Thread: Looking for language exchange

I read through your last passage over on the thread about learning one's own way, Helene. You really only made two mistakes in the whole thing. I'll jot them down here so you can see them:

But he wants to start with the most essential things for him (himself).

Mind also that English sounds in all kinds of the media in Russia, it’s in songs, movies, it’s popular. Here it’s kind of prestige to know English. (Mind also that English appears in all kinds of media in Russia. It’s in songs, and movies. It’s popular. Here it’s kind of prestige to know English)

Originally Posted by kgcole

My friend is feminine and works as a long-distance truck driver. Is it really surprising?

It is surprising for me (or to me?). I have never saw or hear about a woman working as a long distance truck driver.

Originally Posted by kgcole

Do you recommend any book which you loved to read?

Well, I don’t read much, to be honest. The more I hardly ever read fiction at all. I love Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and his Resurrection, Goncharov’s Oblomov, Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog, Somerset Maugham’s stories, all of them, all the stories by O’Henry, Heaven Has No Favorites by Remarque, Jack London’s Martin Eden, and many others, I guess. Yet I like opinion journalism not less. I also like more practical books like Dale Carnegie’s things and similar to those. I like books like The Amusing Bible by Léo Taxil, I don’t know of what genre it is.

Originally Posted by kgcole

In your opinion, how do English and Russian writer differ?

I don’t know. I doubt there can be any satisfactory answer to this question.

Originally Posted by kgcole

Do you think male and female writers differ?

Yes, I do. I think male writers are definitely brighter than female ones.

Ooh, it was a tough essey. I had to look up all those names and titles, and look for “opinion journalism”. I failed to find the translation of the word “публицистика” and “познавательный”.

Originally Posted by Helenej

When I said that a word in a particular context sounds bookish to me I meant that it is not typical of colloquial speech, but rather of literature style. Maybe I should just say, "It sounds like in the literature"? But it's not compact. We say, "Выражение относится к литературному стилю."

Oh! I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying, Helene. Maybe in that case you can just say, "It sounds literary".

Originally Posted by kgcole

Oh! I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying, Helene. Maybe in that case you can just say, "It sounds literary".

Perhaps the word "formal" also conveys this meaning.

Originally Posted by Helenej

Perhaps the word "formal" also conveys this meaning.

I think you're right. "Formal" is pretty close to what you're trying to say.

Hey Helene, I was waiting for a response from you in English. I didn't know if you were waiting on me or not...lol

Originally Posted by kgcole

Hey Helene, I was waiting for a response from you in English. I didn't know if you were waiting on me or not...lol

Oh, really? Excuse me, I didn't think it was of any interest to you. I thought it was mere practice. Ok, I'll redeem my mistake in a short while.

Kevin, where is your homework? I cannot see it. Don't say you had a headache.
Sit down. You've got a two.

Originally Posted by Helenej

Kevin, where is your homework? I cannot see it. Don't say you had a headache.
Sit down. You've got a two.

lol...yes...I'll answer both after I have some coffee

Helen "as I do" means "as I have to remember" (the oddities of...)
The verb Do is a dummy-word for the phrase "have to remember".
I bet you knew that.

kgcole
I think it's a good idea to memorize verbs along with the case they usually ask for.
Within a meaningful context, preferrably.

Я хочу поделиться с тобой своей радостью.
I want to share my joy with you.

делиться / поделиться / разделить / разделять с кем-либо needs instrumental and the preposition.
This is how you're refferring to the person you would like to share something with.

делиться / поделиться чем-либо needs instrumental too.
This is how you're refferring to the object to be shared.

делить / поделить / разделить / разделять что-либо needs accusative.
This is how you're refferring to the object to be shared.

That said, you can also compose something like "Я хочу разделить с тобой мою радость".
(which means almost the same as the sentence above with so miniscule difference that it isn't even worth mentioning)

---------

I think делить / поделить / разделить / разделять чем-либо needs instrumental because we can say something like:
Я разделила торт ножом. I divided the cake with a knife. The knife serves as a tool. That's why instrumental.

Originally Posted by Eugene-p

That said, you can also compose something like "Я хочу разделить с тобой мою радость".
(which means almost the same as the sentence above with so miniscule difference that it isn't even worth mentioning)

That’s what I find disconcerting about the phrase, Eugene. To me, it’s natural to say "Я хочу разделить с тобой мою радость". Here in this next phrase it’s the verb+preposition and instrumental…“…делиться со мной…”; what I don’t understand is why it’s not “…делиться со мной своих мысли”? Instead, it’s “…делиться со мной своими мыслями.” I’m trying to reason it out….

Originally Posted by Eugene-p

Helen "as I do" means "as I have to remember" (the oddities of...)
The verb Do is a dummy-word for the phrase "have to remember".
I bet you knew that.

Женя, I still don't understand. What is the Russian for "I do the oddities of certain prepositions"?

Another crazy idea that just struck my mind is the following:

Take a look at these two sentences:

Я сражаюсь мечом.
Я делюсь радостью.

I think the tool- or means- idea behind the sword is quite obvious, but we can also treat joy as a tool for "sharing",
like I take my joy and "share" it to you

(But seriously, it's literally like I take my joy, divide it into two pieces and give one of them to you, that's why these words have the same stem, I amuse you by means of my joy)

why it’s not “…делиться со мной своих мысли”? Instead, it’s “…делиться со мной своими мыслями.”

All I can say is that it's because of the "ся" at the end of the word. Verbs with "ся" work a bit differently.

Originally Posted by Eugene-p

Another crazy idea that just struck my mind is the following:

I think the tool- or means- idea behind the sword is quite obvious, but we can also treat joy as a tool for "sharing",
like I take my joy and "share" it to you

Wait, I think I may understand what you're saying....it's like "…делиться со мной своими мыслями." literally means "...by my thoughts I share with you?" It a strange way that sort of makes sense to me...lol. At least that's closer to understanding than I was before! haha

Basically the main idea behind the words with "делить" is division.

Here are some of the concept meanings of the words:


Делить - I take something and divide it into parts.

Разделять - I do the делить and then treat the pieces as standalone things.
(Same as "I can understand your oppinion = Я разделяю твоё мнение = I divide your opinion and take a part of it because I feel comfortable with it")

Отделять - I cut off (divide) a part of something, grab it and forget about the rest.

---

Делиться - I do the делить to myself. That's the way an amoeba behaves.
Another one is that I do the делить to something I have and then give one or more of the parts to someone.

Разделяться - Something does the делить to itself and forgets that there was a time when it was a whole.
This happens when a group divides into smaller groups. Compare with разделять.

Отделяться - I do the делить and associate myself with one of the parts. That happens when I отделяюсь from a group of people. Compare with отделять.

Wait, I think I may understand what you're saying....it's like "…делиться со мной своими мыслями." literally means "...by my thoughts I share with you?" It a strange way that sort of makes sense to me...lol. At least that's closer to understanding than I was before! haha

Yeah that was the impression I intended to create

Well, luckily we managed to find some kind of logic in this particular case but there are a lot issues that can seem illogical to you like:

Забыться (тяжёлым) сном
Идти лесом / горами
Пробираться кустами
Оказаться умным парнем
Родиться крепким ребёнком,
and so on.

I think even native Russians can't explain the reason why the instrumental case is used for these and like. So I just suggest that you simply memorize a verb along with the case it needs, not wracking your brains around the reason why, just like I already mentioned in my post #82. I think it's going to spare you a lot of effort and brain cells

Originally Posted by Eugene-p

I think even native Russians can't explain the reason why the instrumental case is used for these and like. So I just suggest that you simply memorize a verb along with the case it needs, not wracking your brains around the reason why, just like I already mentioned in my post #82. I think it's going to spare you a lot of effort and brain cells

Do you know of a resource that would list verbs like that, along with their respective case requirements?

Originally Posted by kgcole

Do you know of a resource that would list verbs like that, along with their respective case requirements?

I think I found something interesting.
http://www.interword.se/Syntax/Lekti...al_Rektion.pdf