Language

Holidays in Russian Culture: Моя Россия Blog

In this text, Tajik blogger Roxana Burkhanova describes, in Russian, the place of holidays in Russian culture. She focuses on the two major holiday seasons: the New Year’s holidays and the May Holidays. The text was originally writen in 2015 and thus references times before the current war. However, the vocabularly and the general cultural […]

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Haircuts and Hairstyles in Russian – A Vocabulary Lesson

Russian Vocabulary: Haunted Places in Russia

Recipes

Olivier and Rasols Salads: Holiday Traditions With Fascinating Histories

Russia’s Olivier Salad (Салат «Оливье») and Latvia’s rasols are well-known staples of their respective cuisines and common additions to holiday tables. Today, the recipes for both are quite similar, with chopped vegetables, egg, and meat dressed with mayonnaise. Olivier is now eaten throughout the former USSR and has even become common as “Russian Salad” in […]

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Tklapi, Pastegh, Lavashak: One Ingredient Fruit Leather from the Caucasus 

8,000 Years of Winemaking Lives On in Georgia

Holidays

Halloween as a Case Study for Cultural Understanding

Halloween is seen around the world as an American holiday. While it has gained more global popularity in recent years, it is still really only celebrated in the US, the UK, and Canada. In most other countries, including most Slavic countries, it is regarded at most as a reason to host costume parties or perhaps […]

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Christianity and Paganism in Russia: Моя Россия Blog

Berikaoba: Georgia’s Spring Festival Rises Again

Talking Phrasebooks

The Talking Azerbaijani Phrasebook

The Talking Phrasebook Series presents useful phrases and words in side-by-side translation and with audio files specifically geared to help students work on listening skills and pronunciation. Below, you will find several useful phrases and words. To the left is the English and to the far right is the Azerbaijani translation. In the center column […]

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The Talking Kazakh (Qazaq) Phrasebook

The Talking Latvian Phrasebook