new to the russian dating field

[keiking]

Hi to all.
 new to the forum.,.and i see theres a LOT of good info here
but being new at this i was wondering if you knew of any good agencys i could start with (i would prefer small town agencys) but anything is good

also what do you think of this dating sites
elenas models
kherson girls
tver angels ( i see it anounced in this forum a lot)
lviv brides
anastasia international
kiev conections
bride.ru

thanks in advance

[Erwin]

Hi to all.
 new to the forum.,.and i see theres a LOT of good info here
but being new at this i was wondering if you knew of any good agencys i could start with (i would prefer small town agencys) but anything is good

also what do you think of this dating sites
elenas models
kherson girls
tver angels ( i see it anounced in this forum a lot)
lviv brides
anastasia international
kiev conections
bride.ru

thanks in advance

Keiking,

Try this method:

1. Learn the Russian culture and tradition and, more importantly, the Russian language;

2. Think not of finding ladies on any websites; think not of placing personal ads in local newspapers or tv; think not of corresponding with someone you have never met before; waste no time or money to verify if she is a real person, a scammer or otherwise;

3. Think unplanned meeting and bypass any introduction or marriage agencies all together; and

4. Pick a college town in Russia and get invited to speak at the college or university there as a guest speaker at their various English/Student/Single Church clubs.

They might help find you a flat to stay at the monthly rate the Russians are paying; they might  invite you to stay at their humble homes for free for a few days (but make sure you bring some small gifts for them); and, if you are as lucky as I am, you might get invited to attend the wedding of their families, friends, and/or relatives.

This way, you will get to meet and make many new Russian friends who will invite you to their tables at their humble homes; who will want you to meet their family members and relatives; who will want you to meet friends of their wives; and who will want  you to meet their lovely single unmarried and unattached daughters, aunts, cousins, and nieces, many of whom have never met a foreign man before in their lives; many of whom are not listed with any agency; many of whom still come from good functional families (papa and mama are still married); many of whom are anxious to speak and practice their English with you, to show you the town, and to take good care of you during your visits; and many of whom have never thought of marrying a foreign man.

Keiking, it is gratifying to be able to meet many quality attractive single ladies this way under natural environment without being brokered or conditioned by any agency and/or having any translator present; ladies who have a sincere and genuine interest in you as a person and who would like you to write to them after you go back home and who would like you to come back again to see them soon; ladies who will try to save you money in every transaction you may have to do there; ladies who do not even know what "Western Union" is; ladies who will buy or give you presents instead and take you shopping to where the average Russians go shopping; and ladies who will not even let you spend any money on them.

Keiking, this is not easy, but it will be well worth the efforts. It has been for me. Good luck to you!

All the best,

E

[keiking]

well im fluent in russian i have been there 3 times

but im not a very sociable person so its hard for me to meet anyone
so thats why i was trying to see if any of the agencys actually worked

but you do make an exellent point and i think it could be the best way to do it

thanks again

[Gator]

elenas models - have used them and it is the BEST agency for listings of women throught FSU.  Women are real.  Gold membership costs only $100 and allows you to send EOIs (winks), and if she winks back you can retrieve 50 addresses.  Great bargain.

kherson girls - used them briefly and found no problem.

tver angels - No direct experience, yet the owner Richard (Rvrwind at RWD) is a honest, no nonsense man (Canadian).
 
lviv brides - No experience, but a wonderful place to visit.

anastasia international - Waste of money.  Forget them.

kiev conections - I have used them and met a sincere, delightful woman through them (no correspondence, just showed up and paid $25 for a date)

bride.ru - No experience, pretty photos.  Does not cost much so give it a try. 

Keiking, you need to decide if you will do most of the work yourself and consider women from everywhere (Elena's Models) or whether you would like hands on assistance but limited to women from one locale (Kherson Girls, Tver Angels, Kiev Connections).

It seems that you are shy (good to recognize one's limitations), and you may want a personal services agency. 

Ukraine agencies to consider where I had a good experience:  Cindy in Dnepropetrovsk and All-Beautiful (small) in Kharkov.

[Misha]

well im fluent in russian i have been there 3 times

If you are fluent in Russian, I would really recommend the free Russian dating sites. My favorite: singles.ru. In my experience, a lot of the women that are on the agency sites are also on the free Russian dating sites. As there are few foreigners on the Russian sites, they do not attract many scammers looking specifically to scam western men.

[Mir]

well im fluent in Russian i have been there 3 times

Can I ask how and why did you learn in Russian?

[keiking]

well i work in the military and me and some other officers were sent to russia to do seminars to russian troops , while there my translater oferd me to teach me russian

and thats how i learned


its very complicated but worth it

[catzenmouse]

FWIW,

 If I was looking now I would use Richard (Tver Angels) if I was going to Russia and I would use Bill and Hellen (Lviv Brides) if I was going to Ukraine.

 I know them both fairly well and would much rather go with someone who knows the girls as individuals (not a database item in a catalog like the warehouse sites) and who have shown over the years that they are honest and up front with the clients and the ladies.

Ken

[Ste]

well im fluent in russian i have been there 3 times

You sure you're fluent mate, my gf just came back from a full year in Germany and is just about fluent in German now.

To us 'fluent' means total understanding of grammar and structure and I'd stick my neck out and say that's only possible with a long period of total immersion. For Russian I'd reckon three years total immersion for an adult?

I've been to Russia three times too and I can get by on my own, order stuff, ask directions, engage in sexy chit-chat with the ladies but fluent, no way.

My own grading is:

1. Basic - knows hellos and goodbyes and can order a beer.

2. Intermediate - Can construct sentences for most situations, can understand about a quarter of what's being said. This is me I think. Gets noun cases wrong and can't understand why 'edu' is different from 'ezhdu'. Well I can, it just takes me ages to think out it, work it out and answer...

3. Advanced - Quick and accurate grammar, can understand half to three quarters of conversation.

4. Fluent - Total understanding of grammar, thinks in Russian when asked a question or constructing one, understands 95% of conversation. Understands most idioms and slang.

5. Native - 100% basically.

[2tallbill]

You sure you're fluent mate, my gf just came back from a full year in Germany and is just about fluent in German now.

To us 'fluent' means total understanding of grammar and structure and I'd stick my neck out and say that's only possible with a long period of total immersion. For Russian I'd reckon three years total immersion for an adult?

I've been to Russia three times too and I can get by on my own, order stuff, ask directions, engage in sexy chit-chat with the ladies but fluent, no way.

My own grading is:

1. Basic - knows hellos and goodbyes and can order a beer.

2. Intermediate - Can construct sentences for most situations, can understand about a quarter of what's being said. This is me I think. Gets noun cases wrong and can't understand why 'edu' is different from 'ezhdu'. Well I can, it just takes me ages to think out it, work it out and answer...

3. Advanced - Quick and accurate grammar, can understand half to three quarters of conversation.

4. Fluent - Total understanding of grammar, thinks in Russian when asked a question or constructing one, understands 95% of conversation. Understands most idioms and slang.

5. Native - 100% basically.

Ste I would agree with you unless the guy was sent to the
Defense Language Institute in Monterey while in the Military. 
But if he was sent there he likely wouldn't say anything about
it. But I totally agree that he didn't learn (Fluent) Russian by
spending a couple of weeks there with a tutor.

Just my two kopecks

Bill

[Turboguy]

1. Basic - knows hellos and goodbyes and can order a beer.

2. Intermediate - Can construct sentences for most situations, can understand about a quarter of what's being said. This is me I think. Gets noun cases wrong and can't understand why 'edu' is different from 'ezhdu'. Well I can, it just takes me ages to think out it, work it out and answer...

3. Advanced - Quick and accurate grammar, can understand half to three quarters of conversation.

4. Fluent - Total understanding of grammar, thinks in Russian when asked a question or constructing one, understands 95% of conversation. Understands most idioms and slang.

5. Native - 100% basically.

My grading would be more like:

1. Basic,  Can point at bottle of beer and say "Piva"
2.  Intermediate.  Can point at a bottle of beer and say "Piva" after drinking 3 or 4 "Piva's"
3.  Fluent.  Can point at a bottle of beer and say "Piva" after drinking with the locals all night

[catzenmouse]

You missed one TG.

0. Inept, Call your wife's uncle "Mya Padruga" after drinking vodka with him all evening and watch the women fall on the floor laughing at you. Igor will always be known now as my "girlfriend".

My grading would be more like:

1. Basic,  Can point at bottle of beer and say "Piva"
2.  Intermediate.  Can point at a bottle of beer and say "Piva" after drinking 3 or 4 "Piva's"
3.  Fluent.  Can point at a bottle of beer and say "Piva" after drinking with the locals all night

[ScottinCrimea]

There's a different level that someone here mentioned before which is "dog level".  This means that you understand most everything but can only respond with a few syllables and by smiling and wagging your tail.

[Shadow]

There's a different level that someone here mentioned before which is "dog level".  This means that you understand most everything but can only respond with a few syllables and by smiling and wagging your tail.

I am at 'cat level'. I understand when I need to and reply when I want to. 

[jb]

At my age I am at the selective hearing level.

[Mir]

1. Basic,  Can point at bottle of beer and say "Piva"
2.  Intermediate.  Can point at a bottle of beer and say "Piva" after drinking 3 or 4 "Piva's"
3.  Fluent.  Can point at a bottle of beer and say "Piva" after drinking with the locals all night

BS My Ukrainian friends tell me that I speak fluent Russian after drinking with them, only problem is I can't do it when I am sober?!!

[Makkin]

Hi,

  Mont Bellvuu is a nice place to learn Russian and also many other languages.

Makkin

[catzenmouse]

At my age I am at the selective hearing level.

LOL! I do that now sometimes....

"Ken, could you do this for me?" <ken watching football no response>

Little while later... "Nevermind, I did it myself"

Ken: "Hmm? Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you..."

Ken

P. S. This will surely get me in a lot of trouble when Elena reads this post! 

[keiking]

well aperently fluent was the wrong word but i would say im very advanced i have been learning russian for 6 years now

does anybody have any info about agencyscams.com

because he aperently seems to hate russian women but has adds for russian dating servises

just whanted to know if i can belive what he says

(some of the horror stories seem a litle intense)

[catzenmouse]

He (and his site) are as much (or more) of a scam than the scammers themselves.

Believe what he says... 

[Gator]

Keiking,

One piece of advice - do not pay much attention to the scam sites.  Reading them will give you unnecessary paranoia.  Instead, concentrate on the positive aspects.  Namely, there are some beautiful, sincere women in the FSU who want to meet you. 

The scams are rather obvious if you keep your eyes open.  Also, recognizing a special woman when you meet her is not so difficult.  However, understanding her in a compressed time schedule and deciding whether the two of you are compatible is not so easy.  Winning her heart is even more difficult.

To help you become focused, you need to answer these questions to yourself:

What is your objective?

What makes you special to RW? 

What detriments would a RW possibly see in you? 

When do you plan to travel?

Do you have the time and money for repeat visits?

What experience did you have with RW when assigned there?

Would you prefer to focus on one city or to travel to more than one?

Do you need on-ground assistance, or are you self-reliant?  Your knowledge of the Russian language should enable you to do much of this without agency help other than to identify some women for intitiating correspondence.

etc. (but this is enough for now)

[Lily]

Keiking,

One piece of advice - do not pay much attention to the scam sites.  Reading them will give you unnecessary paranoia.  Instead, concentrate on the positive aspects.  Namely, there are some beautiful, sincere women in the FSU who want to meet you. 

The scams are rather obvious if you keep your eyes open.  Also, recognizing a special woman when you meet her is not so difficult.  However, understanding her in a compressed time schedule and deciding whether the two of you are compatible is not so easy.  Winning her heart is even more difficult.

To help you become focused, you need to answer these questions to yourself:

What is your objective?

What makes you special to RW? 

What detriments would a RW possibly see in you? 

When do you plan to travel?

Do you have the time and money for repeat visits?

What experience did you have with RW when assigned there?

Would you prefer to focus on one city or to travel to more than one?

Do you need on-ground assistance, or are you self-reliant?  Your knowledge of the Russian language should enable you to do much of this without agency help other than to identify some women for intitiating correspondence.

etc. (but this is enough for now)

Gator, this is an excellent list of questions for starters  I think if we could put some more details in it and place it somewhere sticky, it would look more useful than those Behavior Standards that we discussed some time ago.

A similar list of questions could eventually be developed for a RW.

[2tallbill]

I agree with Lilia and Gator,
Starting with a group of goals and a list of what you have to
offer. Maybe this could be broken off into a new thread called
"start here and make a general assessment".

Just my two kopecks

Bill

[Gator]

A couple of possibilities:

It could be a FAQ, "What do I need to know about myself before I decide to make a trip?"  There is much more than my short list, e. g.  rebound from past relationship, WOVO or not, etc.  The FAQs are a superb resource if men would only read them.

Or, a series of checklists:

-  Before deciding to embark on this endeavor (which is where this list would appear after expansion and elaboration).
-  Pre-trip checklist (visa, lodging, what to pack, etc.)
-  Preparing for her arrival to your country.

 I would gladly help; however, I do not wish to take the lead.  Any volunteers?
 

[jb]

Gator,

I had high hopes the FAQ section would be somewhat beneficial to the newbie when I suggested it.  However, since there is no way to determine how many "views" the section gets, it's hard to know if anyone actually visits there.  There isn't a big flashing sign that says: "Read Me First!", so I'm guessing the average new guys sign up and just go to the newbies section and asks the same old questions.  i.e., "Am I being scammed?". 

It gets a little frustrating.