Why I am learnging Russian
Hello everyone, I thought I would introduce myself to these forums.
I have visited these forums for about a month now, and registered a little over a week ago.
I have enjoyed reading a lot of the post, there have also been some hilarious ones.
So I am sure a lot of you folks are going to find amusement with why I am trying to learn Russian. But that’s ok, I will be here for your amusement.
I actually met a lady from the Ukraine over the internet.
The communication started back in April via one of those “internet sites”. I will not mention the specific site just so we don’t get off course from what this forum is for.
I never really thought of finding a mate outside the US, however I was doing dating the way people expect you too, and that just did not work out. I then tried internet dating in my local area, and that was really a disaster. Ladies were not putting their real pictures up, or they were really old pictures. Now I know most of you are like “That’s because men only look at the outside”. Well I consider it lying too! Some of these ladies I did not even recognize at our meeting place. But like a gentlemen I went on with the dates anyways. But of course my mind already had a negative on it. But I tried to move on with the date anyway, just to learn that they contradicted themselves on what they wrote me.
Anyways I don’t want to make this post a long boring post for most of you.
I ended up on the site due to the fact that Russian ladies were actually sending me letters via the US sites. Long story short they were all scams. I figured it all out with the help of google – lol
But that did not change my mind on Russian women. So I checked on a few sites and found one and stuck with it. That’s when I started communicating with several ladies. Then I decided to visit. Don’t want to get into too much detail right now.
I did visit the Ukraine and did meet with her and all is great. We have been communicating via the phone, SMS messages, emails, and postcards as well.
She knows English but cannot speak it very well. However she can read English.
And no I don’t know anything in Russian. Russian is spoken more in the Ukraine then Ukrainian; well that’s what I was told anyway. When we met, we first had a translator, for about 1 hour, we then got rid of the translator as we were able to communicate with what little English she knew and with the help of a Electronic Russian/English translation machine. ECTACO 800
http://www.ectaco.com/
So overall everything is good and I enjoyed myself while in the Ukraine. I believe this is not going to be one of those horror stories you hear on the news or read on the internet that’s why I don’t mind posting.
I am leaning Russian, I started with the Pimsleaur CDs, which I think are great but I have to listen to them over and over again. So I am only on Lesson 1 unit 3. But I got all that pretty good. I also invested in Russian Translation Software by SYSTRAN which help me translate her emails from Russian to English. She can read English but not write it. So I no longer need that one site.
I did try to get into a university class but they cancelled at the last minute stating not enough students. So that was terrible.
I am currently trying to memorize/study the alphabet, I think that it is important for me.
I currently know English and Spanish so some of this Russian language sure is confusing.
I find that some words in Russian sound like Spanish so it really throws me off.
Based on some of the posts that I have read I have purchased the “The New Penguin Russian Course” book and actually received it today.
So anyways, sorry for the long post, I am happy to be here, and hope that I can still come an visit. Trust me I am not like “Yankeez” the Pakistanian looking for a servant or whatever he was looking for.
So if you have questions I usually don’t have a problem answering them. I really don’t get offended easily, so most reading is amusement.
Regards,
Тоби
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Тоби
And no I don’t know anything in Russian. Russian is spoken more in the Ukraine then Ukrainian; well that’s what I was told anyway. When we met, we first had a translator, for about 1 hour, we then got rid of the translator as we were able to communicate with what little English she knew and with the help of a Electronic Russian/English translation machine. ECTACO 800
ECTACO translators are sucks. The price-value equation of ECTACO's products are very low, IMHO. It is much better to buy a PDA (PocketPC) or smartphon and install the Lingvo on.
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guin
It is much better to buy a PDA (PocketPC) or smartphon and install the
Lingvo on.
Or Palm. Lingvo has also Palm version.
Some questions, concerning Lingvo.
Do you really use it on PocketPC/smartphone?
Do you like its interface?
Is it very popular in your environment?
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wowik
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guin
It is much better to buy a PDA (PocketPC) or smartphon and install the
Lingvo on.
Or Palm. Lingvo has also Palm version.
Some questions, concerning Lingvo.
Do you really use it on PocketPC/smartphone?
Do you like its interface?
Is it very popular in your environment?
Palm is suxx as well, IMHO. This is an obsolete platform and it constantly loses it's popularity.
What about me, I really use the Lingvo on my PocketPC, and I like it very much. The functionality of PPC version is almost the same as on PC, with the only exeption: it has no function "Show Word Forms". It is not very gut, certainly, but I can easily live without it. All other functions are the same in both versions. I wouldn't say that it is very popular in my environment, but I know al least 5-6 people that have the similar devices.
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guin
The functionality of PPC version is almost the same as on PC, with the only exeption: it has no function "Show Word Forms".
The second exception: there is no full-text search (Ctrl+F).
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by E-learner
The second exception: there is no full-text search (Ctrl+F).
You are right.
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guin
Quote:
Originally Posted by E-learner
The second exception: there is no full-text search (Ctrl+F).
You are right.
I handed thought about using it on PPC, but those seem to be 2 fairly important defects. I guess you can always hope for those functions in a new version (esp. the text search -- WHY would you not have something so simple!??!).
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Бармалей
I handed thought about using it on PPC, but those seem to be 2 fairly important defects. I guess you can always hope for those functions in a new version (esp. the text search -- WHY would you not have something so simple!??!).
Ну это не скоро...
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Тоби
So anyways, sorry for the long post, I am happy to be here, and hope that I can still come an visit. Trust me I am not like “Yankeez” the Pakistanian looking for a servant or whatever he was looking for.
So if you have questions I usually don’t have a problem answering them. I really don’t get offended easily, so most reading is amusement.
Regards,
Тоби
:lol: Basurero :wink:
Hi Тоби, and welcome to the forum! I'm the resident board romantic :lol: , so I'm usually sympathetic to guys that come to the board because of internet dating with a Russian woman. Don't be surprised if you get teased a little about it, but no worries. You're welcome here.
Good luck to you in studying Russian, and good luck in your relationship. The New Penguin course is pretty good, one of the better ones out there. But you're going to need to work on pronounciation. Pimsleur is good for this when you're just beginning, but it won't take you very far in my opinion. And you need a tutor to help you understand the grammar.
I'd suggest if you can afford a tutor and find one, that you take Russian lessons from a native speaker. Another alternative is arranging lessons thru the internet using Skype. I know of a couple of reputable Russian teachers that do this, one of them lives in Kiev (so she might be a good choice) and she's a very good teacher. There was a post earlier this week from another teacher using Skype and offering lessons, but I don't know him or her so I can't vouch for that person.
Dobry
Re: Why I am learnging Russian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Тоби
I actually met a lady from the Ukraine over the internet.
The communication started back in April via one of those “internet sites”. I will not mention the specific site just so we don’t get off course from what this forum is for.
I never really thought of finding a mate outside the US, however I was doing dating the way people expect you too, and that just did not work out. I then tried internet dating in my local area, and that was really a disaster. Ladies were not putting their real pictures up, or they were really old pictures. Now I know most of you are like “That’s because men only look at the outside”. Well I consider it lying too! Some of these ladies I did not even recognize at our meeting place. But like a gentlemen I went on with the dates anyways. But of course my mind already had a negative on it. But I tried to move on with the date anyway, just to learn that they contradicted themselves on what they wrote me.
Hello Тоби! I find your story fairly interesting to read. You don't get many good stories about Americans' relationships with Russian/Ukrainian etc. girls here. I recall seeing a couple of TV programs where they said that a huge percentage of American men who make friends with Russian women via the Internet or by post, come to Russia and take the woman they like to the US. However, after a few months' relationship, falling-outs start and sometimes things go so badly that couples actually start using force. In most cases it's the Americans who try to use force to make their Russian girlfriends shut up. Such TV programes hardly ever say anything about successful relationships - I mean those that last for a long period of time without any force used.
It's quite natural that most of the Russian ladies you tried to date put up fake pictures. They know perfectly well that they have much more chance of getting involved in a romantic relationship with a foreigner if they upload the photos of someone more beautiful than them. If you like the photo and arrange a date, the girl has done the trick. Now that she's met you in person, she'll try to do all in her power to go to the USA with you. Seducing is the right way to make you want to stay in touch with her, I believe :wink:
