In this text, Tajik blogger Roxana Burkhanova describes, in Russian, the history of Jews in the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the Russian Federation. While the resource focuses on Russia, this also includes Jews in regions which are no longer part of Russia – including Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Central and Eastern Europe. More […]

Rites of welcoming spring and saying goodbye to winter are some of the oldest holidays preserved across Slavic cultures. While Russia’s Maslenitsa is by the far the best-known, multiple versions exist across the diverse Slavic landscape. Amazingly, despite the fact that these societies are now deeply Christian, all of these holidays are still celebrated in […]

Blini (блины) are a breakfast favorite in many Eurasian countries. The most basic recipe involves just flour, milk, and eggs. The resulting very thin pancake can be enjoyed in a variety of ways from sweet to savory. Although the recipe is quite simple, they are somewhat labor intensive to make and thus are often associated […]

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 […]

Greetings are an important part of Russian culture. These greetings have evolved through the ages, reflecting first pagan worldviews and then Christian. Modern Russian greetings are rooted deep in a tradition of showing respect, building community, and often offering blessings of health. Let’s take a look at how greetings have changed in Russian over time. […]

Russian has many ways of expressing affection and describing the various phases of falling in love and establishing a relationship. This bilingual resource is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. It covers everything from meeting to dating and marriage and in multiple styles from slang to classical literary prose. […]

Olga below describes the place of caviar in Russian food culture. In simplified Russian, she describes where the delicacy is harvested from, the major types of caviar, and how the types differ in cost and quality. We also provide an English primer below discussing more of the history of caviar, how it is eaten and […]

Russian literature uses the same forms and structures as well as literary and poetic devices as other great Western literature. One can find in Russian literature fiction and nonfiction, novels, short stories, and poems, all containing narrative structure, metaphor, simile, metonymy, and other common devices. Thus, Russian literature can be analyzed with many of the […]

Russian, like most languages, is full of idioms. Some of these are very close to those used in other languages while others are quite specific to Russian. Many have been in use for so long that their origins are now unclear while some have clear origin – or at least probable. The following article is […]

By the end of November, the cold cobblestone streets in Polish villages and cities are lined with Christmas markets selling traditional Polish cuisine, handcrafted souvenirs, and traditional amber handicrafts. Christmas is one of Poland’s largest celebrations. The main festivities occur over the course of three days from December 24 to 26. The 25th and 26th […]

Games such as durak, pyanitsa, and loto are known to nearly everyone in Russian-speaking cultures. While these all have close analogues in many foreign cultures, participating in the games as a foreigner can be difficult as many have highly specific jargon associated with them. The language resource below will introduce you to these games, how […]

In recent years, gym and fitness options have proliferated across Eurasia. Travelers interested in maintaining their fitness regimen while abroad – whether they are visiting Latvia, Georgia, or even Kyrgyzstan, should have no problem doing so. It does help to know a bit about these gyms and it pays to know some of the Russian […]