SRAS has developed the test below to help you gauge your Russian language skills! Anyone interested in gaining more knowledge should check out the the resources under “language” on our main menu including especially our Resources for Students of Russian and the Russian Talking Phrasebook. You can also sign up to study Russian online or […]

The following TORFL reading comprehension practice test has been developed by SRAS based on the official TORFL test to help you gauge your knowledge of the Russian language! Anyone interested in gaining more knowledge should check out the the resources under “language” on our main menu including especially our Resources for Students of Russian and […]

The following TORFL grammar and vocabulary practice test has been developed by SRAS based on the official TORFL test to help you gauge your knowledge of the Russian language! Anyone interested in gaining more knowledge should check out the the resources under “language” on our main menu including especially our Resources for Students of Russian […]

The below test has been developed by SRAS to help you gauge your knowledge of the Russian language! Anyone interested in gaining more knowledge should check out the the resources under “language” on our main menu including especially our Resources for Students of Russian and the Russian Talking Phrasebook. You can also sign up to […]

Olga here turns her attention to the modern Russian circus, describing what it is like to attend a contemporary performance, from the atmosphere inside the circus building to the acts that still draw enthusiastic audiences today. Written in simplified, modern Russian, her account offers a firsthand glimpse into how a traditional cultural institution continues to […]

Russians have typically gotten nearly three weeks off a year just for holidays. This has changed in recent years and especially since the start of the war in Ukraine, as Russia has pushed for greater effeciency in its economy. While the long New Year holidays remain, most others are now more modest, with often with […]

I originally titled this piece “Ghosts of Holidays Past,” way back in 2006. It was an early project I completed for SRAS, written after just three years with the company. Looking back nearly twenty years later, I can see the youthfulness in my writing. While the boundless optimism of that period has been tempered by […]

In Russian, New Year is the major celebration of the year. Picture it as Christmas, New Year, and the Fourth of July combined. There are presents, decorated trees, a mythical bearded gift-giver, fireworks, toasts, food, and the grand New Year countdown celebrated at midnight – all associated with this one holiday. Russians are even typically […]

Russia and Central Asia offer what can seem to be a bewildering selection of dairy products in their transnational food cultures. An area of special note, and often one of the strangest to Westerners, is the seemingly never-ending assortment of fermented milk drinks and products in the gastronomic repertoire. To cut down on the brow-furrowing […]

This extensive list of web resources to assist students learning the Russian language was developed by SRAS and is now hosted on Folkways, part of the SRAS Family of Sites! Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, we will earn an affiliate commission if you […]

Kupala is an ancient Slavic holiday celebrating the summer solstice, or midsummer. Once part of a series of annual rituals, it marked and was believed to sustain agricultural cycles—essential to early human survival. Held as vitally important, these pagan traditions remained deeply rooted even after Christianization, technological change, and centuries of oppression tried to dislodge […]

Easter breads such as kulich, paska, choreg, and nazuki are delicious Easter traditions. Easter is by far the most important religious holiday for those practicing Eastern Christianity. In addition to church services and egg dying, the holiday is also marked across the cultures by ritual bread baking. Despite the wide geographic area covered by Eastern […]