English, 0 to 5!

[Rags]

... in response to Re: Re: What's wrong wirh Pimsluer?? ..., posted by Watcher on Mar 17, 2003

[This message has been edited by Rags]

INBREEDING. (And use proper diction.) You might consider taking some English classes while you are at it. 'nuff said?

BTW, dialect and accent are two different concepts. One is the use of an actual word, the other has to do with the way you pronounce it.

I'll take your crack at my parentage as a VERY poor attempt at humor. Otherwise, I just might take a drive down to La-la land and clean your clock. Paneemayish?

[Jack]

... in response to At least most "hillbillys" can..., posted by Rags on Mar 17, 2003

Oh my, looks like Watcher is having a bad day.

Besides getting Rags on your bad side Watcher, I got some more bad news for you. Our resident troll, when she can ocassional get in anymore, has told me that she thinks you are indeed me.  I know, not want you want to hear on a Monday morning.

As Rags suggessted, you might want to practice up on your English. Seems your spelling of to, too, two, there, their and they're has convienced cow baby that you are me. If you don't want world Ambassadors talking bad about you, correct thou's english!

[Richard]

... in response to Re: What's wrong wirh Pimsluer?? ...n..., posted by Rags on Mar 16, 2003

Speaking bad Parusski is better than speaking none.

My high school French teacher told a story about a trip she took to France with a bunch of French teachers.  One of the women was from Texas and spoke French with a Texas accent. The French being the way they are, someone asked this particular French teacher to speak English, rather than French.

On a more serious note, I think more Russian you learn, the better.  I wish my Russian was good enough to understand more of what was being said.  (I believe another poster, Zink maybe, has made the same point.)

[KenC]

... in response to Upper and lower-class accents, posted by Cold Warrior on Mar 15, 2003

Cold,
Lena has the ability to tell some background of a Russian speaker from their language use more than their accent.  I have heard her say more than a few times that the person's Russian was not very well developed, indicating limited schooling or small town background.  On the other hand, I find it rather easy to spot a Ukrainian accent in their English use.  Lokk for a lot of "z's" sneaking in.  Zem's zouse and zere.
KenC

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Re: Upper and lower-class accents, posted by KenC on Mar 16, 2003

Zanks

[id]

... in response to Re: Upper and lower-class accents, posted by KenC on Mar 16, 2003

Nah, zouse are not Ukranians, zouse are zee frogs.

[juio99]

... in response to Upper and lower-class accents, posted by Cold Warrior on Mar 15, 2003

This entire accent thing has been a real disappointment for me. I listen to those Russian Olympic skaters and fall in love with that accent.  The gals at some of the travel agencies (Glavs, Red Star, etc.) in US also have those great accents.

But, when I actually go to Russia, the gals I end up with do not seem to have the great accents.  I don't know what happens.  Perhaps some of it is that you very quickly get used to the accent when you are physically there, so it doesn't sound like an accent anymore.  Another thing is that some of the ladies work hard to NOT have an accent.

Anyway, the lack of the sexy accent has been a big disappointment for me.

[William]

... in response to Longing to hear the accent, posted by juio99 on Mar 15, 2003

Don't forget to get them to say: "Moose and squirrel".

[Rags]

... in response to Re: Longing to hear the accent, posted by William on Mar 15, 2003

[ChrisNJ]

... in response to Re: Longing to hear the accent, posted by William on Mar 15, 2003

nt

[Jack]

... in response to Longing to hear the accent, posted by juio99 on Mar 15, 2003

Completely opposite experiences.

JR, you say "Anyway, the lack of the sexy accent has been a big disappointment for me."

Many things you write I can relate to and agree with, then some things, like this,.... well just goes to show how different some people can experience the same thing. I think it's safe to assume that between you and I JR the number of Russian ladies we met were in the same ballpark of each other. My experience was that over 90% of the Russian ladies I met had very sexy accents and was a joy in talking with.

[Rags]

... in response to Longing to hear the accent, posted by juio99 on Mar 15, 2003

[This message has been edited by Rags]

Oh DA! I love to hear my wife's lovely voice and accent answer the phone when I call from work to check on them. She's been here about 15 months and hasn't lost a bit of her accent even though her English has greatly improved. Our daughter (4) on the other hand speaks English with absolutely no accent and is losing her Russian (Ukrainian) accent little by little.

[Stan]

... in response to Re: Longing to hear the accent, posted by Rags on Mar 15, 2003

Yep, I know just what you mean, Tanya's been here just short of two years and speaks English very well, but still has, and probably always will, a very heavy accent. Vlad, on the other hand, who is 8 1/2, speaks just like any other neighborhood kid and now has an accent in his Russian. We'll be sending him to a tutor everyday this summer while he's home to keep up his reading and writing skills in Russian. The same tutor who helped him w/ his English 2 years ago!   Lot's of our friends didn't persue their childrens Russian once they got here and most of these kids have lost their "Mother" language. We're VERY glad that we kept "the screws" to him and he hasn't lost any speaking ability.
FWIW, , ,
Stan