(no subject)

[rainbowbubble19.livejournal.com]

Oh... I found this flashcard in my box, as I'm going through words and phrases for review. I thought it was incredibly cute:

"Извините, Я не понимаю. Я Американец/ка."

"Excuse me, I don't understand. I'm an American."

This is what what useful to me as a foreigner, studying in Russia. :)

Comments

[kasak.livejournal.com]

I would say "я иностранка," since some people are feeling a bit put off by Americans these days.

[rainbowbubble19.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. Interesting... of course, this statement totally be used in dire situations where someone comes up to me and starts speaking randomly (which happened quite frequently, despite the fact that I really did look like a foreigner- a dark, short, asian girl with a lip ring ! O_o)

I never said outright "Я Американка!" because there were several instances , even in broad daylight on busy Nevsky Prospect, I almost got mugged-twice. I admit that as an American, I am privileged. I told others that my background was Filipino, before I told them the country I was from. My funky style automatically deemed me as "American"... Even my urban-esque clothes didn't look Russian...

Actually, if anything, a lot of Russians I met (especially young adults) were interested in Americans. They didn't automatically dismiss us as "naive" or "stupid"... I think they understood that media tends not to give fair representation (especially with Russian experience under Communisim, Putin, etc.)... I mean, this is entirely open to debate; every experience was different. As a newcomer to the Russian language, even to the culture- I felt that I was embraced... Although friends that I travelled with (who were black) felt threatened... One even had an encounter with an extremely large neo-Nazi skinhead group in St. Petersburg.

My favorite memory of St. Petersburg is when I went to a small Russian party, where we exchanged political, social views... I felt cultural immersion, despite my paltry level of Russian language. Some of them spoke very good English, others had to be translated. I had told them things I've done in the United States- my own activism, protesting the war, art, and writing. One girl was amazed that I participated in a large a large anti-war in Iraq demostration in New York City and San Francisco... She wondered why the American media didn't give it a lot of coverage. It was quite interesting to engage this intimiate level of exchange... I did experience some resistance and anti-American views, but most of it was political and social. I had to reveal to them that my own political and social beliefs weren't the same as America's...

Anyway, that's a good phrase, I'll remember it next time I travel.

[cema.livejournal.com]

Something like this may be useful, but do you understand how it reads? "Americans don't understand." :-)

[rainbowbubble19.livejournal.com]

Yes, re-reading that statement, it does make me laugh. But the point of it, was to emphasize that we were foreigners. My friends used "Jamaican" or "Kenyan" or "Turkish" in it's place.

[lebedeff.livejournal.com]

"Отвали, я не вьезжаю в тему"
"я не просекаю фишку"

In Russia speak so =)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Come on, you really don't have to scare these people off with those silly examples of bad Russian slang. They are people who are interested in the language and culture of your own country, aren't they? Why use them as easy targets for your wicked sense of humour?

[lebedeff.livejournal.com]

I did not want anybody to offend, it is even not malicious humour, is the validity
By the way. It not bad sleng. Bad it is much worse

я не хотел никого обидеть.. и это тоже часть русской культуры и от нее никуда не деться...

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it really is quite Russian - to play a smartass in front of foreigners while being barely able to put two words together in their language.

Let's speak Ukranian...

[kolik.livejournal.com]

"Sorry, I haven't caught what you have just said! Could you please repeat it?" is equal to "Шо-о?!"

(It's an anecdote, of course.)

[beowabbit]

Useful for when news reports come on.
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