If it’s hard to gracefully say “no” in English, how much harder is it in Russian, where dissembling requires linguistic gifts that you might not have yet developed?

Tough time learning Russian? It’s not just you. Russians themselves frequently struggle to determine what is “correct.” 

Sometimes a subway is just that. And sometimes it is not. On the perils of inter-lingual travel...

In early March, when Moscow is still buried under more than a meter of snow and people are buried under many inches of fur and heavy wool, there is nothing more annoying than Instagram photos of daffodils, forsythia and cherry blossom buds.

In which we use one of the most beloved songs from a classic film to make some points about genitive case. Get singing!

In honor of the anniversary of the film «Бриллиантовая рука» (“Diamond Arm”), this edition of Учитесь looks at some of the famous крылатые фразы (“winged phrases”), or idiomatic expressions that the film gave to the Russian language.

If a Russian fox met an American fox, would they get along? If Russian folklore is to be trusted, the answer is a definite нет (no).

In this issue’s Uchites, we look at a popular song by the poet Bulat Okudzhava and the composer Isaac Schwartz. It is about love and separation.

Some thoughts on backwardness, falling behind, and the challenges of change.

To thank (blagodarit) is one of the Russian language's most beautiful words. We go in for a deep dive.

The writer Eduard Uspensky passed away recently. In this language section, we look back at one of his contributions to Russian literature and folklore.

In Soviet times the Bolsheviks got all the credit for simplifying Russian spelling in 1918. Who really pushed that simplification through - and what did the Bolsheviks actually do to help?