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Podolyanka wrote:Can't help tossing in my two cents/pence/copecks. The word "subbotnik" was born in Lenin's times and means "volunteer clean-up". In this meaning the word entered other languages. And in this meaning it was used till the collapse of the USSR.

That's right!

Serinde wrote:I wasn't too far off, then. On a much smaller scale, my mother used much the same approach: "Would you like to help with the dishes?" was a question where the expected answer -- the only possible acceptable answer, indeed -- was 'yes'. Drove us nuts as kids.

So did mine

Back in the USSR those volunteers were told to come on their day off to their offices and do some kind of updaid work that wasn’t connected with their usual duties. They had to wash windows, clean yards, plant trees or flowers. This work was compulsory for everybody in different fields: engineers, t...

I can do simple cross stitches and back stitches. I have bought several designs from different Russian firms mainly "riolis". One picture I finished 10 years ago and the other 2 years ago. I am not very good at needlework but I want to learn

CindyW wrote:Welcome to the forum! I hope to learn the differences in the patterns from Russia as opposed to what we have here in the United States.

What kind of differences do you mean? Sorry, I didn't get it(

why the jokes in Krokodil magazine for children were funny -- some things don't translate, I guess I agree. Such jokes are often based on pun (playing with words?). You can translate the words but you will lose the fun. Sometimes it happens to English jokes when you translate them into Russian. By ...

I haven't chosen my avatar picture yet. Nickname "Petrovna"means that my father's name was Peter (Petr in Russian). In Rissian we have "otchestvo". It's made from a father's name and a suffix. Most common are "-ovna"for women and "-ovich" for men. It isn't the...

Thank you, Carole. I started to learn English at school at 2nd grade. We used to have good edicational system back in the USSR (If I can say so).
Unfortunately, my written English is much better than spoken. I studied German at University but I can say only a few phrases.

Thank you for warm welcome I hope I'll learn fast. Don't mind my mistakes, please. Because I'm learning English as well.

Hello, everyone!) I am a newcomer here. I like cross stiching very much but I am not a very experienced person.