Valentine’s Day is around the corner! If your Valentine happens to be Russian, you might want to update your vocabulary on the subject of love and affection. While there is hardly a person in the world who doesn’t know the meaning of “I love you”, conquering a Russian heart with some authentic Russian vocab might do more than you think.

1. Я тебя люблю (I love you)

Once your feelings have ripened to a certain degree, go ahead and express them. However, don’t throw these words around casually. In Russian culture, the words “I love you” are not typically uttered after every phone conversation or before running out the door for the day.

For listening/comprehension practice, I decided to include one of my personal favorites, a song by Nikolai Noskov, a former Gorky Park member. The title of the song is…You guessed it: Я тебя люблю. Shhh… Listen to the chorus!

2. Ты мне нравишься (I like you)

3. Я по тебе скучаю and мне тебя не хватает (I miss you)

If you are in a long-distance relationship, this little phrase would be useful.

4. Я все время о тебе думаю (I think about you all the time)

For example, Когда ты не со мной, я все время о тебе думаю (When you are not with me, I think about you all the time).

5. С нетерпением жду нашей встречи or не могу дождаться нашей встречи (I can’t wait to see you)

If seeing your Russian sweetheart is on the horizon, arm yourself with this little phrase.

6. Я без ума от тебя (I am crazy about you)

Go for it! Say something daring, like Сегодня я проснулся (female: проснулась) и понял (female: поняла), что я без ума от тебя (Today I woke up and realized that I am crazy about you).

7. Я просто хочу тебя обнять (I just want to hold you).

8. Я бы хотел (female: хотела) с тобой встречаться (I would like to date you)

The following is a clip from a popular Russian comedy show Даешь Молодежь. The gist of the scene is this: the girl asks her guy to put sunscreen on her back before he leaves, the guy agrees, the guy writes “Эта баба занята” (this broad is taken) on her back.

9. Я хочу тебя поцеловать (I want to kiss you)

10. Ты испытываешь ко мне какие-то чувства? (Do you have any feelings for me?) I hope this question is answered before you have to ask it 🙂

Even though love is universal, if you come from different cultures, you are bound to have a period of adjustment. For some this period is short, for others it may seem like an eternity. In an attempt to help you conquer a Russian heart, and improve your Russian vocabulary, I found a great channel that provides a decent selection of subtitled Russian movies. I would recommend you watch a classic Russian comedy “Служебный роман” (2 parts) or a classic Russian drama “Жестокий романс.” Click the channel below to get to the movie selection, then pick either movie from the channel menu on the right. To enable subtitles, click on the little CC sign at the bottom of the YouTube player, make sure that English is chosen, then click ON. Enjoy!

P.S. If you don’t dig my movie selection, this channel offers quite a few movies to choose from. Watch something!… If you are really trying to perfect your word recognition skills!

Всего хорошего!