This Is My Favorite TED Talk By Mikhail Kazinik Called “The School Is Dead, Long Live The School”. 

So I wanted to do something different and translate a scene from the Russian version of Howl’s moving castle! Hope you enjoy the voice acting just as much as I do.  *Бабка, бабки (babka sing., babki plur.) — rude way of saying ‘old woman’.  Бабушка, бабушки (babushka sing., babushki plur.) — neutral/polite way of saying ‘old woman’ or ‘grandmother’. Баба, бабы (baba sing., baby plur.) can refer to a grandma you already know (in this case the grandmas name is usually followed) or a woman (in a rude way). All the nouns are feminine.

Just wanted to let you know that English speaking people aren’t the only people who have problems with the word ‘pregnant’. This is Milla Jovovich trying to say the word ‘забеременела’ on a local Russian TV show. The original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AATwZGHgn24&t=229s

Here's another great bit from a Russian TV that I still love with my whole heart. The show "Improvisation" is basically the Russian version of "Whose line is it anyway?". If you want to learn about what the Russian sense of humor is like, this show is a must watch. After watching this video you will remember the word казус (kazus sing., m.) for the rest of your life. 

Fun fact: this episode has become iconic and remains a huge meme in the Improvisation fandom (yes, this show has a fandom).

Hi! Please do more of Evening Urgant or Improvisation videos.. I love watching them and they are really helpful for my Russian but I can't find them anywhere else online so I hope you translate more. You have an amazing blog keep up the good work!!

Hi! Absolutely! There's a lot of Evening Urgant content on the official Youtube channel (youtube.com/c/urgantshow), but unfortunately none of the videos are subbed. The Improvisation content is a lot trickier, there's almost no public access to the episodes online. I myself had a hard time finding the source, and the videos aren't subbed either. I already have a couple of episodes in my drafts. I'm going to translate them once I'm finished with all of my exams! Thank you for the feedback, it means so, so much!

— Why do you always put parentheses in messages? — I feel more comfortable with them)) — What do you mean? — Parentheses look like they are hugging words and they become kinder))

here's a comp of completely random pictures in russian that make me giggle: pt 2

[a product review]

★★★★★ Great product

Experience of using

Less than a month

Advantages

Boils water

Disadvantages

Uses electricity

Comment

That's how kettles work, what can I say.

— Mikhail Andreevich, I won't be at work today

— Thank you

Your region: Samara

[Yes, save me...] ("Да, спасибо")

[No, friend...] ("Нет, другой")

[A questionnare book for children]

17. What do you usually do when you are alone

Listen to music or panic

— Take 💩 for a walk

— Take shit for a walk?

— I couldn't find dog emoji

Smart eyes.

(he's a genius)

Have a good day!

Tips to learn a new language

The 75 most common words make up 40% of occurrences The 200 most common words make up 50% of occurrences The 524 most common words make up 60% of occurrences The 1257 most common words make up 70% of occurrences The 2925 most common words make up 80% of occurrences The 7444 most common words make up 90% of occurrences The 13374 most common words make up 95% of occurrences The 25508 most common words make up 99% of occurrences

(Sources: 5 Steps to Speak a New Language by Hung Quang Pham)

This article has an excellent summary on how to rapidly learn a new language within 90 days.

We can begin with studying the first 600 words. Of course chucking is an effective way to memorize words readily. Here’s a list to translate into the language you desire to learn that I grabbed from here! :)

EXPRESSIONS OF POLITENESS (about 50 expressions)      

‘Yes’ and ‘no’: yes, no, absolutely, no way, exactly.    

Question words: when? where? how? how much? how many? why? what? who? which? whose?    

Apologizing: excuse me, sorry to interrupt, well now, I’m afraid so, I’m afraid not.    

Meeting and parting: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, goodbye, cheers, see you later, pleased to meet you, nice to have met.    

Interjections: please, thank you, don’t mention it, sorry, it’ll be done, I agree, congratulations, thank heavens, nonsense.    

NOUNS (about 120 words)

Time: morning, afternoon, evening, night; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; spring, summer, autumn, winter; time, occasion, minute, half-hour, hour, day, week, month, year.    

People: family, relative, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, wife; colleague, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend; people, person, human being, man, woman, lady, gentleman, boy, girl, child.    

Objects: address, bag, book, car, clothes, key, letter (=to post), light (=lamp), money, name, newspaper, pen, pencil, picture, suitcase, thing, ticket.    

Places: place, world, country, town, street, road, school, shop, house, apartment, room, ground; Britain, name of the foreign country, British town-names, foreign town-names.    

Abstract: accident, beginning, change, color, damage, fun, half, help, joke, journey, language, English, name of the foreign language, letter (of alphabet), life, love, mistake, news, page, pain, part, question, reason, sort, surprise, way (=method), weather, work.    

Other: hand, foot, head, eye, mouth, voice; the left, the right; the top, the bottom, the side; air, water, sun, bread, food, paper, noise.    

PREPOSITIONS (about 40 words)    

General: of, to, at, for, from, in, on.    

Logical: about, according-to, except, like, against, with, without, by, despite, instead of.    

Space: into, out of, outside, towards, away from, behind, in front of, beside, next to, between, above, on top of, below, under, underneath, near to, a long way from, through.    

Time: after, ago, before, during, since, until.    

DETERMINERS (about 80 words)  

Articles and numbers: a, the; nos. 0–20; nos. 30–100; nos. 200–1000; last, next, 1st–12th.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.    

Quantifiers: all, some, no, any, many, much, more, less, a few, several, whole, a little, a lot of.    

Comparators: both, neither, each, every, other, another, same, different, such.    

ADJECTIVES (about 80 words)    

Color: black, blue, green, red, white, yellow.    

Evaluative: bad, good, terrible; important, urgent, necessary; possible, impossible; right, wrong, true.    

General: big, little, small, heavy; high, low; hot, cold, warm; easy, difficult; cheap, expensive; clean, dirty; beautiful, funny (=comical), funny (=odd), usual, common (=shared), nice, pretty, wonderful; boring, interesting, dangerous, safe; short, tall, long; new, old; calm, clear, dry; fast, slow; finished, free, full, light (=not dark), open, quiet, ready, strong.    

Personal: afraid, alone, angry, certain, cheerful, dead, famous, glad, happy, ill, kind, married, pleased, sorry, stupid, surprised, tired, well, worried, young.    

VERBS (about 100 words)    

arrive, ask, be, be able to, become, begin, believe, borrow, bring, buy, can, change, check, collect, come, continue, cry, do, drop, eat, fall, feel, find, finish, forget, give, going to, have, have to, hear, help, hold, hope, hurt (oneself), hurt (someone else), keep, know, laugh, learn, leave, lend, let (=allow), lie down, like, listen, live (=be alive), live (=reside), look (at), look for, lose, love, make, may (=permission), may (=possibility), mean, meet, must, need, obtain, open, ought to, pay, play, put, read, remember, say, see, sell, send, should, show, shut, sing, sleep, speak, stand, stay, stop, suggest, take, talk, teach, think, travel, try, understand, use, used to, wait for, walk, want, watch, will, work (=operate), work (=toil), worry, would, write.    

PRONOUNS (about 40 words)

Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, one; myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.    

Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Universal: everyone, everybody, everything, each, both, all, one, another.    

Indefinite: someone, somebody, something, some, a few, a little, more, less; anyone, anybody, anything, any, either, much, many.    

Negative: no-one, nobody, nothing, none, neither.    

ADVERBS (about 60 words)

Place: here, there, above, over, below, in front, behind, nearby, a long way away, inside, outside, to the right, to the left, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, home, upstairs, downstairs.    

Time: now, soon, immediately, quickly, finally, again, once, for a long time, today, generally, sometimes, always, often, before, after, early, late, never, not yet, still, already, then (=at that time), then (=next), yesterday, tomorrow, tonight.    

Quantifiers: a little, about (=approximately), almost, at least, completely, very, enough, exactly, just, not, too much, more, less.    

Manner: also, especially, gradually, of course, only, otherwise, perhaps, probably, quite, so, then (=therefore), too (=also), unfortunately, very much, well.    

CONJUNCTIONS (about 30 words)

Coordinating: and, but, or; as, than, like.    

Time & Place: when, while, before, after, since (=time), until; where.    

Manner & Logic: how, why, because, since (=because), although, if; what, who, whom, whose, which, that.   

Just a fun fact

The word 'очевидец' is a combination of an old Russian noun 'очи' (eyes) and verb 'видеть' (to see). Just like that, the word itself means 'eyewitness'.

Another Improvisation post! Thank you for the feedback and the suggestions! Fun fact: Dr. Dolittle's name in Russian is Айболи́т (Aibolit) which is a combination of a Russian exclamation «Ай!» and the word «Боли́т» («hurts»). The Russian translators really wanted to make his name speak for itself so they literally named him «Ouch, (it) hurts».