Thread: German Chancellor's Russian daughter

Originally Posted by Pravit

I thought it was Udmurt you forgot. Or are Votjakki and Udmurt the same language? I don't know much about them, obviously.

Yep, Votjakki = Udmurt. In Russian Udmurt (Votjakki) is удмуртский.

Originally Posted by Евгения Белякова

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If she was older, and decided to relearn Russian, it could be very difficult, or it could be very easy. It depends on the person, and their ability. But, I disagree when you say "there's not much to forget".

Jane, lass, when I says there's nowt to forget, there's nowt to forget. Fifteen Cockney gobshites on t' dead yorkshireman's chest, but she's is only a small bairn!

i know heaps of people who come from other countries and, perhaps an aussie accent is harder to manage than other languages, but even those who came to Australia at a very young age (3 or 4 years old) still have accents from their country of origin. a lot of my friends are indian or phillo and although they speak fluent english they still have accents, even the ones who no longer speak their native language. i have no idea about this chancellor person's daughter... (we have very biased news here and only get news about america england or australia... or iraq now)... but i'd say it depends on how her adoptive parents speak to her... if they know how to speak russian and speak to her in both languages then she'll probably end up speaking russian with a german accent. they'd have to know some russian but 'cause otherwise how would she know what the hell they're talking about?

Her adoptive parents don't have to know Russian. She will eventually forget her Russian and speak only German, if nobody speaks Russian with her. Even if her adoptive parents spoke Russian, since everyone around her was speaking German, she won't want to speak Russian.

Many Americans adopt Russian babies/toddlers/children. Actually I don't think babies are really adopted from there. The youngest is maybe a year? I don't know. Well what happens usually is the child is adopted to the American parents, the american parents speak English to them, then they don't want to speak Russian, and then they forget.

I think it's too bad, but nobody's fault.

Originally Posted by Евгения Белякова

I think it's too bad, but nobody's fault.

I think it's OK. It's the nature's way. No language is better/worse. One language lost, one gained, who cares. I wouldn't give a hoot if it happened to me.

Yes, it is nature's way. To different people they may think different things, but I think it's too bad for a child to lose their native language and then learn a new language. Just my opinion.