The following is a short Russian MiniLesson concentrating on the differences between Russian and Ukrainian. Words and phrases below (but not letters) shown in bold have annotation. Just hover your cursor over the text to see the annotation. Interested in really expanding your knowledge of the Ukrainian language? For a deeper learning experience, see these […]

Eksternat (rus: Экстернат) is a form of distance learning in the public education system of many post-Soviet countries. It allows students to study at their own pace and to pursue other interests while in secondary school. Olga Dmitraschenko, for instance, opted into the system in order to graduate a year early and pursue an internship […]

Orthodox Easter is by far the most important religious holiday in most Slavic lands and is the busiest day at most Russian Orthodox churches across the globe. The holiday is steeped in history and mystic symbolism. The following is a dual-language article meant to teach you about history and culture of Orthodox Easter while allowing […]

Sharing common roots, Russian and Ukrainian, at first glance, look very similar. This is not so. In reality Russian and Ukrainian have more differences than similarities. The following is an article that originally appeared on Russian7.ru (Русская Семерка). The original can be read here. The following translation to English has been provided by Lindsey Greytak, […]

Kulich (Кулич) is a lightly sweet, yeast-risen bread baked with considerable amounts of egg and butter. It may also contain raisins, almonds, candied or dried fruit, lemon zest, and various spices including cardamom and even saffron depending on the recipe and personal preferences. It is a tall, cylindrical-shaped bread with a rounded top, and it […]

International Women’s Day was first celebrated in St. Petersburg in 1913, declared by activists there and celebrated with rallies that demanded more rights. It did not become an official state holiday and day off, however, until 1965. In that year, March 8th was chosen as it marked the day when, in 1917, women again marched […]

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. Each entry below, divided by category, features an English word or phrase in the left column and its Bulgarian translation in the right. In the center column for […]

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 […]

Many American students of the Russian language take part in study abroad programs in such Russian-speaking countries such as Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, and Lithuania, to name a few. Kinginger (2009, p. 11) defines study abroad as “a temporary sojourn of pre-defined duration, undertaken for educational purposes.” After entering a new country and culture, these […]