"чёрная кровь"
Translation:black blood
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This might be a reference to the Russian lyrical poet Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok. His poem, The Scythians, has some translations that use the term black blood. Here is the verse containing this term:
"So, Russia - Sphinx - triumphant, sorrowed, too - With black blood flows, in fearful wildness, Her eyes glare deep, glare deep, glare deep at you, With hatred and - with loving-kindness!"
By the way, I recently came across a really good Russian other author with the pseudonym Саша Чёрный. I would really recommend his book «Дневник Фокса Микки» for intermediate learners of Russian (B1~B2), like me, because it’s not so hard to read and you really get most of the story, but you still learn some new words.
I received a book called «Домашнее Чтение» for Christmas and it contains some really good children’s stories, including «Дневник Фокса Микки», but also some other similar stories by Максим Горький and Николай Матеевич Грибачёв. I will begin reading tomorrow!
I'm back, 2 years later. I figured out what to do... at least, this is what i did to get 'fluent' i guess...
1- played a good amount of skyrim (steam version) after switching language. (keep in mind other languages have more 'old speak' than english, you if you do this too much you might sound like a stone-age shakespeare)
2 - watched a lot of american cartoons in russian (this is better for how people talk today, as it's what children watch too, and they basically control how a language evolves)
3 - after you've thoroughly watched adventure time (or some other translated show) and google translated enough to just be able to speak, go to online chats or games like vrchat and give it a go ^_^
(watching something familiar to you will help your memory, as it will almost "shift over" your emotional association with all of the words you know in your native language. If you start feeling like you're 3 years old again and you don't know why, it's working)
...keep in mind that there are a lot of nationalistic Russians that can and will dislike you off the bat for not being native, so get prepared to get kicked. a lot.
like a lot... lol
-if you seriously don't want to take the tv route at all, but are more into gaming, try https://polyglot-games.com/ as a guide for steam games with good options, my personal full russian recommendations:
Watch dogs 2 (3 isn't released yet)
Skyrim (oldspeak)
Witcher 3 (oldspeak)
I've been taking this kind of approach as well while supplementing with Duolingo. One invaluable resource that bears mentioning is Twitch. If you shop around a bit you can easily find streamers who are great for language practice -- talkative, articulate, describe what they're doing in game, etc.
A few of my own favourites:
@RomanovaLera -- tends to play HearthStone about half the time, which is not great for learning, but also plays other games, and speaks well.
@WELOVEGAMES -- Has a great "radio voice" and a good sense of humour. Good variety of games as well.
@busya18plus -- A tiddy streamer, but hear me out. She (a) is hilarious, and (b) literally structures her streams as satirical "lessons", which can end up being surprisingly educational for a Russian learner.
Also highly, highly recommend Tatiana Klimova on YouTube -- she delivers Russian lessons in Russian, spoken slowly and clearly and using simple words. Each video typically introduces one word or compares and contrasts several words with similar meanings.
The FIRST thing I thought when I read this was replaying Witcher 3 in Russian.
I've also been watching Russian TV shows on Netflix. It takes me a few hours to get through an episode. I watch with subtitles and replay any parts I can sort of understand. Метод is GREAT for learners because the lead is classically trained and you can UNDERSTAND what he says. Even if you don't know the meaning of the words he's using, you can make them out as words. Other shows can be more difficult to make out and can sound very mummbly and can be hard to pick up words you DO know, let alone ones you can't. It IS Russian Dexter though, so if you don't like serial killer shows you shouldn't watch. Also, people get burned alive shockingly often in only 16 episodes. But if you can be with that, it is an excellent show for picking up the language.
I've also been listening to a lot of Охххумирон (he's a Russian rapper) and I find that helps too. Though his lyrics are NOT simple, he is incredibly technically skilled and has excellent diction. It is more something I'm working TOWARDS understanding, but his beats are so sick and his earworms so compelling I usually hear it even when I'm not listening and it keeps me excited to keep learning.
Thank you for starting this conversation! I'm excited to see how other people use media to learn and I will try replaying Witcher 3 in Russian!