Quote:
, but when i translate some things, then look up the pronunciation for each letter, it seems clumsy, and i wasn't sure if maybe this is the wrong way of going about things.
я люблю Вас.
this is what i get when i type "i love you" into an internet language translator. when i look up each letter's pronunciation, i get something along the lines of "ya l-yoo-bl-yoo vos", and that second word seems odd. plus i've listened to russian and english versions of the same song, and a part where i know the woman says "i love you", it sounds completely different from the pronunciation i determined. is there an informal way or something? forgive me if this all seems silly or obvious, i'm just a 17-year-old who loves russia.
Actually, this particular phrase is written almost phonetically. Just remember that the "yoo"-s in "люблю" are very (especially so to a Russian ear) different from "ya" in "я" (or, say, "ю" in "Юля"), as the "y" is not pronounced and just indicates palatilization of the preceding consonant (л) there. The 'oo' is not quite an 'oo' either. 'y' actually appears only at the beginning of a word, or following a vowel, or a 'ь'/'ъ'. It may sound a bit tricky but there are a few nice guides out there; you may try google and there were some links in this forum as well.