How to deal with the language barrier ?

[Vincenzo]

It seems that the girl in your videos speaks with a very strong accent.

Here she pronounces the days of the week:


Here a Russian girl pronounces them without an accent:

[Misha]

It seems that the girl in your videos speaks with a very strong accent.

Neither one has a strong accent. But of course, different people have different voices and sound different 

[SANDRO43]

She pronounces Ш as 'sha' and Щ only a little differently, as 'shya'. Is this correct ? I was taught to pronounce Щ as 'shcha'.   

[mendeleyev]

She distinguishes them naturally but Sandro I'd suggest that guys like ourselves continue as we've learned because often we don't have the same inflections necessary for others to hear that distinction.

[mendeleyev]

Just tonight we've added some new material to the Mendeleyev Journal Russian grammar resources for those interested.

[Misha]

I was taught to pronounce Щ as 'shcha'.

Do you mean pronouncing first the "sh" then followed by the "ch"?

[Vincenzo]

She pronounces Ш as 'sha' and Щ only a little differently, as 'shya'. Is this correct ? I was taught to pronounce Щ as 'shcha'.

Щ is pronounced similar to cha but the sound is different.

[Misha]

No, it is not like the "cha" but a much longer "sh".

[SANDRO43]

Do you mean pronouncing first the "sh" then followed by the "ch"?

Yes, at least that's what my granny taught me, it must have been their pre-Revolution pronounciation . No such sound exist in Italian or other Western languages, but it appears in a number of our local dialects - e.g. Genoese, Venetian and Milanese - so it was not at all hard for me to catch and acquire it. 

Another loss seems to be the final -ться, which I was taught to pronounce -tsya and not -tsa as it is today - which my granny said was peasants' speak .

[Vincenzo]

Why do you care of the spelling?
Nowadays, you can use speaking dictionaries, listen and repeat.

For example, Щ
http://translate.google.com/#ru|en|%D1%89%D0%B0
Listen, how it changes in real words
http://translate.google.com/#en|ru|sorrel
http://translate.google.com/#en|ru|comrade

I hear 3 different sounds for this letter.

[Daveman]

No, it is not like the "cha" but a much longer "sh".

Bingo.. the transliteration being "shch" is rather confusing because it really isn't the sound implicated by the letters.  More like a little stronger "sh" sound with a bit of push at the end launching into whatever vowel sound.  Not sure if there are regional variances with that particular sound.  Definitely more subtle than the "ch" implies. 

[Vaughn]

I'm constantly learning more about Russian because few of us born outside Russia truly think in Russian. We speak a second language and impose upon words the context in what we think that word means. Sometimes we're correct and sometimes we're not.

This statement takes me back to the days so long ago when I first cracked a Russian dictionary and began to study the language. After 6 months of intensive study, my colleagues and I actually began to dream, and sometimes actually think and reason - in Russian. Sadly, I allowed many years to pass before I reignited my interest - that being communication with my future wife.
 
I've never experienced the advantage of being able to think in Russian since my youth. It very well may be that that part of my brain shut down with time. I also, even having some competency with the language, continue to recognize the trap of of converting my English-borne thoughts into comprehensible Russian.
 
 A very basic example of the dilemma for new students can be illustrated by the phrase "I feel cold". There is no real way to convey the meaning without changing it to "To me it's cold" (Мне холодно). As one progresses into more complicated sentence structures, the challenges for accuracy of meaning present themselves at every turn.   

[mendeleyev]

I also, even having some competency with the language, continue to recognize the trap of converting my English-borne thoughts into comprehensible Russian.

Well stated. And the ladies deal with the same issue.

[Misha]

Bingo.. the transliteration being "shch" is rather confusing because it really isn't the sound implicated by the letters.  More like a little stronger "sh" sound with a bit of push at the end launching into whatever vowel sound.  Not sure if there are regional variances with that particular sound.  Definitely more subtle than the "ch" implies.

Yes, you got it 

[noelscot]

It seems that the girl in your videos speaks with a very strong accent.

Here she pronounces the days of the week:


Here a Russian girl pronounces them without an accent:

I love a Russkaya with an accent so thick it'd even frighten Ilsa: Tigress of Siberia. lol. You must get blootered on vodka before you watch these videos to truly appreciate them. I noticed everyone watched the videos with the cute blond, but failed to watch the last video with the lady from St. Petersburg. Oddly enough, it seems she has picked up a little bit of a Texas accent. 

[onus]

If there's no polonium in the cake, everything is copacetic. Seriously, though, that sounds very promising if she wants to bake sweets for you.


I listed some Russian videos below, and I think they will really help you as they have helped me:



Youtube "travel linguist russian" and watch their many videos.


Here's the twenty million dollar question in Ukrainian AND Russian translated for me by a Ukrainian lady:

Russian - vyhodi za menya zamuž, bud″ moej ženoj -get married to me, be my wife

Ukrainian - vyhod′ za″ mene zamiž, bud′ moeű družinoű -get married to me, be my wife

I surly check this out. Haha ya as long the cake is good i should be fine. It's very different being offered something just on a regular day and no a special occasion. I thought it was a good sign.

Gonna meet her in Europe this summer. She is going to Belgium in august. I know its not her home but i don't think it should be an issue. She likes to travel.

I don't really mind where i go just need to go and enjoy sometime away from home myself.

[IAmZon]

An Bottom Line Question ... but, things have surely changed over the last 10 - 20 years, right?
[/size]
[/size]What is the frequency of people having a basic to fair understanding of English between the ages of 25 - 35 now?  and how has that changed over the last decade?
[/size]
[/size]Since it seems rather hopeless for an English speaking man to learn Russian ... how hard, or easy, is it for a Russian speaking woman to learn English?

[Misha]

Since it seems rather hopeless for an English speaking man to learn Russian ...

Not hopeless, just takes time and effort.

[mendeleyev]

I believe that Misha will agree that the rewards are worth that investment in time and effort.

Of course she will learn English if you live in an English speaking country. She will be immersed in it, an advantage for students by the way. As you study some Russian not only will you be in a better position to assist with her English, but your efforts will be an encouragement to her because you'll have "met her halfway" in a sense.

[Vaughn]

As you study some Russian not only will you be in a better position to assist with her English, but your efforts will be an encouragement to her because you'll have "met her halfway" in a sense.

Additionally, you can achieve a line of communication with her loved ones, and console her as she struggles with her new culture and surroundings.  The advantages cannot be quantified; therefore, many WM fail to consider their value - and deem their own role in the language struggle a hopeless cause. Teamwork pays dividends.

[SANDRO43]

Bingo.. the transliteration being "shch" is rather confusing because it really isn't the sound implicated by the letters.  More like a little stronger "sh" sound with a bit of push at the end launching into whatever vowel sound. Not sure if there are regional variances with that particular sound.  Definitely more subtle than the "ch" implies.

I did a little digging in Wikipedia:

Shcha (Щ щ; italics: Щ щ) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Russian, it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕɕ/, similar to the pronunciation of ⟨sh⟩ in sheep (but longer); in Ukrainian and Rusyn it represents the consonant cluster /ʃt͡ʃ/; and in Bulgarian, it represents the consonant cluster /ʃt/.

In English, Shcha is romanized as ⟨shch⟩ or ⟨šč⟩ (with hačeks), both reflecting the historical Russian pronunciation of the letter. This can lead to some confusion, as the ⟨ch⟩ in the transcription may seem to indicate that Щ is a combination of Ш and a strong Ч, which is not true.

...which supports the current pronunciation in the video examples. However, further on:

History
The Cyrillic letter Shcha was derived from the Glagolitic letter Shta.

The name of Shcha in the Early Cyrillic alphabet was шта (šta). This name is preserved in the modern Bulgarian language - it is pronounced "штъ".

Historically in Russian, Shcha represented the consonant cluster /ɕt͡ɕ/, like in the phrase "fresh cheese." Some Russian language primers still prescribe /ɕtɕ/.

Cyrillic was developed by Bulgarians and they still have a šta sound in their language, but apparently the Russians also had it - until the Soviet Revolution?

It is an admittedly awkward consonantal combination (fricative+plosive), particularly at the end of a word with no final vowel for support, so it is not surprising that in time it would be slurred over into a long SH.