As many non-Russians as there are in the world, there are just as many stereotypes about the Russians. They drink vodka like water and survive on pickles and beetroot soup. All women over fifty look like farmers or grandmothers, and men over fifty don’t exist. Oh yes. Russians love Adidas, Russians don’t smile, and Russia is impossible to understand, and so on. More stereotypes here, and there’s much more to come.

It may not seem like an exciting topic, but three productions released recently (between April and July 2020) offer an insightful look at Russian villages that you should watch. Varlamov, RussianPlus, and Russian from Russia explore the заброшенные (abandoned), revived, and уснувшими (sleeping) villages, reflecting on the state of the Russian countryside.

When Russians tell time, they look ahead. In the first half-hour, they are already on their way to the next, and in the second, they tell you how far it is to the next hour. To understand this and be able to do it yourself, there are a few things you need to know. Here are the most important ones.

Forming the past tense (прошедшее время) in Russian is very simple. Perhaps the easiest aspect of the entire Russian grammar. The number of variations is limited, and conjugations are not complicated.