Example translation: What is the weather like today?
Memory hook: Sounds like “pogo” stick — imagine jumping up and down because the weather keeps changing!
Russian (Cyrillic): солнце
Transliteration: SOLN-tseh
English: sun
Example sentence: Солнце светит ярко.
Example translation: The sun is shining brightly.
Memory hook: Think “solar” — the sun gives us solar power!
Russian (Cyrillic): дождь
Transliteration: DOZH-d’
English: rain
Example sentence: Идёт сильный дождь.
Example translation: Heavy rain is falling.
Memory hook: Sounds like “dodge” — you have to dodge the raindrops!
Russian (Cyrillic): снег
Transliteration: SNYEK
English: snow
Example sentence: Зимой много снега.
Example translation: There is a lot of snow in winter.
Memory hook: Looks and sounds like “snow” in English — almost the same word!
Russian (Cyrillic): ветер
Transliteration: VYEH-tyer
English: wind
Example sentence: Сегодня сильный ветер.
Example translation: Today there is strong wind.
Memory hook: Imagine a “veteran” wind that has been blowing for years.
Russian (Cyrillic): тепло
Transliteration: tyep-LOH
English: warm / warmth
Example sentence: На улице тепло.
Example translation: It is warm outside.
Memory hook: Sounds like “tepid” — tepid water is slightly warm.
Russian (Cyrillic): холодно
Transliteration: KHOL-ud-nuh
English: cold (as in “it is cold”)
Example sentence: Зимой очень холодно.
Example translation: It is very cold in winter.
Memory hook: Think “cold” — the Russian “khol” sounds like the first part of “cold.”
Russian (Cyrillic): облако
Transliteration: OB-luh-kuh
English: cloud
Example sentence: Небо в облаках.
Example translation: The sky is full of clouds.
Memory hook: Sounds like “oblong” cloud — long, fluffy shapes in the sky.
Russian (Cyrillic): жарко
Transliteration: ZHAR-kuh
English: hot (as in “it is hot”)
Example sentence: Летом очень жарко.
Example translation: It is very hot in summer.
Memory hook: Sounds like “char” — when it’s hot things get charred!
Russian (Cyrillic): гроза
Transliteration: grah-ZAH
English: thunderstorm
Example sentence: Вчера была сильная гроза.
Example translation: Yesterday there was a strong thunderstorm.
Memory hook: Think “grizzly” bear — a thunderstorm is as scary as a grizzly!
Grammar Spotlight:
Using adverbs of weather (тепло, холодно, жарко).
In Russian we often say “мне тепло” or simply “тепло” to mean “it is warm” without needing a long sentence. It works like saying “It’s warm” in English, but Russians love to drop the subject when it’s obvious.
Examples:
Холодно! (It’s cold!)
Сегодня жарко. (Today it’s hot.)
Завтра будет тепло. (Tomorrow it will be warm.)
Compare to English: English usually needs “It is…” but Russian can start straight with the feeling word. It’s shorter and feels like a friendly weather report!
Word Origins — Deep Dive: погода
Did you know that the Russian word погода and the English word “weather” are actually distant cousins? They both come from the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *wedh- meaning “to make wet” or “to blow.” This word started in ancient times, travelled through Germanic languages to become English “weather,” and through Slavic languages to become Russian погода. Along the way the meaning shifted a little — in Russian погода now means the general state of the sky and temperature. But be careful — the Russian word погода sounds a bit like “powder” but has nothing to do with snow powder; it’s all about the whole day’s conditions! Next time you check the weather forecast, remember it’s cousins with погода — they both come from the same ancient “wet and windy” root. That connection is your secret shortcut to remembering it forever.
Cultural Corner:
Russians talk about the weather all the time because their country stretches across so many climate zones — from freezing Arctic winters to hot summers in the south. You will often hear people greet each other with “Ну, как погода?” even if they just saw each other yesterday. It’s a warm, friendly way to start a conversation and shows how much Russians notice and share the changes in nature.
Practice Challenge:
For kids: Draw a big smiling sun, a rain cloud, and snowflakes on paper. Point to each picture and say the Russian word out loud three times: “солнце… дождь… снег!” Then ask a family member “Какая сегодня погода?” and answer with the correct word.
For adults: Next time you look out the window or check your phone, describe the weather in Russian using at least three words from today’s list. Record yourself on your phone and play it back — celebrate every correct word!
Repeat after me:
Погода… (pause) Какая сегодня погода?
Солнце… (pause) Солнце светит ярко.
You did it! If you understood even one sentence today, you’re already speaking real Russian. See you next time — до встречи!
Full Episode Transcript
Hey everyone! Privyet! Welcome to Привет, Русский!, episode fifteen, for April twenty-eighth, twenty twenty-six. I'm Olya, and today we're going to learn some really fun Russian words. Ready? Poyekhali! That means, let's go!
Сегодня мы говорим о погоде.
Today we are talking about the weather.
Our word of the day is погода.
Poh-GOH-dah. Погода. That means weather.
It sounds like pogo stick.
Imagine jumping up and down because the weather keeps changing!
Repeat after me. Погода.
Poh-GOH-dah.
Now try the whole question.
Какая сегодня погода?
Kah-KAH-yah se-VOHD-nyah poh-GOH-dah?
That means what is the weather like today?
Great job! You just asked your first real weather question in Russian.
Давайте добавим больше слов про погоду.
Let us add more words about the weather.
Солнце. Soln-tseh. Солнце.
That means sun.
It is like the English word solar.
The sun gives us solar power.
Repeat after me. Солнце.
Soln-tseh.
Солнце светит ярко.
The sun is shining brightly.
Next comes дождь.
Dozh-d’. Дождь. That means rain.
It sounds like dodge.
You have to dodge the raindrops.
Repeat after me. Дождь.
Dozh-d’.
Идёт сильный дождь.
Heavy rain is falling.
Зимой часто бывает снег.
In winter there is often snow.
Снег. Snyek. Снег.
It looks and sounds almost like the English snow.
Repeat after me. Снег.
Snyek.
Ветер. Vyeh-tyer. Ветер.
That means wind.
Imagine a veteran wind that has been blowing for years.
Repeat after me. Ветер. Vyeh-tyer.
Сегодня сильный ветер.
Today there is strong wind.
Тепло. Tyep-loh. Тепло.
This word means it feels warm.
It sounds like the English tepid.
Tepid water is slightly warm.
Repeat after me. Тепло.
Tyep-loh.
Холодно. Khol-ud-nuh. Холодно.
This tells us it is cold.
The beginning sounds like the start of our English word cold.
Repeat after me. Холодно.
Облако. Ob-luh-kuh. Облако.
That means cloud.
It sounds like oblong.
Picture long fluffy oblong shapes floating in the sky.
Repeat after me. Облако.
Ob-luh-kuh.
Жарко. Zhar-kuh. Жарко.
This means it feels hot.
It sounds like char.
When things get very hot they can char.
Repeat after me. Жарко.
Zhar-kuh.
And our last new word is гроза.
Grah-zah. Гроза. That means thunderstorm.
Think of a grizzly bear.
A thunderstorm can be just as scary.
Repeat after me. Гроза.
Grah-zah.
Теперь немного о том как русские говорят о погоде.
Now a little about how Russians talk about the weather.
In Russian we can start a sentence with just the feeling word.
We say холодно when we mean it is cold.
We do not always need to add it is.
It is shorter and feels like a quick friendly weather report.
So instead of a long sentence you can simply say жарко.
That means it is hot right now.
Or you can add a time word and say завтра будет тепло.
Tomorrow it will be warm.
You already know these words so you can make real sentences.
That is real Russian.
Русские часто говорят о погоде потому что их страна очень большая.
Russians talk about the weather a lot because their country is very big.
It stretches from freezing Arctic winters all the way to hot summers in the south.
You will often hear friends greet each other with ну как погода even if they saw each other yesterday.
It is a warm friendly way to start a chat and shows how much they notice changes in nature.
Хотите узнать секрет об одном из наших слов?
Want to know a secret about one of our words?
Погода and the English word weather are actually distant cousins.
They both come from a very old root that meant to make wet or to blow.
This root traveled through different ancient languages.
It became weather in English and погода in Russian.
Along the way the exact meaning changed a little.
In Russian погода now describes the whole state of the sky and temperature for the day.
Be careful though.
Погода sounds a bit like powder but it has nothing to do with snow powder.
Next time you check the weather forecast remember this family connection.
That ancient wet and windy root is your secret memory hook forever.
Давайте потренируемся.
Let us practice.
Do you remember what солнце means?
Yes it is sun.
What about гроза?
It means thunderstorm.
Now try the big question.
Какая сегодня погода?
For kids draw a smiling sun a rain cloud and some snowflakes.
Point to each picture and say the Russian word three times.
Солнце. Дождь. Снег.
Then ask a family member какая сегодня погода and answer with the right word.
For adults look out the window or check your phone.
Describe the weather in Russian using at least three words from today.
Record yourself and play it back.
Celebrate every correct word you hear.
You did it! If you understood even one sentence today you are already speaking real Russian.
See you next time. До встречи!
Molodets! That means, well done! Remember, every expert started as a beginner. Practice saying today's words out loud, even just once, and you'll be amazed how fast you learn. See you next time! Poka! That's Russian for, bye!
This podcast is curated by Patrick but generated using AI voice synthesis of my voice using ElevenLabs. The primary reason to do this is I unfortunately don't have the time to be consistent with generating all the content and wanted to focus on creating consistent and regular episodes for all the themes that I enjoy and I hope others do as well.
