Prepositions В and НА keep confusing people, who study the Russian language. If you are not sure when to use which one, this post is for you.

The easiest way to decide which preposition to use is to think weather the object you’re talking about is inside of something or on the top of it. If it is inside (inside a bag, a room, a city or a country and etc.) – use “В”. If it’s on top – use “НА”. In any other types of context better use “НА”, because it has a wider range of meanings.

Do not translate literally from English, because in English there are three prepositions (in, on and at) that in different combinations might be translated both as В and НА. For example, English “in the street” is “на улице” in Russian, “on a bus” – “в автобусе” and etc. So, English “in” is not always “В” in Russian and “on” is not always “НА”.

Save the chart, so not to ever forget when to use the Russian language В and НА!

Leave your questions and comments!

https://enjoyrussian.com/%D0%B2/

НА ВЫХОДНЫХ VS. В ВЫХОДНЫЕ

One of the most frequent questions that our teachers ask the foreign students is “What are you going to do at the weekend?”or “What did you do at the weekend?”. The teachers ask in Russian of course, not in English;) Sometimes they say “Что вы делали в выходные?” and sometimes – “Что вы делали на выходных?”. Are both varients right?

Well, that’s the question that even some of the native Russian language speakers can’t answer, because we hear and use both varients a lot. But every Russian language teacher can tell you that “В ВЫХОДНЫЕ” is the most appropriate, normative way to say “at the weekend”, and “НА ВЫХОДНЫХ” is used only in oral speech, not in writing.

Another frequently used phrase is “НА ВЫХОДНЫЕ”, but this one means “for the weekend”, and usually is used with verbs of motion:

Куда вы ездили на выходные? – Where did you go for the weekend?

Куда вы поедете на выходные? – Where are you going for the weekend?

If you have any questions about these phrases, leave a comment to this post!

Alina Aleshina,

Education coordinator of “Enjoy Russian language school”

https://enjoyrussian.com/weekend/

2 young girls from Austria have finished 2 week Intensive Russian course for beginners! Their teacher Olga has told: "They didn't know anything when they came to Petrozavodsk. In 2 weeks they can read in the Russian language and speak Russian little". The girls have been really happy to study in Petrozavodsk and promise to come back! 

Would you like to spend good time in Russia and start to speak Russian, join us!

Choose any Russian language course in Russia and make progress http://enjoyrussian.com/courses/standard/

You all know that Russian people do not smile to strangers, only to the friends. But maybe to understand Russians better it’s useful to know some social rules in order not to get into an awkward situation. So have a look at these tips and leave a comment if you know/experienced more:

YOU CAN’T:
– Smile at strangers (as I said, in Russia it’s not common to smile at someone you don’t know, otherwise people would think that you’re weird/stupid/crazy and dangerous);
– Say ПРИВЕТ and refer as ТЫ to people in the street, in a shop, at restaurants and etc. In Russia being formal with elderly or strangers or anyone apart from your friends and family is very important. You should say ЗДРАВСТВУЙТЕ, refer as ВЫ to an unfamiliar person, otherwise people would think that you are rude.
– Whistle inside the house or a shop/restaurant. It means you are “blowing out the money” of the people in this dwelling. It’s considered to be a bad omen and it’s just one of dozens Russian superstitions we believe at. Another one – never put an empty bottle on a table. Bad luck;)
– Ask very personal questions and teach Russians how they should do something, because that’s how they do in Europe / USA and etc. I think noone likes that:)
– Well, you can, but you really don’t have to DO A SMALL TALK. Russians don’t like to beat around the bush. If you have something to say – say it right away!

YOU CAN:
– Ask people in the street politely, if you get lost or want to know something. You should also ask for help if you need it. Russians are quite compassionate, especially if a foreigner is in trouble.
– Start a conversation with a person that is involved into the same activity as you or if you got into trouble together;) Russians like to share their negative feelings with others:)))
– Ask people about Russia, its customs and traditions. People love to talk about their motherland everywhere in the world.

Russians might seem unfriendly at first and keep their distance. But as soon as you become their friend, there is no people sweeter!!!
И добавь, пожалуйста, в раздел о том, что можно делать
– Talk about religion and politics. BUT CAREFULLY!:)

http://enjoyrussian.com/friendly-russians/

If you go to Russia make sure you know the numbers in the Russian language! There is not a calculator in an every shop in Russia, and most of the people don’t speak any English. So numbers – it’s a survival Russian every foreigner must know!

http://enjoyrussian.com/numbers/

Today our students from the USA presented their final projects and received the certificates!

Our American pupils study Russian language in the “Phillips Academy” in Andover and each year they come to Karelia to improve their Russian language!

The Russian Language School organized the Awarding ceremony in the only vegetarian cafe of our city called “Pure taste” to gather together with

teachers and volunteers.

Students presented their projects in Russian language and teachers as well as volunteers found them so cool!

For example, Cornelia Fitts presented her project of day-to-day life in Petrozavodsk. Read it in instagram=)

While Lara Robinson presented her handmade book with recepies of Russian food. Akesh Shah showed a fantastic project about Petrozavodsk.

Sophia Schwartsman presented a kind of guidebook about stay in Russia and Natalie Simpson presented biography of Lenin, Kirov, Gogol, Marks in Russian language because major streets and prospects of Petrozavodsk named after them.

Our teachers granted students certificates while our director presented special souvenires to Kassie Archambault, a group leader and teacher of Russian language in Phillips Academy.

Do you want to become a true Russian? Visit Karelia to find it out!

   

Do you know the best place in Russia to spend Autumn 2017?

We invite you to exciting Autumn Russian language Immersion program in Russia!The program consists of Russian language course, Russian homestay and cultural activities with Russian volunteers! 

You will not only learn Russian in depth and become more confident at speaking Russian, but experience Russian way of life and culture in authentic Russian environment, find new friends, travel and just spend cool time in the school  

Apply for:
12 week course (September 4-November 24) - http://enjoyrussian.com/courses/long-term/
4 week course (September 4, October 2 and November 6), 2 week course (September 4 and 18) enjoyrussian.com/courses/standard/

Our Students Advisor will support you with each step!
Contact us - info@enjoyrussian.com

Изучать, учить, учиться – what’s the difference?

Almost every student asks me this question. And this is what I tell him/her:

ИЗУЧАТЬ means “to study” (in depth), to research. It is used when we say what we study at university: Я изучаю математику в университете. It means that you study maths hard, you read many books about maths, you write essays and thesises.

УЧИТЬ is “to learn” (memorise). You can learn грамматику, новые слова, стихи and so on. So you read it, look at it, practise it many times in order to memorise it.

УЧИТЬСЯ means “to learn” or “to study”. The difference with the previous two is that you can not use a direct object in Accusative case after verb “учиться”. The biggest mistake is “Я учусь русский язык“! We use this verb to answer the question “Where do you study?”: Я учусь в университете. Or “What are you doing right now?”: Я учусь.

So if you learn or study and you just want to say what you’re doing, about this action itself without saying specifically what exactly you learn, use УЧИТЬСЯ. If you study something in depth, research the subject, use ИЗУЧАТЬ + direct object in Accusative (математику, физику, химию). If you want to memorise a rule or a poem or want to say that you learn Russian (but not that serious as they do at universities), use УЧИТЬ.

Any questions?

- See more at: http://enjoyrussian.com/%d0%b8%d0%b7%d1%83%d1%87%d0%b0%d1%82%d1%8c/#sthash.tx0RF2dK.dpuf

Friday is a fun day for Russian language learners!

We have a saying in Russian that “Понедельник – день тяжёлый” (Monday is a difficult day). But for our foreign students the hardest day is Friday! They learn so much during the week, so when a Friday comes they are exhausted! That’s why we organized a fun lesson for our students last Friday! We went outside to the park and played games:

• Испорченный телефон (the students split into two groups and make two lines. There must be 1-2 meters between each student. The teacher tells the two students that are at the beginning of the lines a word or a word combination. The students run to the next ones and whisper the word to them. The last two students run to the teacher to tell him the word they’ve just heard. And usually it’s something completely different from what the teacher has said at the beginning of the game. This game is active and so fun!)
• Крокодил (each of the members of the two teams comes in the centre of the circle and describes words on the cards without naming them. The task for the team is to guess what words the student is trying to explain).
• Мафия (everyone knows this game. All the players get their roles. There are two mafia members among them. The task of citizens is to find out who is mafia).

When the weather is good we don’t just stay in the school, we learn Russian outside! Students go to shops, cafes and theatres with their teachers, play games in the park, take part in quests, participate in role-plays, sing Russian guitar songs and so on. Studying Russian must be fun! We do our best to let our students enjoy it!

- See more at: http://enjoyrussian.com/friday/#sthash.d2z7Lht5.dpuf