Thread: Are native Russian speakers 'language snobs' or tolerant?

Originally Posted by Johanna

--How often do you meet foreigners who do not speak good Russian?

Quite often really. We have many immigrants from Middle Asia and Caucasus here and they seldom speak good Russian.

--Do you know any foreigners who have learnt Russian and can speak it well?

Yes, but that's a rare occasion.

--Do you think that the situation with Russian-as-a-foreign-language has changed since the Soviet era? If so, how?

That depends on the point of view. If we consider all the former Ex-USSR republic as 'foreign' countries then yes, the situation has deteriorated rather dramatically, but if we only count the countries that were 'foreign' some 20 years ago then I think that the situation is the same.

--What would you think if you worked with someone who was not Russian and made lots of mistakes when he spoke and wrote in Russian?

I work in such a company. It belongs to two Armenians and many people there are Armenians. I got used to it and now I hardly pay attention to their mistakes.

--Can Baltic people usually speak good Russian or not? I have noticed that they always mention "native fluency in Russian" on their CV/Resume.

Those who are older than 30 years old are probably quite fluent with Russian but with the young people the situation is not so universal.

--What about the Central Asian people who work in Russia - what are their Russian skills generally like?

Generally: from ok to worse to afwul. There are people who speak perfect Russian but again - nearly all of them are of middle age or older and they have learnt the language in the Soviet era.

--What about Westerners - how often do you meet somebody who can actually speak Russian well?

I met a few Westerners who spoke good-to-perfect Russian but I think I can count them by my fingers on a single hand. Those who speak average Russian are more numerous but still there aren't very many of them. Sometimes I meed a man who thinks that he can speak Russian but I don't understand them for some reason

--Are there any nationalities (not ex Soviet) who always impress you with their skills in Russian?

I think not. I haven't noticed that one nationality differs from another in this respect.

--What foreign accents sound good/bad/cool....?

Caucasian accent is so common that it became a part of anecdotes. and the accent of the Jews from Odessa is absolutely remarkable, also the accent of people from Baltic states sounds very funny to me.

Originally Posted by Ramil

That depends on the point of view. If we consider all the former Ex-USSR republic as 'foreign' countries then yes, the situation has deteriorated rather dramatically, but if we only count the countries that were 'foreign' some 20 years ago then I think that the situation is the same.

Of course it became much worse everywhere. Russian stopped being taught in many countries and the number of students of Russian has decreased many times since that.