RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians and other foreign speakers.

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/4/2008 4:23:51 PM

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Maybe they don't feel confident about speaking the language or are afraid of getting into a conversation they don't understand.

I learned Polish from the day I arrived in the country, and I could understand pretty much all of it within the next few years but it still took me about four years to be able to speak the language fluently with any sort of confidence.

I can also remember in my early days of fluency proudly explaining to a guy in Polish all the shops where he could buy vodka. He approached me and spoke to me in Polish asking, 'Gdzie można wódkę kupić?' (Where can one buy vodka). I happily babbled on in Polish explaining that there's supermarkets where they sell a lot of different vodkas, and also the smaller shops where they have less brands, but if you ask the shop assistant for a 'koktail' she will produce the slightly stronger stuff from underneath the counter.

And then it struck me, why was I explaining where to buy a vodka in Polish to someone in the middle of Poland thinking they're Polish. Surely if they were Polish, they would know exactly where and how to buy vodka. So I asked the guy where he was from.

'Jestem Amerykaninem,' (I'm American) was his reply. So I switch into English.

'My, you sure speak very good English,' he said, 'Where did you learn to speak English so well?'

'England,' I replied, 'I was born there.'

So is the story of how I spent twenty minutes babbling in Polish to an American.

Language is a funny thing.

< Message edited by stella41b -- 12/4/2008 4:24:57 PM >

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 4:18:36 PM

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No, mr Q, the school where I finish highschool has a huge russion student body.

Most the foreigners in the school learning english as a second launguage, are in fact russion or hungary or some other area similar to rusiaa.

Infact my school counsolor is russian and has just barely learned to speak english fluently. You don't need to speak russian to know their russian. Knowing a little bit about the primary student body of english as a second launguage helps.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MrQwerty

How do you know they are Russian if you don't speak Russian? Was they drinking Vodka?

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 4:42:14 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: YourhandMyAss
No, mr Q, the school where I finish highschool has a huge russion student body.

Are they experimenting with it? This sounds like the local authority should be informed.

quote:

Most the foreigners in the school learning english as a second launguage, are in fact russion or hungary or some other area similar to rusiaa.

Polish, Romanian, Mongolian, Chinese, Iranian, Alaskan? Have you seen the size of Russia? Do you want to be a bit more specific?

quote:

Infact my school counsolor is russian and has just barely learned to speak english fluently.

You don't need much English to be a councillor I hear. I don't think ums and arrrs are words in any particular language.

< Message edited by Raechard -- 12/6/2008 4:43:15 PM >

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 5:11:29 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: xxblushesxx

This makes me think of the times I get a manicure or a pedicure, and the people who work there start speaking amongst themselves in their own language.
I always know they're saying insulting things about me!

That is exactly why I refuse to go to the Asian-owned/run nail salons, because that's exactly what those snotty little bitches do. I work with a girl who is originally from Viet Nam, and is 1/2 Chinese, so it's very obvious what part of the world she's from. She went to a salon once where they apparently thought she was American born, because they said some really nasty things about her in Vietnamese....which she speaks fluently. When they got done, she told the manager, in Vietnamese, what the girls had said about her and she said the shocked looks on all their faces was priceless.

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 5:30:53 PM

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Thank you for the laugh about my mis spelling that, and the way it sounded:)

I'm not sure what parts exactly.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Raechard

quote:

ORIGINAL: YourhandMyAss
No, mr Q, the school where I finish highschool has a huge russion student body.

Are they experimenting with it? This sounds like the local authority should be informed.

quote:

Most the foreigners in the school learning english as a second launguage, are in fact russion or hungary or some other area similar to rusiaa.

Polish, Romanian, Mongolian, Chinese, Iranian, Alaskan? Have you seen the size of Russia? Do you want to be a bit more specific?

quote:

Infact my school counsolor is russian and has just barely learned to speak english fluently.

You don't need much English to be a councillor I hear. I don't think ums and arrrs are words in any particular language.

(in reply to Raechard)

RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 5:33:21 PM

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Even if they're not saying nasty things about the client* I'd never know if they were or not* I feel it's rude to chatter on and on with someone you work with in the salon, since you should be focusing on the customer. I also know I enjoy my experince much better when there's some conversation and some bantering between the salonist and I.

quote:

ORIGINAL: xxblushesxx

This makes me think of the times I get a manicure or a pedicure, and the people who work there start speaking amongst themselves in their own language.
I always know they're saying insulting things about me!

(in reply to xxblushesxx)

RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 5:40:14 PM

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We went to a salon one time called lyn and lisa, and the japanese guy who cut Daddies hair couldn't hardly speak a lick of english or understand enough english to give DAddy the hair cut he wanted, And daddy being who he is, payed for it anyway with out complaint, even though it wasn't anywhere NEAR what he asked for, and then had to go and pay 15 dollars again a few weeks later at another salon to get his hair cut PROPERLYthis time.

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 5:42:05 PM

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My Dad traveled a lot on business. My mother would get to a new country and immediately learn five phrases. Ice water, where's the bathroom, ashtray, please, and thank you.

She couldn't understand the answer but thankfully when someone tells you where the bathroom is, they invariably point or turn their head towards it.

We used this one time when totally lost. Stopped every couple of blocks to say "how do I get to ..." and they would point straight or left or right. Took a while but it worked.

However I don't expect a new immigrant to spend all day trying to talk in a new language. It's exhausting. Plus Americans have a nasty habit of responding by speaking slowly and loud as if the person's deaf, and that's rude. They heard you the first time, they just didn't understand it. Repeating it won't help.

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 6:58:38 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: YourhandMyAss

We went to a salon one time called lyn and lisa, and the japanese guy who cut Daddies hair couldn't hardly speak a lick of english or understand enough english to give DAddy the hair cut he wanted, And daddy being who he is, payed for it anyway with out complaint, even though it wasn't anywhere NEAR what he asked for, and then had to go and pay 15 dollars again a few weeks later at another salon to get his hair cut PROPERLYthis time.

Just about everyone's had a bad haircut at one time or another. Your experience was quite possibly the result of the guy being a bad barber, not necessarily because he was not fluent in English.

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:05:36 PM

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Thank you, Rose and Des, and all the others that made great sense on here. It's already been said, and I know from personal experience when living abroad, you learn to say a few things when you get somewhere so you have some basics. It doesn't mean you are being some gi-normous azzhole if you try to alert people that your speaking ability is very limited, in a way that they will understand.

*stomps off in a huff, muttering in 3 languages, mostly grammatically incorrect...*

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:16:32 PM

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red, all i want to know is, are you saying you want to kiss me in any of those languages?

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:26:19 PM

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Christine... I knew that you would "just know." Yes, my love, my cavebabe... I am, in all 3.

Sweet, soft kisses, lips like fluffy pillows that make you want to keep your head there and stay snuggled in for an entire afternoon... hands that go up the back of your neck, lifting your curls into my hand, tightening its grip, pressing my lips a little harder onto yours, nibbling and gently biting your lower lip, then placing kisses on your neck slowly, while making my way to your ear, whispering to you how incredibly sexy I think you are, then making my way back to your lips... using my tongue to flicker your lips open and kissing you the way a girl likes to be kissed...

Yes, doll baby... that's exactly what I was saying. *insert sultry look here*

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:37:57 PM

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Damn Red............ Your not cheatin' on me with Christine are Ya??????????

Kali

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:47:25 PM

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Kali... you hot tamale, you. Don't you worry. There's more than enough of my affections to go around.

(ummm.... where's Christine? Did she thud? Run screaming from the thread? Hide under a blankie? Find a buzzy toy?)

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:51:05 PM

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YEAH!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO FREAKING WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Red wants me...oh yeah, she wants me........she wants me bad................

THUD!!!!!!!!!
(note the 10)

Kali

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:54:01 PM

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*grabs Kali by the back of the hair and pulls her close*

Damn right, babe........

*nibbles*

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 7:55:23 PM

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OMG
i...............................................................................................................

Ka

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 8:01:22 PM

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Puddles from one, and the other is rendered mute. My work here is done.

*dusts off hands, fluffs hair, straightens blouse*

edited because of a repeat... I must have thudded myself, too. Dear me, the awesomeness of my powers is amazing!

< Message edited by Daddysredhead -- 12/6/2008 8:03:31 PM >

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Do not challenge me to a battle of wits & come to fight unarmed.

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RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 8:03:44 PM

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Could be, but he could barely speak enough english to communicate with Daddy so he didn't really understand what Daddy wanted. Which is why I think it was the launguage barrier, not being a poor barber.

His sisters also do unsatisfactory work, because the launguage barrier Also being japanese and not speaking very fluently, which is why we stopped going to lyn and lisa's. Cause we kept getting unsatisfactory results.

That and some of the people at the salon were not very friendly at all, and instead of focusing on you would chatter away in their own launguage the whole time to one another.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Roselaure

quote:

ORIGINAL: YourhandMyAss

We went to a salon one time called lyn and lisa, and the japanese guy who cut Daddies hair couldn't hardly speak a lick of english or understand enough english to give DAddy the hair cut he wanted, And daddy being who he is, payed for it anyway with out complaint, even though it wasn't anywhere NEAR what he asked for, and then had to go and pay 15 dollars again a few weeks later at another salon to get his hair cut PROPERLYthis time.

Just about everyone's had a bad haircut at one time or another. Your experience was quite possibly the result of the guy being a bad barber, not necessarily because he was not fluent in English.

(in reply to Roselaure)

RE: Something that's been bothering me about russians a... - 12/6/2008 8:09:18 PM

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So, anyway..............one time..............when i was little (i was five years old) my mom made me go to this woman (American at that) to get my hair cut and she put a freaking metal bowl on my head and cut around it...

That's right folks...i literally had a fucking 'bowl cut'.

Looked like a boy........ Traumatized for life...

Kali

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