How to learn foreign languages: video collection

Here are a few great videos about language learning. Some are short, some are longer. They cover all sorts of topics – make sure to write down the most important tidbits!

Hacking language learning

“Взламывая» иностранные языки

Ciaela's tips

Советы Сиаэлы

Russian roofs can be... different

  Russian word for a roof, крыша, means more than just that. It originates from крыть - to cover. Let's start with which prepositions you can use with крыша:

на крыше (plural: на крышах) — on the roof (something is there)

на крышу (на крыши) — to the roof

по крыше (по крышам) — on the roof (something is moving there)

о крыше (о крышах) — about a roof

с крыши (с крыш) — from the roof

в крыше (в крышах) — in the roof

под крышей (под крышами) — under the roof

из-за крыши (из-за крыш) — from-behind the roof

нет крыши (нет крыш) — no roof

много крыш — many roofs

Russian vocabulary: привычка, привыкнуть

  Today we will look at Russian words describing habits and doing things one is used to.

привычка - custom, habit, wont, mannerism

привыкнуть - to get used to, to become accustomed to

отвыкнуть - to get out of the habit of, to become disaccustomed

привычный - habitual, customary, accustomed

привычно - habitually

непривычный - unusual, unfamiliar, uncustomary

вредная (дурная) привычка - “harmful habit”, bad, obsessive habit (such as smoking or biting your fingernails)

Russian texts online

  Reading is one of the best ways to enrich your vocabulary and improve grammar skills. If you don't have access to physical books in Russian, there are still many options online.

Project Gutenberg offers free e-books in many languages including Russian.

Журнал «Самиздат» is a place where Russian beginner authors can publish their works online. Some even get a contract with a publisher, if their stories become popular. You can search the site by genre (Жанры), view latest entries (Последние поступления) or simply check the best works (Избранное, Топ-40 and Топ-30).

Стихи.Ру publishes modern poetry in Russian.

Multilingual Books offers you an extensive list of links to Russian literature online.

Дать, отдать, продать...

  Russian verb дать (to give) has a big family. There are many words with -дат- made by adding prefixes and suffixes to it. Let's have a look at some of them.

дать/давать - to give

(here are its conjugations)

отдать - to give away, to give back

подать - to present, to offer, to serve, to hand in

продать - to sell

преподать - to teach

задать - to give, to set, to indicate

You can check more meanings of these words here.

A few nouns made from these verbs:

отдача - output, return, response

подача - presentation, serving, inning (in sports)

продавец - seller, salesman

продажа - sale

преподаватель - teacher

задание - task, assignment

Sentences:

Colours of Russian salaries

  Did you know that in Russia salaries can be white, black and sometimes grey?

чёрная зарплата (“black salary”) is the salary from which no taxes were paid. For example, you work somewhere, but not officially, so you get “black salary.” If they fire you, you won't be able to prove you worked there.

белая зарплата (“white salary”) is an official, legal salary from which you and your employer pay taxes, it’s what you officially get.

11+ common Russian colloquial words

  Here are a few easy words from spoken Russian. One cannot always use formal speech, right? ;)

крутой - cool (non-colloquial meaning: steep, sharp)

культовый - cult, extremely popular, iconic, from культ - cult (non-colloquial meaning: cultic, of religious worship)

чувак - dude

бабки, бабло, капуста - money (деньги in formal speech)

штука - 1000 rubles/dollars, etc. (non-colloquial meaning: thing)

лимон (from миллион) - million rubles/dollars, etc. (non-colloquial meaning: lemon)

мобильник (from мобильный телефон) - cell phone