Word for the Travel Wise (08/22/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Last month while I was dining with a few friends in Miami I inquired about this particular Russian word after finding out our waitress wasn’t from America. It started when one of the guys tried ordering a fish sandwich (thinking he had seen a fish sandwich on the menu), but there wasn’t any fish sandwich. When asked the waitress about this imaginary fish sandwich it confused the Dickens out of her. She did not understand. “Fish sandwich?” She quickly went to grab another waitress to help her compute, but after the fellahs realized there was no fish sandwich on the menu anywhere or on their daily specials they apologized and resorted to another dish. I asked her to tell me the word for ‘thank you’ in Russian and she kindly provided me with this:

Today’s word is a Russian word used in Russia:

spasiba – thank you

Ready to learn Russian? Check out Master Russian first. They have numerous excellent sound files and the text is clear and easy to read. Learning also goes beyond your Russian A, B, C’s at their site as they have crosswords, literature, proverbs, folk music, and homework help. Other good sites include Learning Russian and this Ectaco Translation Dictionary. Click here for two language book rec’s on Amazon. BBC has the basics to download and hear audio, while Wiki provies the in depth Russian lang back history.

Past Russian words: , shakzochniy, paka

Word for the Travel Wise (06/03/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Before yesterday, I didn’t feel a huge need to learn any Russian. At least I didn’t see an urgent need to learn the language, but all that has changed. I suddenly find myself just a few months away from touring lands nearby Russia’s border where the sound of the lingo can still be heard clicking off the local’s tongues. Besides it has been almost two months since the last lesson. Let’s dive in with an easy one…

Today’s word is a Russian word used in Russia:

paka – bye-bye

Ready to learn Russian? Check out Master Russian first. They have numerous excellent sound files and the text is clear and easy to read. Learning also goes beyond your Russian A, B, C’s at their site as they have crosswords, literature, proverbs, folk music, and homework help. Other good sites include Learning Russian and this Ectaco Translation Dictionary. Click here for two language book rec’s on Amazon. BBC has the basics to download and hear audio, while Wiki provies the in depth Russian lang back history.

Past Russian words: , shakzochniy

Word for the Travel Wise (05/14/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Word around town is it’s Mother’s Day and since we here at Gadling love mom’s worldwide I figured I’d provide you with a number of ways to wish your own mum the happiest of days. The New York Public Library online has a list of greetings and expressions for several holidays so use it today and then prepare for Father’s day just around the corner. Here’s a just few from their list:

  • Catalan – Feliç Dia de la Mare
  • Dutch – Gelukkig Moederdag
  • Hebrew – Yom ha’em sameah
  • Italian – Buona festa della Mamma
  • Japanese – Haha nohi omedeto
  • Norwegian – Mors dag
  • Russian –  S dnëm Materi

And again, Happy Mummies day to all the mummies of the world!!!!

Word for the Travel Wise (04/06/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Russian is the kind of language that
when looking at it even in the comfort of my own desk chair, in my room here in America, makes me feel a long way from
home. Just when you think you’ve recognized or made sense of a word or two a mutant-alienish letter like the backwards
‘n‘, upside down ‘g‘ or ‘y‘ with an underline underneath works their magic in keeping you
completely confused. It’s okay. We will both work through this together.

Today’s word is a Russian word used in Russia:

pronounced shak-zah-chniy  – means
fairy-tale; fabulous, incredible

Just say it okay! If you want to see what the word looks like
you’ll have to visit the archives here. If you can pull using this
word in a complete Russian sentence off, I’ll gladly pay for your RT airfare to Moscow. Okay, I lie. Any English as a
first language speaker talking fluidly and fluently in Russian is fabulous and incredible indeed, but me paying for the
round-trip airfare is an absolute fairy-tale folks. My apologies for teasing.

Ready to learn Russian? Check
out Master Russian first. They have numerous excellent sound files and the text
is clear and easy to read. Learning also goes beyond your Russian A, B, C’s at their site as they have crosswords,
literature, proverbs, folk music, and homework help. Other good sites include Learning Russian and this Ectaco
Translation Dictionary. Click here for two language book
rec’s on Amazon. BBC has the basics to
download and hear audio, while Wiki provies the in depth
Russian lang back history.

Past Russian words: