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Cristina’s way TAC 2013 TEAM MIR/SPARTA | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Toffeeliz Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5678 days ago 116 posts - 130 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Russian | Message 81 of 248 20 January 2013 at 8:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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A wonderful post. I can confirm that a lot of Muscovites travel to Egypt; one of my
students did over the New Year. The most popular place I've heard for Russians so far is Thailand. There is one thing I've noticed, is that Russians don't tend to like spicy food; was the food particularly spicy in Egypt? I'm jealous to death that you're in Egypt. It's become quite accessible to British tourists too, but I've not managed to go there yet ;). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 82 of 248 20 January 2013 at 8:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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Egypt sounds good, but a resort/organised tour type of trip is not exactly my thing. I am
sure it suits you way better (and the girls). I imagine you're getting a lot of language practice in though. And that's awesome! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| aloysius Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6238 days ago 226 posts - 291 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, German Studies: French, Greek, Italian, Russian | Message 83 of 248 20 January 2013 at 8:49pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree that it's confusing. Probably they drag H into it because English has no closer equivalent. Are you using the French Assimil? The German edition says that χ is pronounced as in "ich" before the i and ä sounds and as in "Ach" before consonants and the a, o and u sounds. In the latter case I guess it's the same as Russian x? For γ it says the pronunciation is j before i and ä and otherwise like a non-rolled uvular r ("ein deutsches Zäpfchen- R, jedoch nicht gerollt") with a tendency towards ch in "Ach", however voiced. Don't know if that helps. I believe you're already on the right track. I'm glad you're enjoying your holiday. Sounds ab fab! //aloysius 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4356 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 84 of 248 20 January 2013 at 8:52pm | IP Logged | ||
I just saw that. I do not verify it at all! Yes, excessive formality seems fake and hostile sometimes, but the use of παρακαλώ should be frequent. After "thank you" you say it even with friends and family. To strangers or people you are not very familiar with, you use it as "excuse me" as well. I suppose the term "excessive politeness" should be defined. My thought on that is that formality is a more appropriate word that politeness. You must absolutely be polite in every situation, by use of polite words or behaviour. Too much formality however appears unnatural, fake, even hostile, as I said. Just be natural and definitely use παρακαλώ! It's one of the best words to use, really. Oh, some books and their comments... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| embici Triglot Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4608 days ago 263 posts - 370 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Greek | Message 85 of 248 21 January 2013 at 12:28am | IP Logged | ||
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I am positively green with envy! Sea and sun sound perfect to me right now. It is
currently -6 in my part of Canada, just so you know. The Greek g (Γ/γ) is indeed tricky, and I've not seen a good explanation for it anywhere. The closest thing to it, by my ears, is somewhere between a Spanish 'g' when it's between two vowels and a truncated French 'r'. A friend of mine who studied Modern Greek at University told me that his professor once told him "Thank-you is not a word that comes easily to Greek lips." There is a sense that by saying thank-you you are acknowledging a debt to the other person that you may rather not have to repay. On a trip to Greece many years ago a Greek did tell me I needn't say thank-you so much. "Once a day is enough." That's just my (limited) knowledge on the question. Times change and attitudes change, so I defer to our resident experts on rules of Greek etiquette. It's interesting once again, to note some commonalities between Spain and Greece. I know Latin Americans who've travelled to Spain have been told similar things. Especially around the dinner table where they've been told to drop the "hagame el favor de pasarme las papas, si fuera tan amable" in favour of "dame las patatas." :) καλό διακοπές ! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 86 of 248 21 January 2013 at 12:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Greek g sounds like it is just voiced /x/. Aka, Dutch standard 'g'. The uvular hints
that it might even be produced further down the throat, like the pronunciation of 'g' in the Hague here. /x/ is the regular sound for 'ch' in Dutch (which is voiceless; g is voiced. They are not the same sound.) Doesn't sound that hard to me. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6140 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 87 of 248 21 January 2013 at 1:01am | IP Logged | ||
I would also have said that it's a voiced /x/, but it's definitely not the same sound as the Dutch 'g', at least not in the Dutch I've heard... The Greek sound is far softer, so maybe more like a Flemish 'g'? I'm not that familiar with Vlaams though, so I'm not sure. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5830 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 88 of 248 21 January 2013 at 1:17am | IP Logged | ||
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Great post, Cristina. I would never have imagined that there was a place in Egypt where the locals spoke Russian better than they did English. Very interesting. I remember when seeing a real life Russian (at least in my home town) was as rare as seeing a Martian, and just as exotic. Now they're everywhere, especially in Prague, where I go quite frequently.
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