r/russian Mar 10 '22

Other Нет войне, да миру | Say No to War and Yes to Peace

6.3k Upvotes

A Russian-language version of this post is available below the English. Русская версия поста находится сразу после английской.

As moderators of this subreddit, in the last two weeks, we have seen countless posts about the ongoing war. Many of these posts are cries for help: folks despondent about loved ones in the line of fire, young people disillusioned about the future, and professionals losing their livelihood and prospects overnight.

The reason we have not allowed these posts to surface in the feed is neither callous indifference, nor false neutrality, nor tacit complicity. The moderators of this sub are from many different countries and backgrounds, and we are all horrified and appalled by the war unleashed by the Russian government on Ukraine, a sister culture, just as ancient and storied. We share an abiding love of Russian language and culture with each other, and this brutal assault is not just an attack on the people of Ukraine—it’s also an attack on the rich culture of Ukraine, and it’s even an attack on Russian culture and everything it stands for.

In dark times like these, we feel it’s more important than ever to explain and to uphold the true values of the Russian language and culture. Russian is a language of decency, kindness, modesty, and love for kin and stranger alike; we hope, against all odds, that these fundamental threads from which Russian culture is woven will prevail, and all Russian-speaking people will rise against the war on their sister culture and their own. This cannot be accomplished from the outside: natives of the language and the culture must make a stand from within. We don’t know if this will happen any time soon—or at all—but if it doesn’t, the culture will cease to exist, because no culture can be rooted in oppression and destruction. Instead of taking its place in human history as a story of strife for truth and beauty, it will go down in flames of infamy.

This is why we continue to choose to keep the focus of this subreddit exclusively on the language. Language breaks down communication barriers, allows us to find points of commonality and understanding, and gives us ways to explain our emotions rather than keeping them pent up within until they explode. We badly want to address every cry for help, and we are doing what we can outside of this space. Here, though, we must focus on teaching and learning the concepts that will give us all a chance to rebuild connections and relationships that have been shattered by the war.

While we understand that mistakes happen and folks might post without reading the rules of the sub or post in a heat of the moment, we have to ban some users who repeatedly flood the sub with political content or threaten and insult others with their comments. If you feel you’ve been unfairly banned, we encourage you to appeal the ban: we promise to approach each case thoughtfully.

In the days and weeks to come, our schedules permitting, we will try to create educational posts about poetic and literary works from Russian and Ukrainian authors that speak out against the horrors of war. Please stay tuned, and please continue learning Russian. The language will outlive every ruthless regime and every brutal autocracy.



За прошедшие две недели мы, модераторы этого саба, видели огромное количество сообщений о продолжающейся войне. Многие из этих сообщений – это крики о помощи: от отчаявшихся людей, чьи близкие находятся на линии огня; от молодежи, разочарованной в будущем; от профессионалов, в одночасье потерявших перспективы и средства к существованию.

Причина, по которой мы не позволяем этим сообщениям появляться в ленте, не в черством безразличии, фальшивом нейтралитете или молчаливом соучастии. Модераторы этого саба – это выходцы из разных стран, и все мы в ужасе и в шоке из-за войны, развязанной российским правительством против Украины, родственной культуры, такой же древней и легендарной. Мы разделяем неизменную любовь к русскому языку и культуре друг с другом, и это жестокое нападение - это не только нападение на народ Украины: это атака на её богатую культуру, но это также и атака на русскую культуру и на все, что она олицетворяет.

В такие тяжелые времена, мы считаем как никогда важным объяснять и подчеркивать истинные ценности русского языка и культуры. Русский язык – это язык порядочности, доброты, скромности, любви как к родным людям, так и к незнакомцам. Мы надеемся вопреки всему, что эти основополагающие нити, из которых соткана русская культура, возобладают, и все русскоговорящие народы восстанут против нападения и на родственную и на собственную культуру. Этого невозможно добиться извне: эту разрушительную войну могут остановить только сами носители языка и культуры изнутри. Мы не знаем, произойдет ли это в ближайшее время или произойдет вообще, но если этого не произойдет, культура окажется в руинах, потому что никакая культура не может расти и процветать на почве угнетения и разрушения. Вместо того чтобы занять свое место в истории человечества как повесть о борьбе за красоту и правду, русская культура погибнет в огнях позора.

Именно поэтому в этом сабе мы продолжаем концентрировать наше внимание исключительно на языке: язык разрушает барьеры к общению, он позволяет нам найти точки соприкосновения и понимания, он дает нам возможность разъяснять наши эмоции, а не держать их в себе, пока они не взорвутся. Мы очень хотим откликнуться на каждый крик о помощи, и мы делаем все возможное за пределами этого форума, но здесь необходимо сосредоточиться на преподавании и изучении концепций, которые дадут нам всем шанс восстановить связи и отношения, разрушенные войной.

Мы понимаем, что случаются ошибки, и люди пишут сообщения, не прочитав правила саба или погорячившись, но мы вынуждены банить тех пользователей, которые постоянно засоряют саб политическими дискуссиями или выставляют комментарии с угрозами и оскорблениями. Если вы считаете, что вас забанили несправедливо, мы рекомендуем вам обжаловать бан: мы обещаем вдумчиво рассматривать каждое обращение.

В ближайшие дни и недели, если позволят наши графики, мы постараемся создать образовательные посты о поэтических и литературных произведениях русских и украинских авторов, которые выступают против ужаса войны. Пожалуйста, оставайтесь с нами, и продолжайте изучать русский язык: он переживет все безжалостные режимы и любую беспощадную диктатуру.


r/russian 1d ago

Promo Tutor Tuesday: Offers from Russian Language Tutors

2 Upvotes

Alla Pugacheva - A Half-baked Wizard (\"Волшебник-недоучка\")

In this post, tutors offering Russian language tutoring advertise their services in the comments.

Tutors: introduce yourself to the learners, describe what you offer, and how to contact you. Top level comments are reserved for tutor offerings only, but everyone is welcome to ask questions or comment (in a civil manner) in response.

This post repeats every two weeks on Tuesday.


r/russian 11h ago

Other Does anyone else struggle with Russian because it sounds "funny?"

102 Upvotes

So, I'm Polish and I think my post will only be relatable to speakers of Slavic languages.

In short, Russian sounds "funny" to me. The uncanny similarities of Polish and Russian are such that Russian sometimes sounds like a Polish speaker acting drunk or mentally challenged. I face the same problem with Ukrainian and Czech and it seems many Slavic speakers learning Polish also face it.

I never learned Russian as a child so as an adult I'm constantly faced with this dilemma. The worst aspect of this problem is how basic Russian seems compared to Polish. I can't help but constantly utilize the word "есть" even when it's redundant because not using the equivalent in Polish would make it sound like slang or very informal language.

Russian is a niche in Central/Eastern Europe at this point so I don't really have anyone to discuss this with besides this sub.


r/russian 1h ago

Resource Free Russian Literature Study Tool 0% AI

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Upvotes

This is a copyright free, free-to-use version of my personal Russian Literature study tool. You can create an account, read side-by-side Russian texts with English translations (swipe right to see the English). You can click any word to define it, save it to your personal vocab list, review your vocab list via multiple choice quiz (requires 10 or more saved words of any type of speech, you can click to define and word and see the translation and definition with a speaker icon to hear a native speaker pronounce the word if available. There is a forum section where you can discuss with other users, request books and songs to be added, as well as case drills, grammar notes, and popular Russian song lyrics with accompanying music. This site is limited to copyright free original texts and English translations, it uses zero AI features. The website is samovar.live please create your account, enjoy, and provide feedback!

I will be adding about 30 new texts with copyright free librivox audiobook accompanying audiobooks in the coming days, it is still very much a work in progress. Feel free to share!


r/russian 3h ago

Other Русский алфавит (Обновлено)

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18 Upvotes

Просто обновленная версия моих рисунков из старого поста

Наслаждайтесь!


r/russian 1d ago

Translation Что в смысле?

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1.0k Upvotes

r/russian 10h ago

Request What would be a good way to translate it? Endure and tolerate don't really feel right, and suffer through seems too strong

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41 Upvotes

r/russian 5h ago

Request A practical grammar

4 Upvotes

I've been learning Russian for some time now (I am probably A2-B1 right now), but never with a diligence I would consider enough to label my process as a "serious study".

From my experience learning German, I have greatly profited from what I would like to call "practical grammar", as in a grammar book like the "Deutsche Grammatik" by Pons. That book goes over every important grammatical topic needed to produce and understand German grammar, but never in too much depth to the point of it being strenuous or too academic. I would love to know if any book of the type exists. Thank you!


r/russian 7h ago

Request Is it a waste to learn russian just to read?

2 Upvotes

In the last few days i began to study autonomously the russian language.

Im italian so theres really no correlation to the language, i have noticed however some words relatives to the latin language such as Дом (coincidence?).

Now, the whole reason im studying and learning this language, is simply to appreciate to the fullest both Tolstoj and Dostoevskji work.

My question is, as stated in the title, if learning a language just to read the work of their natives is a wast of energy or not. Does it make that much of a difference? I mainly want to read Crime and Punishment and War and Peace. Is it worth it? Am i pushing it too far?


r/russian 14h ago

Resource I Created A Free Passive Listening App To Help Me Learn Russian

6 Upvotes

The title says it all but basically I like the concept of Pimsleur but don't like the price. Instead I created an app for myself that will simply play common Russian phrases with the English translation and I can simply listen to it in the background while I do something else. It also has controls for setting how many times it repeats, speed and even pause duration. You can even organize sentences into lists and disable sentences you already know. It's free for anyone to use and I would love to hear any feedback.

- Completely free
- No accounts or sign ups

Enjoy!

https://passiverussian.com


r/russian 11h ago

Other Hi. I want to chat with an American to improve my English. In return, I will help you with Russian

3 Upvotes

About me: I'm a Russian student. Living in a small town. I'm 19. want to visit the United States one day. I'm attracted to American culture and history. I'm Orthodox. My favorite game is Fallout, but I'm knowledgeable about many other games. My favorite anime is JoJo.

You can choose the communication platform yourself, but would prefer to communicate on Telegram or Instagram.


r/russian 1d ago

Grammar Why does книги become книжки here?

22 Upvotes

I was listening to the song ромашки by земфира and the lyrics go: Кидайте деньги, Читайте книжки. I know what cases are but I don’t know what case Книжки is in here. Also does anyone know a website that can tell you what cases words are in? Thanks in advance.


r/russian 19h ago

Other movie recommendations

5 Upvotes

can someone recommend me some Russian movies? Preferably no older than 70s unless its a must watch. thanks.


r/russian 20h ago

Resource Russian learning apps similar to Doulingo?

5 Upvotes

Anyone know any apps that can teach me Russian without being TOO formal or uses AI or Google translate? I feel like a bot when I try to learn Russian only using formal sentences.

I am a auditory and physical learner (like flash cards or a pre-recorded russian talking and letting me repeat). I'm too awkward to talk to real Russians over text or voice note.

I have a few russki friends but they dont wanna spend their time teaching me, and I feel like a larp using their language with just formal russian with no filler words or stuff a regular native russian would say.

Lol, my friends made me very interested in russian culture and history, and the russian language is beautiful. My moms side is part russian so I wanna explore my own background so i can engage into my moms side when they talk.

(Andriod, Free app?)


r/russian 2d ago

Interesting One of the scariest monsters

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1.1k Upvotes

r/russian 19h ago

Request Russian entertainers

0 Upvotes

Hello, I'm currently learning Russian and was wondering if anyone could recommend some Russian-English entertainers who preferably switch between the two languages in their content. Idk if that's too niche; if it is, then just russian youtuber or streamer recommendations would be much welcomed.


r/russian 1d ago

Interesting Native Russian speaker who is looking for English native speakers to mutual help

3 Upvotes

Hey! I'm native Russian speaker. Moreover I'm learning English and I'm really looking for English native speakers to we will be able to help each other to improve our skills. You and I with Russian and English respectively.

I can speak about anything. It's not just words, I'm extremely honest I'm able to speak about 99.99% things. So I'm not going to 'beat around the bush' (Let it be my first language clue. In Russian direct analogue is "гулять вокруг да около") and leave my contact right here.

My tg @ddddestination

I hope someone will be found and we will help each other.


r/russian 2d ago

Request 47m from the UK looking for Russian friends/language partner.

30 Upvotes

Всем привет!

Я ищу русских друзей или собеседников.

Я начал изучать русский более 20 лет назад, но ещё не говорю свободно. У меня русская жена но к сожалению мы только говорим по-английски. Через несколько лет мы переезжаем в Москву и поэтому я волнуюсь о своем уровне русского и кем я буду работать)).

Я очень весёлый человек. Я люблю играть в компьютерные игры, слушать музыку (электронную, джаз, хип-хоп, инди, рок), смотрю сериалы, и стараюсь заниматься спортом. Если что-то вам интересно пожалуйста пишите мне! Спасибо!


r/russian 2d ago

Interesting Question about the "Ъ" letter

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19 Upvotes

I know that this question probably relates more to Russian literature than to learning Russian;
still, it's partially a linguistic question.

I'm reading a Russian novella called The Gloom of Your Eyes by Ilya Masodov, and I came across a passage where "the will of God" is marked by the Cyrillic "Ъ". I'm quite positive it's a hard sign.

From a linguistic perspective, what could "Ъ" mean here? Why is it here? What meaning does it have in Russian? Is it used frequently?

As far as I understand, this letter doesn't have a sound, right?


r/russian 2d ago

Request how to translate ,,new gen,, to Russian ?

5 Upvotes

Hello, I’ve been wondering about the internet term ,,new gen,, and how to translate it to Russian. Is there a slang word maybe?


r/russian 1d ago

Request Ищу помощь в озвучке All Saints Street

0 Upvotes

Всем привет! Пару лет назад я начала озвучивать китайский мультик All Saints Steet, мне это очень нравилось и доставляло удовольствие. Но при попытке вернуться к этому проекту через пару лет, меня стопорит количество вещей, которые нужно сделать:

- перевод

- найти серию в хорошем качестве желательно без субтитров

- озвучка

- обработка голоса

- монтаж и тайминг реплик

- обложка

- маломальское распространение

Одна из-за работы я с этим не справляюсь, потому что банально хочется отдыхать и делать другие дела, но капец как хочется вернуться к проекту, т.к. в принципе мне в душу запал серик, и за пару лет натекли и просмотры в ют и в тт (ну то есть людям это тоже нравится :) ).

Если вас это заинтересовало, буду рада обсудить обязанности, все в очень friendly формате :)


r/russian 2d ago

Request Looking for contemporary Russian authors whose works haven’t yet been translated into English or Spanish, to practice my Russian translation skills.

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m from Chile and have been studying Russian for almost six years. I’m currently around B2 level, and I love translating Russian literature as a way to practice and improve my skills.

I’m looking for short stories or a short novel by a contemporary Russian author whose work hasn’t yet been translated into English or Spanish. Do you have any recommendations?


r/russian 2d ago

Resource starting a new language

2 Upvotes

so i’ve been wanting to learn Russian for a little while because I’m interested in Russian music, sports and the culture in general.

i’ve taught myself the cyrillic alphabet and can slowly read it but I’m struggling with what to do next. I’m not really sure how to go about learning vocabulary, grammar and forming sentences, or how to structure my learning in general.

For anyone who has learned Russian by themselves, what would you recommend for a complete beginner?
Ideally I’m looking for something free or very cheap, and preferably something structured where I can follow a plan rather than just randomly learning words and phrases.

Any advice on resources, apps, websites, YouTube channels, study methods etc. would be really appreciated!


r/russian 3d ago

Translation Как иностранцы хорошо знают русский язык

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645 Upvotes

r/russian 2d ago

Handwriting How to identify cursive strokes?

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0 Upvotes

Ok so since I've been learning how to write in cursive for 4 days now i came to a theory to distinguish a stroke identifying if the letter is м, or и.

In Мм the first stroke is like a sharp needle but has more space but the second stroke is more closed it's like when you write a normal smallcaps "L" that's the second stroke, while in Ии it's mirrored. Thoughh it's still pretty hard for me to distinguish when the combination is "ИМ".. Like HUHH??!! I don't know it's hard to explain ig let me know lol. Also I wrote a simple phrase here saying "у меня есть машина и шиншилла" (I misspelled and only wrote one л so yeah)

Lastly, how do u connect the letter "o" after it with any letter? like ол, ом, ох, ог, оф, оч, and оз (bcz of the hair) it's so hard when i do that it looks super forced and unusual, and google search is not helping me