Why does World War II hold a special place in many hearts of people who live or used to live in the former Soviet Union? I arrived at this answer a while ago, when I came to America. It is hard, if not impossible, to forget the atrocities of WWII when you live in a place surrounded by WWII reminders: […]

День Росси́и [Russia Day] is национа́льный [a national] пра́здник [holiday] of the Russian Federation celebrated on June 12. On this day in 1990, the First Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Пра́здник [the holiday] has been celebrated ка́ждый год [every year] since 1992. Пе́рвый [the first] президе́нт [President] of Russia Бори́с [Boris] Е́льцин [Yeltsin] proposed to rename […]

Первома́й [May Day] also known as День междунаро́дной солида́рности трудя́щихся [International Workers’ Day] was celebrated illegally in Russia until 1917. It became an important official holiday for the Soviet people. It was celebrated across the Soviet Union. There were парады [parades] held in the center of many towns. People carried транспара́нты [banners] and возду́шные шары́ [balloons] in celebration of the holiday. Here you can watch […]

Па́сха [Easter] is древне́йший [the oldest] and са́мый большо́й [the biggest] пра́здник [holiday] in Russian Orthodox Church. Because Правосла́вная Це́рковь [the Orthodox Church] uses юлиа́нский календа́рь [the Julian calendar], ру́сские христиа́не [Russian Christians] often пра́зднуют [celebrate] Па́сху [Easter] later than the Western Christians. A week or two пе́ред Па́схой [before Easter], мно́гие лю́ди [many people] in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus do some major spring cleaning. Everything must be clean: ме́бель [furniture] is dusted, полы́ [floors] are […]

Кра́шение пасха́льных яи́ц [Coloring Easter eggs] is one of my funnest memories of celebrating Па́сха [Easter]. In our family, we used a traditional way кра́сить [to color] я́йца [eggs] by boiling them в лу́ковой шелухе́ [in onion shells]. A few weeks пе́ред пра́здником [before the holiday], my mother would start collecting лу́ковую шелуху́ [the onion shells], so we would have enough for coloring я́йца [the eggs]. Also, the […]

April 12, 1961 marked the history as день [the day] when весь мир [the whole world] learned that human exploration of outer space was possible. On that date, a 27 year old Soviet пило́т [pilot] and космона́вт [astronaut] Ю́рий Гага́рин [Yuri Gagarin] circled the Earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes aboard his Восто́к 1 [Vostok 1] spacecraft. Here is the outer space experience in the words […]

Поздра́вьте свои́х друзе́й с Рождество́м по-ру́сски! [Wish a Merry Christmas to your friends in Russian!] Watch the video below and learn how to say “Merry Christmas” in Russian language. С РОЖДЕСТВО́М!  –  [S  RAH-ZH-DEES-TVOH-M]  –  MERRY CHRISTMAS! The most common way to wish a Merry Christmas in Russian language is to say c Рождество́м. The phrase literally translates into English as “with Christmas.” […]

Поздра́вьте свои́х друзе́й с Но́вым Го́дом по-ру́сски! [Wish a Happy New Year to your friends in Russian!] Watch the video below and learn how to say “Happy New Year” in Russian language. С НО́ВЫМ ГО́ДОМ!  –  [S  NOH-VYM  GOH-DAHM]  –  HAPPY NEW YEAR! The most common way to wish a Happy New Year in Russian language is to say с Но́вым […]