How Much Russian Language Is Enough?

[jone]

My dear Russian friends, please don't jump on top of me for my poor transliteration.  But this is something that I wish someone would have sat me down with the very first time I was going to an FSU country.

My good friend Charles, with whom I have traveled Russia with, used to tell me that if he knew 200 words in Russian, he could get along anywhere. 

Now this was a super intelligent man.  He had his JD from Wake Forest.  He owned many companies.  He always had a driver and an unlimited wallet.  So, one day, we were in Moscow and I put him to the test.  I made him leave his TERP and his driver and we took off on our own.  At the time I didn't know much more than 100-200 words, myself.  (My gal would say I still don't.)  Our mission for the day was to tromp through Red Square, work our way over to Gorky Park and then back to our hotel.  Which one, I can't remember, but it was just off of Prospect Mira near the Space Memorial.

Taxis:  Skolka - And then you better know your numbers.  You can use general names as destinations

Know all of your question words.   They are easy to learn:  Gde, Kogda, Pochemu, Shto, Kto

And do you have:  U bas yest

Food:  Know your meats.  He cheated.  We did fast food where it's point and click.  I still tease him about that.  But he did make me eat Haggis in London.  My favorite word in Russian:  Morozhena.  It has such a yummy ring to it.

Exchange of money:  Everywhere we went they had ATMs.  Where they didn't, some granny faced lady would exchange our USD without even talking to us.   I guess she assumed we were non-speakers.

Necessary room:  Better know the word for that.  (I love where they charge you to use the toilet.)

Trains, buses, subway - if you read Cyrillic, you will be able to sound out where you want to go.  It is pretty easy.  Learn the alpha-bet on www.masterrussian.com.

All in all, the SOB was right.  We got along perfectly.  I wound up losing the bet and paying for our outing. 

Time to go to Russian classes for the day.  Who knows, I know my 200!  Maybe I'll skip.

-j

[ECOCKS]

I agree completely with your friend. Not just for this endeavor but even if you are living there for an extended period of time.

[Shadow]

If you are visting Russia I do hope the women you are visting is fluent in Russian and can communicat with you in another language. That is enough.

[Anechka]

If you visit big cities, there are many people who can speak English  so no need to learn Russian... Especially, if the city is a very popular tourist attraction)))

[Faux Pas]

jone
My Russian vocabulary is much more limited than yours. Maybe 100-150 words. It wasn't always that big, in fact my first trip to Russia it was less than 10. I can state emphatically, I've never encountered difficulty expressing my needs or getting by anywhere due to lack of language skills and I have been off the beaten path a few times. Smiling, frowning, nodding, pointing and other animations can go a long way. I've never had a terp other than my wife but, when in Russia often, I will take off without her. Either with other non-english speaking friends or alone.

Really I have had no problem in 9-10 trips. Any conversation is impossible for me and I don't engage any unless the wife is present or they speak English but, getting dropped off in Red Square, having a good time and finding my way home is a breeze