Even those who speak Russian well sometimes make mistakes with the simplest words—or forget what’s correct: “aféra” or “afёra,” “pomakhay” or “pomashi,” coffee “na vyxnos” or “navynos.”
For many years, the media outlet for education and upbringing “MEL” has run a column called “Literacy,” where complex, ambiguous, and new rules of the Russian language are explained clearly and quickly. And now MEL’s famous flashcards are coming out as an audiobook—this is the first time in history.
Verbs that tempt an extra letter, adverbs that beg for commas, stresses that try to land in the wrong place, new slang expressions, and many other surprising word stories are now collected in a book that is nothing like a classic textbook or a Russian language reference. If only because it was written with irony—you won’t find it boring, and thanks to witty examples, the rules will stick for good.