Posts Tagged ‘References’

The 3 blogs I never read

By Karyn Dubravetz

Okay, that title may be a little misleading. The point of this post is to introduce you to the 3 most useful blogs I have found (other than mine of course!) that help with Russian language study. They’re so good, in fact, that I almost never read them. What I mean is that I follow so many blogs, I usually just breeze over most of them. But these 3 are so good that I like to wait to look at them until I have enough time to really read them, which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like. But don’t worry – I eventually get caught up with them. Maybe this is a good idea for a New Year’s resolution?

Anyway, here are the best 3 Russian language learning blogs I’ve found (so far):

#1. Transparent Language Russian Blog

Russian Blog

And yes, these are presented in a particular order: this one’s my favorite. It is written by Josefina, a Swedish woman who moved to Russia 6 years ago to study Russian literature. (This post provides more info about Josefina.) Each post covers a cultural topic and gives examples of Russian words and phrases. What I really like about the blog, is how the author’s personality really shines through. It’s like you’ve made a new friend that can help you with your Russian. The material is also very useful and she provides stress marks on Russian words.

#2. Russificate

Russificate

Well, the main reason I like this blog is that it’s actually written in Russian. So it may not be the best blog for beginners, but for me it’s perfect. It’s written as if the author is the teacher and we are the students. Sometimes she even gives homework assignments (which I have to admit, I don’t usually do).

#3. Russian Word of the Day

Russian Word of the Day

As you might guess from the title, this blog gives the reader one new word each day. It also provides other interesting tidbits about the word, and its usage. One thing I love about this blog is that it always provides the declensions of the nouns and conjugations of the verbs. And the info is always presented in nicely organized charts! Stress on the Russian words is indicated by red print.

If you are studying Russian, I recommend that you check out these three blogs. Feel free to let me know what you think. And I’ll try to do a better job of keeping up with them myself!

Are there any Russian language study blogs that I’ve missed? Let me know!

  • Share/Bookmark

The best dictionary ever

By Karyn Dubravetz

I’m always on the look-out for some good books to help me learn some Russian. One of my favorites is “A Phrase and Sentence Dictionary of Spoken Russian” (Dover Publications).

Dictionary of Spoken Russian

It’s not very comprehensive, so it’s best for beginners. But I don’t consider myself a beginner and I use it all the time.  For every entry, there is a short definition, followed by a few sentences so you can see the word in action! Even for advanced students this can be a lot easier than trying to make sense of phrases like “что на что кому чего” that are given in most dictionaries.

If you like the smell of used books as much as I do, pick up a copy for under $5.00 at Amazon.com. (New copies also available.)

  • Share/Bookmark
Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes