beer = пиво

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I know this video is extremely corny, nonetheless, she is a native speaker (Marina Orlova).

http://hotforwords.rt.com/lessons/beer/

I was very surprised with her pronunciation.

She seems to be saying - pee-voh. I have always pronounced it pee-vah. I always thought the unstressed "o" was pronounced like "a".

While we're on the topic of beer. I'm wondering if the following are correct and commonly used:

светлое пиво = pale ale (How is this different from лёгкое пиво?)
тёмное пиво = dark beer
разливное пиво = draft beer

How would you say, "light beer", as in low calorie? Or, do they not have that in Russia?

Also, beer comes in either a bottle (бутылка) or can (банка) - right?

If баночное пиво is "canned beer", then how would you say "bottled beer"? Is there an adjective for that?

Thanks!

David Emerling
Memphis, TN
 

Newbie resources

[arian-archer.livejournal.com]

I logged into facebook today and lo and behold I had a message from a friend I met a long time ago at summer camp. She recalled me reading a Russian copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (because I'm a Harry potter nerd as well as a Russian nerd) and asked if I had any recommendations of resources for someone who is just starting out learning Russian.

I did all my Russian learning in school and from talking to native speakers and languages generally come easy to me so I don't really have any ideas other than my textbooks and a few online dictionaries.

She didn't specify online resources or anything, even books would be okay. Any suggestions would be more than welcome. Thanks a tons!