How many speak their significant others Language?

[childress_london 3]

I think knowing the bad language is important not because you may want to say it, but because it's good to know when other people are saying it.

[eekee 182]

I think knowing the bad language is important not because you may want to say it, but because it's good to know when other people are saying it.

In Russian it's harder though, because mat is practically a dialect built upon a few choice words. Pizda: c**t, but spizdet': to steal.

[meowmeowmeow 1]

russian grammar is incredibly hard, so good luck...

Russian grammar is not hard. It is very regular, and very structured. You just need to learn the rules (cases, genders and number for every word). There are only a few spelling rules (memorize them, they don't matter for conversation though). If you spell with "и" where you should have "ы", or "у" where you should have "ю" - it is still readable. Just looks silly to a native speaker.

We have the same spelling rules in English, but they are much worse. The Russian ones can all be explained with the spelling rules, with almost no exceptions. English has millions of exceptions.

Without understanding cases and declensions, you will not have any prayer of understanding written or spoken Russian. I used the Golosa books - I thought they were pretty good.

perhaps....but i never mastered it entirely. it was a pain.

[slim 1,530]

We only speak English at home, except to the dog. He is usually in enough trouble that he needs to be yelled at in at least two languages. The poor dog also needs to answer to 20 various Russian declensions of his English name. No surprise, the vet wants to put him on Prozac. He is easily confused.

Our cats probably know more Russian than I do. They too answer to 20 different variations of their English names and they seem to understand just about anything we say in any language. Further evidence of their understanding of Russian is every time we fire up the can opener or pull out a milk jug, they come running. Pavlov would've been proud.

In truth, I've probably learned as many action verbs from playing with the cats as I have from studying. I even learned the word for laser because we have a little laser pointer that they like to chase around. I would've thought more along the lines of laser-designation for targeting purposes (military stuff) but I end up learning from playing with a couple of cats. Go figure.

But, I've always known the more pu$$y I play with, the smarter I'll be! (Still trying to convince the wife.....)

My plan is to be fluent enough that I can say my wedding vows in russian by the time the visa is approved.

That's why God invented memorization.

I have Russian girl friends who are deeply offended when a man uses curse words around them. As a non-native speaker, it's hard for you to gauge when it is appropriate and when it is not, so I suggest you shy away from them, especially if your woman does not walk around going "ahh pizdets suka na hui."

One of the first Russian girls I spent some time with used to walk around saying "ahh pizdets suka na hui" and that's where I learned those type of words. When I met this other woman and started saying "nice things" to her, she was appalled. I almost messed up my chances to ..... ah, anyway, make sure you know which company you're in before you start dropping the dirty words.

"Kharashova devushka" is never a bad way to go, especially if you don't know what type of ladies you're talking to. Keep it clean and let her surprise you with the dirty words when she's ready!

suka is a good one, basically means ######

blyat...

nahui... to hell or on my ####

A fine selection of the more "light" words. Once again though, watch who you say them around. And, be advised, it is totally acceptable to say all three in a row or mix up the order and they'll still make sense. Especially if you stub your fingers on feet. (No such thing as toes in Russian. Paltsi na nogi = fingers on feet. Pretty much everything in Russian follows the KISS rules. Keep it simple, stupid. If you don't know a word, simply describe what it is and where it's located. You've got a 50/50 shot of being correct!)

I speak dog commands and a few other important words like those for beer, food, etc.

Dude, you're in there like swimwear! As long as you know basic commands and the words for beer and food, marriage should be a breeze!

I think knowing the bad language is important not because you may want to say it, but because it's good to know when other people are saying it.

It's actually pretty easy to tell when Russians are pissed off. They don't really stand there like Americans and tell you, very respectfully, "I'm very f'king mad at you right now, sir!" Nope. You'll be able to tell from the objects or fists flying at you that they are not happy with the current situation. Sticks and stones my @$$. That stuff hurts! The whole "no touching/no violence" thing doesn't apply in Russian.

I'm not really surprised this thread has evolved into a discussion on cursewords because that's naturally where all language discussions end up. Well, that and pie, of course. Here in our home we speak English most of the time but for daily activities there are many Russian phrases used. For me, it's more of a novelty, "look at me, I can speak some Russian!" but for her it's more of a release. "He better f'king understand what I'm saying because I'm so f'king tired of trying to explain everything to his stupid @$$ in English. I don't even speak English. I speak Russian. I am strong, independent, gorgeous Russian woman and he, blat (no translation needed for that one) must kiss my f'king @$$. He is so lucky I'm here with him. Stupid, useless, primitive fat man. And soooooo poor! Ugh!"

You will use the language that's easiest for both of you to communicate in, almost exclusively, because it's really frustrating to pull out the slovar after the cute factor wears off. Taking the time to translate a word here and there when you're first together is a really special experience. It's fun and exciting. Interesting. Shows how much you care for each other. Etc., etc., etc. A year on, and it's a royal pain in the @$$. Learn some common words already! There will be whole groups of words that will just be easier to say in the foreign language and then whole groups that must be said in English.

But, luckily, over time, and through a lot of pointing and gesturing, you'll be able to make sense of that mumbo-jumbo and whole sentences and even blocks of conversations will jump out at you. On a long enough time line, everyone becomes fluent, it's impossible not to.

Personally, I'm not even close to being fluent. But, between learning the Cyrillic letters, A LOT of listening, a little talking, and still less writing, I can hold my own with my wife and her buddies. And really, that's all I care about. I'm not worried about writing my thesis in Russian or anything. As long as I know how to say, "Hey, go get me a beer!" then I'm OK.

[K1researcher 0]

I have been studying Old Church Slavonic ... the language of ancient Rus before Russian .. and the language for source documents of the era

thats just brutal

[LvivLovers 39]

I have Rosetta stone for Russian, but haven't had time to sit down and use it much lately due to work. I have sort of a hard choice to make though...do I learn Russian or Ukrainian? Clearly Russian is more widely spoken and would be nice to know. But in my wife's city, they speak mostly Ukrainian (but that's about the only place Ukrainian is spoken! lol) So far, I've learned a little bit of both but sometimes I get confused which is which.

Has anyone else had this situation? Sometimes when my wife is talking to her mother or friends back home, she forgets the Ukrainian words because she's so used to speaking English now. haha

[Brad and Vika 129]

I don't even know the bad Russian words yet... and she refuses to teach me. At which point, I have to wonder what's the point of learning another language if you can't curse at your coworkers in a language they don't know.

You need this book, my friend.

You have to keep in mind, though, that Russian curse words are MUCH stronger. I understand mat well, but I never ever EVER use it myself in daily life, except for the occasional "pizdets." I am a "khoroshaya devushka." If your fiancee refuses to teach you, she probably doesn't want you using them. I have Russian girl friends who are deeply offended when a man uses curse words around them. As a non-native speaker, it's hard for you to gauge when it is appropriate and when it is not, so I suggest you shy away from them, especially if your woman does not walk around going "ahh pizdets suka na hui."

Second the above. My wife doesn't even like to hear cursing in English, and gave it back to me after one particular episode. Good girl message received.I am making an attempt to limit the potty mouth.

And on the language, depending on the amount of time I have, I have been through language tapes, Rosetta Stone, tutors, and Russian I at the U. Because of my schedule, I usually quit before any course is complete though.

[mox 298]

Rosetta Stone is awful. There's another thread in this forum you can search for that pretty much catalogs my objections so I won't go over them again. Spend that money on a real tutor. And if you can't afford the tutor, stay away from Rosetta Stone anyway and just get a good text book.

[Cixelsyd 1]

I think the best learning experience I had was when I spent some time with some Russians who knew maybe 10 words in English. Of course there was a lot of gesturing and what not and some things.

Rosetta Stone is awful. There's another thread in this forum you can search for that pretty much catalogs my objections so I won't go over them again. Spend that money on a real tutor. And if you can't afford the tutor, stay away from Rosetta Stone anyway and just get a good text book.

I actually have a *cough* free version of Rosetta stone (1-3). It's good and bad. I think it's a good way to get introduced into the language, learn a decent amount of words and help with pronunciation. But there is no way it can prepare you to interact in a conversation. Once in a while I could understand what was being talked about, but by the time I figured it out, it was too late to add anything to the conversation.

I half agree with Mox about it though. There is no way it is worth the money they are asking for. I don't think it can hurt though; it's good to have a couple different sources of learning.

Has anyone else had this situation? Sometimes when my wife is talking to her mother or friends back home, she forgets the Ukrainian words because she's so used to speaking English now. haha

My fiance had this problem last summer when she was here. I noticed I started having a little bit of a harder time remembering some complex English words when I was in Russia. I think it just takes the brain a few moments to switch over to a different languge.

I started to think "Great, not only do I not know Russian, but I'm losing English as well".

The future Mrs. has promised to teach me a lot this summer. Poor girl doesn't realize I was a C student at best. I suggested some ideas that would "motivate" me, but she doesn't seem to think it would work... damn.

[mox 298]

I half agree with Mox about it though. There is no way it is worth the money they are asking for. I don't think it can hurt though; it's good to have a couple different sources of learning.

Well, my problem isn't that it's not a live person or anything. My problem is that it's downright wrong sometimes. In the other thread I used the example that it taught you to say "ya yest rees" (sorry, too tired to break out the Cyrillic) for "I eat rice." Which is just wrong. And there were other mistakes too. But the problem is that you don't know any better, so you just learn these mistakes. In that regard it actually has negative value, so even your free copy is costing you.

I also don't think the whole "learn a new language like you learned your first language" works. You learned to speak English as a child because your brain was much different than it is now. You were completely immersed in it, and your brain was geared to doing nothing but soaking information in. Your brain doesn't work that way now, and the Rosetta approach to showing you a picture and making you guess what the word or sentence means is just making a difficult language even harder. But as I said, this is secondary to the problem of actual errors in the course.

But you are right in that it's good to have several sources of learning. Just make those sources anything but RS.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I think the best learning experience I had was when I spent some time with some Russians who knew maybe 10 words in English. Of course there was a lot of gesturing and what not and some things.

Rosetta Stone is awful. There's another thread in this forum you can search for that pretty much catalogs my objections so I won't go over them again. Spend that money on a real tutor. And if you can't afford the tutor, stay away from Rosetta Stone anyway and just get a good text book.

I actually have a *cough* free version of Rosetta stone (1-3). It's good and bad. I think it's a good way to get introduced into the language, learn a decent amount of words and help with pronunciation. But there is no way it can prepare you to interact in a conversation. Once in a while I could understand what was being talked about, but by the time I figured it out, it was too late to add anything to the conversation.

I half agree with Mox about it though. There is no way it is worth the money they are asking for. I don't think it can hurt though; it's good to have a couple different sources of learning.

Has anyone else had this situation? Sometimes when my wife is talking to her mother or friends back home, she forgets the Ukrainian words because she's so used to speaking English now. haha

My fiance had this problem last summer when she was here. I noticed I started having a little bit of a harder time remembering some complex English words when I was in Russia. I think it just takes the brain a few moments to switch over to a different languge.

I started to think "Great, not only do I not know Russian, but I'm losing English as well".

The future Mrs. has promised to teach me a lot this summer. Poor girl doesn't realize I was a C student at best. I suggested some ideas that would "motivate" me, but she doesn't seem to think it would work... damn.

I agree with you both that a live tutor is a better and more dynamic way to learn. Tapes and CDs are just good ways to mix things up and build more vocabulary. It takes me a really long time to construct simple (not memorized) sentences in Russian on the fly, as my old-guy brain just doesn't switch channels that easily. I need all the help I can get

[slim 1,530]

I have been studying Old Church Slavonic ... the language of ancient Rus before Russian .. and the language for source documents of the era

thats just brutal

I was about to ask, "Why?" but then saw the word "researcher" in your username and remembered something about several papers being written, countless hours spent studying, globetrotting to do research, etc. Totally makes sense now.

I too took a look at that stuff. It's kind of weird but if you throw in a little Greek as well, it kind of makes sense. They're all based on similar characters.

Just for the record, I think the whole world should use Hangul (written Korean) for written language. It's by far the easiest system to master and if you've learned Cyrillic, Arabic, etc. other character systems, you'll be able to pick up Hangul in a day or two, it's that easy. Spoken Korean.... not so much!

...do I learn Russian or Ukrainian? Clearly Russian is more widely spoken and would be nice to know. But in my wife's city, they speak mostly Ukrainian (but that's about the only place Ukrainian is spoken! lol) So far, I've learned a little bit of both but sometimes I get confused which is which.

Russian. Ukranians understand Russian and if you speak to them in Russian, you'll be understood. If you speak to the rest of Ukraine (or Russia/FSU) in Ukrainian, you may as well be speaking English, and you already speak English so you should devote your "free time" for study to learning Russian. As for not having enough time to study, pick up the Pimsleur CDs and listen to them on your commute to/from work. The drive should be just long enough to retain what you need.

My wife and I both speak a little Korean so there are still words that pop up in that language as well. When we're hanging out with her Russian buddies, I often forget they don't know Korean words. When we go to the Korean restaurant, I often forget they can't speak Russian. Regardless, alcohol helps ease all understandings and eventually, the point is made!

Well, my problem isn't that it's not a live person or anything. My problem is that it's downright wrong sometimes. In the other thread I used the example that it taught you to say "ya yest rees" (sorry, too tired to break out the Cyrillic) for "I eat rice." Which is just wrong.

If you were to say "ya yest rees" you would be understood. (Especially while holding a bowl full of rice and a spoon!) The goal of learning a foreign language at the introductory level is simply to be understood and to understand a little. To bridge the gap, if you will.

I also don't think the whole "learn a new language like you learned your first language" works. You learned to speak English as a child because your brain was much different than it is now. You were completely immersed in it, and your brain was geared to doing nothing but soaking information in. Your brain doesn't work that way now, and the Rosetta approach to showing you a picture and making you guess what the word or sentence means is just making a difficult language even harder. But as I said, this is secondary to the problem of actual errors in the course.

Even though my brain is still not all the way developed (just ask my wife!) I believe in taking a more "sponge" approach than "read vocab and grammer then memorize phrases."

I believe the most effective way to learn the target languge is to have a motivation and to gear your language learning around that motivation. Ex: If you're going to learn a language for business, why are you wasting your time learning how to say things like, "bicycle" when you could be learning to say things like "profit margins." If you're going to learn a target language for international relationships, maybe saying things like "fork" are more important than "yield." Generally speaking, most language learning software takes you through general introductions, hotel reservations, etc. Scrap all that BS and find some important words in your target language and memorize the phrases associated with them. Build your own software!

I'm in total agreement about the picture association/vocab practice shenanigans. For some people, I'm sure that tactic works great. For me, it's f'king irritating as all get out. Not only do I have to memorize a new word, but now I have to memorize a new picture to go along with that word. Thanks. I never, ever, ever take notes when I'm in a class or studying something. I figure if I have to remember where it is to remember it, I'm probably better off just remembering it in the first place. After all, what if I forget where it is?

Mental compartmentalization is what it's all about, and that has to be something personal. We all compartmentalize info differently and utilize different systems of recall/reuse so you have to tailor a system that works best for you. For me, it's visualization and repetition. I have to "see it" to recall it and I have to "see it" over and over and over before I get hard-wired to recall it. Now, that's not for everything.... some things only take once! I guess I categorize, prioritze and compartmentalize all in one fell swoop!

Check out this video for how the brain works -

It's pretty accurate!

But you are right in that it's good to have several sources of learning. Just make those sources anything but RS.

If you diversify your hardware, you'll create a lot more software! Have books, CDs, pictures, music, etc. and you'll simultaneously stimulate your senses from all sides. Oh, and don't forget to talk to your S/O!

[childress_london 3]

I half agree with Mox about it though. There is no way it is worth the money they are asking for. I don't think it can hurt though; it's good to have a couple different sources of learning.

Well, my problem isn't that it's not a live person or anything. My problem is that it's downright wrong sometimes. In the other thread I used the example that it taught you to say "ya yest rees" (sorry, too tired to break out the Cyrillic) for "I eat rice." Which is just wrong. And there were other mistakes too. But the problem is that you don't know any better, so you just learn these mistakes. In that regard it actually has negative value, so even your free copy is costing you.

I also don't think the whole "learn a new language like you learned your first language" works. You learned to speak English as a child because your brain was much different than it is now. You were completely immersed in it, and your brain was geared to doing nothing but soaking information in. Your brain doesn't work that way now, and the Rosetta approach to showing you a picture and making you guess what the word or sentence means is just making a difficult language even harder. But as I said, this is secondary to the problem of actual errors in the course.

But you are right in that it's good to have several sources of learning. Just make those sources anything but RS.

I totally agree with you. Rosetta Stone is a waste. Try learning a language from scratch where you don't even know the alphabet with one of those things. They do nothing to teach you the alphabet, like you are supposed to pick it up, just like they expect you to pick up the grammar. For me, Rosetta Stone is nothing but a frustrating experience.

[Nasturtium 500]

I totally agree with you. Rosetta Stone is a waste. Try learning a language from scratch where you don't even know the alphabet with one of those things. They do nothing to teach you the alphabet, like you are supposed to pick it up, just like they expect you to pick up the grammar. For me, Rosetta Stone is nothing but a frustrating experience.

Was that with Farsi? Everyone always raves about it for Arabic, but I don't actually recall anyone ever saying they ever actually learned something... just that everyone kept recommending it back and forth. I should ask Nawal or Amal. Not that it matters, though, as I am learning through the "reading the newspaper/eavesdropping/random" way.

[meowmeowmeow 1]

We only speak English at home, except to the dog. He is usually in enough trouble that

"Kharashova devushka" is never a bad way to go, especially if you don't know what type of ladies you're talking to. Keep it clean and let her surprise you with the dirty words when she's ready!

kharoshaya jenshina is better. devushka means little girl, jenshina (the "j" is more of a "zh" sound) means woman.