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Popularity of German in East Europe? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6858 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 9 of 31 31 March 2006 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
I lived in Prague for about a year, and I recall that Russian was one of those languages everyone knew, but they didn't really want to know it. But I recall something a student of mine had said, about his general disdain of Germans. I asked him why he felt that way and he said it's "because we are historial enemies, of course." This was just over ten years ago, and it blew me away. But he was also about 14 years old, but I wonder where he learned that? 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6858 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 10 of 31 31 March 2006 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
I just have to say that while visiting a friend a few years ago in Poland, speaking Russian with what Czech I knew was a total advantage, because it was clear that I was honestly trying to communicate versus assume that they "speak English", like so many Americans demand. Sure, people looked at me kind of funny, because I think I was speaking Russczech. But I met friends everywhere, on the train, at the bus depot, you name it. They were so helpful to me. Where are you from? They'd ask. They couldn't figure it out. And when I'd tell them, they just LOVED it. At my friend's farewell party (she was leaving the Peace Corp), her friends said said that never in their life did they imagine that they'd ever WANT to speak Russian, and with an American no less who learned it for fun. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7105 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 11 of 31 31 March 2006 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
As with the case of my Ukrainian grandmother, whom I visited today. She doesn't like the Russian that my sister and I know and also claims the Russian are "tricky." It was very funny to hear that. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arti Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 7013 days ago 130 posts - 165 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: French, Czech | Message 12 of 31 31 March 2006 at 11:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
I can tell you that 70% of Ukrainians speak Russian, there are regions in Ukrain where people don't speak Ukrainian at all and don't want to learn it. Speaking Russian in any Slavic speaking country is an advantage because all Slavic languages look like each other very much so you'll be understood:) In Baltic countries people just pretend that they don't speak Russian, as soon as you show them money they begin speaking perfect Russian LOL 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7147 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 13 of 31 03 April 2006 at 7:35am | IP Logged | |||||
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Silesia in Poland was part of Germany before the 2nd world war and you will find many people there who speak German, especially older people. I tried to speak in Polish as first choice, but if I couldn't get my point across, reverted to Russian, German or French. Many Poles resented the Russian and some refused to speak in the language. Actually, I found many Poles were quite pleased to speak with me in French.
If you can speak Russian, Polish isn't so difficult to learn, so at least try to learn some of the basics to get by when you are travelling. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| easyboy82 Pentaglot Groupie Italy Joined 6831 days ago 72 posts - 75 votes Speaks: Italian*, French, English, Latin, Ancient Greek Studies: Greek | Message 14 of 31 03 April 2006 at 11:11am | IP Logged | |||||
I think it's because Poland is a member of La Francophonie so the learning of French is encouraged... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7157 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 15 of 31 06 June 2006 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm not sure if this 70% of whom you speak consider themselves to be Ukrainians. Perhaps for the purposes of citizenship they are Ukrainians. I read that most of the people living in central and eastern Ukraine speak either Russian or Surzhyk (a kind of East Slavonic language that seems like a mix of Russian and Ukranian) and identify themselves more with Russia than with Ukraine and their more independently-minded compatriots living in the western part of the country. I'm not sure that speaking Russian in any Slavonic country is an absolute advantage. As we've mentioned before, the reactions of citizens of the former members of the Warsaw Pact are ambiguous. Some of my Slovak friends didn't seem to mind Russian and didn't seemed ashamed of their knowledge, while others associated Russian and mandatory Russian classes with the bleak days of communist rule. I agree however that if you know Russian, it'll definitely make the task of learning or picking up the local Slavonic language much easier. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| brumblebee Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6776 days ago 206 posts - 212 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 16 of 31 06 June 2006 at 1:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I have two penpals from Eastern Europe and it seems like both of them will have to learn German in school (they are from Hungary and Bulgaria). But Hungary and Bulgaria are not ex-Soviet republics. Edited by brumblebee on 06 June 2006 at 2:00pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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