Amsterdam, November 4. In the queue of people waiting in front of the doors of AFAS. Where Zemfira will soon be performing. Left, right, front and back: Russian everywhere. My company almost feels at home.
When I dare to speak some words in Russian, it is immediately noticed. Hear that, over there, a Dutchman!
DIFFERENT
Once inside, it becomes even clearer. Perhaps because the coats are now stored, in a safe that causes four times heavy traffic in the corridors. (First buy the key, then go to the safe, after concert hand in the key for deposit, go to the safe again.) It is crowded and hectic and the people are loud.
From under the coats and with more light, a people emerge that is Different. Different from ours, different from what’s familiar. Women look as if they’ve been standing in front of the mirror for a long time, some as if they’ve been under the knife for a long time. Russian is heard everywhere, a vibe new to me fills the air.
FINALLY
Zemfira also does not seem to assume there is anyone in the room who does not know Russian. Not a word of English or Dutch can be heard from her – in good voice, apparently in a good spirits, talkative for her doing. I am half a stowaway, half a tourist. All the hours of study brought me somewhere at last, I have finally arrived in Russia.
The Russians sing along as if they too are all back home again. With Бесконечность, with пальто, with Жить в твоей голове, with Любовь как случайн ая смерть, with Почему – 25 years old, and no one seems tired of it yet –, with the cover of Печаль, with Мы разбиваемся, and with a Спасибо.* Set list here.
FRIENDLY
In the queue before the start, a lively conversation emerged, with a Russian guy from Germany and, we suspected, his sister. According to Katya, he was stoned.
They had heard right away that I was not from Russia. That was a bit discouraging.
But they thought it was quite something, a Dutchman who could speak a little Russian. The Russians seemed like a friendly people to me, stoned or not.
All my photos were a failure. But a pleasant evening, in this Little Russia..
As for the Big one: I’ll be going there next year.
To be continued!
More
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There was certainly no shortage of YouTube channels teaching Russian, but there’s always room for one more – therefore, also always for more than one. Here are seven pretty new ones, worth checking out.
VERB VOCABULARY
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Verbs work for those who want to make sentences. There – work and make, there you already have two. And try to make Russian out of that sentence if you if you don’t know работать or делать. So work, also on your vocabulary.
Even with bad news there is good news: there is a lot to learn from it. Russian news articles are excellent teaching material, even for the more advanced student.
The sixth noun, in Russian предложный падеж, is for most students the first one they learn. The reason is simple: the sixth grammatical case itself is.
OPERATION WAR
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And then it became war. Or should we say began the special military operation. On February 24 2022 Russian troops entered Ukraine. It was allowed neither war nor invasion be called, but it was akin to both.
This often comes as a setback for students of Russian: of (almost) every Russian verb there are two. Which do mean approximately the same thing, but express very different things. So you need to know both, and of both learn the conjugations.
