Comments for MacMillan Language Centre

Comment on Frozen Odessa by MLC

MLC — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:11:39 +0000

Thank you for the comment and recommendations! We were thinking that it would be interesting for our students (who were here in summer when it was +35) to see what it is like in winter. It happend one in a decade or even more rarely when the sea gets frozen. And these amazing pictures were taken just next to our school. We will try to make our website even more interesting, thank you!

Comment on Find us on Facebook)) by MLC

MLC — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:09:06 +0000

Thanks a lot! We are trying to make it interesting and useful!

Comment on A tour to the Vorontsov Lighthouse by MLC

MLC — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:08:36 +0000

Thank you! We are happy you like it!

Comment on A tour to the Vorontsov Lighthouse by Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:02:29 +0000

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Comment on Frozen Odessa by Ingles

Ingles — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 05:40:05 +0000

I believe what you said made a lot of sense. However, what about this? what if you added a little information? I mean, I don’t wish to tell you how to run your blog, however suppose you added something to maybe grab a person’s attention? I mean Frozen Odessa – MacMillan Language Centre is a little plain. You could look at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they create article titles to get people to open the links. You might try adding a video or a picture or two to get people interested about everything’ve got to say. Just my opinion, it might make your website a little livelier.

Comment on Find us on Facebook)) by Bettie

Bettie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:01:20 +0000

No compilntas on this end, simply a good piece.

Comment on Russian Idioms by roy barclay

roy barclay — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 08:26:32 +0000

Russian idioms say a lot about Russian life, so it is not surprising that many refer obliquely to a culture that seems to revolve around consuming vodka…Laying in after a night out drinking, so avoiding work, is alluded to in 2 idioms that both translate as; The plough is calling – “po tebe ploog plachet, a ti gavareesh…/ploog plachet po komoo-l…”
0ther idiomatic references to a layabout person;”0n v osnovam slesar po khleboo!” – He’s a metalworker, specialist in bread! 0r, even more sarcastic;”geneey – sredee oodobreneey!” – Genius – of a dungheap!
This idiom also serves to deflate the self-importance of someone who regards they are too clever to work, or does not have the constitution for it.
Such a person might also be spoken of;”0n nye chilavyek, a mokraya kooreetsa!” – He not a man, but a wet hen!
If you really wish to insult somebody’s thinking;”doomat – zhopay!” – To think – with ars! – has a simplicity that pleases me.
“Teeshi yedish, dalshi boodish”, translates as – The slower you go, the further you get – an idiom that has inspired many other versions & has been exploited to comment on the 3rd world state of Soviet state roads. My personal favourite alternative; The faster you go, the fewer the potholes – but you F’up the suspension!

Comment on Russian Idioms by roy barclay

roy barclay — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 09:35:13 +0000

Russian idioms are essential reading for the serious student of the culture – they provide an insight not only into phrasing & use of words, but the psyche of the folk who devised them. My favourite Russian idiom is:”v kazhday ysteenye, yest dolya pravdi” – In every verity exists a grain of truth… This idiom is a masterwork of wordplay – juxtaposing both Russian words for truth, which has the effect of cancelling the other out, so creating a sarcastic negative out of 2 positives. How Russian is that in its acuteness of measured cynicism? & all the more ironic to me, considering that Russian differs from English in that a double-negative is not considered bad grammar, & indeed, using “no, not, nothing, never…” all in the same sentence, actually serves to emphasise the negativity of the statement. But in this idiom, the poignance is to contradict the statement of ‘truth’, by repeating its language partner, to question the basis of the truth. So, for me, this idiom is acutely ‘Russian’, & sums up the attitude of the people during the Soviet era, when they were brought up on a ‘truth’ too severe to question blatantly, in public…