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boo86
Just Starting
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 1
Location: Leeds, UK
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 Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject: How well will i be understood ? |
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Hey all , first i would just like to say great job on the site. As a student taking their GAP year in Moscow shortly, i've found the info really helpful - the best around by far.
I've recently started learning Russian and i'm still working on the pretty basic stuff but i was wondering how many people can speak a little English over there ? Is it quite common for the younger generation to understand basic English or will i have more problems finding people in the city that will be able to understand me?
Thanks Phil. |
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wavetossed
WayToRussified
Joined: 27 Jun 2004
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 10:59 pm Post subject: Your accent could be a problem |
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I spend some time over the last week with a Russian girl from St. Petersburg, showing her the sites in London. She said that she found it almost impossible to understand people speaking with a northern accent. She found the BBC news accent the easiest to understand and claimed that New Yorkers and northern English people were equally hard to understand. I have a midwest American accent which she found easier to understand.
I think that will be your main problem trying to speak English in Russia. Of course, people in Moscow are more likely to have met native English speaking people so your chances are better in that city. I spent two weeks in Russia speaking only Russian. Even though my Russian was bad and I had to ask people to speak slowly and repeat their words, nobody ever volunteered to speak English.
My friend told me that most people learn some English in school but they never have the chance to use it and are embarassed to try. I guess you could compare it to someone in England who has taken GCSE French but never travelled abroad. Would they try to speak French to a French tourist?
Learn as much Russian as you can, make sure you can read the alphabet easily, and carry a tourist phrasebook so that you have a ready source of sentences in case you run into problems. And try to find a friendly local person in advance so you can trade English lessons for Russian lessons. There are lots of Russian girls from Moscow your age on Internet chat sites. You should try to make friends before you travel. |
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AliceFromMoscow
WayToRussified
Joined: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 411
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: Your accent could be a problem |
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| wavetossed wrote: | | My friend told me that most people learn some English in school but they never have the chance to use it and are embarassed to try. |
That's true 
I speak english better than most of russians but still i'm very embarrased even to try.
| wavetossed wrote: | | And try to find a friendly local person in advance so you can trade English lessons for Russian lessons. There are lots of Russian girls from Moscow your age on Internet chat sites. You should try to make friends before you travel. |
It'd be nice to teach russian and practice my english 
Send me a private message and we can arrange that if you want. |
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brandalpayne11
Talk Show Host
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 245
Location: NC, US
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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i am coming to russia in a couple of months. i am wondering about the clubs and bars. how hard is it to order drinks and food, i know no russian.
also the nightlife; what is the best underground........ie dnb, trance, house club in town  |
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SolneshKa
Frequent Guest
Joined: 20 Sep 2004
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: How well will i be understood ? |
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| boo86 wrote: | Hey all , first i would just like to say great job on the site. As a student taking their GAP year in Moscow shortly, i've found the info really helpful - the best around by far.
I've recently started learning Russian and i'm still working on the pretty basic stuff but i was wondering how many people can speak a little English over there ? Is it quite common for the younger generation to understand basic English or will i have more problems finding people in the city that will be able to understand me?
Thanks Phil. |
Phil, which university are you going to? It just depends on who you meet. Some people speak english fluently, others... "try". I met some people at uni who just baffled native english speakers.. It's harder to find french speaking russians, that's for sure.
Good luck!
K |
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uday
WayToRussified
Joined: 26 Jul 2004
Posts: 323
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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In St P I was very surprised how little English was spoken - even in the tourist areas. It was virtually non-existant. And they seemed even more annoyed by my attempts at speaking Russian. Got by with a lot of hand gestures and showing them words in me phrase book.
Moscow was a lot better in that sense, more people spoke/attempted to speak it and seemed more tolerant of my poor Russian skills.
I'd advice taking a course if you're spending time there, it will really pay off. |
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RussianBoy
Frequent Guest
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 33
Location: Russia, Moscow
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| Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| brandalpayne11 wrote: | i am coming to russia in a couple of months. i am wondering about the clubs and bars. how hard is it to order drinks and food, i know no russian.
also the nightlife; what is the best underground........ie dnb, trance, house club in town |
No problem. Salespeople knows basic English =)
basically - to pay in cash |
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