How important is it for her to Speak English

[Doug S]

Bruno,

O.K., I know that Doug. What happened to him? Something bad?

Other Doug

[KenC]

Ken, I'll have to think about how to start such a thread, and where to put it. Would it be wrong to simply cut and paste a lot of what I wrote here? Maybe edit it or switch it around a little to stimulate more comments/discussion.  It contains the essence of my observations, ideas, and views on the subject.

Vaughn, you must have me confused with somebody else? Olga and I are still married and doing fine. it just keeps getting better. We had a little girl last year. Couldn't be happier.

Others, there is no question that Russians are hard workers - when you put them to a task and tell them what to do. The work "ethic" I'm talking about has more to do with drive, ambition, and motivation. And the trade-off betwen that and liesure time and family. Also the trade-off between quality of life associated with material gain vs. quality of life associated with spiritual gain. (where is George Harrison when you really need him?) Also, with making money honestly vs. making it dishonestly, with "honesty" and "rules" being highly subjective depending on which culture you come from (we have too many rules, they have none).

Doug

Doug,
No one would mind if you did a cut and paste job in the least.  My guess would be in either the married section or experienced section.
KenC

[Doug S]

Ken,

I just caught myself preaching about work ethic then looking for a lazy shortcut. Ha. Give me sometine with this one. I think I might have to do some re-composing.

Doug

[2tallbill]

Another resurrected post?? !!

Did Bill's Netflix account get shut off?

No, I just thought I would talk about something besides politics for a while
and see if this forum still had any interest in the FSU and helping guys sort
it out.

[ML]

Early on in my search, I found that meeting with a gal who needed an interpreter was a total waste of time, so I screened all such out very quickly.
 
I did spend some time with a few gals that had very little in the way of English skills, even as neither of us wanted interpreters.

Over time, it developed that the gals I went back to see on VO trips (after WMVM trips) had fairly good to excellent English skills.

I remember many years ago a member of one of these discussion groups stated that he wanted a gal with zero English skills so he could experience the entire 'foreign bride' thingy.  He worked a farm or ranch in Nebraska or some such.  I determined that he wanted to control his bride.  i.e. She would be isolated and couldn't even communicate with neighbors.

This desire to control could be a reason why some would even consider pursuing a gal who had no English skills.

[Davo]

Another resurrected post?? !!

Did Bill's Netflix account get shut off?

No, I just thought I would talk about something besides politics for a while
and see if this forum still had any interest in the FSU and helping guys sort
it out.

Keep it coming Bill .... The site was becoming boring AF!!

[2tallbill]

Keep it coming Bill .... The site was becoming boring AF!!

Davo,

I have resurrected at least a half dozen threads.
I have my political predictions already made so I
am going all Russian women discussion all the time.

Let's make some on topic content!

Udachi!

Bill

[tfcrew]

Early on in my search, I found that meeting with a gal who needed an interpreter was a total waste of time......

Absolutely. And if/when she goes in for a K1 visa interview --having an outside interpreter would be quite invalid anyway don't we know?
 There are a lot more Russian people who know some English than there are Americans who know any Russian.  Some of the guys have posted about learning Russian. Eh that would be OK....but if a lady is moving her life to the USA, her English skills are a lot more essential.
Even after 20 years..I am still defining a new word for my wife that may come up out of nowhere.There sure are a lot of words you know  
 

[Patagonie]

Early on in my search, I found that meeting with a gal who needed an interpreter was a total waste of time, so I screened all such out very quickly.
 
I did spend some time with a few gals that had very little in the way of English skills, even as neither of us wanted interpreters.

Over time, it developed that the gals I went back to see on VO trips (after WMVM trips) had fairly good to excellent English skills.

I remember many years ago a member of one of these discussion groups stated that he wanted a gal with zero English skills so he could experience the entire 'foreign bride' thingy.  He worked a farm or ranch in Nebraska or some such.  I determined that he wanted to control his bride.  i.e. She would be isolated and couldn't even communicate with neighbors.

This desire to control could be a reason why some would even consider pursuing a gal who had no English skills.

Yes there are some guys like this.
I met two or three, they are control freak.
It's a short term game that you will loose on the long run.

[2tallbill]

NOTE: Some might dispute some of my history lesson but this is my impressions
of the FSU seekers conventional wisdom from the yesteryears. 

Back in the olden days (1990's, NONE of the Girls spoke English). Yes, they
might have learned it in school but they forgot it since they never practiced
it and those they practiced with had HORRIBLE accents.

I always thought it was funny that people who couldn't speak English taught
English but that's the way it is in the FSU. They don't pay teachers well enough
to hire Native English speakers so they all learn terrible pronunciation. 

So most girls in the FSU spoke a little bit of English but weren't close to fluent.
The theory was that she would study and get better while the couple were going
through the long process of getting to know each other and due diligence stage
often taking as much as two years.

So the theory of pursuing NON English speaking girls was that you would be able
to [Warning Bill starts mixing metaphors] cast a much wider net sift through the
mud and more easily find your gold nugget. Also there was far less competition
for the girls who didn't speak English.

ONE MORE THING: A lot of girls studied English in school and forgot it. Good girls
would tell you that they couldn't speak English, but the truth is that after a few
lessons and finding a guy they really liked their English skills really skyrocketed. 

Old proverb says "necessity is the mother of invention"

I believe that romantic interest is the mother of learning languages.

I learned the Russian words for female body parts sitting naked in a bed with a
hot Russian girl (also naked) and a flashlight. She would point to a part and I
would get the word right and I then I would get kisses. There is nothing I
couldn't learn with that type of interest and reward system.

A Russian girl who is romantically interested in you and studied English as a
schoolgirl can pick it back up fairly quickly.

[I/O]

I've been through this for more than 15 years. Language is important. She still cries in frustration at times...

[2tallbill]

I've been through this for more than 15 years. Language is important. She still cries in frustration at times...

90% of our first arguments were about misunderstandings

[BC]

This venture can be frustrating enough without language difficulties.

Fortunately, my wife had quite good English language skills when we met and learned Italian fairly quickly.

I could not imagine it having worked otherwise.

Hat off to who has been able to make it work.

Young kids will pick it up quick tho'

[msmob]

90% of our first arguments were about misunderstandings

This ^^^^

Trying driving and following her directions versus the 'navigator'

[2tallbill]

This ^^^^

Trying driving and following her directions versus the 'navigator'

I have only a zillion times. She says turn right and she might mean
to turn left. I give her finger preference over her words. So if she says
"Beel, turn right" and points to the left then I take her fingers word for it.

[ML]

The 'yes' and 'no' in Bulgarian are quite a trick.

Imagine difficulty for U.S. guy there, if consent must be given for each step of the way as in USA.

[I/O]

90% of our first arguments were about misunderstandings

I won't ask what the other 10% were about but having been there, done that, I can take a pretty good guess...🙄

[2tallbill]

I won't ask what the other 10% were about but having been there, done that, I can take a pretty good guess...🙄

We really didn't (and still don't fight a lot). The 10% was probably be related
our mutual stubbornness (hers  ).

[tfcrew]

... if she says turn right" and points to the left then I take her fingers word for it.

She is just saying...turn right here left

[2tallbill]

She is just saying...turn right here left

It's turn left right there, but she doesn't use that phrase

[ML]

Just came across this thread when I was searching for Doug Salem.
What happened with Doug and his wife Olga ?
She used to post here also, what was her 'handle?'

Anyway, on the subject topic . . . I can't imagine trying to marry and live with a woman who is still at the beginning stages of learning the language of where they are going to live.

Every type of measure is imprecise, but I would say my now wife had around 7-8 ability to talk and understand verbal talk in English.
Reading was probably 8-9.
But writing ability was much less; probably 4-5 or so.

Upon arrival I put her in a one year program of Intensive English at local university.  She got A in every course and at end of program received certificate for achieving highest score (for those taking at this Univ on this date) on TOEFL test.

Despite this . . . I still proofread all of her quizzes, exams, handouts, etc. that she prepares for her university students in higher level math courses.  And her PhD dissertation . . . OMG !!  I read much more about dynamical systems and differential equations than I ever wanted to; much of it made my stomach churn.

[2tallbill]

Just came across this thread when I was searching for Doug Salem.
What happened with Doug and his wife Olga ?
She used to post here also, what was her 'handle?'

Doug died, I don't know the details.

Anyway, on the subject topic . . . I can't imagine trying to marry and live with a woman who is still at the beginning stages of learning the language of where they are going to live.

You can't marry anyone until they are able to communicate with you. That would be stupid.
A smart girl who learned English in school can pick it up pretty quickly and a child can be
completely fluent without an accent in a couple years. Kids have magic brains, adults do
not.

[ML]

a child can be
completely fluent without an accent in a couple years. Kids have magic brains, adults do not.

Wife has close relatives who came from Ukraine to live in her townhouse in Ireland in March or April 2022.  Mother with two boys now around ages 11 and 9.

The mother certified English teacher in Ukraine, and boys have been in Irish schools for 2 years  now.

Wife had me talk to the boys on Skype a couple of weeks ago.

After, wife told me that the boys commented to her that I had a 'strange' accent !!

On another note . . . boys were far ahead of Irish students in math and computer programming.

[2tallbill]

Wife has close relatives who came from Ukraine to live in her townhouse in Ireland in March or April 2022.  Mother with two boys now around ages 11 and 9.

The mother certified English teacher in Ukraine, and boys have been in Irish schools for 2 years  now.

The difficult thing is for the boys to keep their Russian language, without practice they lose it.
It would be a shame if they had to take a foreign language when they go to College.

[krimster2]

if yur proficient in Russian, you can get a cushy airforce crypto MOS - easiest service branch
and after you get out be a civilian in the NSA, etc for $150k + benefits - they will come and GET YOU BEFORE you leave the service...

regular army pay now is 10X what they paid me
they live in dorms now and not barracks
WTF???
+ 4 yrs free tuition at a top university with a stipend

in Texas, students take dual-credit classes, my daughter had 2 years of college when she graduated high school
do that, and yur VA benefits would take you through a graduate degree from say Rice Univsity, worth hundreds of thousands$$$
an no cost to you or yur parents