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Is Belarusian worth learning?

  Tags: Belarusian
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
22 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3  Next >>
Bbcatcher 08
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4419 days ago

130 posts - 154 votes 
Speaks: English*, Latin
Studies: Russian, Mandarin, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian

 
 Message 1 of 22
09 May 2014 at 8:30pm | IP Logged 
Hello all!

I just had a quick question for y'all. I have started to learn Belarusian, but most
Belarusians speak Russian. Am I wasting my time learning Belarusian since I can just speak in
Russian to them?
1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6598 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 2 of 22
09 May 2014 at 8:53pm | IP Logged 
If you're interested in travelling to Belarus, then definitely concentrate on improving your Russian. Sadly, most Belarusians simply can't really speak Belarusian. They can write in it for school or work, but many people have never had a conversation in it at all. I have family there but I hardly ever get to speak it.
On the other hand, if your interest is linguistic, definitely go for it, especially if you're serious about your other Slavic languages. If you're interested in Polish it could be a good gateway too.

Edited by Serpent on 09 May 2014 at 8:54pm

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tristano
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
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Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 3 of 22
09 May 2014 at 8:56pm | IP Logged 
Wellll

I don't know in Belarus how is the situation.
I live in the Netherlands and even if almost everyone speaks a better English that I
will ever manage to reach if I study 8 hours at the day for the next 200 years, I find
that making Dutch friends not to talk about having Dutch girlfriends it's impossible
without knowing Dutch (or is it just impossible if you are not Dutch? Don't know, let's
learn some Dutch...). But for business stuff I don't need any Dutch. So I imagine it
depends on what do you want to do and how the belarusian reacts.

If you enjoy learning Belarusian it's not a waste of time anyway, if you prefer to do
something else it is a waste of time in any case I guess.

I won't mind to learn a language to use it just with a specific person, like a boss or
a girlfriend (... so a boss hahaha) if it adds value to me.
1 person has voted this message useful



tristano
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 4048 days ago

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Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 4 of 22
09 May 2014 at 8:57pm | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
Sadly, most Belarusians simply can't really speak
Belarusian


Ouch.
So Belarusian's mother tongue is Russian?

Edited by tristano on 09 May 2014 at 8:57pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6598 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 5 of 22
09 May 2014 at 9:43pm | IP Logged 
Yes, apart from the children of language enthusiasts. Many also speak a mixture of Belarusian and Russian, and can turn it into "proper" Russian but not Belarusian.

Edited by Serpent on 09 May 2014 at 9:45pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



fabriciocarraro
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Brazil
russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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 Message 6 of 22
09 May 2014 at 10:07pm | IP Logged 
I heard of some people recommending Minsk as a good place to go learn Russian for those who don't want to go to Moscow or Piter. So yeah, that corroborates Serpent's point.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Bbcatcher 08
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4419 days ago

130 posts - 154 votes 
Speaks: English*, Latin
Studies: Russian, Mandarin, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian

 
 Message 7 of 22
09 May 2014 at 10:24pm | IP Logged 
I want to learn it purely for fun. My main interest is that it is a Slavic language and I enjoy learning them. The
trouble is finding the resources though.
3 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6598 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 8 of 22
09 May 2014 at 11:06pm | IP Logged 
Pretty much all the resources are Russian-based. This is one of my faves.
Do you have an interest in Polish? If you plan to learn it anyway, maybe it's better to start with it. This way between Russian, Polish and your other Slavic languages, soon you'll be able to understand Belarusian well. You can get some native content at baravik.org.


1 person has voted this message useful



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