What were the first few things you learned to say in Russian, and why?

[Brad and Vika 129]

This was an interesting topic that originated in another thread.

My first Russian phrases were;

1) My name is

2) Excuse me, can you help me?

3) I need to go to ______ (hotel name, address, business location)

4) Tell me please, where is the toilet?

The why part is obvious

[amberdima 6]

ja lublu tebya= i love you

ja to*e= me too

ja taksama= me too (in BY)

privet= hi

poka= see you later

spasiba (not sure of the spelling cos of the alphabet change) = thank you

i knew alot more when he was here. i'm terrible at speaking russian/ BY. i can't roll my r's.

[Melissa&Vadim 0]

I will say pretty much the same as above (not the Belorussian, of course), and add: good, good morning, good night, and the biggest one, I miss you. Anything else I learned to say or understand in Russian at the beginning of our relationship, wouldn't be appropriate for a public forum, lol...

That's funny, about not being able to roll the "r". We are trying to teach my son some basic Russian, and he is having the same problem, although he seems to be a natural with the guttural consonants. Anyone have a trick to trying to teach someone to roll the r's?

[Brad and Vika 129]

I will say pretty much the same as above (not the Belorussian, of course), and add: good, good morning, good night, and the biggest one, I miss you. Anything else I learned to say or understand in Russian at the beginning of our relationship, wouldn't be appropriate for a public forum, lol...

That's funny, about not being able to roll the "r". We are trying to teach my son some basic Russian, and he is having the same problem, although he seems to be a natural with the guttural consonants. Anyone have a trick to trying to teach someone to roll the r's?

I have heard teachers ask students to trill without a word first. Just have him make the sound alone, then put it into a word. It seemed to work ok during the exercise.

[1HappyGuy 45]

I learned the proper ones first, like please, thank you, hello, goodbye, please to meet you, my name is and a few others. I won't try to spell any phonically as my Russian is bad enough without revealing my lack of proper spelling. I will say that my wife loves it when I do speak some Russian as it is soft.

Of course, learning to say I love you in Russian is a must.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Of course, learning to say I love you in Russian is a must.

Absolutely. Try "minye nujna tolka ti" - I need only you (to a woman).

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I will say pretty much the same as above (not the Belorussian, of course), and add: good, good morning, good night, and the biggest one, I miss you. Anything else I learned to say or understand in Russian at the beginning of our relationship, wouldn't be appropriate for a public forum, lol...

That's funny, about not being able to roll the "r". We are trying to teach my son some basic Russian, and he is having the same problem, although he seems to be a natural with the guttural consonants. Anyone have a trick to trying to teach someone to roll the r's?

Keep the tip of your tongue at the back of your front top teeth, hold it there and say "rrrrrrr" Took me a while to get the hang of it.

[amberdima 6]

I will say pretty much the same as above (not the Belorussian, of course), and add: good, good morning, good night, and the biggest one, I miss you. Anything else I learned to say or understand in Russian at the beginning of our relationship, wouldn't be appropriate for a public forum, lol...

That's funny, about not being able to roll the "r". We are trying to teach my son some basic Russian, and he is having the same problem, although he seems to be a natural with the guttural consonants. Anyone have a trick to trying to teach someone to roll the r's?

Keep the tip of your tongue at the back of your front top teeth, hold it there and say "rrrrrrr" Took me a while to get the hang of it.

as i was trying this technique, my dog started howling and running around the house wondering what was wrong

[Brad and Vika 129]

I will say pretty much the same as above (not the Belorussian, of course), and add: good, good morning, good night, and the biggest one, I miss you. Anything else I learned to say or understand in Russian at the beginning of our relationship, wouldn't be appropriate for a public forum, lol...

That's funny, about not being able to roll the "r". We are trying to teach my son some basic Russian, and he is having the same problem, although he seems to be a natural with the guttural consonants. Anyone have a trick to trying to teach someone to roll the r's?

Keep the tip of your tongue at the back of your front top teeth, hold it there and say "rrrrrrr" Took me a while to get the hang of it.

as i was trying this technique, my dog started howling and running around the house wondering what was wrong

Then you've got it

[K1researcher 0]

ha ok first :

Сводит с ума

Улица Роз

Спрячь свой обман

Улица слез

Я люблю и ненавижу тебя

then

Что нас ждет, море хранит молчанье

Жажда жить сушит сердца до дна

Только жизнь здесь ничего не стоит

Жизнь других, но не твоя

Then i realized i should probably figure out what the heck i am saying! hahahahahah

next followed the obligatory foul language with standard communication

[BTalley 0]

Svetlana actually prefers my "I love yous" to come in English.

She says it sounds unnatural if it doesn't come in my native language.

It's also amazing how difficult it is to pronounce words perfectly. Even on the the simplest-sounding words, Svetlana will say, "No, that's not right."

It seems the harder you try, the more fake it sounds to a Russian. When I say something under my breath, without any effort or concentrating to get it right, Svetlana will say. "That's perfect Russian!"

[Brad and Vika 129]

ha ok first :

Сводит с ума

Улица Роз

Спрячь свой обман

Улица слез

Я люблю и ненавижу тебя

then

Что нас ждет, море хранит молчанье

Жажда жить сушит сердца до дна

Только жизнь здесь ничего не стоит

Жизнь других, но не твоя

Then i realized i should probably figure out what the heck i am saying! hahahahahah

next followed the obligatory foul language with standard communication

I had to go to the dictionary for some of the words I can't imagine where street of tears would come up in casual conversation, and saying I love you and I hate you probably wins you no points at all.

[mox 298]

еби тбою мать! It's a great, if painful, way to meet new people.

[Brad and Vika 129]

еби тбою мать! It's a great, if painful, way to meet new people.

Again - not something that comes up casually. For you non-Russian speakers, this is f**ck your mother, a fairly common expletive - not directed at any one's mother typically I am thinking we should start translating the cyrillic for those of us (like me) who are still alarnin'

[mox 298]

Again - not something that comes up casually. For you non-Russian speakers, this is f**ck your mother, a fairly common expletive - not directed at any one's mother typically I am thinking we should start translating the cyrillic for those of us (like me) who are still alarnin'

Okay, my first actual word in Russian was a long time ago in the Navy, when my job was to keep tabs on the Soviet Navy. It was цель, "target."