RFL

People beginning to learn Russian as a foreign language ask exactly the same question as little native speakers of Russian do, "Why do I write И if I hear [Ы]?" We are going to explain it now.

As many people say, Russian phonetics is difficult but fascinating and entertaining. Today we focus our attention on the sound [Ы], which is very difficult for foreigners to pronounce.

These words don’t carry any semantic load, but they are said quite often. Such words or interjections exist in all languages. In Russian, such words are exclusively called ‘parasite words.’

We continue to familiarize our readers with popular fixed phrases. Let's look into the expression “puskat' pyl v glaza” (literally “throw dust in somebody's eyes”). Who throws? Why dust? What does it have to do with eyes?

We use the fixed phrase “martyshkin trud” when we want to say that the job is done for its own sake rather than for achieving results and nobody needs it.

The outstanding Russian poet, playwright and novelist whose works greatly influenced the development of Russian literature and culture in general.