Spring has been delighting us with its warmth and sunshine, so let us forget about the quickly approaching exams for a bit 🤓, and talk about what we all love doing - celebrating holidays! 🤩🥳
Next Monday we are celebrating WORLD WISH DAY! 🥳

Have you ever had a strong desire for something to happen? 🤩 If so, you have had a wish. Most people have wished for something at some point in their life, and most of our biggest wishes come from our childhoods.

Every year on April 29th, World Wish Day celebrates the anniversary of the founding of Make-A-Wish. It’s a day for Make-A-Wish chapters and affiliates to come together and reflect on how many wishes they have made come true. 🕊️
Make-A-Wish foundation was formed in 1980. A 7-year old boy named Christopher Greicius inspired the founding of the organization. He was battling leukemia and had a wish to be a police officer. In 2010, Make-A-Wish celebrated its 30th anniversary by creating a World Wish Day. 🕊️ Since its inception, Make-A-Wish has granted over 500,000 wishes in nearly 50 countries.
Based on the work of this foundation, a very important project was established in Russia, named - The «Мечты сбываются!» Project.
It also works on helping to make the wishes of terminally ill children come true, and spreading awareness on the value of caring and giving love to others. 🕊️

So in honor of this holiday, take some time next Monday to do something you have been wishing to do for a very long time, or ask a loved one what wish of theirs you can help make true, because to love oneself or another is to give time and care to make yourself or them happy! 🤗
MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE! 🥰

Another very important holiday coming soon is one of the most important holidays in Russia.
Of course, we are talking about Victory Day! ⭐️🏅
And today we'd like to tell you about the four-legged heroes, that accompanied us on the difficult path to victory. 🤩

We all know that a dog is man’s best friend, and a friend in need is a friend indeed! 🐕
Riding dogs carried ammunition and food. Fluffy lifesavers also rescued wounded soldiers directly from the battlefield. The nurse-dogs found the most seriously wounded. They helped search for people both under the rubble and on the battlefields. The four-legged hero would bring a wounded soldier to his senses licking his face, and provide him with the first-aid supplies he had been equipped with. Dogs saved 700,000 lives in Russia during World War II. 😮

Dog lovers might disagree, but cats aren’t any less important than the doggos! 🐈
Cats played a huge role after lifting the siege off Leningrad in 1944. During the blockade, Leningrad completely lost all the cats that lived in the city, which led to the city being flooded with swarms of rats. Rodents attacked the already meagre supplies of food, causing more starvation. However, the help arrived in the form of fluffy paws with razor-sharp claws. Cats were brought to Leningrad from the cities of Siberia, and people stood in long queues in order to get their purrsonal puss in boots, that would rid their houses of the yet another enemy! 🐀

When the symbol of peace became the messenger of war! 🕊️
Pigeons were the fastest means of communication during World War II, and a stationary pigeon station for urgent communications was created as soon as the war started. In addition to being mail carriers, they also carried bombs. The aerial bombardment scheme was as follows: a pigeon, equipped with a push-starter explosive, landed on the targeted object. The device would detach from the bird’s body, after which the symbol of peace flew away and the bomb stayed in place to fulfill its purpose. 💣

Let's listen to the beautiful tune of the GRAMMARPHONE! 🧑‍🎓

Today we're going to share with you five fun-facts about the English language! ❓
1. “I am” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
- Who's getting ready for the exams? 🤨
- I am. 😶

2. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 😨 is NOT the longest word in English.
This extra long word (that approximately means “fantastic”) was popularized by the movie Mary Poppins and was eventually added to the dictionary. What you probably didn’t know is that there is a word that is longer—yes longer—than this one. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling ash and dust. 😷 Go ahead and try pronouncing that! 😬

3. There are “ghost words” that mean nothing. 👻
Believe it or not, there are some words that appeared in the dictionary because of printing errors. 👨‍💻 The nonexistent word “dord” appeared in the dictionary for eight years in the mid-20th century. It became known as a “ghost word.” 😁

4. There’s a name for words that we repeat often. 🤐
Words we always use even though they add no meaning or value to a sentence are called crutch words. 🙃 For example, in the sentence “Then I was like, OMG, then like, he went there, and like…” it is pretty obvious that “like” is the crutch word.

5. The most common adjective used in English is “good”. 🙂
And you might agree with us that sometimes it is used TOO often.👍

Hope you found these fun-facts light and useful!
Have a good GREAT day! 🤌💕

Did you know that tomorrow is International Hummus Day? 🥳

Every year on May 13th, hummus lovers unite to celebrate International Hummus Day. The day also spreads awareness for this delicious food that’s considered a cross-cultural phenomenon. 😋👌

Hummus is an Arabic word that means chickpea. Despite the Arabic roots of hummus, some historians believe this food originated in Egypt. Still, other groups of people, including the Lebanese, Turks, Jews, and Syrians, have tried to take credit for inventing hummus.
Maybe your Arab friends in RUDN can let you know where it had originated from? 😉

However, no matter the roots of Hummus, we are encouraging you to invite your friends tomorrow to a yummy Hummus plate and a great conversation! 🤌🍴

Hey everyone💕
Let's get down to brass tacks and talk about some killer slang expressions in English. Slang is like the secret sauce of any language, giving it that extra flavor and pizzazz. So, buckle up and let's dive into some cool slang terms that will have you sounding like a true native speaker in no time!

1. "Bite the bullet" - This means to endure a painful or difficult situation with courage. For example, "I have to bite the bullet and ask my boss for a raise."

2. "Ace" - When something is excellent or first-rate, you can describe it as ace. "That movie was ace!"

3. "Hangry" - This is a combination of hungry and angry, describing the irritability that comes from being hungry. "I was so hangry before I finally got some food."

4. "Chill out" - A way of telling someone to relax or calm down. "Hey, dude, chill out, everything's gonna be fine."

5. "Hit the hay" - This means to go to bed or go to sleep. "I'm really tired, I think it's time to hit the hay."

So, there you have it, folks! These are just a few slang expressions to add some spice to your English. Try using them in your conversations and see how much fun it can be to speak like a true language maven! Keep slaying those slang words! Peace out!

Students that go to our Institute of Foreign Languages always look so beautiful and fashionable even when attending their lectures.... 🛍

Did you know that fashionable as word wouldn't exist if not for William Shakespeare??! 🫣
Shakespeare has invented more than 1500 words and phrases that are still widely used today in our lives. 😍

This adjective has first accured in Shakespeare's play "Troilus and Cressida", giving the world a word to describe all things trendy and smart! 😌
Here's the line from the play:
"For Time is like a fashionable host, That slightly shakes his parting guest by th' hand; And with his arms out-stretch'd, as he would fly, Grasps in the corner." Act III, Scene III.

Stay fashionable and never miss your lectures at IFL! 😄😎