Peter and His Peruke or A Slavic стричь

It’s common knowledge that Peter the First (sometimes known as “the Great,” though whether he was great is still up for debate) introduced a beard tax (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard_tax). In short, he did everything he could to get those hairy Russians looking more “civilized.”  But beards are not really today’s subject (If you recall, I have a…

Church Slavonic Primer Lesson Eight

Lesson eight of the Church Slavonic Primer is now available. It covers "For unto Thee are due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages." You will find the link to the video, the transcript, and listening practice on…

Uh is for educaishUhn

Some of the most basic and yet most important advice I give people who are studying Russian (especially at the beginning, though one should always keep this in mind) is to listen carefully to how something is pronounced and imitate. When someone begins studying Russian (and most textbooks are set up in this way), they…

Yes, I’m Complaining about You!

Or, to translate the Russian way of saying this in a certain more literal sense: “I’m complaining in/to myself on you (Я жалуюсь на тебя).” Жаловаться is “to complain,” and it is what is referred to as a reflexive verb. We will get into further categories below but a basic definition of a reflexive verb…