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Solfrid Cristin TAC 2012 Team Sputnik | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5038 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 161 of 270 08 July 2012 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
In my experience it's alarmingly common (and telling!) to find bad attitudes towards people who are successful or generally care about doing things well -- this thinking that it 'makes everyone else look bad' (in comparison I guess) is typical among those types who actually do look bad in comparison. I just checked it out and I'm surprised we don't have a name for it here in Spain. Or rather that we didn't ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5146 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 162 of 270 09 July 2012 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Thank you everyone, for all your lovely commments!
I figured I'd give you an idea of my first day in Russia: After overcoming what seemed to be a mountain of visa problems, I am in St. Petersburg. The day did not start particularly promising in that when I arrived in Stockholm I realized that I was really in deep s***. I changed my cell phone a few days ago, and as I tried to switch it on after the flight, I realized that I did not have the PIN code, and I had no idea where the paper with the new PIN code was, except that it was somewhere in my house, among innumerable other pieces of paper… One week without cell phone would be an absolute disaster so the next question was: Who do I know well enough, to ask to go to my house and look through mountains of papers, in the hope of finding the one piece of paper where my PIN code was written? And that was when I saw that my water bottle had opened in my bag, so that everything in it was soaked, including Russian book, dictionary, passports and camera. As if the day was not bad enough as it was. Right outside the plane we sat down, and I said to my husband that we had better find out where our next flight was leaving from. Sitting back to enjoy his newspaper he said.” Yes, you do that dear”. Now I am not in the habit of making a public scene, but between the worry for how I was going to get my phone working, and for how much of my content of my bag would be ruined, I just yelled at him that I was really stressed out, and that it would have been nice if he would have helped a little bit, and then I grabbed my bags and took off. Realizing his mistake he came after me, and we managed to find our flight, dry most of the stuff in my bag, and I was able to call my Peruvian friend who went to my house, and found the paper with my PIN code, so I could get the phone to work. Thank God for good friends! My Russian pocket dictionary doubled in size because of the moisture, so I’ll look for a new one, but the rest I was able to salvage. In the taxi I was able to speak quite a lot of Russian with the taxi driver,about 15 minutes, and he even complimented me for my good Russian (I love the Russians, they give their compliments so freely) , but then he discovered that I spoke English, and switched to that. Rats! At the hotel I also started out in Russian, and felt I did really well, but then the girl who spoke English came along, and that was that. The experience is really different from the last time I was in here, in 1985, though. At that time every possible cliché of the Soviet era was fulfilled (unfriendly staff, no toilet paper, low standard). Here they are very friendly, and do their very best to help us, and the room is lovely, even though it is just a 3 star hotel. We are living at the outskirts of St. Petersburg, and we discovered that there is a river within walking distance, where people bathed and sunbathed, so if it gets too warm, we can go and take a swim. There is also a huge park here, where we can go for walks. The down side is that there is probably 30-45 minutes to get to the center (we have not explored it yet) but it is really worth it, since it is so quiet and lovely out here. In the evening we went to have dinner at a local restaurant. Since the next door restaurant was playing music at disco volume, we wanted a quiet table, and since I did not remember how to ask for that in Russian, I made the mistake of asking in English, which meant that we got an English speaking waitress. Arghh. I must be better at accepting the discomfort of not being able to say exactly what I want and just try to speak Russian anyway. New resolution for tomorrow: Say “Do you speak English” as little as possible. We are going to the railway museum where everything should be in Russian soon, so I guess that I will get some practice there. My husband, who otherwise does not speak a word of Russian, has already learned the words for “train, railway station and steam engine” . :-) 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5146 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 163 of 270 10 July 2012 at 8:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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SECOND DAY IN RUSSIA
Ok, So I did not get to speak much Russian today either. I had high hopes for the breakfast room, but it was self service, and the only interaction I had with the staff was when they saw my face when I realized that they had removed absolutely all the food, 1 minute after 10 (breakfast from 7-to 10). My next attempt was at the metro station, where I was to get weekly tickets. The receptionist had written down on a note for me what to ask, so I confidently stated my sentence, gave the lady at the ticket office the money, and smiled. And got a minute's worth of incomprehensible Russian in response. The fact the she was sitting behind glass so I could not really hear her did not exactly improve matters. Realizing that there was suddenly a two meter queue behind me, I had to throw in the towel and ask if anyone spoke English, and although most of them suddenly found looking at their shoes to be most interesting, one girl stepped up and helped me. It took about 10 minutes before I got my ticket, because the girl was from Moscow, and she did not understand the system either, and it took a lot of waving back and forth, and them discussing between themselves, and with me, before everything was in order. In town I was able to do simpler purchases, asking for the way, prices etc in Russian, and was quite happy for that. I found some "Poirot" DVDs that I could watch with my daughter, "The Master and Margerita" for me and decided to try and find "War and Peace". After having searched for it in vain for 20 minutes, I asked a young boy who looked like he was 14, for help. He turned out to be a film student of 19 called Maxim, who was passionate about Russian classical films, so although we did not find "War and Peace" he could recommend some other goodies, and then offered to take me to another place where they might have a better selection. I accepted, so we all went to that other place, and then we invited him for a drink. It turned out that he was also a literature buff, so before I knew it we were discussing Voltaire, Moliere, Nabukov, Pushkin, Tchekov, Shakespeare and Flaubert. His favourite book was Mme. Bovary, which I could tell him that I was just reading (thanks to the Super challenge and Kanewaii:-) so I had a great time. When he had to go he gave me his number, and said that if there was anything at all I needed, I could call him, as he was free all week, so my husband and I are thinking of inviting him and his wife out for dinner. I would have loved to say our conversation was in Russian, but I am afraid it was in English, However, when he could not find some word in English, I could ask him what it was in Russian, and more often than not, I would know what it was in English. In fact everyone here have been as nice as could be. I know we have sometimes discussed whether Russians are more unfriendly than others, but based on my experience the last 24 hours, they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, I have met nothing but kindness and politeness everywhere. Even the lady at the ticket office at the metro that I could not understand, smiled to me and called me back to give me a map of the metro system. With my recollection from the Kiev metro system, where the woman there yelled at me and almost shoved me, this was pure pleasure. The metro system itself is also very nice; clean, lots of space and air, no grafitti and very clearly marked. I could live here! We walked up half the Nevskij prospekt and got as far as the Ermitage, though not into it. We'll see what we'll do tomorrow. Today someone got up to give me their seat at the bus for the first time in my life. Had not the circumstances been so very sad, I might actually have got offended. I had just gotten a sharp reminder that I should never complain, because then life comes up with a cruel twist to punish you, and remind you how utterly unimportant life's little everyday problems are. Some years ago I kept complaining that I was worried about my daughter having to go to kindergarden at the tender age of 11 months, I did not want to go back to work, and I was so tired. After that I got the flu, both the children got chicken pox, my daughter almost crushed her foot and my mother got diagnosed with cancer. Yesterday I was almost hysterical for possibly not being able to use my phone all week, something which I considered a disaster. And today we got the call that my husband's grandfather who I love very much, passed away this morning. I called my daughters who are both in Spain, and we were all sobbing, and my oldest daugher said "I was in this very bed last year when you called to say grand dad had passed away." In two weeks it is a year since his death, and of course the reminder did me no good. We should be happy for what good life gives us, and not focus on the little problems. I do however not always remember the wisdom in that. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 10 July 2012 at 8:12pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5146 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 164 of 270 12 July 2012 at 11:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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THIRD AND FOURTH DAY IN RUSSIA
I'll start with today: High point of my day: A full (though short) conversation in Russian!!! Low point of my day: Being stuck in the room all day because I got a cold :-( I have however received two compliments today for my Russian, both saying my Russian was great (nonsense, but still nice to hear). I woke up with a really nasty cold, and was not up to going sightseeing, but in the evening we went for dinner (where I managed to do most of the ordering in Russian) and then at the hotel I rented a car with driver for tomorrow. I asked my usual "Gavaritje på angliski", (do you speak English" but the receptionist just smiled and answered in Russian, "Yes I do, but I have heard you speak Russian, so try in Russian". Ulp!!! Major swallowing going on, but since I have been moaning for three days about how I do not get to speak any Russian, I had to try, and to my great surprise it went quite well. I told her I needed a car for the next day to the Tsar's village, that I needed it for 11, o clock and for 4 persons,and that I had already talked with the driver who had given me the price.She then asked if I wanted to pay now, but since I did not know how many hours I would need the car, I suggested that I'd either pay for 5 hours, and then pay the rest when we saw how long it would take, or do it at the end of the trip. She then said she would call the driver, and let me know what he said, and he then said I could pay when I came back. One insignificant step for mankind, and a huge step for me!!! I then spent the day reading and watching Jane Eyre in Russian. Love it. Yesterday was great, our Russian friend Maxim called and said he could show us the city, so we met up and he told us lots of history, and showed us plenty of things we would never have discovered on our own. One of the things he showed us was the Swedish church, though he said we could not go inn, because they did not allow Russians inn. He and his wife had been stopped by a guard at the door before. At that I did of course answer that I would like to see the guard who would stop me, so I just smiled sweetly to the guard going in, and we swept right into the building. And I completely understood why they did not let Russians inn, because this was the most hideous religious room I have seen in my entire life. The Russians, being used to all the fantastic churces they have, would have felt nothing but pity had they seen this. We then went by a number of splendid Russian churches and cathedrals, and got to see the Nabukov museum (the author of Lolita). I knew nothing about him, but he turns up to have been raised trilingually (Russian, Englsih and French), moved to America, and wrote and taught there for many years, and then lived the last 20 years of his life in Switzerland. We ended up at the Peter Paul fortress, to look at the view, and we also me his wife, (Maxim's, not Nabukov's :-) She told us that her husband had never talked to foreigners on his own before, but that he had spent the entire evening talking about us, so she decided that she simply had to meet us. Now there is only one thing I dislike about Russian women, and that is that they make me feel like I am playing in the Lady and the Tramp, with me as the tramp. I spend my money and time on languages and travels, not on fashion, and I dress practically, but when you then meet someone who could come right out of Vougue, you feel a bit self conscious. I decided to disregard that, and we had a great time, speaking more about films and literature, and languages - as Catherine was fluent in English, French and Italian. They then took us to this great restaurant at a roof top that they had just discovered, where there were no tourists (yay!) and where the food was fantastic. I ordered a Georgian starter of dough and cheese which turned up with a raw egg on top. I loved the dish, but was not willing to do the raw egg, so I did the traditional "look behind you", and then poured the raw egg into a cup while my husband and friends were trying to figure out what I wanted them to look at them. The next dish was a wonderful porc shaslik (mmm. love it) and we practically rolled off the roof we were so full in the end. Now I must again underline, that I have not met a single unfriendly Russian since I got here, they are all smiling, friendly, and do their utmost to help. So that is either a myth, or St. Petersburg in particularly friendly. It is also very clean here, and not a graffitti in sight. I am definitely coming back here! Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 12 July 2012 at 11:58pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4527 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 165 of 270 12 July 2012 at 11:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm glad you're having such a great time there, Cristina! I'm sure you're already improving greatly!
About the unfriendly and rude people, I must say that it's not a myth, at least while I was in Moscow. Finding a friendly attendant or policeman was the exception, not the rule, unfortunately (not only to me, but also to my wife). But I've never been to St. Petersburg, so thanks to you I'll have a different impression for the first time I go there (which I hope to be soon =) ) Edited by fabriciocarraro on 13 July 2012 at 12:17am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4868 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 166 of 270 13 July 2012 at 12:16am | IP Logged | |||||
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Почему вы транслитерируете Набокова как Nabukov, а не Nabokov?
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| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5038 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 167 of 270 13 July 2012 at 12:30am | IP Logged | |||||
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Transliterations are a very hairy matter, Mapk, depending on who they target, on how phonetic that language is, etc. :)
F.e. English pronunciation that differs greatly from spelling. So when you transliterate for an Englishman, do you do it so he can accurately mimic real pronunciation through English pronunciation patterns, or attending to some other rule? The important thing here is, no matter how carefully you do it, you'll do it 'wrong'. French is more predictable, but still quite non-phonetic, and in a different way too. What do you think will happen when a Frenchman reads your English-targeted transliteration, or vice versa? They're bound to be a mess no matter what :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5146 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 168 of 270 13 July 2012 at 12:31am | IP Logged | |||||
Because I am dyslexic :-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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