[Dem]

(01-21-2015 04:31 PM)one-two Wrote:  

"[let's] hang out and get a drink this week"
Давай встретимся и выпьем на неделе
This does not sound right, because "a drink" translates as "to drink" and Russians don't believe on moderation.

Давай встретимся и выпьем на неделе. ==> Such an expression is valid if you want to invite a old military friend in order to commemorate the dead comrades. In regard to the girls it's going to sound vulgar, but if she is a chav or an alcoholic then you may do it.

(01-21-2015 04:31 PM)one-two Wrote:  

"let's have some coffee [Thursday], there is a park nearby"
Давай сходим на кофе в четверг, там рядом парк есть.
This also sounds a little soft, but I can't think of anything more clever.

The preposition "на" is not appropriate. You can say: Давай сходим на праздник... (Let's go on holiday to someone else) or Пойдем на день рожденья к ... (let us go birthday to...). The preposition "на" is used when you mean any event. So you need to just say: Давай в четверг сходим в какое-нибудь кафе где рядом есть какой-нибудь парк (Let's go down to some cafe where near is any park.).

[one-two]

@Dem, all good points. When I say "на" I mean it in the "for" sense not "to". Example, "let's go out for a beer" instead of "let's go out to a bar". I'm just trying to translate the requested sentences. Natives don't really structure their requests like that (but that could be a good thing, the author is non-native after all). Also, two "какое-нибудь" in the same sentence sounds too indeterminate.

The most natural-sounding: "Давай в четверг сходим в кафе". (assuming you have a place in mind)

[micha]

Has anybody been to Kiev lately or has reliable information on topic of language that is being used?

I keep reading about how the language will change to Ukrainian, but I just don't see it coming. At least not in the short term.

Language is such an intricate part of your personality that you don't just change it because of a current political situation. These people grew up speaking Russian, and some of them even find Ukrainian brutish/primitive sounding.

Maybe a small amount who have used both languages in the past will make a conscious effort to use Ukrainian more often. However, someone who has spoken Russian all his life (with its local slang and peculiarities) will not suddenly start using a decidedly different language.

All in all, I can't see anybody having trouble using Russian in Kiev. Though as always, that's just my opinion and I'd be glad if anybody were to share his insights on the topic.

[RandomGuy1]

By now I ask myself if I made a mistake by not learning the words framed in the red box regarding russian verbs.

Will this supposed problem come back to me in the future? How did you handle those things? I found them most difficult.

[Brodiaga]

^I am Russian, and this is the first time in my life I see the word пиша. I'm sure it exists, it just looks weird to me.

Also, notice that not every word exists in every form in Russian. Sometimes a word in a certain form/tense/etc has to exist but doesn't for some reason. It is rare, can't remember any specific examples, but it happens.

Do you make a mistake not learning all these words? I don't know. There are different levels of the Russian language. it depends on what level you want to achieve.

I would focus more on watching Russian videos, reading books, listening to audio books and talking to people as opposed to learning formal rules.

[Bobkins]

(01-24-2015 07:16 PM)micha Wrote:  

Has anybody been to Kiev lately or has reliable information on topic of language that is being used?

of course nothing changes, Kiev is 75-85% russian speaking city,
in ukrainian speak some older people moved to Kiev from villages or workers moved from west part of Ukraine, so you will barely hear ukrainian language in bars or clubs

[micha]

(04-01-2015 01:32 AM)Bobkins Wrote:  

(01-24-2015 07:16 PM)micha Wrote:  

Has anybody been to Kiev lately or has reliable information on topic of language that is being used?

of course nothing changes, Kiev is 75-85% russian speaking city,
in ukrainian speak some older people moved to Kiev from villages or workers moved from west part of Ukraine, so you will barely hear ukrainian language in bars or clubs

Do people in Kiev pronounce the г as "g" or as "h" when speaking Russian?

I heard people from Odessa pronounce it as "h" and it sounds pretty funny to me.

[Lika]

(04-01-2015 01:32 AM)Bobkins Wrote:  

(01-24-2015 07:16 PM)micha Wrote:  

Has anybody been to Kiev lately or has reliable information on topic of language that is being used?

of course nothing changes, Kiev is 75-85% russian speaking city,
in ukrainian speak some older people moved to Kiev from villages or workers moved from west part of Ukraine, so you will barely hear ukrainian language in bars or clubs

From what Ukrainian friends told me in Kiev, primary schools used to be taught (partially) in Russian and pupils would speak Russian together. It seems that now schools teach exclusively in Ukrainian and pupils speak in Ukrainian together during breaks etc. Of course they are still spoken to in Russian at home, but the linguistic future of Kiev seems to be Ukrainian to me

[Brodiaga]

(04-01-2015 03:53 AM)micha Wrote:  

Do people in Kiev pronounce the г as "g" or as "h" when speaking Russian?

I heard people from Odessa pronounce it as "h" and it sounds pretty funny to me.

Real Russians pronounce г as g. "H" is Ukrainian. That's how you can generally tell a person is from the Ukraine, though not all Ukrainians pronounce it that way.

[Disco_Volante]

what does sami deli mean?
I know sami means 'most' like sami krasivi (most beautiful) or sami bolshoi (largest, most big) etc..
But I hear them say sami deley all the time idk what it means



Edit: Brodiaga that's probably it, since its a very common phrase.
I guess it's similar to 'pravdala' when they say something is 'truly' whatever.

seems like a clumsy way to express that though

like in spanish the similar phrase is 'la verdad es.....'
or you russian you could use 'pravdala .....'
but I guess they use 'samom deli' to express 'really' / in reality.

[Brodiaga]

How do you spell it? If it's в самом деле (v samom dele), it can be translated as in reality or as it turns out or really.

-В самом деле, это непросто перевсети на английский.
-Really, it's not easy to translate it into English.

But it may be something else.

[Disco_Volante]

Brodiaga-

Please check out 6:13 to 6:17

vot, vobshem samom deli vot kto shto.
look, in general, ______ who that.....

can you translate that? she uses the samom deli Im talking about.
thanks

[Brodiaga]

А вообще, на самом деле, то, что жена выбрала вас по запаху..
In general, actually, the fact that your wife chose you based on your smell..

She could have skipped вообще, на самом деле. Those are just BS words which contribute nothing to the sentence.

You can say на самом деле, в самом деле. Same thing. На самом деле is probably more common.

[Agreddor]

@brodiaga

Question: why do Russians speak so damn fast? How does Anyone understand each other when they're speaking so fast?

[Brodiaga]

(04-25-2015 11:10 AM)Agreddor Wrote:  

@brodiaga

Question: why do Russians speak so damn fast? How does Anyone understand each other when they're speaking so fast?

I don't know if Russians generally speak faster than native English speakers. It depends on the person I guess.

Yes, Russians understand each other. Pronunciation/accent is pretty uniform in Russian. It's hard to understand some people from the Ukraine because they mix in their own words and have different accents, but they don't really speak Russian.

[Agreddor]

And what about say central Asians?

[Brodiaga]

(04-25-2015 11:18 AM)Agreddor Wrote:  

And what about say central Asians?

Some of them have heavy accents, but if they do speak Russian, it's standard and easy to understand. They don't usually mix in too many of their own words because their languages are very different from Russian (unlike Eastern European languages).

[Agreddor]

I'm curious though. Do you get a lot of central Asians in Russia? Other than Tajiks of course.

[Brodiaga]

(04-25-2015 11:36 AM)Agreddor Wrote:  

I'm curious though. Do you get a lot of central Asians in Russia? Other than Tajiks of course.

Yes, a lot of them, because they can make money in Russia and support their families back home. I hear that many of them came back home since the Ruble got cheaper, though.

[Agreddor]

Not to bombard you with questions.. But is it possible for Russian to be ironic? Like it is in english

[Virtus]

A language where the sounds are different from your native to a large degree oftensounds fast. Because you can not easily hear breaks and in a sentence. And no. Russians are incapable of irony or sarcasm. Trust me. I am one

[micha]

(04-30-2015 09:34 AM)Virtus Wrote:  

And no. Russians are incapable of irony or sarcasm. Trust me. I am one

I heard the same thing once from a Russian many years ago. However, in a popular media show (кухня) I sometimes see the use of sarcasm.

In one example the main character (a cook) and his friend (the barkeeper) are ordered to clean up a fridge of the restaurant. At some point they find something which appears to be rotten potatoes, and the barkeeper asks

"Do we throw them away?"

and the cook answers

"No. We sell them on the internet."

The barkeeper doesn't get the joke (so you'd be right about Russians not understanding sarcasm) but then again why does the cook use it in the first place?

Western influence in popular media?

Here is the original dialogue:


-Да ёшкин... Что это такое?
-​Картошка какая-то гнилая.
-​Выкинуть?
-​Да нет. Продать через интернет.
-​Могут купить?
-​Костян, ну ты ???

(then they throw them away)

[Agreddor]

How are jokes made in Russian then?

[Agreddor]

I would think that he spoke both spoke both English and Russian fluently, and was thinking in English while speaking Russian.

[micha]

(05-01-2015 05:47 AM)Agreddor Wrote:  

I would think that he spoke both spoke both English and Russian fluently, and was thinking in English while speaking Russian.

You're referring to the example I posted above, right?

It's a real TV series, like Entourage or Friends, only with a restaurant setting. It's designed purely for Russian audience.


https://www.youtube.com/user/KuhnyaCTC