Stumping for Trump, Lynchin' Clinton

The electoral season is in full swing in Russia — or rather, the Russian press is in high-gear reporting, commenting, and interpreting the US presidential elections.

Most of it is easy to follow, since Russian journalists use either borrowed words or descriptive translations. First there were праймериз (primaries), also known as голосование по партийным спискам (voting for the party candidates) and совещания членов политической партии для назначения кандидата (caucuses, literally meetings of members of political parties to pick a candidate). Those events produced two предполагаемые кандидаты (presumptive candidates), sometimes called фактические кандидаты (de facto candidates).

Now that the campaigns are underway, the coverage in Russia turns out to provide excellent Russian lessons. Since you know what’s happening, you can easily follow the news and improve and expand your Russian. It’s like watching a sub-titled film in real time.