Learning Russian:
Russian is a tough language to learn (like I’ve learned others). My cousin Albert can attest to this, though, it’s a bear. First of all, it’s a different alphabet, but its close enough to make it more difficult. For instance:
B = V
C = S
E = “yay”
H = N
No I
No J
No N
P = R
No Q
No R
No S
U = “ee”
no V
W = “shh”
X = H
Y = “oo”
No Z
The rest of the letters are the same sounds, and there are a few others thrown in, to make sounds like “ts”, “shch”, and “ei” (something I still haven’t mastered). It is so hard to make letters you are familiar with have different sounds…
That’s just the alphabet. The grammar is even more challenging. Every noun and adjective will change its ending based on how its used. Even how you ask a question is different. The inflection for a question isn’t at the end, its in the middle. Try undoing that little habit in your mind. A bit of irony, the most difficult word to master is Hello. Phonetically, it sounds like “zdrast-vwetya”. The first 100 times I said it, people looked at me with a puzzled look, so I know I was way off. Why have the most difficult word to say be “hello”?????
Here’s a bit of what I’ve learned in the three weeks of training I’ve had, all spelled phonetically, of course, which will probably set me back a few days, but what the hey, here goes:
“menyazavoot
Andre. Minyay treetsit shayse lyet (I’m 36). Ya ish Ameriki, ishtata
That’s my opening line, pretty catchy eh? Dasvidanya!