Quote Originally Posted by Johanna
But I don't know what the situation is in Russia, Ukraine etc!
I am curious of course, since I am studying Russians. Are people going to laugh at me or ignore me?
It is difficult to compare because the viewpoint of a native speaker is different from the viewpoint of a foreigner. You need an impression of some foreigners who lived in Russia etc. And I think that situation may be very different in Moscow where are many foreigners and, say, not-so-big town like mine.

Generally if you travel yourself you will have more problems with infrastructure than with language snobism. ExUSSR is still a very bad place for the tourists.

Are people going to laugh at me or ignore me?
In a town like mine far foreigners (not xUSSR) are still very exotic. So you can expect much friendly attention especially if you show at least some knowledge of the language. At least few words. Maybe people will laugh sometimes but it will hardly be abusive. And Sweden is accepted positively. On the other hand you always risk to pay for the same service more than native speakers because the price is often a subject of negotiations and Western Europeans are considered to be rich.

--How often do you meet foreigners who do not speak good Russian?
There are some Azerbaijan people in the market. They usually speak acceptable Russian though with heavy accent.
There were a series of Chinese students in our college. They tried to keep together and their Russian even after several years was awful (if was at all). I don't know how did they learn.

--Is the situation different in countries like Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan?
I think Ukraine is more tolerant then Russia to strangers (no matter of language). But my experience is limited.

--Do you know any foreigners who have learnt Russian and can speak it well?
I know one Chinese with perfect Russian. But he spent here about half of his life (20-30 years).

--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?
Of course I would not be happy if it hinder the work. But if not then no problem. I'd be much more unhappy to work with native speaker with vulgar speech.

--Can Baltic people usually speak good Russian or not? I have noticed that they always mention "native fluency in Russian" on their CV/Resume.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

--Are there any nationalities (not ex Soviet) who always impress you with their skills in Russian?
Well, theoretically Slavs have much less problems in learning Russian but I have no good statistics personally. Two Poles I met in train spoke quite good.

--What foreign accents sound good/bad/cool....?
I like Polish accent, it sounds aristocratic.
There was a humoristic dubbing of the movie "Lord of the rings". Elves there were dubbed with Baltic accent and dwarves with Caucasian one. It was in a very good correspondence with our impression of these accents.

Random funny person speaking Russian: A female medical student from Asia..
What would you think of her efforts? She has spent five years in Russia.
Not so good for five years. I'd not like to have her as a medic, it would be too problematic to communicate.