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Всем привет! Hello Everyone! Hope, all is well and you are watching the Sochi Olympics What a grand opening ceremony it was yesterday! I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Hope, you did too. One of the interesting peculiarities of the Russian language and customs is the tradition of greeting each other. Здравствуйте! - Zdrastvujte! - people say to each other. Technically, this word means "Желаю Вам здоровья!" - zhelaju Vam zdorovja - I wish you to be healthy! - no too close to the English Hello! or Good Day! In answering that you can simply say the same word "Здравствуйте!" or "Привет!" = privet!, which is a less formal version of a greeting, close to the French "Salut!" Привет! Как дела? Как поживаешь? - would the Russians say when greeting good friends, and please note, that the questions here are not just meaningless sounds grouped together, you are actually expected to produce an answer, even if it is a rather short one, like " Нормально, все в порядке." - Normal'no, vse v por'adke" = OK, everything is fine. This is a little different from the English way of saying "Hi! How are you!" and expect no particular answer in return. Quite a lot of foreigners are usually bewildered when they say their "How are you?" greeting a Russian friend/acquaintance and hear a long a tedious account of what is actually "going on" in this person's life. So, practice how to say hello in russian and have fun! Here is a short video for you to listen to the formal and informal Russian greetings. Bye!