OT: Russian Language Lessons

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

That's why I brought it up, I know a micro amount of sign language. I was surprised when I saw some Russians speaking their own version.

Slim, still in your camp, language is the least of obstacles in an international relationship.

Can a man understand and fall in love with a deaf girl? Actions will always speak louder than words in many situations.

Did you guys know that deaf people here use American Sign Language but in other countries, they have different sign languages too? Until I met some foreign deaf people I was under the impression all deaf people communicated with the same hand signals and gestures. NOPE!

So even deaf people are going to have a "barrier" to overcome when meeting new foreigners!

I tell all my buddies here, "you and your girl both speak fluent English and yet you still have problems and issues. Why should we be any different? The language issues are actually the most minute of any problems and are usually 'fun' to work through... it's all the other BS that makes it tough."

[mox 298]

The language issues are actually the most minute of any problems and are usually 'fun' to work through... it's all the other BS that makes it tough."

Slim, still in your camp, language is the least of obstacles in an international relationship.

Definitely agree. When I first went to meet Nadya, we had arranged for a translator to be with us. At the last minute the translator canceled on us, which turned out to be for the best. We were forced to figure it out on our own, which turned out to be pretty easy. Nadya borrowed an English/Russian dictionary from a friend, and we had a great time. Most of the time we were able to communicate with her limited English and hand gestures, and only had to use the book for more complicated conversations.

Oh, and her English turned out to be a lot better than I thought. She was self-conscious about it at first, but the more time we spent together the more comfortable she was speaking. By the end of my trip we were hardly consulting the dictionary at all.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Did the same thing, Kirk. First time had the translator on hand. Two hours later, it was... ahhh, you are excused. We understood each other with and without language. Alla always carried a dictionary with her on our first meeting, but many times, I insisted she close it forcing us to figure it out like you both did.

The language issues are actually the most minute of any problems and are usually 'fun' to work through... it's all the other BS that makes it tough."

Slim, still in your camp, language is the least of obstacles in an international relationship.

Definitely agree. When I first went to meet Nadya, we had arranged for a translator to be with us. At the last minute the translator canceled on us, which turned out to be for the best. We were forced to figure it out on our own, which turned out to be pretty easy. Nadya borrowed an English/Russian dictionary from a friend, and we had a great time. Most of the time we were able to communicate with her limited English and hand gestures, and only had to use the book for more complicated conversations.

Oh, and her English turned out to be a lot better than I thought. She was self-conscious about it at first, but the more time we spent together the more comfortable she was speaking. By the end of my trip we were hardly consulting the dictionary at all.

[slim 1,514]

We met in Korea and are both somewhat familiar with the language. To this day, we still throw in a word here or there if it's more precise in meaning than the English or Russian word we're looking for.

[mox 298]

A followup on my Russian tutor experience.

So the one who quoted me $15/hour fell through. I spoke with her once on the phone, she seemed really interested in setting it up, and asked me to call her the next day so we could coordinate schedules. Well after 4 days of leaving her voicemails and not having them returned I decided that any more than that was just stalking. So I don't know what happened there but it didn't work.

In the meantime, another woman, Olga, answered my ad and we met at Starbucks tonight. She's $20/hour...little higher than I wanted to pay, but it's about the going rate. We talked for about 45 minutes and agreed to do 2 lessons a week starting this Wednesday. So we'll see how it goes.

Just before I got to Starbucks I called her and said I was about 10 minutes out. She said to call her when I got there. Well, I got to Starbucks and walked right up to her and said "Hi are you Olga?" She said "Yes, good guess!" I said "not really, you had to be Ukranian woman. You're the best dressed woman here."

Now if only I knew how to turn this danged thing off. The charm I mean. Giggity.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Kirk you are the ladies man! All these Russian ladies as well as your female VJ fans. I'm a little envious.

A followup on my Russian tutor experience.

So the one who quoted me $15/hour fell through. I spoke with her once on the phone, she seemed really interested in setting it up, and asked me to call her the next day so we could coordinate schedules. Well after 4 days of leaving her voicemails and not having them returned I decided that any more than that was just stalking. So I don't know what happened there but it didn't work.

In the meantime, another woman, Olga, answered my ad and we met at Starbucks tonight. She's $20/hour...little higher than I wanted to pay, but it's about the going rate. We talked for about 45 minutes and agreed to do 2 lessons a week starting this Wednesday. So we'll see how it goes.

Just before I got to Starbucks I called her and said I was about 10 minutes out. She said to call her when I got there. Well, I got to Starbucks and walked right up to her and said "Hi are you Olga?" She said "Yes, good guess!" I said "not really, you had to be Ukranian woman. You're the best dressed woman here."

Now if only I knew how to turn this danged thing off. The charm I mean. Giggity.

[Bobalouie 0]

A followup on my Russian tutor experience.

So the one who quoted me $15/hour fell through. I spoke with her once on the phone, she seemed really interested in setting it up, and asked me to call her the next day so we could coordinate schedules. Well after 4 days of leaving her voicemails and not having them returned I decided that any more than that was just stalking. So I don't know what happened there but it didn't work.

In the meantime, another woman, Olga, answered my ad and we met at Starbucks tonight. She's $20/hour...little higher than I wanted to pay, but it's about the going rate. We talked for about 45 minutes and agreed to do 2 lessons a week starting this Wednesday. So we'll see how it goes.

Just before I got to Starbucks I called her and said I was about 10 minutes out. She said to call her when I got there. Well, I got to Starbucks and walked right up to her and said "Hi are you Olga?" She said "Yes, good guess!" I said "not really, you had to be Ukranian woman. You're the best dressed woman here."

Now if only I knew how to turn this danged thing off. The charm I mean. Giggity.

ha ha You said Giggity You sure your last names not Quagmire?

Edited February 26, 2008 by Bobalouie

[slim 1,514]

For $20/hour, I'll pretend to like anyone!

[mox 298]

Kirk you are the ladies man! All these Russian ladies as well as your female VJ fans. I'm a little envious.

The key to reeling in the ladies is the combover and your best polyester suit. Oh yeaah.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

:lol:

Kirk you are the ladies man! All these Russian ladies as well as your female VJ fans. I'm a little envious.

The key to reeling in the ladies is the combover and your best polyester suit. Oh yeaah.

[mox 298]

Had my first lesson with my tutor last night, and it went really well. What a world of difference it makes speaking with someone face to face.

It also made me realize two of the biggest problems with the Rosetta Stone course: they don't teach gender cases (at least early on, maybe in advanced), and they don't teach the infinitive case (again, at least early on, but this is when they should be teaching it). For example, she asked me to say the word for cat and I said "кошка," as I had learned in Rosetta. Which is fine if you're talking about the female case. The masculine form is "кот," and is the more normal way of saying it if you're just talking about cats in general.

For the infinitive case, to read is "читать." But the Rosetta course has you learn "читает," which is correct if you're saying "he is reading," (and they do indeed show a picture of someone reading, so they're not wrong per se) but it gets confusing when you have to learn the different forms of the word without first knowing the infinitive case. And because Rosetta is based solely around "look at the picture and say the word," you don't really get a good understanding of why you would say it one way this time, and another way the next time.

All good stuff, and she's tailoring our lessons to fit my circumstances. We're not really going for "Russian 101," but more of a "How to speak with your Russian woman and her family without looking like too much of a dumbasz."

[Okiebollweevil 0]

Had my first lesson with my tutor last night, and it went really well. What a world of difference it makes speaking with someone face to face.

It also made me realize two of the biggest problems with the Rosetta Stone course: they don't teach gender cases (at least early on, maybe in advanced), and they don't teach the infinitive case (again, at least early on, but this is when they should be teaching it). For example, she asked me to say the word for cat and I said "кошка," as I had learned in Rosetta. Which is fine if you're talking about the female case. The masculine form is "кот," and is the more normal way of saying it if you're just talking about cats in general.

For the infinitive case, to read is "читать." But the Rosetta course has you learn "читает," which is correct if you're saying "he is reading," (and they do indeed show a picture of someone reading, so they're not wrong per se) but it gets confusing when you have to learn the different forms of the word without first knowing the infinitive case. And because Rosetta is based solely around "look at the picture and say the word," you don't really get a good understanding of why you would say it one way this time, and another way the next time.

All good stuff, and she's tailoring our lessons to fit my circumstances. We're not really going for "Russian 101," but more of a "How to speak with your Russian woman and her family without looking like too much of a dumbasz."

When my wife arrived she bought a English to Russian translator some pocket gizmo, and lathough she has really good English skills (Thank You LORD!!) she has burned through two translators in the last 4 years, some words really give her trouble, especially words that have more than one meaning. They are not cheap but well worth the money.

[mox 298]

When my wife arrived she bought a English to Russian translator some pocket gizmo, and lathough she has really good English skills (Thank You LORD!!) she has burned through two translators in the last 4 years, some words really give her trouble, especially words that have more than one meaning. They are not cheap but well worth the money.

I pity anyone who has to learn English. Russian is amongst the hardest languages to learn, but at least it's almost entirely phonetic. The Russian word for "ocean," for example is "океан." The spelling is almost identical to English, but in Russian it is literally pronounced "Awk-ee-on," just like it's spelled. If I were learning English and came across "ocean," and was told that the "oh" is a long "oh" (for no good reason, it's just something I need to memorize), and that the "ce" makes a "she" sound, again "just because," I think I'd throw my hands up and walk away.

On the other hand, English is non-gendered, and thank god for that.

Edited February 28, 2008 by mox

[slim 1,514]

I just wish we'd all switch to one language. When are we going to be a global population?

And for goodness sakes, can we start using the metric system already?

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

This why I dropped Rosetta Stone. You actually made be feel (Excuse me, I chose to feel, in case AKDiver is reading) better about my Russian abilities.

The only way, in my opinion, to learn Russian is from a Russian. Having lived with my Alla in Russia for my year was phenomenal in helping me learn the distinctions you speak about.

Oh, in case she asks about a dog...

male = собака

female = сука

Oh and Slim, I'm all for the metric system. I really wish we could all be on the same page for that one.