Valentine’s Day is a great day to watch a movie about love. Watch it in Russian to improve your language skills - you’ll get to learn real Russian and how it’s spoken by native Russian speakers. It’s also much easier and more efficient to learn new words this way as they are presented in context rather than endless and soulless lists of new vocabulary.
Below are my top 2 movie suggestions.
How I became a Russian
We’ve just finished watching How I became a Russian. It’s a new Chinese-Russian romantic comedy. If you’re up for a laugh, this is a movie to cuddle up for with your special someone. The story follows Ira's new Chinese boyfriend Peng who arrives in snowy Moscow to propose to her but first he has to face her traditional Russian strongman father…
Loveless
If the year’s most romantic month has you rolling your eyes at heart and chocolate-plastered window displays, couples proclaiming their love on Facebook and cheesy romantic comedies whichever way you look, here’s a slightly different suggestion - Loveless by prominent Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev. Loveless tells a story of an unhappy couple going through a divorce. Their son Alyosha disappears during a big family argument and now they must unite to find him. This film was nominated for an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2018. I watched it a couple of years ago at the BFI Southbank during the annual Russian Film Week. As usual, I looked forward to this new Zvyagintsev's film. As I was watching it, I could feel the chills down my spine. The film is dark but it's brilliant, too - it will hit you hard.
So pick your film and read through these tips on how to watch movies in Russian for learning practice.
When you watch it the first time, just turn on English subtitles. But if you get the chance to watch it a second time, try Russian subtitles or turn them off completely.
Repeat expressions or slang words that sound interesting to you. Saying them out loud will help you remember them for longer.
Don’t try to understand everything in Russian - after all, watching movies should be fun!
Enjoy the films and let me know what you think after you’ve watched either of them.
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