The SRAS Newsletter
A Resource for Students, Educators, and Anyone Curious about Russia
Welcome from SRAS!
Russia seems to be often in the news in ways that make it seem homogeneous. We often hear that Russia is a land where vast swathes of the economy, media, and political resources are held in state hands. We hear that ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities are pushed to fringes of an increasingly xenophobic society. While these are indeed challenges that Russia is currently facing, it can be easy to forget that Russia is a vast country full of diversity with scores of indigenous languages and cultures, the world's second largest number of immigrants, and an array of religious and political views.
This month's newsletter focuses on showing a small portion of this diversity. We hope to focus even more on this issue, and the challenges facing Russia's diversity, in future editions of the SRAS Newsletter this semester. If you have views or material you would like to contribute, please contact our editor.
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Happy Valentine's
From Russia!
For more information on Valentine's Day in Russia, including SMS poems to send in Russian and more, see valentin-day.ru |
News and Announcements
FLAS Fellowship recipients! SRAS language programs fit well within FLAS budgets and requirements! Contact us for more information on our intensive, flexible programs. FLAS Fellowships are awarded to graduate students engaged in foreign language and area or international studies. Ask your university advisor if your institution has been awarded a grant to issue FLAS Fellowships!
Language Program Overhaul? A panel of professors of foreign languages has concluded that language programs are seriously off course, with so much emphasis on literature that broader understanding of cultures and nations has been lost. What is to be done? Read more from Inside Higher Ed.
Google News Compilation Service in Russian has started offering its print and electronic news compilation service in the Russian language and based upon Russian news sources. See it now!
Recommended Books. The following books have been mentioned in the news, recently published, or have been recommended by students as pertinent to this month's focus on diversity in Russia.
Russia, US Celebrate 200th Anniversary Of Diplomatic Relations Russia and the United States walked a long way to the present partnership, that rather often was a path of thorns, which gives all the more grounds to value, develop and strengthen this partnership - that was the leitmotif of a gala reception held at the Russian embassy in Washington on Tuesday. Read the full report.
Russia in the News:
This month we continue our focus on cultural, educational, and scientific issues in Russia. You will also find information about journalism, domestic policies, and civil society concerns. Those interested in other subjects are encouraged to try Johnson's Russia List.
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 Vegetarianism in Russia
Lots of information on the language, national dishes, eateries, and shops that vegetarians will need to know to survive in Russia and specifically in Moscow.
Blind in Siberia
Elizabeth Sammons speaks several languages and spent six years working with several NGOs and organizations in Russia and Kazakhstan despite having been diagnosed as blind as a child.
American as Foreign: Hard-to-Find Foods in Russia
Some American favorites just aren't available in Russia - some are, if you know where to look and are willing to pay for them. This is a new addition to our Guide to Russia.
Religion in the FSU
This new Library entry explores Russia's major religions with statistics, lists of major organizations and institutions, and of course lots of links!
The SRAS Moscow City Guide
Our guide has been newly updated with information on religious services, vegetarian and kosher restaurants, gyms, interactive maps of the city and more.
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Now is the time to start thinking about
summer study abroad!
The Charles Braver Language Exploration Grant
Students who have completed two semesters of Russian or Chinese language study and have have GPAs of 3.0 or higher may apply for this $500 study abroad grant.
Featured Program: Russian Studies Summer
Russian Studies Summer is designed to provide an educational foundation for students hoping to build a professional career with ties to Russia and the FSU. The program is divided into two 5-week sessions, each with a different focus and language component. Students may attend one or both sessions.
Featured Program: Intensive Russian Summer
Summer Intensive with TORFL is for students ready to get serious about their Russian. With 125 contact hours crammed into just five weeks, this is one of the most intensive programs available anywhere. The program is designed to help the student prepare for taking the TORFL (Level 1 or 2).
Scholarships and Grants for Students and Scholars of Russian Studies
An updated list of all deadlines for current scholarship cycles.
SRAS has many more available programs. Click here!
Grants and Programs Abroad for Russian Studies Educators
Seminars and Institutes foster excellent teaching through collegial discussion of humanities topics for teachers from grade school through college. Deadline: Mar 1 (more info)
Landmarks of American History and Culture is designed to enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture. This grant could be used to deliver information about Russian-American heritage. Deadline Mar 15 (more info)
Seminar in Russia for K-12 Educators "Understanding Russia through Everyday Life" arranged in part by Fulbright-Hays, will meet in Russia and Illinois from June 20 - July 23. Deadline: Feb 25 (more info)
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 Olga's Blog - Очереди, медкомиссия
In Russia, university students undergo a series of medical tests before beginning their academic programs. This month, Olga describes this process and the lines involved with this bureaucracy with a focus on vocabulary describing doctors.
Image of the Month: Radical Politics in Russia
There are several groups who support communist, nationalist, and socialist ideology in Russia today. Several of them participate in an annual march recognizing the anniversery of the Great October Revolution of 1917. These groups and this march are the subject this month's installment of "Image of the Month."
Language: SMS-ки
Russian often takes technological lexicons and "Russifes" them. Those words associated with mobile telephones and their use are no exception. For example, Russian not only uses the straight-forward translation "мобильный телефон," but has also developed several shorter forms including "мобильный," and "мобилник." Other less-used variants derived from the same root are "мобила," "мобил," and "мобилка."
Russian has applied the same process to the term "cellular telephone." The most appropriate translation is "сотовый телефон." "Сотовый" come from "сота" in Russian, which is a more precise term than “cell” in English. "Сота" refers specifically to a honeycomb. Shorter terms based on this term include "сотовый" and the less-used "сотик," "сотка," and "сотовик."
Russian also has variants for the cell phone that do not have analogues in English. These include "карманный телефон," (pocket telephone) and some Russians even use the term "хэнди" (a "handy" telephone). Another odd slang (and sparsely used) term for a mobile phone is "пелефон" which seems to have perhaps originated from the fact that one of the first mobile telephone service providers in Israel who marketed directly to Russian immigrants there was known by that brand name.
A cell phone may also be called a "труба," or "трубка," (pipe), a term that can be applied to any handset. This includes handsets connected to a landline which, in Russian, is known almost exclusively as a "городской телефон" or "городской."
The same has been applied to SMS, which in Russian is sometimes written with Latin letters (SMS), sometimes in Cyrillic transliteration (СМС), and sometimes in Cyrillic phonetic transliteration (Эсемес). All seem to be accepted forms, though the first two are used most often. Diminutives of each of these also exist, though there is some debate still about weather they should be allowed in educated speech. They are usually written "SMSка" (or "SMS-ка"), "СМСка" (sometimes "СМС-ка") and "эсемеска," respectively.
SMS, as in English, has also become a verb in Russian: Эсемесить (sometimes spelled partly with Latin letters: SMSить). This means, of course "to send an SMS." However, the generally accepted way to express this action is with the phrase "Отправить/отправлять SMS."
Other verbs and phrases associated with telephone communication include:
Сбросить/cбрасывать звонок (to deny a call). In terms of etiquette, this is considered acceptable in Russia for calls placed to mobile telephones (and most places). It simply means that you called at an inconvenient time.
Перезвонить/перезванивать (to call back). It is also quite common, if a person has received a call at an inconvenient time, to simply pick up the phone and say something like: "Перезвоню. Хорошо?" They then almost immediately hang up. This means they can't talk now but will call back.
Those who speak Russian and are interested in learning more can read this article from MGU. | 
