Category: Russian Language

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine to restrict Russian books, music in latest cultural break from Moscow” – Reuters

Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Russian Language, Ukraine
Verkhovna Rada File Photo

“Ukraine’s parliament on Sunday [approved] two laws … [enjoying wide legislative support that would impose] severe restrictions on Russian books and music …. One law will forbid the printing of books by Russian citizens [who held Russian citizenship after the 1991 Soviet collapse], unless they renounce their Russian passport and take Ukrainian citizenship. … It will also ban the commercial […]

» Read more
Leave a comment

RUSSIALINK: “Russian Autumn Fun: The Word’s Worth” – Moscow Times/ Michele A. Berdy

Environment, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Newslinks, Russian Language
File Photo of Autumn Leaves and Wooded Trail, With Patches of Sunshine or Sky, adapted from image at fws.gov by Steven C. Welsh :: www.stevencwelsh.info :: www.stevencwelsh.com

“Осень: autumn There are, I’ve heard, places on earth where weather is not a topic of conversation. I’ve heard that in some places a few degrees up or a few degrees down is pretty much the entire range of weather events. That is not Moscow. Погода (weather) can run your life, determine when and if you go outside, raise or […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , , , , , , , , , , ,

Interfax: Moscow accuses Kyiv of forced Ukrainization policy

Russian Language, Ukraine
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on international human rights institutions to influence Kyiv over Ukraine’s discriminatory laws regarding the use of the state language in education and the media. “We call on relevant international human rights institutions, including, primarily, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , , , , , , , , ,

Russian Language on the Decline Thanks to English, Says Official

Belarus, Europe, EU, Russian Language, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 29, 2017) The number of Russian speakers has decreased by about 50 million since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the chairman of the State Duma Committee for Education and Science was cited as saying by the Interfax news agency on Monday. Vyacheslav Nikonov called for an expansion of the Eurasian Union […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NEWSLINK: “DOES PUTIN SPEAK ENGLISH? AFTER TRUMP MEETING, THE KREMLIN WEIGHS IN” – Newsweek/ DAMIEN SHARKOV

Germany, Russian Language, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Putin Descending a Staircase

“… Officially, besides his native Russian, Putin speaks English and German – a language he used on a daily basis in his past career for the Soviet security services (KGB) while deployed in the city of Dresden in East Germany during the 1980s. …”

» Read more
Leave a comment , , , , , , , ,

NEWSWATCH: “New Fighting in Ukraine’s Language War. If Kyiv draws new battle lines in the country’s language war, Moscow is ready to restart its side of this conflict.” – Carnegie Europe/ Thomas de Waal

JRL NewsBlog, Russian Language, Ukraine
Verkhovna Rada File Photo

“… Ukraine’s language wars are restarting. A bill requiring 75 percent of national television broadcasts to be in Ukrainian has just been passed by the Rada. It follows a very unpopular move by … Poroshenko to ban Russian-language social media websites …. Next up … is draft legislation that seeks to ensure ‘the functioning and use of Ukrainian as a state language in all spheres of […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , , , , , , , ,

Why study Russian? It’s not all politics

Russian Language, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian Folk Singers file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ivan Savvine, special to RBTH – September 10, 2014) Ivan Savvine is an art historian and writer as well as a teacher. He was raised in St. Petersburg. There is a popular belief that in the United States, interest in all things Russian and in particular Russian language peaks at times of crisis […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , ,

Over Half of Ukrainians Oppose Russian as State Language – Poll

Russian Language, Ukraine
File Photo of Ukrainians with Ukrainian Flag in Public Square Near Tower with Golden Dome

(RIA Novosti – KIEV, October 16, 2013) ­ More than a half of Ukrainians are against the idea of making Russian the country’s second state language, according to a survey released by an independent Ukrainian pollster on Wednesday. Sociological Group “Rating” said 43 percent of respondents are in favor of the idea, while 51 percent are against. Five percent said […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , , , , ,

Roofs and bottle caps: Deciphering Russian slang

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Russian Language
File Photo of Crowd of Russians with One Waving Russian Flag

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexey Mikheev, special to RBTH – September 19, 2013) Matryoshka, kolhkoz, sputnik, perestroika­all of these original and untranslatable words have been borrowed in other languages from Russian at one time in history or another. This happened recently with another Russian word­krysha­in English. The word krysha itself is not new and simply means “roof.” […]

» Read more
Leave a comment , ,