Уже vs ещё

  Уже means already, yet, by now; ещё means yet, more. Here is how you use them.

Уже

Они уже проснулись. - They already woke up.

Уже готово. - Already done/ready.

Уже поздно. - It's already late.

Я уже не студент. - I'm not a student anymore. The same meaning: Я больше не студент.

Она давно уже живёт в Москве. - She's been living in Moscow for some time now.

Я уже сделал(а) это. - I've already done that.

Ещё

Russian trailers of foreign movies

  If watching a whole movie in Russian seems too much work for you, why not start with trailers? You can practice your listening comprehension and vocabulary, and it won't take that much time. Here are a few trailers to get you started.

Анна Каренина

Хоббит: Нежданное путешествие

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Облачный атлас

Cloud Atlas

How to use хотя

  “Although” in Russian is хотя (хоть). Most of the time either form can be used.

Хотя на улице лил дождь, Ваня и Саша пошли погулять. - Although it was raining, Vanya and Sasha went for a walk.

Хоть у Стаса и мало времени, он успевает заниматься и карате, и танцами. - Although Stas has little time, he manages to do both karate and dancing.

Хотя Даша читает англоязычные книги, она всё ещё не говорит по-английски. - Although Dasha reads a lot in English, she still doesn't speak it.

Света играет на пианино каждый день, хотя пока не видно результатов. - Sveta plays piano every day, although you can't see the results yet.

Ужин был невкусным, и хотя Лида была голодной, она не доела своё блюдо. - The supper was not yummy, and although Lida was hungry, she didn't finish her meal.

Хоть ему и 50 лет, он по-прежнему любит видео-игры. - Although he is 50, he still enjoys video games.

Хотя то, что Мария увидела, её потрясло, она никому об этом не рассказала. - Although what she saw shook her, Maria didn't tell anyone about it.

Хоть у него и большая зарплата, он тратит все деньги за пару дней. - Although he has a big salary, he spends all the money in a couple of days.

These words have other meanings too:

Горячий vs жаркий

  Both горячий and жаркий mean hot. Sometimes either one is fine, sometimes only one of them fits the context. Hopefully, the examples below will show you the difference between горячий and жаркий.

горячий

горячий шоколад – hot chocolate

горячее, горячие блюда – warm main meal(s), for example, soups, as opposed to salads or desserts

горячая вода – hot water

горячий утюг – hot iron

горячий песок – hot sand

горячий лоб – hot forehead (in fever)

Russian words about sleeping and a lullaby

  It's night time here, so I decided to share with you some Russian vocabulary about sleeping.

спать - to sleep

уснуть, заснуть - to fall alseep

просыпаться - to wake up

вставать - to wake up, to rise

будить, разбудить - to wake someone up

будильник - alarm-clock

сон - sleep, dream

бессонница - insomnia

кошмар - nightmare

видеть сны - to dream

сниться, присниться — to appear in dreams

сонный, сонливый - sleepy

храп - snore

храпеть - to snore

кровать, постель - bed

подушка - pillow

одеяло - blanket

колыбельная - lullaby

петь колыбельную - to sing a lullaby

сова - night owl, evening person

жаворонок - lark, morning person

голубь - "pigeon" (a person who doesn't have strong preferences to early or late waking up)

Idioms about sleeping:

Tip of the week: Record yourself speaking Russian

  If you want to speak Russian, you'll have to actually do a lot of speaking. No matter how much you read in Russian or listen to Russian radio, you won't learn to speak the language fluently if you never open your mouth.

But don't stop there. Speak – and record yourself! You can easily make videos for YouTube and get useful feedback and encouragement there. Other reasons for recording yourself?

“-Forcing yourself to output something and getting used to pronouncing the words
-Burning the words of your video into your memory forever, since you’ll know them really well thanks to the preparation, especially as I describe it below
-Giving yourself a project to work towards with a deadline, forcing you to improve by that time”
-Benny Lewis.

(Read more here.)

To inspire you to give it a try, here are a few videos from people who, just like you, are learning Russian.

chahailus

WILLTHEWGMAN

AnnieTheLemon

Words that are always plural in Russian

  My husband and I were talking (in English) about chess the other day, and I referred to the game as 'them'. He asked me why, and I realized it was because chess in Russian – шахматы – is always plural. It's not the only word like that. For example, just like in English scissors and trousers are always plural, their Russian brothers are plural as well.

брюки - (formal) trousers

штаны - trousers, pants

джинсы - jeans 

шорты - shorts 

ножницы - scissors 

плоскогубцы (пассатижи) - lineman's pliers

кусачки (острогубцы) - diagonal pliers, wire cutters

щипцы - tongs, pliers, hair crimper

вилы - pitchfork

ворота - gate, gates

очки - glasses

шахматы - chess

весы - weigh-scales

часы - clock, watch

носилки - litter, palanquin, stretchers

Ножницы is always plural.

деньги - money