beautiful lyrics.

Try dropping a phrase like «Пусть ярость благородная вскипает, как волна» (“Let the noble fury boil over like a wave”) during your next conversation with a Russian. I assure you, you will have a more lively discussion than ever before!

Farewell of Slavianka / Прощание славянки

Прощание славянки translates as “Farewell of the Slavic woman.” It’s one of the most well-known Russian marching songs of the past century. It plays at most every Russian parade.

The composer of this song, Vasily Agapkin, created it in 1912, inspired by the struggle of his fellow Slavs and Orthodox Christians in the First Balkan War. Soon after, Farewell of Slavianka became popular across the Russian Empire and was used constantly during the First World War.

The early Soviet regime turned against Farewell of Slavianka during the Russian Civil War, as it was used as the unofficial anthem of the Imperial White Army. However, the song remained widespread.

The song was performed during the Red Square parade on November 7, 1941. That famous ceremony saw Stalin bid farewell to Red Army soldiers setting out to join the bloody Battle of Moscow.

After the war, the song underscored a heartrending scene in the Palme d’Or-winning film, The Cranes Are Flying / Летят журавли. In this scene, the main character, Veronika, desperately tries to bid farewell to her lover, Boris, as he marches out with his volunteer unit. However, the crowded streets prevent her from doing so.

The Cranes Are Flying / Летят журавли (1957) – Veronika tries to bid Boris farewell

And so, The Cranes Are Flying perfectly showcases the combination of national pride and collective sacrifice that epitomizes Farewell of Slavianka. Yes, the song honors those who go off to fight for their homeland. However, as its title says, the song also remembers the women who stay behind and wait for their men who go off to war.

Прощание Славянки lyrics (1967 version)

There are various versions of the lyrics of this song. The 1967 version is the one you’ll hear most often.

Этот марш не смолкал на перронах

В дни, когда полыхал1 горизонт.

C ним отцов наших в дымных вагонах

Поезда увозили на фронт

Он Москву отстоял2 в сорок первом

В сорок пятом шагал на Берлин

Он с солдатом прошел до Победы

По дорогам нелегким годин3

И если в поход4

Страна позовет5

За край наш родной

Мы все пойдем в священный бой

(2 раза)

Шумят в полях хлеба

Шагает Отчизна6 моя

К высотам счастья сквозь все ненастья7

Дорогой мира и труда

К высотам счастья сквозь все ненастья

Дорогой мира и труда

Припев.

Прощание Славянки vocabulary

полыхал – was burning
отстоять – to defend
година – times
поход – march, campaign;
позвать – call to go
отчизна – motherland
ненастье – troubles (bad weather)

We Spin the Earth / Мы вращаем землю

We Spin the Earth is originally a “bard” song by Vladimir Vysotsky that became something of a marching tune. However, I would be remiss to not bring it up, as it is one of Vysotsky’s finest compositions.

Vysotsky was a Soviet singer-songwriter (“bard” / «бард»), actor, and poet of the utmost impact on Soviet culture. He had a unique way of composing folk songs and a full-throated singing technique that make his songs hard to forget. We Spin the Earth is one of these.

Vladimir Vysotsky in 1979, a year before his untimely death at 42

We Spin the Earth is a masterpiece of metaphor that describes how Soviet soldiers first retreated and subsequently rotated the entire earth to push back against the Nazis and win the Second World War.

Throughout the song, Vysotsky creates a universe that describes the Nazi advance into the Soviet Union as taking the sun out of its correct position.

«Но мы помним, как солнце отправилось вспять

И едва не зашло на Востоке.»  

“But we remember how the sun went back

And almost set in the East.”

Vysotsky then paints the picture that the heroic effort of Soviet soldiers literally turned the world around against the Nazis to put the sun in its right place once again.

«Ось земную мы сдвинули без рычага,

Изменив направленье удара.

…

Землю тянем зубами за стебли.»

“We moved the earth’s axis without a lever

Having changed the direction of the blow.

…

We pull the earth by the stems with our teeth.”

I thoroughly recommend this song as an enjoyable work of art and also as a useful tool to learn some interesting vocabulary through Vysotsky’s colorful turns of phrase.

Мы вращаем землю lyrics

От границы мы Землю вертели назад –

Было дело, сначала.

Но обратно ее закрутил1 наш комбат2,

Оттолкнувшись ногой от Урала.

Наконец-то нам дали приказ наступать3,

Отбирать наши пяди4 и крохи5,

Но мы помним, как солнце отправилось вспять6

И едва не зашло7 на Востоке.

Мы не меряем8 Землю шагами,

Понапрасну цветы теребя9,

Мы толкаем ее сапогами –

От себя, от себя.

И от ветра с Востока пригнулись стога10,

Жмется11 к скалам отара12.

Ось13 земную мы сдвинули без рычага14,

Изменив направленье удара15.

Не пугайтесь, когда не на месте закат16.

Судный день17 – это сказки для старших.

Просто Землю вращают18, куда захотят,

Наши сменные роты19 на марше.

Мы ползем20, бугорки21 обнимаем22,

Кочки тискаем23 зло, не любя,

И коленями Землю толкаем24 –

От себя, от себя.

Здесь никто не найдет, даже если б хотел,

Руки кверху поднявших25.

Всем живым – ощутимая польза26 от тел:

Как прикрытье27 используем павших28.

Этот глупый свинец29 всех ли сразу найдет,

Где настигнет30 – в упор31 или с тыла?

Кто-то там впереди навалился32 на дот33 –

И Земля на мгновенье застыла.

Я ступни34 свои сзади оставил,

Мимоходом35 по мертвым скорбя36,

Шар земной я вращаю локтями37 –

От себя, от себя.

Кто-то встал в полный рост и, отвесив поклон38,

Принял пулю39 на вдохе40,

Но на Запад, на Запад ползет батальон,

Чтобы солнце взошло на Востоке.

Животом41 – по грязи42, дышим смрадом43 болот,

Но глаза закрываем на запах44.

Нынче по небу солнце нормально идет,

Потому что мы рвемся45 на Запад!

Руки, ноги – на месте ли, нет ли, –

Как на свадьбе, росу пригубя46,

Землю тянем зубами за стебли47 –

На себя, на себя!

Мы вращаем землю vocabulary

обратно закрутил – turned around
комбат – battalion commander
наступать – attack
пядь (земли) – small piece of land
кроха – crumb
вспять – backwards
солнце зашло – sun set
мерить – measure
теребить – tinker
стога – hey stack
жмется – lean to
отара – flock of sheep
ось – axis
рычаг – lever
удар – blow, punch
закат – sunset
судный день – judgment day
вращать – turn
рота – company
ползти – crawl
бугорок – hillock
обнимать – hug
тискаем кочки – squeeze hummocks
толкать – push
руки кверху поднявших = сдавшихся – surrendered
ощутимая польза – notable advantage
прикрытье – shield
павший – fallen (dead)
свинец – lead
настигнуть – catch up with
в упор – point blank
навалиться – to close
дот – fire from bunker
ступни – foot
мимоходом – by the way
скорбеть – grieve
локоть – elbow
отвесить поклон – bow
пуля – bullet
на вдохе – while inhaling
живот – belly
по грязи – in the mud
смрад – stench
запах – smell
рвемся – strive to get
росу пригубя – tasting dew
землю тянем зубами за стебли – We pull the earth by the stems with our teeth

Sacred War / Священная война

Sacred War was the Soviet Union’s primary rallying cry during World War Two.

Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941. Two days later, the Soviet poet, Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, published the lyrics to Sacred War. And within a day of that, the composer of the Soviet national anthem, Alexander Alexandrov, put it to music.

Священная война – published in Известия on 24th June, 1941 (right side, below Stalin picture)

Soon thereafter, Sacred War would play every morning on Soviet radio.

At the beginning of the war, Sacred War was initially seen as too dark for mass appeal. However, as the Nazi invasion turned into a brutal total war, the lyrics to Sacred War became an appropriate anthem for the tumult the Soviets faced.

The lyrics to Sacred War are steeped in mythic grandeur. The song describes the “noble fury” of the Soviets “boiling over like a wave” over the “damned Fascist hordes”, “the rotten Fascist scum”.

I encourage you to reuse some of the vocabulary from Sacred War next time you talk about war with a Russian. There isn’t another military song that excites the Russian heart more. Afterall, every time this song is performed, Russians stand up out of respect for it and what it signifies.

Священная война lyrics

Вставай, страна огромная,

Вставай на смертный бой

С фашистской силой темною,

С проклятою1 ордой2.

Пусть ярость3 благородная4

Вскипает, как волна, —

Идет война народная,

Священная война!

Как два различных полюса,

Во всем враждебны5 мы.

За свет и мир мы боремся,

Они — за царство тьмы.

Дадим отпор6 душителям7

Всех пламенных идей8,

Насильникам9, грабителям10,

Мучителям11 людей!

Не смеют12 крылья13 черные

Над Родиной летать,

Поля ее просторные

Не смеет враг топтать14!

Гнилой15 фашистской нечисти16

Загоним пулю в лоб,

Отребью17 человечества

Сколотим крепкий гроб18!

Пойдем ломить всей силою,

Всем сердцем, всей душой

За землю нашу милую,

За наш Союз большой!

Встает страна огромная,

Встает на смертный бой

С фашистской силой темною,

С проклятою ордой!

Священная война vocabulary

проклятый – damned
орда – horde
ярость – fury
благородная – noble
враждебны – hostile
дадим отпор – to rebuff, fight back
душитель – oppressor
пламенные идеи – flaming ideas
насильник – tyrant
грабитель – robber
мучитель – torturer
не сметь – don’t dare
крылья – wings
топтать – trample
гнилой – rotten
нечисть – scum
отребье – waste, rubbish
сколотить гроб – to make a coffin

The post Learn Russian through Songs – Red Army Marches appeared first on Explore Russian.

This is a guest post by my friend Jamy Russell! Thank you so much for this Jeremy. Your suggestions are spot on! This is a great post.. Read on, please!

Beginner mistakes to avoid when learning Russian

Russian is tough. Ask Angelos, who’s been spending the last several years learning and perfecting his Russian. It takes a long time before you get to the point of fluency. That’s not to say that it will take you years before you can have meaningful conversations – but expecting that it will take a while is the first step.

Let’s keep it positive though: if you put in daily effort, I believe you can already have simple conversations after several months. It won’t be enough to talk to your friends about your life’s goals and aspirations. But you’ll be 90% ahead of all other people who travel to Russia and you’ll have no problem getting around, buying stuff and asking for directions.

If you can get to that stage, (after 4-6 months of daily learning), you’ll be so into it, that the rest will take care of itself.

Now, here are 5 mistakes that if you can avoid them at the start – you’ll be miles ahead of everyone else who’s starting their Russian journey.

Focus on avoiding mistakes instead of looking for the *perfect* course

A quick word on this. It’s easy to fall into the trap of looking for the perfect program, course or plan of action. Don’t do this. Do several hours of research, read some reviews, but then decide. If you just avoid common (motivation-draining) mistakes, you’ll be fine.

#1 Not learning the alphabet in the beginning (first month)

Sure, most sites offer an Englified way of writing Russian words. But it’ll never be as effective as learning the Russian alphabet.

It takes you 2 hours maximum (20 minutes per day for a week) and will provide you with massive benefits. It’s like wanting to drive a manual car, but instead only practicing with automatic transmission.

Might feel like the same thing, but in the end, you’re only getting used to the easy way and handicapping your progress.

Action tips:

Pick one resource for the alphabet (has to show the letters, pronunciation and examples).
Go through all the letters + examples once per day for 5 days.
Can you read a headline? If not, go through the alphabet several times more until you get it.

#2 Trying to master the case system too soon (after 3 months)

Another mistake that people tend to make is to get overwhelmed by the case system. At first Russian seems like an ‘okay’ language: not too easy with the new alphabet and all the new words, but also not as difficult as everyone says it is.

Then you learn about cases.

Every Russian noun has 6 different endings, depending on the position in the sentence. And every adjective has 18 different forms, depending on the position and gender of the noun.

This gets complicated quickly.

While it’s a good thing to be aware of this, you don’t need to focus too much on it in the beginning. Most of it will come naturally with time.

And to be honest: most Russians kind of swallow the endings of their words anyway. So if you do the same, you can ‘cheat’ this step for a while.

For example: you need to pay close attention to notice the differences in pronunciation between ‘Москви’ (genitive case: of Moscow) and ‘Москве’ (dative/prepositional case: to/in Moscow).

Don’t take this as an excuse to not practice cases at all – but introduce them slowly and surely over the course of several months, one case at a time.

Action tips:

In the course that you’re doing you most likely will start with the nominative case.
Then introduce the prepositional and accusative.
After that the dative or instrumental.
Genitive is the most difficult.
Learn them one at a time.
If you struggle with something, Wikipedia has one of the best overviews of Russian cases.

#3 Putting off speaking till you ‘get a little better’ (after first month)

Chances are, your accent will be horrible. At least in the beginning. Just accept it. Have you heard some Russians speak English? It’s nothing to worry about.

It’s perfectly understandable that you’re scared of speaking. But also realize that this fear won’t go away once you get better.

Really, the best way to get better is to speak anyway. And the feedback you’ll get will make it much easier to improve rapidly.

It’s a good idea to practice speaking as soon as possible (after you’ve learned some basic sentences in the first month). If you don’t have a Russian friend (or maybe partner), that you feel comfortable speaking with – try one of the thousand Skype lessons available. Either a paid one such as iTalki or join some Facebook groups where you teach English to a Russian speaker – and they teach you Russian in return.

Action tips:

Find a language partner to practice with once every week (or 2 weeks). This also helps to stay accountable:

A friend
iTalki
Facebook language exchange
Meetup might also work if you’re in a larger city.



#4 Only doing language drills – no culture (right from the beginning)

There are few people who have learned to speak Russian fluently after their teenage years, who aren’t interested in the Russian culture.

I’d even go as far to say that if you don’t have this interest in the Russian culture, then you’re not going to speak fluent Russian.

Learning a difficult skill like Russian is for the long haul. And you’re only going to keep sustained motivation if you enjoy learning more about Russia and its culture.

The good thing about Russia is that it’s a very polarizing country. You either love it or hate it. It’s a country that gets a lot of attention and few people know exactly what’s really going on inside.

One easy way to incorporate culture into your language program is to watch movies. In the beginning you watch them with English subs – so you still perfectly understand the plot. And gradually as you get better, you can switch to Russian subs until in the end you can watch it just in Russian.

It’s a funny thing, the better you get, the more you get to practice with good movies and books. Which will in turn make you even better.

Action tips:

Replace 30 minutes of Netflix with StarmediaEN.
Add some Russian music to your playlist
Read news from Russia in English.

#5 Not enough attention in improving your vocabulary (after 3 months)

I’m from the Netherlands, and learning a new language is popular here. I’d go as far to say that approximately 80% of people who do this, go for Spanish, French, Italian or German. Those countries are close and either have good weather or business relations with us.

That’s perfectly fine. But the problem comes when people take what works to learn those languages for learning Russian.

Russian is a complete different ballgame. And there is almost 0 vocabulary that is present in both languages (Dutch is close to English, so the same goes for English and Russian).

You cannot use any cognates to quickly improve your vocabulary. Apart from 100 words about shipbuilding, which Peter the 1st learned when he stayed for a while in Amsterdam and London to learn more about Western Europe’s navy.

So if you want to speak well, you must focus more on learning new vocabulary than with many other languages. One easy way to do this is with the app Anki (free app – available for PC, Android and iPhone). You can download one of the previous user-made card decks. And then set the app to give you 10 new words per day. For vocabulary it’s better to learn a little each day, instead of 200 words on a Saturday afternoon – only to forget them the next week.

Action tips:

Install Anki.
Download one of the Russian decks
Practice for 5 minutes every day.

That’s it. If you can avoid these 5 mistakes, I’m sure you’ll come far in the first 6 months of your Russian lessons.

Jamy Russell

The post Beginner Mistakes to Avoid when Learning Russian – by Jamy Russell appeared first on Explore Russian.

A year ago, I made this video in which I started talking about Russian Verb Prefixes.

A difficult subject, I know.

BUT. There is a but.

Those who master these prefixes will have a powerful advantage in understanding the language and even coming up with a word they didn’t know before!

This is the first video I did on the prefix B.

Here are my notes on the next prefix, НА.

Until I manage to make a video for НА I hope you’ll find these useful!

Direction of the verb on the surface of something

The preposition на can mean “on, on the surface of” and takes Instrument Case. For example,

на столе – on the table (стол – table)

на стене – on the wall (стена –  wall)

на диване – on the couch (диван – couch)

In the same way, на can be used as a prefix to denote an on(to) direction.

наезжать (impf) – наехать (pf) – run over, coerce, blame

Машина наехала на столб. – The car ran over a pole.

In life anything can happen, we are exposed to hazardous events. You walk and you may get run over by a car.

Конечно, на тебя могут наехать, но если так думать, и кирпич на голову, как говорится, может упасть. – Surely, you may get run over, but if you think like that, even a brick might fall onto your head. 

The verb наехать is mostly used with the meaning

обидеть – to hurt, upset

обвинять – to blame

На нас наехали бандиты. – This means that bandits used threats, blackmail, physical power to force us to act in a certain way, for example, give money to them etc.

На меня наехали какие-то бандиты, требуют денег. – These guys got

наплывать – наплыть – to flow over sth 

на глаза наплывают слезы – tears flow on the eyes

Наплыли чёрные тучи – black clouds appeared in the sky

наплывают воспоминания из прошлого – memories get washed-up from the past

You can visualise the memories as waves that come to you one after the other.

Attention!!! Don’t confuse this verb with наплевать which means “screw this, f%£$ that!”. Наплевать на работу! – F@£$ work!

налетать (impf) – налететь (pf) – fly on(to)

Птица налетела на самолёт. – The bird flew onto the plane (hit the plane).

Налетела грусть. – Sorrow, melancholy hit us.

Listen to this wonderful song by the famous bard Aleksandr Rosenbaum (Песня by Розенбаум)

Набрести (pf) – to come across, to hit upon an idea

Брести – to walk slowly with difficulty, trudge, stroll, plod (impf)

So, while you walk you stumble upon something, you come across sth, you hit upon something

Я набреду, ты набредешь, они набредут

натыкаться (impf) – наткнуться (pf) – to bump into , hit 

наткнусь – наткнёшься – наткнутся

Наткнуться на знакомых в театре. – I bumped into friends in the theatre.

Наткнуться на старые фотографии. – to come across old photos

Наткнуться на столб – run into/hit a pole

наталкиваться (impf) – натолкнуться (pf) – to come across, to hit

натолкнуться на доказательство, на решение задачи – to come across evidence, solution to a problem

Note: натолкнуться differs from наткнуться in the sense that once you hit an obstacle you can’t go further, you’re stuck.

наступать (impf) – наступить (pf) – to step on, start 

наступить на ногу – step on one’s foot

Наступили мне не ногу и теперь не могу ходить – they stepped on my foot and I can’t walk now

Наступила зима – the winter came

Скоро зима наступает. – The winter is upon us!

Наступила тишина – ночь – Night/silence fell

Наливать (impf) – налить (pf) – to pour on, pour 

Наливай мне сока, пожалуйста. Очень хочется пить. – Pour me some juice, please. I’m very thirsty.

You say to your friend after having already 3-4 rounds.

Тебе больше не буду наливать! Все! – You’re cut off. That’s it! No more drinking!!!!

Натирать (impf) – натереть (pf) – to rub on 

You remember we saw the pair втирать – втереть – to rub in the first video.

Here we have a similar pair which means to run on a surface.

Again just like втереть is conjugated like this

ВотрУ, вотрЁшь – we have  натрУ, натрЁшь

We also have a similar verb like Натирать (impf) – натереть (pf) – to rub on

Намазывать (impf) – намазать (pf) – to rub on 

намазать лицо кремом – to put some cream on your face

Gradual completeness of an action

All the following verbs in this section will require the Genitive Case. Let’s look at the first one.

накапливать (impf)  – накопить (pf) – accumulate, build up, save up

надо накопить денег на колледж – you have to save up money for the college

нажаривать (impf) – нажарить (pf) – to fry 

нажарить пирожков – step by step, one by one fry piroshky

нарывать (impf) – нарвать (pf) – to pick  

нарвать цветы и сделать букет – pick the flowers one by one and finally make a bouquet

нарезАть (impf – нарезАю) – нарЕзать (pf – нарЕжу) – to slice 

нарезать колбасы, хлеба – slice sausage, bread

Pay attention to the stress, imperfective – perfective

Overdo Verbs – Excess of an Action

наговаривать (impf) – наговорить (pf) – to slander, say something bad, damage someone’s reputation 

Я слышал, что наш новый директор очень жестокий человек, но, по-моему, на него наговаривают. –  I heard that our new director is a very cruel person, but in my opinion, they are slandering him.

There is a also a usual expression, наговорить лишнего – to say something bad

Пойди и извинись – скажи что ты наговорил лишнего и тебе стыдно. –  Go and apologise, that you said something bad and you are ashamed.

наговориться (pf) – to talk a lot with somebody 

У нас будет много времени наговориться по дороге домой. – We’ll have lots of time to catch up/to talk on the way home.

После года, что они не виделись, не могут наговориться. – After one year without seeing each other, they can’t now get enough of talking to each other/catching up.

напываться (impf) – напыться (pf) – to overdrink

Я напился – I drank very much. (You show a bottle of wine or something )

наедаться (impf) – наесться (pf) – to overeat, eat till full

Я наелся – I ate very much. YOu show something, your belly. That’s a very common verb. I use it a lot because I eat a lot!!!

There is also another one which shows that you ate so much that it feels you’re gonna die.

Я обьелся!

Надышаться – to breathe in, take loads of fresh air!!! 

Надышаться свежим воздухом – to get plenty of fresh air

Перед смертью не надышишься –  it’s late now, you can’t do much now. If you want to achieve something, you have to plan and take certain action well in advance. For example, you need to study early for an exam.

наесться – напиться – надышаться all take Instrumental Case! Have a look at the example above. Свежий воздух becomes свежИМ воздухОМ

The post Russian Verb Prefixes – Prefix НА appeared first on Explore Russian.

A year ago, I made this video in which I started talking about Russian Verb Prefixes.

A difficult subject, I know.

BUT. There is a but.

Those who master these prefixes will have a powerful advantage in understanding the language and even coming up with a word they didn’t know before!

This is the first video I did on the prefix B.

Here are my notes on the next prefix, НА.

Until I manage to make a video for НА I hope you’ll find these useful!

Direction of the verb on the surface of something

The preposition на can mean “on, on the surface of” and takes Instrument Case. For example,

на столе – on the table (стол – table)

на стене – on the wall (стена –  wall)

на диване – on the couch (диван – couch)

In the same way, на can be used as a prefix to denote an on(to) direction.

наезжать (impf) – наехать (pf) – run over, coerce, blame

Машина наехала на столб. – The car ran over a pole.

In life anything can happen, we are exposed to hazardous events. You walk and you may get run over by a car.

Конечно, на тебя могут наехать, но если так думать, и кирпич на голову, как говорится, может упасть. – Surely, you may get run over, but if you think like that, even a brick might fall onto your head. 

The verb наехать is mostly used with the meaning

обидеть – to hurt, upset

обвинять – to blame

На нас наехали бандиты. – This means that bandits used threats, blackmail, physical power to force us to act in a certain way, for example, give money to them etc.

На меня наехали какие-то бандиты, требуют денег. – These guys got

наплывать – наплыть – to flow over sth 

на глаза наплывают слезы – tears flow on the eyes

Наплыли чёрные тучи – black clouds appeared in the sky

наплывают воспоминания из прошлого – memories get washed-up from the past

You can visualise the memories as waves that come to you one after the other.

Attention!!! Don’t confuse this verb with наплевать which means “screw this, f%£$ that!”. Наплевать на работу! – F@£$ work!

налетать (impf) – налететь (pf) – fly on(to)

Птица налетела на самолёт. – The bird flew onto the plane (hit the plane).

Налетела грусть. – Sorrow, melancholy hit us.

Listen to this wonderful song by the famous bard Aleksandr Rosenbaum (Песня by Розенбаум)

Набрести (pf) – to come across, to hit upon an idea

Брести – to walk slowly with difficulty, trudge, stroll, plod (impf)

So, while you walk you stumble upon something, you come across sth, you hit upon something

Я набреду, ты набредешь, они набредут

натыкаться (impf) – наткнуться (pf) – to bump into , hit 

наткнусь – наткнёшься – наткнутся

Наткнуться на знакомых в театре. – I bumped into friends in the theatre.

Наткнуться на старые фотографии. – to come across old photos

Наткнуться на столб – run into/hit a pole

наталкиваться (impf) – натолкнуться (pf) – to come across, to hit

натолкнуться на доказательство, на решение задачи – to come across evidence, solution to a problem

Note: натолкнуться differs from наткнуться in the sense that once you hit an obstacle you can’t go further, you’re stuck.

наступать (impf) – наступить (pf) – to step on, start 

наступить на ногу – step on one’s foot

Наступили мне не ногу и теперь не могу ходить – they stepped on my foot and I can’t walk now

Наступила зима – the winter came

Скоро зима наступает. – The winter is upon us!

Наступила тишина – ночь – Night/silence fell

Наливать (impf) – налить (pf) – to pour on, pour 

Наливай мне сока, пожалуйста. Очень хочется пить. – Pour me some juice, please. I’m very thirsty.

You say to your friend after having already 3-4 rounds.

Тебе больше не буду наливать! Все! – You’re cut off. That’s it! No more drinking!!!!

A year ago, I made this video in which I started talking about Russian Verb Prefixes.

A difficult subject, I know.

BUT. There is a but.

Those who master these prefixes will have a powerful advantage in understanding the language and even coming up with a word they didn’t know before!

This is the first video I did on the prefix B.

Here are my notes on the next prefix, НА.

Until I manage to make a video for НА I hope you’ll find these useful!

Direction of the verb on the surface of something

The preposition на can mean “on, on the surface of” and takes Instrument Case. For example,

на столе – on the table (стол – table)

на стене – on the wall (стена –  wall)

на диване – on the couch (диван – couch)

In the same way, на can be used as a prefix to denote an on(to) direction.

наезжать (impf) – наехать (pf) – run over, coerce, blame

Машина наехала на столб. – The car ran over a pole.

In life anything can happen, we are exposed to hazardous events. You walk and you may get run over by a car.

Конечно, на тебя могут наехать, но если так думать, и кирпич на голову, как говорится, может упасть. – Surely, you may get run over, but if you think like that, even a brick might fall onto your head. 

The verb наехать is mostly used with the meaning

обидеть – to hurt, upset

обвинять – to blame

На нас наехали бандиты. – This means that bandits used threats, blackmail, physical power to force us to act in a certain way, for example, give money to them etc.

На меня наехали какие-то бандиты, требуют денег. – These guys got

наплывать – наплыть – to flow over sth 

на глаза наплывают слезы – tears flow on the eyes

Наплыли чёрные тучи – black clouds appeared in the sky

наплывают воспоминания из прошлого – memories get washed-up from the past

You can visualise the memories as waves that come to you one after the other.

Attention!!! Don’t confuse this verb with наплевать which means “screw this, f%£$ that!”. Наплевать на работу! – F@£$ work!

налетать (impf) – налететь (pf) – fly on(to)

Птица налетела на самолёт. – The bird flew onto the plane (hit the plane).

Налетела грусть. – Sorrow, melancholy hit us.

Listen to this wonderful song by the famous bard Aleksandr Rosenbaum (Песня by Розенбаум)

Набрести (pf) – to come across, to hit upon an idea

Брести – to walk slowly with difficulty, trudge, stroll, plod (impf)

So, while you walk you stumble upon something, you come across sth, you hit upon something

Я набреду, ты набредешь, они набредут

натыкаться (impf) – наткнуться (pf) – to bump into , hit 

наткнусь – наткнёшься – наткнутся

Наткнуться на знакомых в театре. – I bumped into friends in the theatre.

Наткнуться на старые фотографии. – to come across old photos

Наткнуться на столб – run into/hit a pole

наталкиваться (impf) – натолкнуться (pf) – to come across, to hit

натолкнуться на доказательство, на решение задачи – to come across evidence, solution to a problem

Note: натолкнуться differs from наткнуться in the sense that once you hit an obstacle you can’t go further, you’re stuck.

наступать (impf) – наступить (pf) – to step on, start 

наступить на ногу – step on one’s foot

Наступили мне не ногу и теперь не могу ходить – they stepped on my foot and I can’t walk now

Наступила зима – the winter came

Скоро зима наступает. – The winter is upon us!

Наступила тишина – ночь – Night/silence fell

Наливать (impf) – налить (pf) – to pour on, pour 

Наливай мне сока, пожалуйста. Очень хочется пить. – Pour me some juice, please. I’m very thirsty.

You say to your friend after having already 3-4 rounds.

Тебе больше не буду наливать! Все! – You’re cut off. That’s it! No more drinking!!!!

Last week I received an email from Paige who lives in LA. He wrote to me:

I’ve been hanging out with Russian people around L.A. (where I live) and I’ve found some people like hanging out with. The problem is, I’m having a really hard time understanding most real people talking. When I’m listening to a podcast or a really clear speaker (like someone from Moscow), it’s obviously different than your girlfriend for example (I was watching a video of you and your girlfriend walking around on YouTube and I couldn’t make out what she was saying). When they speak in a super relaxed way, the speech becomes nearly incomprehensible to me. I want to hang out with Russian people, but I’m really concerned because last time I tried to do it, it was so so hard to understand the girl I was hanging with because she spoke in that way. I kept asking her to slow down, but she didn’t really know how and it was super awkward and painful for me. 

You’ll find my answer to Paige below. I decided to publish it here because I thought you’d find it useful too.





Hi Paige,

It looks to me the issue here is what we call  “affective filter”. It’s not an issue only with you. I had the same issue and most people do.

Let’s reverse the whole thing. Let’s suppose that girl from Russia (the same girl with whom you hang out) comes to LA for the first time and she speaks very little English. What is your attitude? You’re willing to help, speak slowly, repeat something 10 times, teach her, etc. She may feel awkward but you don’t! On the contrary, you’re there to help and you have fun with her even if she can barely communicate with you in English. So, why would you feel awkward trying to communicate in Russian? Do you think she wants to bang her head on the wall every time you ask her to repeat something? No! On the contrary, she probably finds it cute when you try to speak Russian or understand her! She is interested to hear how you pronounce Russian words. She’s probably impressed by your efforts to speak her language. So, I would say there is no reason to feel awkward or nervous even when you don’t understand a damn thing!!! So, in this case, we, ourselves, create this awkwardness. It’s not real. It doesn’t exist.

Now, if she thinks you’re “too slow” or it’s clear she is bored or she’s not in the right mood, or you feel there is no flow at all or whatever…. then there is a solution! Find some other native Russian speaker to practice the language. I’m sure she’s not the only one in LA! The next person will be more patient and more keen to spend time with you and will make you feel comfortable. I had Russian friends in London who would teach me Russian for hours until I said “Stop! I can’t do more! My head is burning”. They were delighted to help me understand their language and culture. So, in this case, find someone else please. Probably that person would never be a good teacher. She probably lacks patience when it comes to stuff other than language teaching too.

Hi guys,

As I was walking in the centre of St. Petersburg, I saw this love message written with paint on the street!

I hope you enjoy the video!

Please subscribe!!!

Best,

Angelos

The post Love Message in the centre of St. Petersburg appeared first on Explore Russian.

Hi guys,

In this video I ask my Russian students to translate a few English phrasal verbs for me to Russian.

Phrasal Verbs – List

come up with something – придумывать

work out – тренироваться

calm down – успокоиться

get up –  вставать

hold on – подождать

go out –  встречаться

give up –  сдаваться

fall apart – развалиться

come across – натолкнуться

Enjoy,

Angelos

Explore Russian

The post English Phrasal Verbs Translated to Russian appeared first on Explore Russian.

Yesterday I spent the whole day in the forest on the outskirts of St. Petersburg picking berries and mushrooms.

Well, I didn’t manage to find not even one proper edible mushroom but anyway.

In this video you will see three popular types of berries that Russian love to gather in the forest. I’m talking about черника – blueberry, земляника – wild strawberry and малина – raspberry.

 

 

More Vocabulary

черника – blueberry

земляника – wild strawberry

малина – raspberry

шашлыки – barbeque

грибы – mushrooms

лес – forest

в лесу – in the forest

поезд идет – the train is going

что это? – what is this?

нежная – soft, tender (feminine)

сладкая – sweet (feminine)

Смотрите! – Look! (plural) from смотреть – to see

And don’t forget to check out this awesome video by Natasha. Here you’ll find more types of berries and useful vocabulary.

 

The post Learn Russian in the Forest Picking Berries appeared first on Explore Russian.

Today’s lesson is about certain nouns that take the prepositional case in -у.

 

Some masculine nouns, mostly one syllable nouns, take the ending -у in the prepositional case after the prepositions в and на.

For example,

in the forest – в лесу (лес becomes лесу)

Я живу в лесу. – I live in the forest.

Where? In the forest. В лесу.

in the garden – в саду (сад becomes саду)

Дети играют в саду. – The kids are playing in the garden.

in the year – в году (год becomes году)

К сожалению, День Рождения только раз в году. – Unfortunately, you have your birthday only once in a year.

The ending in -у is always stressed. в годУ – в лесУ – в садУ.

More nouns that fall in this category:

угол (corner) – в углу

шкаф (cupboard) – в шкафу

пол (floor) – на полу

глаз (eye) – в глазу

час (hour) – в часу

берег (shore) – на берегу

мост (bridge) – на мосту

Guys, attention, attention! We use this ending -у only when we ask the question where or when. Где? Когда?

In all the other cases we use the common ending -е to form the prepositional case.

For example,

Я говорю о лесе. – I’m talking about the forest.

Я говорю об этом годе. –  I’m talking about this year.

NEW COURSE: I recently made a course on how to learn the Russian cases through one film, the most popular Russian film. Check it out here.

See you later,

Angelos

PS: Now that I finished this video, I deserve my favourite meal. Buckwheat with milk! – Гречка с молочком!!!! Mmmmm!!!!

The post Prepositional Case in -У for Masculine Nouns appeared first on Explore Russian.