Foreign Languages and Kharkov Women

[Icarus]

Hi everyone,

Im taking a trip to Kharkov soon and wanted some idea from the experienced travellers about foreign languages there.

I speak English, Spanish, and some French. I will be running a newspaper ad campaign in Kharkov; Kharkov because as a large university base the women there, students, may be more exposed to learning foreign languages that I know.

My Russian is very basic, and to curb the language barrier I will include in my newspaper profile my language skills.

My question is, is it reasonable to assume that women may also speak Spanish or French?

Thanks guys

Ick

[Jack]

Icaus a very small percentage will speak Spanish or French.  Most will speak English, Germen seems to be second favorite foreign language, in my opinion only.

[Icarus]

Thanks for your reply Jack.

You mentioned they speak english, from your experience is the general level of english spoken in Kharkov sufficient to carry a conversation, learn about each other etc?

Ick

[Jack]

You will run across all levels of English.

Basically, and my opinion only, you will see a greater percentage of ladies who speak English from 20 to 30, then you will from ladies 35 and over.

Ladies replying from newspaper ads on average we see a smaller percentage who speak English.

[Olga_Mouse]

Icaus a very small percentage will speak Spanish or French.  
Most will speak English, German seems to be second favorite foreign language, in my opinion only.

I'd never say German can possibly be the favourite foreign language (absolutely non-romantic, and incredibly complicated grammar!) - but yes, more people study the boring but practical Deutsch in FSU currently than the noble Français or the emotional castellano...

[SANDRO43]

I'd never say German can possibly be the favourite foreign language (absolutely non-romantic, and incredibly complicated grammar!)

And prone to form 'word trains'. I remember one of the first lessons in my German grammar book was entitled Bei der Einwohnermeldeamt (At the Registrar's) .

Yet this feature is valuable semantically to form words for new concepts that define them neatly, and may have contributed to the fact that most modern philosophers were German speakers .

Knowledge of Italiano is infrequent and seems mostly occupation-related, FSUW who list it are often in the tourist, design/fashion business.

or the emotional castilliano...

BTW, it's castellano in Spanish, or Castilian in English .

[ML]

I spent a  month in Kharkiv recently.  I met many women age 40 and above who spoke English; however, such speakers in that age group were probably a small percentage of the total population.

But, my guess would be that a vast majority of the people age 30 and under in Kharkiv speak English.  

My reasoning:  The women I did meet all had children, all of whom spoke nearly perfect English.  On the streets, I often stopped young people to ask  directions, etc.  Without exception, everyone I spoke to in such a manner could converse in English.  

One woman told me that all 'good' parents in Kharkiv were insuring that their children learned English.

Oh as to the other part of your question; I did meet a couple of women in the age 40 and over group who once learned German and another who once learned French.  But they had not kept up with those languages, as they did with English; and none had encouraged their children to learn anything other than English.

I did meet a UW in Kyiv once, who was an interpreter in Italian; for leather shoe importers, as Sandro could guess.


The Ukrainian spelling of this Ukrainian city is Kharkiv . . . not Kharkov.

[ML]

Ladies replying from newspaper ads on average we see a smaller percentage who speak English.

'Smaller' as compared to what Jack?

[ECOCKS]

I also agree German has been the next most popular langauge to learn after English although Spanish is making some headway.

[Brianinaz]

My experience is a bit different than Manlooking's. I have been to Kharkov quite a few times and my wife is from Kharkov. You will find some people who know a bit of English but usually just a few words; enough to point you to the bathroom and such. In the city center more often than not one waiter in a resturant will speak enough English to let you order something to eat. In the shops a few words here and there but comunication is mostly mostly pointing with da da or nyet followed by a thank you (palzhalsta). Out side of the city center it's much more hit and miss. Finding someone who is fluent/conversant is not common. In terms of the the women you will meet it depends on a number of things, the age range, frequent daters, pro-daters and others. Most of the younger ones took English in college but the read and write much better than they speak and understand, especally if they haven't used it in a while. The frequent/pro daters will have much better English skills than than the girl off the street. I think of the women I met before I met my wife there were 2 that you could have a common conversation with but nothing complicated or important.

The bottom line IMO your're going to need a translator when first meeting someone. If you see the same woman many times and she has some English skills you can loose the translator after a while but to start off on the first date without one if the girl is not truley fluent is IMO a mistake

[OlgaH]

Icarus,

you also have a chance to meet a lady who speaks fluent English at English language school in Kharkiv. Don't hesitate to ask them for help to place your add  in the newspapers and/or give you some Russian lessons  The information about a foreign guy looking for his future life partner will circulate fast in their circle, and who knows how things may turn.

http://www.bizlangclub.com/eng/static.php?SectID=roadmap

http://www.discover-ua.com/Education-in-Ukraine/Classes-in-Kharkov.html

[Jumper]

OlgaH-

that is an excellent suggestion!!!!!!!

Finding someone who is fluent/conversant is not common. In terms of the the women you will meet it depends on a number of things, the age range, frequent daters, pro-daters and others. Most of the younger ones took English in college but the read and write much better than they speak and understand, especally if they haven't used it in a while. The frequent/pro daters will have much better English skills than than the girl off the street. I think of the women I met before I met my wife there were 2 that you could have a common conversation with but nothing complicated or important.

I would second that , as this is the same as my experience in the general Ukrainian population in any city other than kiev. (where those fluent in english might be a bit higher in general)

[kievstar]

I spend a lot of time in Kharkiv mainly because wife is from there.  Your 33 / 34 years old and should have no problem getting the attention of 25 year old  plus women.  When it comes to students many are not from Kharkiv and just go school there.  Slim shot at getting someone under 25 in school for a longterm serious relationship.  Most women will not speak English. Most will be into the local students. 

In your news ad clearly state you want someone who speaks the level of English you want - fluent, very good, etc. I would be very specific in your news ad so you do not waste your time.  There is a thread from a year ago where an older man on this board ran into all kind of issues since he was misleading in his ad in Kharkiv. Be clear and to the point. 

My wife spoke no English.  Only people who tend to speak English in Kharkiv went to school for it.  It is not common at all for a RW to be fluent in English under 30 years old in Kharkiv.  You will find many pro daters speaking it.  You will find many Asian and black skinned students who speak English in Kharkiv. 

You will also find that if you need to get around like manlooking did there are many people who know 200 English words and will appear to know more but they just know the basics and mainly from American movies.  Plus many Russian words are almost the same as English. 

If your ad says fluent English you will have no issues. 

[ML]

Yes, it appears that experiences differ quite a bit.

I did in fact interact with a lot of English speaking Ukrainian women age 40 and above; along with many, many younger men and women on the streets of Kharkiv.

And I had no relationships with pro-daters.  The women I met were contacted on monthly pay or free dating websites.  I had no contact with marriage agency gals.

There was a large park near my apartment.  I would walk through it almost every day and sit for awhile on benches there to rest.  Most always I would speak to a nearby 'sitter' and invariably they would reply in English and we would have brief (and sometimes very long) conversations.  Many of these people spoke almost flawless English.

A couple of times, the person I spoke to said something like 'little English' and then they left.  Shortly they returned with a second person who spoke good English and asked me if I needed help.

Another interesting feature was that many waiters in restaurants had more English skills than I first thought.  I was mostly in restaurants with my lady friends and they handled the ordering tasks.  But on two of the occasions that I was by myself in two restaurants where I had previously been with ladies; I experienced this:

The same waiter came to my table.  I started just pointing at the items on the menu.  He then said: I can speak English.  I said 'great, but why didn't you before.'  He replied, 'well, I just let the women do their thing.'

[Jack]

'Smaller' as compared to what Jack? 

Compared to the other more popular way's of meeting Rus/Ukr ladies.


For such a simple question it really is a complex answer. Please note that my reply is
based only on my opinion and experience.

With regards to newspapers we have always noticed a higher percentage of women replying who do not speak English, ...... when compared to ladies listed with agencies, ladies on various websites, ladies from "other" sources.

One will see the highest percentage of English speaking women with agencies. Great!    Well,....there are pro's and con's with all sources.  From what one source do we find the greatest percentage of scammers,........from agencies.   Now before I go any further I need to point out something. My name is in red.  As one of our resident moderators likes to note with every 3rd or 4th message to, or about me, I am listed as a commercial member, I am an agency owner.  As such my opinions, comments, statements could be tainted, could be biased.  So when you see me write that the source for the highest percentage of scammers come from agencies, my statement could be biased. 

The percentage of English speaking Rus/Ukr ladies will vary greatly from the various personal websites.  Russian personal websites that cater to Russian men looking for Russian women and Russian women looking for Russian men you will more than likely find a lesser percentage of ladies who speak English. We routinely put foreign men's profiles on such sites and our greatest problem, few English speaking ladies.   A personals website like Luckylovers, who caters to a strong foreign clientele, you will see a MUCH higher percentage of Rus/Ukr women who are able to speak English.  The mamba network will have a much smaller percentage but I have seen, especially over the last year, the percentage of English speaking ladies on mamba is increasing as is the percentage of foreign men using this site, as is the scamming.  Last year we saw, on average, for every 17 to 20 Russian men writing a Russian woman would be one foreign man. Today we are seeing about 12 to 14 Russian men to every foreign man. More foreign men but still very good odd's.

Depending on type of agencies you will also see a great difference in percentage of English speaking Rus/Ukr ladies.  The normal, average, marriage agency will usually have a pretty high percentage of ladies who can speak some English. This only makes sense as many of these women are either really looking for a husband, or some have found a good place to scam from.  Now when you look at many of the "suspect" type agencies, very few ladies will speak English. Why?  The need for everything to be translated.   One of the greatest source of scam comes from women who write guys from various sources, including a lot of the Russian personal sites, who have great interest to meet you, but they cannot speak or write Russian so they are using the services of "Only You" translation agency, or "Pretty Brides" translation agency, or "Majestic" translation agency.  This is the single most greatest source that gave Lugansk it's  scam reputation in the late 90's and first few years of the new century.  It was not normal marriage agencies, it was "translation agencies".  I cannot begin to tell you how many of these type scam operations existed then and still exist today although over a much broader area.  One thing guys can generally count on when any really beautiful woman writes them, who does not know English and has to use  "Forever Yours" translation agency, they are probably being scammed. 

With newspaper ads when we ask for ladies who speak fluent English we get very few replies. So few in fact we will not use this termonology. We never say "fluent English". We do write she should be able to speak and understand a little English. This often helps increase the number of replies we get as well many of those who reply are able to speak "a little English".  And often that is all it takes.  As most Rus/Ukr ladies who are not interpreters, not translators or who speak English everyday, most of these ladies will often underestimate their ability to speak English. When a Rus/Ukr woman says or acknowledges that she speaks only a little English, we take it and often are happy with her ability to speak English.

From some of the "other" sources I mentioned we have found that Kharkov is the third most popular Ukraine city for ladies being able to speak English.  Dnepropetrovsk is not a too distant fourth. Other sources are ladies who are friends of friends (a great network to have), ladies we meet while out and about walking on Sumskya, or Karl Marx, or Khershaytk. Ladies we meet in the malls, on the riverwalks, at clubs and discos, at restaurants.

[kievstar]

One point to add in tourist areas of Kharkiv you will find more English speakers as manlooking was hanging out in the city center and restaurants.  But Kharkiv area is more than 1 million people and vast majority of people do not live in the city center or visit it more than once a week. 

Jack made a good point in that if the news ad says fluent English you will get few replies.  Kharkiv is the second biggest city in Ukraine but 3rd most for English speaking per Jack.  I agree with Jack's assessment as city which has a smaller % of English speakers than other large cities in Ukraine. 

Manlooking is targeting 40 year old women which is different than what you will be doing since you are 33/34 years old.  40 year old women in Kharkiv are a lot easier to grab their attention than the younger girls as very few foreign men consider meeting 40 year old women.  40 year old women is an untapped market in Kharkiv and you really can not go with an agency as agencies do not put many 40 year old women on the shelf.  Manlooking's plan on meeting 40 year old women in Kharkiv through free personals is the way to go as no one else is in his way.  He has the entire city to himself. 

I know 4 agency owners personally in Kharkiv and would not recommend any of them. 

[SANDRO43]

Jack, a very lucid analysis .

[Jack]

Thank you Sandro.

That's quite veneration coming from you.

[SANDRO43]

Thank you Sandro. That's quite veneration coming from you.

Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι, καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεῷ - Matthew 22:21
(Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s)