Ruff Guide to Russian Language

*Casual Tips/Tricks With some Russian Goodies*

Hello everyone: today we have a much more causal chapter where I discuss some Russian goodies I bought at a local supermarket and just reflect/advise on the learning process a bit.

First: I will get the two taste-test items out of the way; one is fairly familiar to us in the west, however the other is a little more... exotic.

1: Семечки - Syem-ich-kee - Sunflower seeds. I got the salted version of these little treats and I can see that (although you're supposed to shell them) eating them with the shell can also be quite nice if you don't do it too much. Without the shell: they have a soft, slightly flaky interior with a slight hint of salt along with a really distinctive grainy taste. With the shell? Very crunchy with a large hit of salt and grain with a hint of something plant-like. Probably my incoming acute stomach pains from eating them like that.

2: Квас - Kw-ah-ss - Kvass. Now this is something a little more unusual. Kvass is an eastern European drink made from rye bread (or black Bread in Russia or Ukraine which is where mine most likely originated from) and sometimes with raisins mixed in. When you first take a sip, it's almost like an incredibly sweet pastry until it quickly switches to a very pleasant bready taste, after it passes this you get a strong taste of raisin; once swallowed, it has a malty, slightly alcoholic aftertaste. This drink is technically alcoholic but the alcohol content is so minuscule that people of all ages can drink it.

There you go: the two things I found that weren't Polish because the Russian supermarket is always closed! That being said: Polish food is also delicious: I recommend it.

Now, onto the more informal part of this; I would like to tell you all some little shreds of advice so you don't fall into the same traps I fell into learning Russian at the start (and even now.)

1: Don't stress about word order. Now sometimes and especially in the past, my Russian was robotic and scripted: every phrase was repeated exactly how I learned it and there was no emotion to anything; if I changed the word order I thought it was a mistake. This is usually never the case in Russian. It's not like English where 'How are you' will always be said like that, in Russian you can swap around words and sentences still make sense (Russians themselves do this a lot) and you have many different greetings for various times and situations; so relax, don't be a machine, learn from Russians themselves and enjoy your conversations.

2: Don't ignore the case system. Now many Russian YouTubers or learning programs will tell you to avoid cases at the beginning: this is sound advice, however, once you feel confident with your Russian enough to give them a go don't procrastinate or get scared of them like I did. I have been at an intermediate level of Russian for about a year and a half now and I only just started looking at cases because of fear but once you tackle them, you learn so very much and your mastery of the language goes through the roof; you also appreciate the beauty of the language and why translation just doesn't fit that well in English. It is a very efficient writing system that is unfamiliar to us.

3: Don't 'speak Russian in English.' What I mean by this is don't try to find an English equivalent of things you're saying in Russian because a lot of Russian words/sentences have no real equivalent in English, additionally, don't try to use the same word order or phrases in English but in Russian; for example: I realised the other day while-speaking to a Russian that 'я вижу' (I see) isn't really used in the way it is here (to acknowledge what someone has said.) In Russian they typically say 'understood' instead. Although both are technically usable.

4: Immerse yourself in Russia. Russia has a bad reputation on the world stage and it has many dated stereotypes surrounding its people. Regardless of your political views you should immerse yourself in the art, history and culture of the Russian people; in a balanced fashion too. For a while I looked entirely at the music, history and politics but to get a true insight into the Russian mindset you must explore more.

Before I leave you, I want to recommend an app called 'Tandem' (I am not sponsored by anyone: I'm not successful enough) it is a learning platform where you can connect to speakers of the language you want to learn (and of your own languages) and in return for teaching them the language you speak (or one that you know) they teach you theirs. It is truly fantastic.

I hope you enjoyed this special chapter everyone and I'll see you next time!