Russian Winter

Russia is notoriously known worldwide for its severe winters, and, well, we can’t say it’s not true. Russian winter (русская зима, ROOS-ka-ya zi-MA) is even considered by some foreigners to be a kind of must-see “attraction” and at the same time a real ordeal for them because they’ve heard many stories about people being really cold during Russian winter. Climate and weather in Russia differ greatly from one region to another. It may rain in December and snow in April in the central part of Russia. But in Siberia, the temperature can drop to 50 below zero (Celsius)! How do we survive Russian winter? Well, we are used to it and we have very warm clothes: шубы (SHU-by)—fur-coats, валенки (VA-lyen-ki)—knee-high felt boots worn mainly in rural areas, шапки-ушанки (SHAP-ki-u-SHAN-ki)—ear-flapped fur hats.

Russian winter is really beautiful with sparkling snow (снег, SNYEK) everywhere. However, you are more likely to admire white snowdrifts (сугробы, su-GRO-by) in the countryside than in the city. Russian winter offers a lot of winter activities: snowball fights, making snowmen, skiing, skating, and sledding. Apart from New Year and Christmas, we celebrate Масленица (MAS-lye-ni-tsa), Pancake Week, in winter. It marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Russian winter is worth seeing. If you are not afraid of frost (мороз, ma-ROS) and want to find out what winters in Russia are—come to Russia!

Learn more:

Find an interesting story about Russian winter in this lesson.

Another funny story about Russian winter can be found here.