It takes time

I always used "это занимает время " to say "it takes time".

But someone told me no one talks like this in Russia. For instance, if you wanna say it takes time to write, you say: "Долго писать"

But it sounds a bit of slang to me to make from "it takes time (+verb)" -> "долго + глагол"

Is it really how it is?

"Это занимает/займет время" is good Russian. Yes, few people use good Russian, it's true.
If you need to accent a process which goes too long (or will go too long), you should say "это [слишком/очень] долго", "это будет долго" or "это будет слишком долго". What you mean for "это" depends on context.
When you say "долго + verb" you should understand that not all the verbs can be used with that, because it must be logical.
Суп долго готовить -> it takes time to cook soup
Роман долго писать -> it takes time to write a novel
Я долго писАла (or пИсала LOL) -> I was writing for a long time (or pissing LOL, depends on the stress)
We have another construction: "Требуется время, чтобы + verb" or "Требуется время на + noun in accusative case" (it's also good Russian, so your friends will be disappointed). For example:
Требуется время, чтобы приготовить суп.
Требуется время на приготовление супа = На приготовление супа требуется время.
But in spoken Russian you can use "долго" in some combinations, so it's ok. It comes with practice.

Normal phrases are: "Это займет какое-то время." - It will take some time. "Обычно писанина занимает много времени." - Usually writing takes much time.

(Normally you should put something before "время".)

On the other hand phrases like "It takes time to XXX" should not contain word "это". They should be rephrased like "XXXing takes much time" = "XXX занимает (займет) много времени."

Constructions like "Это долго писать" are very colloquial though in speech are used more often indeed.

That clears it :) Thanks, gang ^^

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Valda

if you wanna say it takes time to write, you say: "Долго писать"

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If asked the question, which cannot be answered with couple words, and you refuse to answer, you could reply with "Долго писать".
But if you decide to reply (for example, within some instant messaging app, or you are in the SMS chat), you reply differently:

"Погоди-ка...", "Сейчас...", "Минуточку..."

More often we use "Долго объяснять", which also means the refusal to give an explanation.

Valda: Note the proverb Не сразу Москва строилась! -- Moscow wasn't built all at once!

Рим не за день построили ("Not by the end of [only] a day did they build Rome") is also well-known with slight variants in the phrasing, but AFAIK it's considered a borrowing from either English or French -- not a "native" expression.

It's "Москва не сразу строилась". Never heard your version.

Thanks for the correction, Kib! I guess it does sound much more normal to have the adverbial construction immediately before the verb.