The Russian word Рыло means ‘snout’. It declines like so:

The word 'рыло' comes from the word 'рыть', which means 'to dig'. Since pigs always dig around in mud with their snout, it is called 'рыло'. However, the word is more often used when talking about ugly people's faces rather than pigs' snouts.

Here are a few sample sentences:

The Russian slang word Ништяк means ‘Cool’, 'Good', 'Alright' or ‘Awesome’, depending on the context it is used in. However, the word 'ништяки' stands for something like 'goods', whether talking about munchies or leftover food, candy, etc. It declines like so:

Here are a few sample sentences:

I found a great little internet meme that uses the word. It's probably confusing at first because a student might think that ваще is a misspelling of ваше, but that's not the case here. Here ваще is geek spelling for вообще ‘totally, completely,’ so in this picture the words mean “totally awesome!”

The word сон in Russian can be translated as ‘dream’ or ‘sleep’. It declines as such:

Russians are great believers in the predictive power of dreams. Almost every woman has a со́нник ‘dream interpretation book’ by her bedside so that she can consult it first thing when she wakes up. Sometimes my friend Евгений's mother dreams about cats, which she always takes as a sign that something bad is going to happen him, especially that some friend might stab him in the back, and she warns him to be careful and think twice about anything he does that day.

Dreams played a huge role in the prophecies of Ванга, a Bulgarian woman who predicted the future. She is kind of like a Slavic Nostradamus, and every Russian knows about her. You can read about her here.

The Russian word Коса means ‘scythe’ or ‘braid’. It declines like so:

The word Коса has two very different meanings - 'scythe' and 'braid'. Both have a lot to do with Russian culture. The agricultural tool scythe has been used by Russian peasants centuries ago and is still used today in some villages to mow wheat, grass and anything else that needs to be mowed. When it comes to a braid, it has been known as a traditional Russian female hairstyle for just as long. Russian women would grow their hair out and braid it. The longer the braid, the prettier the hair was considered. I think that it is has been the most popular hairstyle for quite some time because of it's simplicity and practicality.

Here are a few sample sentences:

As far as braids go, the most famous коса in recent history was the one worn by Юлия Тимошенко, the Ukrainian politician who was at the forefront of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Here you can see her picture. She was not just a model of Slavic beauty, but a political force to be reckoned with. I strongly recommend the Wikipedia link to her biography and the discussion of the Orange Revolution.

We all have those moments of doubt in our skills ability and positive outcome of a situation when it seems like we cannot handle it the struggles. We then have two options: to give up or to tough it out and finish the race whether we come in first or not which is also known as persevering. The noun perseverance or persistance translates into Russian as упорство. This word is declined this way:

Persistence will get you through all the struggles of life. These struggles can be academic, sports related, relationship related, mental, emotional and physical, but we all have it in us to make it through whatever we are struggling with, whether that strength is solely on our own or with the support of our friends. I had a friend who was going through some tough issues at home with her family and at school with school work and friendships, and at one point she thought about killing herself. She stuck it out and while she is still struggling with a few things, she is at peace inwardly and is making the most of her life. Persistence paid off, I am glad she stuck around.