[identity profile] shandeegoddess.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] learn_russian
Hey everybody. Have you ever had a situation in Russia where you struggled to get your point across. I've had many.

I remember one of the first times I used public transport and I only knew a few words in Russian. The essential stuff needed to survive. Here's a convo I had with an evil female ticket collector on a bus.

Ticket collector: *says something in Russian which I couldn't comprehend*
Me: *gives confused look* Nie znayu
Ticket collector: Shto nie znayu?
Me: *raises eyebrow* Ya nie znayu *notices the bus has almost arrived at my stop*
Ticket collector: *starts bitchin at me*
Me: Er...*points and makes hand signals at the door* Eta moya (I think I said something like that) Lol.
Ticket collector: Hmph! *keeps on bitchin at me*
Me: Paka *hops off the bus in a jiffy and walks away*

So there you see. One of my cringe-worthy moments on Russian public transport :-P

Recently though, they've introduced these new buses where you have to press a button to open the doors, and me not knowing where the button was located had to scream at the bus driver to open the damn doors and blushing furiously, finally stepped out.

Heh. And the crazy moments will go on.

Oh and by the way, I haven't written much Russian since I took my exam in summer of 2004. Is my handwriting readable anymore? Lol.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Shandee

Date: 2005-05-02 06:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ex-qnn171.livejournal.com
wow that's nice =)))
our conductors are really crazy sometimes

Date: 2005-05-02 06:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bodraya.livejournal.com
very nice=)))
but some mistakes there=)
Я люблю гитарЫ, мальчикОВ, музыкУ, коШЕК =)))
Good luck with russian=))))
;)

Date: 2005-05-02 07:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] octavarium.livejournal.com
а у нас разве говорят "очки от солнца"? :)
быть может "солнечные очки"... не?

Date: 2005-05-02 07:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] night1ngale.livejournal.com
We say "солнцезащитные очки".

Date: 2005-05-03 03:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yms.livejournal.com
I don't believe it ;) You should stop reading books too much and go out to real people ;)

Date: 2005-05-02 07:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bodraya.livejournal.com
хммм....
не знаю=)
вообше правда лучше "солнечные очки" =)))

Date: 2005-05-02 06:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ataltane.livejournal.com
Nice handwriting! (well, to my non-cyrillic-native eyes). I wish mine was like that. I might copy your "l"s, I always have problems with them :).

Still, I kind of wish you'd stuck in a "я люблюу водку" in among the summers, cats, ice cream and chocolate, just for fun :)

на русскоязычный взгляд

Date: 2005-05-02 08:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] samtaburetkin.livejournal.com
actually if I were to see this handwriting I'd say a girl from middle school wrote that. Those rounded and a bit unstable letters... Are you in the middle school? :)

Очки от солнца -- вполне нормально. A little bit unusual; солнцезащитные очки is a formal term, and is a bit longish; солнечные очки is a literal translation from English.

Re: на русскоязычный взгляд

Date: 2005-05-02 09:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] onodera.livejournal.com
Just say тёмные очки.

Date: 2005-05-02 08:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] triptyl.livejournal.com
Why “гитари” but “мальчикы”? “Я люблю любовь” is clumsy, it means “I love loveness” (if this construction is correct in English).

Handwriting seems pretty good for foreign student, but notice that russian children write like you only at first year of teaching.

Sorry, my English is awful.

Date: 2005-05-02 09:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ex-novia.livejournal.com
he is right:) "I love love" is what you're saying:) in Russian, it sounds funny :P good luck though!

Date: 2005-05-02 09:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] egh0st.livejournal.com

Maybe she actually means "I love to make love?" Then the sentence has some meaning... Especially since she loves boys too :)

:P

Date: 2005-05-02 10:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ex-novia.livejournal.com
"I love to make love" is said differently in Russian..just like in English, if you hear "I love love" what would you think? that she loves "love" (the noun)? or making love? (then why dooesn't she say so?)
as i said, "love love" isn't something people say in Russian;)

loving boys is fine, though:)))))))

Re: :P

Date: 2005-05-02 10:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] egh0st.livejournal.com

I know how to say it in russian :) And I know that during soviet times there were practially no euphemisms (unless rude) to use for that.

Maybe she didn't write "I love to make love" just because she's shy :))

Date: 2005-05-02 08:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mystache.livejournal.com
Wow. My russian teacher needs to teach us script. I can't read that at all.

Date: 2005-05-02 08:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gera.livejournal.com
Ya nie znayu

The first sentence that everyone residing in foreign country should learn is "I don't speak [your language]"
So, next time try: "Я не говорю по-русски".
(Although, in your case it should be pretty obvious...)

Date: 2005-05-03 01:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skeptikos.livejournal.com
:))

I can imagine the conversation:
Ticket collector: *says something in Russian which [livejournal.com profile] shandeegoddess couldn't comprehend*
[livejournal.com profile] shandeegoddess: Я не говорю по-русски.
Ticket collector: Ах по-русски не говоришь? Ну и п****й пешкодралом щас высажу!

И ведь высадит же! Поэтому лучше денег дать.

Date: 2005-05-03 04:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cema.livejournal.com
So you are saying everyone needs to learn just one word: СКОКА?

Date: 2005-05-05 11:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skeptikos.livejournal.com
And the numerals, as well. :)

Date: 2005-05-03 06:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surok75.livejournal.com
and then people always jump in and say 'but you DO speak Russian'...leaving you completely bewildered and shaking your head.

Date: 2005-05-02 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/__marginal/
Well, you don't really have to talk with ticket collector. Just give her a
ticket price (in Moscow it's 11 rubles) and take the ticket. That is all.

ticket price

Date: 2005-05-02 09:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] -starrider-.livejournal.com
Not always 11 roubles. Often it costs more than 11 roubles, sometimes less.

Re: ticket price

Date: 2005-05-02 10:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/__marginal/
It can cost more than 11 rubles only if this bus goes outside of Moscow.
(We are talking abou public buses in Moscow here.) Public bus cannot cost less than 11 rub. Also, if you buy a ticket from a driver, the price is 15 rub. And if you didn't buy a ticket in time, you can be fined at 100 rub.

There are also minibuses (marshrutki). There prices may vary from 10 to 20 rub. But there are no conductors, the driver collects the fare.

Re: ticket price

Date: 2005-05-07 06:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] belacane.livejournal.com
it seems to depend on the mood of the ticket taker....

Date: 2005-05-02 10:52 pm (UTC)
ext_3158: (Default)
From: [identity profile] kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com
Your handwriting is certainly more legible than mine. I tried for a while to imitate one of my TA's handwriting (I wanted not to have an English accent in written Russian), but I gave up. :P

Date: 2005-05-03 06:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surok75.livejournal.com
not having an accent in writing can be a real pain! I communicate with a lot of people by icq - as long as we keep it on a fairly simple level, I don't make mistakes, and am mostly contextually appropriate. and then they don't believe me when I say I'm foreign...same with handwriting.

now if I could just get my grammar and my spoken accent and everything else sorted out! sigh.

Date: 2005-05-03 08:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lifelessnbroken.livejournal.com
*is sure someone said this but i didnt read all the comments*

she probably got mad because you said you didn't know. probably ya nie ponimayu (sorry im bad at phonetics) would have been better, unless all russian conductors are mean, mean people..they probably would make me cry lol im sensitive and don't like when people yell at me sometimes. =P

and your handwriting is awesome..im real horrible at writing in russian

Date: 2005-05-03 08:56 am (UTC)

Date: 2005-05-05 10:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/__marginal/

BTW, notice on you user pic says "you need me like a bad habit".

This reminds me a well-known proverb "I need it like a hole in my head" (мне это нужно как дырка в голове). AFAIK, this proverb has Russian/Jewish origin.

Date: 2005-05-06 06:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] night1ngale.livejournal.com
I recommend this link - http://www.exile.ru/field_guide.html
:)

Date: 2005-05-07 06:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] belacane.livejournal.com
oh my that is hilarious!

Date: 2005-05-07 06:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] belacane.livejournal.com
heheh.. i'm living in moscow right now, and by far the most frustrating and embarassing experiences have been with bitchy old ladies in places of transportation... and not just ticket ladies either.

I make so many mistakes.. but that's how i learn really.

ah russia!
love it.
hate it.

The first time I went to Moscow

Date: 2005-05-08 10:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjertsen.livejournal.com
I felt like such a complete foreigner (a very good experience for an American and one that makes me much more patient with foreigners here.) (Not that I was mean before, but I wasn't always as understanding as I could have been.)
It's not just the language, it's *everything* -- my first night in Moscow, I tried to cross Tverskaya street above ground and almost got creamed by a car. I just didn't know. People were yelling at me (to get out of the street I assume) and I didn't know what they were saying.
I'm still confused about why some of the people who yelled at me(in the metro, in the museum, on the street) were annoyed with me...When I am in russia, I just assume I'm going to make a fool of myself at least 5 times a day and try not to let it bother me...It's still a bit embarassing though.
Page generated Jan. 29th, 2026 01:26 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios