Thread: Иностранцы о русских и о себе: культурн.,социальн.стереот� �пы

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Russian does have the ending, but in surnames a lot of times it's more of a Polish thing, it seems. Even if a Russian has such a surname, happens a lot that it has a Polish origin...

Yeah, definitely... But it's probably another silly stereotype that people have...

What about the letter H, is it really hard to say, or can you manage it? (I still don't see any significant differenct between "Ш" and "Щ"....)

When I was a kid there was a fad for a while about "Russian hair ribbons" (ryska rosetter) which was basically to braid in massive fluffy pastel ribbons into your hair! I think the trend originated from watching Russian TV programs -- and it was the size of the Russian ribbons that stood out! The bigger the better! Both my best friend and I had very long hair, and for a while we both braided it in a looped braid and put massive fluffy ribbons in "Russian style"... Is this style still popular? I think it's really funky!

Originally Posted by Hanna

When I was a kid there was a fad for a while about "Russian hair ribbons" (ryska rosetter) which was basically to braid in massive fluffy pastel ribbons into your hair! I think the trend originated from watching Russian TV programs -- and it was the size of the Russian ribbons that stood out! The bigger the better! Both my best friend and I had very long hair, and for a while we both braided it in a looped braid and put massive fluffy ribbons in "Russian style"... Is this style still popular? I think it's really funky!

Do you mean like this? LOL
Yes, it was a must for every girl. It stopped being popular in the early 90s. Now you can see girls with "банты" only when they celebrate their graduation from school - it's a tradition to wear these ribbons and a Soviet-style school uniform on this day.

@gromozeka
Class! yeah that's the style I meant, but I had it on both sides, pink! (Russian school uniforms are nicer than European ones really, particularly British. It's bizarre for girls to wear ties, I think.)

Originally Posted by Vadim Mo

Не может быть! Не в том смысле, что я тебе не верю. Просто как-то удивительно это. У нас вот есть для Америки и американцев, например, такие слова. Для Украины и украинцев есть.

Honestly, I swear! The worst "name" I have heard for Russians is "Ivan".

I come from Sweden which is quite close to Russia as you know, and very friendly with Finland. Neither country has any bad words for Russians at all. That is despite the winter war and Karelia. Enough said.

In the 1990s some very bad Russians turned up in Scandinavia (mafia, prostitutes) but people realised that 1) they were not "normal" Russians and 2) circumstances were bad in Russia at the time..

Plus, people are aware of Russian culture, art and good education and appreciate that.

I can't think of anything bad that I've heard really, apart from the 1990s stereotype about criminality. Nobody from Scandinavia can joke about Russians drinking a lot since we drink just as much ourselves. In fact, people think it's a sign that Russians are "normal"

If you absolutely must know, I know ONE slightly anti-Russian song, which is Finnish. (the song is called Njet Molotoff, it's an OLD song and it would never have been written if the USSR had not invaded Finland...)
I have heard this expression a few times relating to Russian politics/business, but it definitely not insulting towards Russian people.

People in Scandinavia think it is a bit strange that Russians don't care about democracy and the high level of corruption in their country.

I have heard that Baltic people have some bad names for Russians, but I don't know precisely what.

Honestly, I swear! The worst "name" I have heard for Russians is "Ivan".

Well, I can believe that. We don't have any derogative names for people from many countries either. I can't think of any for Canadians, British, Spaniards, Cubans, etc. The ones we have, say, for French (лягушатники) or Italians (макаронники) are loaned, and there are no hard feelings behind them.

PS. There are no bad names for Sweds either.

Даже обидно, что тебе прозвища не придумали!

Originally Posted by Vadim Mo

Даже обидно, что тебе прозвища не придумали!

If it makes you feel better, Hanna is somewhat wrong. While "Russki" can be used in a "friendly" way as a joke, it is a pejorative ethnic slur. It is frequently used in an offensive manner.

quartz, спасибо, немножко полегчало.

Why even care though? As long as you are proud of your nationality, why should you care what other countries think?

Look at the French and the Americans; they just assume that everyone who don't love them is an idiot or a terrorist......

Сейчас признаюсь в страшном грехе. Я люблю Америку, мне нравятся американцы.

У нас такое отношение не является общепринятым, мягко говоря.

Originally Posted by Vadim Mo

Я люблю Америку

Seriously you must have been drinking too much Coke...... Have some vodka instead....

Originally Posted by Hanna

Originally Posted by Vadim Mo

Я люблю Америку

Seriously you must have been drinking too much Coke...... Have some vodka instead....

Британию или Канаду я люблю не меньше.

Чего мне выпить?

А мне все равно нравится Европа, а не Америка.

Originally Posted by Vadim Mo

Чего мне выпить?

Бросай пить, вставай на лыжи. =)

Originally Posted by BappaBa

Бросай пить, вставай на лыжи. =)

Легко!

Originally Posted by Seraph

I think Russians are very intelligent. They know corruption when they see it. Perception of Corruption Index This is like inverse IQ test. Low score (red) means "the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians", that citizens believe corruption is common in their country. Common people in the green and yellow countries simply do not know how corruption operates in their countries. More effective brain washing in yellow and green countries.

хаха, мне совсем не удивительно что самая зелёная страна на этой картинке - Швеция! вообще у нас такой безобидный менталитет ... ^_^

I love the glass on skis! Very classy souvenir - looks quite old though. My grandfather would like that. He collects funny drinking paraphernalia.
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What's this talk about the map? Clearly dark green means "best"!

Edit, got to comment to defend my country: Actually it's true. There is hardly no corruption because it's a very equal society. People would immediately notice if politicians became noticeably richer than say, a teacher or a highly skilled worker. They simply don't and it's the hallmark of politics in Sweden. Anyone who wants to be a successful politician in Sweden has to appear like "the man next door". There ARE moderately rich people but there are no politicians among them, apart from the current foreign minister who is an exception due to his aristocratic background.

Meanwhile in Russia people involved in politics are helping themselves to entire factories or shopping malls.... To me this seems like a terrible problem in Russia.

How can you accept this; particularly with ex-public property that was built up through the labour of the older generation: It's disgusting to hear that a small gang of unscrupulous people have literally "robbed" the Russian people of their property, many old people in Russia are living in poverty and that the Russian state doesn't stop the scavenging.

Sorry if I seem critical, please don't take offense, I say this because I like Russia and care about it. But surely there must have been a better and more equal way of dismantling socialism? It's such a tragedy.

It's seems like a travesty that someone old, who worked hard all their life in good faith to build socialism etc.. has to live their last years at the very bottom of a mercilessly capitalist society.



PS -- Does anyone know what happened to the sick old lady who was expelled from Finland to Russia about a week ago? I was following the story in the Swedish press but I don't know what happened with her after she was expelled?

Hanna, I agree with you. I don't think it's because people are oblivious to what's going on around them that Sweden is colored dark-green in this picture. even though a common stereotype (based on some amount of truth) of Swedes is that we are very naive. ^_^ but yeah, this country has very little corruption and it's egalitarian. and that's why I choose to live here. :P

I'm also sad about the hmmm..."political wellbeing" of Russia. It seems to me, that Russia never experienced true socialism because there wasn't enough freedom, and now there is definitely no democracy because there is no freedom. Corruption is one of the main problems in my opinion, and corruption is a vicious circle, once it's started how do you make it stop? maybe it's just too hard to get a country so large in political order? maybe having very strong and powerful leaders is really the easiest (only?) way of keeping such a large population together. I dunno...it just makes me sad...that there is so much inequality in this beautiful country...

привет всем! я новичок, а вот обсуждение интересное.
так как я тоже шведка, я могу подтверждать то что Hanna сказала про стереотипы о русском народе.. но есть в нашей стране тоже другие стереотипы.

по моему, скандинави больше всего думают что в России очень страшно и русскими тяжело. они представляют себе мрачные, серые здания, грязные улицы где бродят бездомные собаки и алкаши, и думают что Россия впервых потерпела от коммунизма, а потом в 1990-ых от бедности, а теперь наверно еще страдает чего-нибудь.

моим друзьям совсем непонятно почему я так люблю Россию, несмотря на мои рассказы про теплые и добрые сердца русских людей. но я думаю что другие Шведы тоже знают о тепле русской души, ведь они считают что русские сильно радуются и сердятся. ...да и пьют. -_-

кстати, по-моему в России вправду самое красивое метро в мире. не только в Москве, но и в Питере! а что касается вежливости кассирш и официантов - я думаю что это тоже правда - у них никогда нет улыбок. :P

Originally Posted by Majechka

серые здания, грязные улицы где бродят бездомные собаки и алкаши,

As portrayed in the terrible film "Lilja 4-ever" It put me off Russia for a decade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbggn...eature=related
That's an absolutely terrible film, one of the most depressing ones I have ever seen; taking place in Russia in the 1990s. Don't know how realistic it is though. I wouldn't recommend anyone to watch it or you will lose your inspiration to learn Russian for a very long time. Film "Bumer", same thing.

But I think it was a rather confused mix of opnions; some people completely idealised the USSR; others were overly paranoid about it. Either way, everyone could see that things were really bad for Russians in the 1990s.

Now there is an obsession about to what degree there is democracy or not in Russia, as if that was the solution to all (clearly not, since many of these problems arose during the most democratic era).

Originally Posted by Hanna

Why even care though? As long as you are proud of your nationality, why should you care what other countries think?

Look at the French and the Americans; they just assume that everyone who don't love them is an idiot or a terrorist......

Hanna,
Your statement about Americans is stupid.

Scott