Thread: help translate letter written in Russian and Ukrainian

My husband & I are in the process of adopting a Ukrainian orphan. He wrote us a hand written letter in Russian and Ukrainian. I need someone to translate the letter he wrote us. It is not long, 8-10 sentences. I can scan it and send it to anyone willing to help me. You can contact me directly at my email address, luvmy3boys@bak.rr.com if you wish to help. Many thanks. Marie Beebe

My letter has been successfully translated now. A great big thank you for everyone that was willing to help! You will never know how much it meant to me. May God Bless all of you for your kindness!

The letter itself I found a bit interesting; it is not written in Ukrainian, but it is Russian written with the Ukrainian alphabet, e.g. пісьмо instead of письмо(the Ukrainian word for it would be "лист"). There are also some parts spelled rather phonetically - щяслив, іщо. Is this writing in one language but in the alphabet of another fairly common among Ukrainian children? I can only guess that when they were taught to write, they learned the Ukrainian alphabet, but they speak Russian. If you are interested, you can look here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/Pravit/hand.jpg

Originally Posted by Pravit

it is not written in Ukrainian, but it is Russian written with the Ukrainian alphabet, e.g. пісьмо instead of письмо(the Ukrainian word for it would be "лист"). There are also some parts spelled rather phonetically - щяслив, іщо. Is this writing in one language but in the alphabet of another fairly common among Ukrainian children? I can only guess that when they were taught to write, they learned the Ukrainian alphabet, but they speak Russian.

Pravit, я согласна с твоим анализом. Очевидно, что из детского дома дети ходят в украинскую школу, где русский сейчас считается иностранным языком и его, возможно, предлагают позже как предмет. Воспитатели и нянечки же в детском доме врядли перешли на украинский в общении с детьми. За маленькую зарплату не захочешь напрягаться.

Could it be one of those Russian/Ukrainian mix languages?

Originally Posted by TATY

Could it be one of those Russian/Ukrainian mix languages?

Нет, это просто безграмотный русский. Странно, что так пишет мольчик двенадцати лет.

You are all correct! The letter is written by a 12 year old orphan from Kharkiv, Ukraine. In the last few years, Ukraine has made Ukrainian the official language of the country. However, my orphan resides in the eastern region which is Russian speaking. This region has resisted change. This must be why alphabet and laguage is all mixed up. Of course I only know a few words of conversational Russian, and can't read it at all, so I didn't know to tell Pravit about the differences. Again, thanks to all those willing to help me, and a special thanks to Pravit who gave me the additional gift of learning that the letter was actually written by my boy and not by an adult at the orphange! THANKS!!

It is probably just because he has been in an orphanage and hasnt had any real schooling or education. All of the Ukrainians i know are from eastern ukraine, and they all prefer russian over ukrainian when speaking, or reading/writing.

so I didn't know to tell Pravit about the differences.

I have a feeling he already knew.

Hope you have fun with your new kid!

Some orphanages have good education you know. In my orphanage they were very strict about that.