Brainerd Bhaskar (Wardrobe Supervisor)

That's a good question, and one that comes up quite a bit.

Technically, the most accurate spelling is 'Ramadan'. This comes directly from the Arabic spelling of the word. The specific letter, 'ḍād', has a 'd' sound, not a 'z'.

However, the pronunciation 'Ramzan' is also very common. It stems from the Persian and Urdu languages, so you'll hear it used widely in South Asia and Turkey, for instance.

Essentially, both terms refer to the very same holy month. In the UK and for formal English writing, 'Ramadan' is the standard term. So, while you will be understood using either, 'Ramadan' is the one you will see most often in print.

He was a Russian tsar, a fair while back, from the late 1600s to the early 1700s. He was a really big bloke, apparently super tall.

His main thing was wanting to make Russia more modern, like the countries in Western Europe. He actually travelled around Europe in disguise to learn how they did things, like building ships.

When he got back, he changed heaps. He built Russia's first navy and made the army a lot better. He also built a whole new capital city, St. Petersburg, to be a 'window to Europe'. He even made the nobles shave their traditional beards and wear Western clothes. He was a pretty full-on guy, but he properly turned Russia into a major power.