Way to Russia Talk Lounge

flyken

I will be going to Russia in October for vacation for about 2-3 weeks... just cuz i've never been there before. I'm just starting to do research now and can use any help available.

Thanks

tdk2fe · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:23 pm Post subject:

Well you should certainly explore this site, it has thourough explanations on everything from getting an invitation letter (something you need to get a Visa) to help on finding places to stay.

Anastasya · Just Starting Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 3

Hi
Would you like to spend some day of your stay in Russia in my company? I live in Moscow.
I don't mind showing you around the city and practicing my English.

nigelinleeds · Lounge Lizard Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 108

Try to learn the Russian alphabet, Russian is difficult to learn but all (I think) words are phonetic so once you learn how to pronounce letters you should be able to read words from a dictionary. I'd get a phrase book but be careful as they spell out words as pronounced in English but very badly, for instance one of the most important words pazhalsta (thanks) was shown in my phrase book as pazelsta (zh as in a like the French J'temme) as there are no English words with a "ZH" sound. Another tip find a Russian chat room (Google чат -chat ). log in and copy what people are saying into altavista.com (open it up in two windows, once for Russian to English and then for English to Russian, and join in the chat, you will find they are very friendly, just start with "hi everyone I'm from England/America) translation site and you will get a better idea of how people speak in real life so to speak. I haven't managed to discover the exact meaning of the word "tak" is seems to mean OK/well/right then. Don't worry about grammar, also if you use the word "NE" before a word it means not/don't so if you learn a word but can't remember the word for the opposite meaning put NE in front. Also remember to learn please/thank etc. you try to think how you would react to a foreigner speaking poor English, think of the most simple word for anything. A visa tip, get a visa for longer than your planned stay as visas are in two parts , one to get in and one to get out, from bitter (and expensive) experiance if you stay longer than planned you will have problems leaving the country. Enjoy yourself and I'd recommend you visit Baikal, an absolutely stunning place.

Чебурашка · Talk Show Host Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 218

Tak (so, well) is mostly used as a stopping word, often not vital to get the meaning of what is said. Most words are phonetic, but in pronouciation you may expect some difficulties because of (sometimes extreme) reduction of letters о, е, я. especially the о, which is almost only pronounced o when it's syllable is emphasised.