“There Are Certain Things In The Movie That Are Very Russian That Is Difficult For An American Audience

just me trying to teach myself more Russian via Transformers media lmao

haven’t given up on my Russia based TFP AU, I’m just super super busy (end of year is go time for me and oh my god I’m trying so hard to get stuff done so I can just engage fully in Transformers bullshit again lmao) 

in the meantime making this ref post for myself because my memory sucks and I don’t want to lose track of my resources lol (and listening to TF in Russian helps me brainstorm ideas for the AU!) 

G1 

YouTube - Transformers the Movie (1986) in Russian

TFP 

YouTube - Episodes in Russian 

Cyberverse 

YouTube - Hasbro Official Russian Episodes Playlist

Misc.

TFP Russian Language TCG 

If anyone has any other TF media in Russian, feel free to let me know! <3

currently I have no Cyrillic keyboard (although I have been looking forever) and my Russian layout keyboard stickers wore down, so typing in Cyrillic is a bit tough at the moment even when changing my keyboard layout input settings and it’s tricky for me to find stuff as my vocabulary isn’t great (yet!!!) 

I laughed when I was recently watching an episode of TFP in Russian and the only thing I understood in a scene was Fowler shouting “ya ne ponimayu” (”I don’t understand”) and I was like me too man LOL 

I was just serfing the net and came across this video. I really love old educational videos for Russian learners, so I thought I’d share it. (I don’t know why I find the last conversation so funny, but it is)

RUSSIAN TEA VOCAB/ ALL THE NUANCES EXPLAINED

ча́й - the drink itself and a product in the store

ча́йная зава́рка or simply зава́рка - dry tea leaves in the packaging

ча́йный паке́тик - teabag

крупнолистово́й чай - whole-leave grade of tea

чаи́нка (the plural form чаи́нки is more common since usually there is more than one of them in your tea) - fannings, wet pieces of tea leaves or tea dust which fell into the tea

де́лать чай - to make tea. The construction is widely used and describes the process of making tea from any tea product i.e. leaves, tea bags.

ста́вить ча́йник - put on a kettle It is not common to say включи́ть чайник

поста́вь ча́йник = поста́вь во́ду - boil some water in kettle (usually for the tea)

я уже́ поста́вила ча́йник, ско́ро бу́дем пи́ть чай - I’ve already put the kettle on, we’ll have tea soon

зава́ривать (чай) - to brew. One of the steps of the process of tea making (usually from whole-leave grades of tea) when tea leaves are poured with hot water and left for a few minutes in the teapot. The process requires time as tea leaves need time to release natural chemicals. When it is happening the Russians say чай зава́ривается, i.e. the tea is being brewed.

зава́ривать ка́шу (to cook kasha) = to cause a situation that brings about troublesome or unpleasant consequences ну и ка́шу же ты завари́л! - what a mess you’ve made!

but! вари́ть ка́шу = to cook kasha

наста́ивать (чай) - to infuse. The idea of the process of настаивание is to wait longer than usual so the taste becomes strong enough. This verb can be used to explain the same process while preparing herbal teas and infusions.

Remember that this verb has two meanings!!! наста́ивать - to insist

подожди́, чай ещё не завари́лся = подожди́, чай ещё не настоя́лся - wait, the tea is not brewed yet

остужа́ть (чай) - to cool the tea down

электри́ческий чайник/электроча́йник - electric kettle

зава́рочный ча́йник - teapot

ча́шка = кру́жка - cup/mug traditionally ча́шка is the elegant cup with a special design, usually a part of a tea set. Кру́жка (mug) usually has a shape of a cylinder and larger than a regular cup. Now the differences are almost forgotten so you can use any word of your choice when you talk about tableware. But! It is always ча́шка/ча́шечка чая - a cup of tea

блю́дце - saucer

ча́йная ло́жка - teaspoon

ча́йный серви́з - tea set

моло́чник - milk jug

са́харница - sugar bowl

чай с са́харом (мёдом, варе́ньем, молоко́м, лимо́ном) - tea with sugar (honey, jam, milk, lemon)

#russian

i’m a native speaker and never realized that until now omfg

In Russian we don’t say “You’re annoying”, instead we have “ты меня бесишь (ty men'a besish)”, which literally means “You’re turning me into a demon” and this is just too #relatable.

Submitted by @karl-the-not-so-great

The road sign says:

Be the one who makes you happy. Originally it was: "Be with the one who makes you happy", but somehow "with" (c) dimmed.

Interestingly, it works in Russian both with and without C because the instrumental case is needed either way.

Дайте человеку хлеб - и он сыт весь день (Give a man bread and he's full all day long)

Дайте человеку арбуз - и он ссыт всю ночь (Give a man watermelon and he pisses all night)

There is a pun here, the two words sound absolutely the same: - сыт - is full. - ссыт - pisses This is what makes it very funny in Russian.

Vocabulary: сытый (short form: сыт, сыта, сыты) - to be full ссать - to piss (colloquial)

Another funny moment from Evening Urgant! This is an old interview with Milla Jovovich. What is Milla talking about? There are tons of Russian fairy tales about baby goats and wolves. One of the most popular ones is “The wolf and the seven baby goats” (Волк и семеро козлят). However, the one Milla is talking about must be a fairy tale called “Grandmother once had a grey baby goat...” (Жил-был у бабушки серенький козлик...).  Here’s the link. It doesn’t have an English translation, but I can try and translate it if you’re interested.  https://stihi.ru/2012/08/15/7403 Useful words from this video: Страшный (m.), страшная (f.), страшное (n.), страшные (plur.) - scary; Сказка, сказки (f.) - fairy tale, fairy tales; Лес, леса (m.) - forest, forests; Конец, концы (m.) - end, ends; Сильный (m.), сильная (f.), сильное (n.), сильные (plur.) - strong Interesting fact: Last month, Milla made a video of her reading one of the most well-known Russian fairy tales “Fly Tsokotuha” (Муха-Цокотуха). And again, unfortunately, I could not find the English version of this fairy tale. I can try and translate it, but I cannot guarantee my version won’t be cringeworthy. Here’s the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a69FMum_nnM&t=249s

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).

When you listen to an entire song in your target language and one thing makes sense:

ни ра́зу ― not once; never

не раз ― repeatedly

tricky! (from Wiktionary)