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What’s Russia like? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6479 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes  Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 9 of 110 12 March 2008 at 6:06am | IP Logged | ||
I'm afraid you are not quite right here. Mostly hostility is demonstrated towards people who come from, as we say, Caucasian Republics and other southern regions. Some call them "black", though they are not black at all. They come to our big cities to work, because they can't find job at home. Some people feel they they occupy a niche that could otherwise be filled with the natives. They often do poorly-paid physical work, but they also own markets, shops, petrol stations. I think, this situation with immigrants is similar to many other countries. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Penombra Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6304 days ago 34 posts - 36 votes Speaks: Tagalog*, English Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 10 of 110 17 March 2008 at 5:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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I also tend to take lightly some of the things written by the FCO, for example : "There is a general threat from
terrorism in the United States. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers. " This sounds very ominous and paranoid to me, where, as an American, I honestly can say with slight hesitance that I feel very secure. Granted, though, you ought to heed any warnings about going to the Northern Caucasus region. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Vlad Trilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member Czechoslovakia foreverastudent.com Joined 6584 days ago 443 posts - 576 votes 2 sounds Speaks: Czech*, Slovak*, Hungarian*, Mandarin, EnglishC2, GermanC2, ItalianC1, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Serbian, French Studies: Persian, Taiwanese, Romanian, Portuguese | Message 11 of 110 18 March 2008 at 1:46am | IP Logged | ||
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Dragonfly:
Francois meant 'white' by Caucasian. Saying 'white' is not very politically correct, the term 'Caucasian' is used in the media and so on, implying that the typical inhabitant of Europe (and wherever he could have migrated later) is of light skin, taller, with typical 'Caucasian' features (as opposed to 'black' for instance, but you shouldn't say it like that). The term 'Caucasian' is used because the aboriginal birthplace for this type of man was the northern Caucasus. It's not referring to the contemporary Caucasian republics. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6665 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 12 of 110 18 March 2008 at 2:23am | IP Logged | ||
Well, Caucasians are Caucasians in both senses of the word. And Dragonfly was just saying that non-Caucasians are not the only victims of racism, for which the example of people from the Caucasus is perfectly valid. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Vlad Trilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member Czechoslovakia foreverastudent.com Joined 6584 days ago 443 posts - 576 votes 2 sounds Speaks: Czech*, Slovak*, Hungarian*, Mandarin, EnglishC2, GermanC2, ItalianC1, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Serbian, French Studies: Persian, Taiwanese, Romanian, Portuguese | Message 13 of 110 18 March 2008 at 2:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Mark....
of course. I thought I didn't have to explain that... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6479 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 14 of 110 19 March 2008 at 2:14am | IP Logged | ||
I know this very well. That's the wordplay. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| paparaciii Diglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 6336 days ago 204 posts - 223 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian Studies: English | Message 15 of 110 20 May 2008 at 7:15am | IP Logged | ||
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I was in St.Petersburg 4 years ago and I wouldn't say that it was "just like average European city".
I don't want to mention all the details not to harm anybody's feelings but I hope that this city has improved since then. Oh, and by the way guys - Russia has lots of other cities, not only Moscow and St.Petersburg. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| NJMaverick Newbie United States Joined 6155 days ago 34 posts - 36 votes Studies: English*, Portuguese | Message 16 of 110 24 August 2008 at 11:38pm | IP Logged | ||
This is a very important truth. I'm sorry, but the situation in Russia is NOT the same as it is in American cities or say...Paris. Ethnic minorities are not chased and beaten in the streets by drunken skinheads in New York or Chicago the way African students and others have been assaulted in Russian cities. The stories coming out of Russia over the last several years are very bad and frankly make most non whites want to steer far clear of visiting Russia until things radically change. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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