Stories of five Americans who study Russian. Russian language in American school Brothers Karamazov and Cheburashka

Alexander Genis: American Slavic studies are sensitive to political changes. As the director of the Russian School in Vermont told me last summer, “as soon as Putin opens his mouth, we have five new students.” And they all have to master one of the most difficult languages ​​in the world. Russian language teachers at American universities tell our correspondent Vladimir Abarinov how this happens.

Vladimir Abarinov: Learning a foreign language means understanding the lifestyle and logic of its native speakers. It's not easy when there is a cultural barrier. The teacher has to explain things that seem obvious to him and which he himself has never thought about. I talked about this with three of my friends who teach Russian language and literature to American students.

One of them is Yulia Trubikhina. She teaches at New York's Hunter College. To begin with, I asked her what kind of people her students were and why they needed the Russian language.

They sign up for Russian courses for various reasons. In New York we have a huge Russian population. That is, some are children from Russian-speaking families. Some of them go to language courses because they still need some foreign language, and at first many of them hope for an easy grade. This almost never works out. American non-Russian speaking students choose Russian... well, I don’t know why. Maybe because they always wanted to, maybe because it was interesting, maybe they read something in the news, maybe because they were Russian friends or a Russian girl or young man. They still need to take some foreign language. But for those who sign up for literary and cultural courses, things happen differently to them. An interest in culture or literature may arise while you are studying the language. It depends on the teacher. If they like the teacher, then they go to literature and culture. And some people are really into it. So there are very different motivations here.

Vladimir Abarinov: Diana Gratigny began teaching Russian to foreigners in her native Saratov. She currently teaches at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. The question is the same: what are its students like, what explains their interest in the Russian language?

This is always a very interesting question, and I have asked myself it many times: why do they learn a language? Interest and motivation can be anything. But what happens to them in the process of learning the language and understanding the culture is the most interesting thing. All of them are clearly divided into two poles: those who do not accept the culture also experience difficulties in learning the language. Often there is a psychological background here - not some kind of linguistic impediment of our own, but psychological difficulties. And there are those who fall in love from the first moment, and no matter what happens to them in Russia, they really like everything. Of course, something happens to everyone, they all find themselves in extreme situations, but this is where their character is tested. One way or another, many are the majority! - have a keen interest in the subject.

Vladimir Abarinov: Elena Reznikova, a teacher at Union College in Schenectady in upstate New York, answers the same question.

Elena Reznikova: What motivates them? Well, in principle, many of them study either political science, ecology, or international relations, so the Russian language is relevant and interesting for them. Some come to study Russian because their grandparents or more distant ancestors were from Russia. Some people are simply interested in Russian culture, the Russian language.

Vladimir Abarinov: The problems start with grammar.

Elena Reznikova: Well, of course, the very first thing that strikes students is grammar. Students in general are not prepared for this level. If they had studied Latin or even just serious English grammar in high school, they would, of course, be ready for this. But when they have to comprehend all the intricacies of cases, declensions and conjugations, they begin to panic a little. After that lesson, when all the secrets of the genitive case were revealed to them, all these many forms, they moaned for a whole week. And, of course, as soon as the cases ended, the perfect and imperfect forms began.

Vladimir Abarinov: But in English there are also perfect and imperfect forms of the verb.

Elena Reznikova: Yes Yes Yes! They were quite surprised when they learned that there are equivalents in English. When I told them: do you know, for example, that in English there is a present perfect? They said: what are you talking about? Give an example.

Vladimir Abarinov: Diana Gratigny understood what culture shock was back in Saratov.

The first thing that comes to my mind at the moment is the story of a student from New York. It was an African-American woman. She came to Russia 10 years ago and encountered racism. But what kind of racism? People paid attention to her. She was studying in Saratov then, and in a provincial city, even a big one, people paid attention to her appearance, she was very pretty and, apparently, in the cafe where they were relaxing, some comments were made, apparently a word forbidden in the USA the letter “n” was pronounced, and she suffered greatly about this. She couldn't handle it. Very often with students, not only from America, we have to explain in class... We put all our materials aside and explain why people don’t smile, or smile, but not as they should, or in the wrong place, or, conversely - why are they puzzled by your smiles...

Vladimir Abarinov: Well, there are comical cases.

I had an American Mennonite family. Mom and dad studied Russian, and they had three adorable kids. And so they lived in Russia, because there are Mennonites in Russia too, they have a parish, and the father is a priest there. But I was interested: what exactly did they show the children when they arrived in Russia? They went to Moscow, as always, to Red Square and showed the children Lenin’s mausoleum; they were in the mausoleum. And they went to the cosmonautics museum and showed all these, you know, spaceships, devices, Gagarin and so on. In my opinion, a very strange choice for Mennonites. It seems to me that the parents remembered something from their childhood and wanted to see it for themselves. So here it is. When mom and dad came to me to study Russian, my daughter entertained the children. She was then 10 years old, and she had a richly illustrated book called “Russian History”. And there, in a popular way with many pictures, the whole Russian history was told for children up to the 60s of the 20th century. And there were Soviet posters dedicated to space. And before that there were posters dedicated to Lenin, the revolution, and so on. And after one lesson, the eldest boy, he was about seven years old, came up to his parents and said: “We were just watching Russian history. Do you know that Gagarin flew into space and reached God himself?” There was a pause. My parents looked at me, I looked at my parents. My child, of course, did not say anything like that, that is, it was the boy’s own conclusion. The parents tried to open their mouths and explain that they probably hadn’t seen it after all, but then the youngest, who was four years old, entered the conversation and he declared very solemnly: “And God was Lenin!”

Vladimir Abarinov: And here is what Yulia Trubikhina says about her students.

Both the strength of American students and their weakness is that they do not have a cultural context. This is a big problem. It feels like there is no overall context left. Previously, at the very least, mass culture provided at least some general context. It turned out that with the increase in the number of foreign students there is nothing in common at all; you’re afraid to joke – they won’t understand. And the amazing equality is absolutely wonderful, the absence of hierarchy. I remember how, in a course on Russian culture, one girl cheerfully began an essay on Habakkuk (and this, of course, is incredibly difficult, we read some fragments from Habakkuk) in this way: “As we say in Oklahoma...”

Vladimir Abarinov: When reading literature, students first of all encounter unfamiliar realities.

Elena Reznikova: For example, we read Bulgakov. What concerned all this phantasmagoric reality of Moscow in the 30s was very difficult to understand. The housing issue, all these communal apartments – I had to explain for a very long time. This whole currency situation...

Vladimir Abarinov: But it is much more difficult to comprehend the way of thinking and the logic of the characters’ actions.

Elena Reznikova: It was very difficult for students to read Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky himself torments the soul even of Russian readers, and such sheltered American teenagers, of course, have nothing to say. It was very difficult for them to understand all the suffering, all these tossing and turning of the main character and the entire galaxy of characters. Katerina Ivanovna, in my opinion, tormented everyone with her costumed children, dinner parties and so on. Students asked many questions: why do they do all this? Why do they behave this way?

Vladimir Abarinov: Understanding poetry is generally a problem.

One boy - this was Tsvetaeva’s “Attempt of Jealousy”... And so it is very difficult for them, and he completely does not notice the quotation marks interpolating the line “I’ll rent a house for myself,” and suggests that maybe Tsvetaeva wanted too much money from lover It's home. She was too expensive for her lover - so he didn’t want to get involved with her. Probably so.

Vladimir Abarinov: Another great example of cultural differences.

We had a Korean student. She studied Russian at the Literary Institute for several years, then went to Korea and became a translator. And she translated Russian fairy tales, in particular “Teremok,” into Korean. The fairy tale was published, and she brought it as a gift. And then we set up an experiment. We gave our Korean students this fairy tale in Korean and asked them to translate it into Russian. Here it is very interesting to see how different cultural codes work. For example, in our fairy tale, the mouse ran across the field without any reason, it just ran. They are all running: a frog, a bunny - there is nothing to do. But in the Korean translation, they all ran for some purpose. The mouse was looking for grains, the frog was looking for juicy grass, someone was looking for something else - they all had a goal. That is, in Korean culture, no one can just run somewhere, there must be a goal. Further: when the bunny knocked on their door, that is, there were already two animals in the little house, and to the request “Let me live with you,” they always answered the same thing: “Now we’ll consult.” And they began to consult whether they could let the next beast in or not. And when it came to the bear, the animals separated. Strong animals - a wolf, a fox - said: “The bear is big, he will crush us.” Because they knew. And the small animals believed that he would protect them. And since there were more of them, the mouse, the bunny and the frog won the vote and let the bear in, and then what happened happened. Of course, we are facing a completely different fairy tale. Adapted for understanding by Koreans.

Vladimir Abarinov: I wonder if it happens that students force the teacher to see the situation from a new, unexpected angle?

Elena Reznikova: It seems to me that what foreigners notice is most likely the absurdity of what is described in a literary work. There are a lot of situations, some idiosyncretistic characteristics of the characters, some completely crazy, absurd ones that don’t make any sense in a normal, sane situation. That is, very often they contradict common sense. This can be clearly seen in the example of Petrushevskaya’s prose - her heroes.

Vladimir Abarinov: Yulia Trubikhina believes that traditional teaching methods do not work with modern students.

In general, modern students are simply different. They generally read little, but they are absolutely visual. They find it difficult to focus on one thing for long. Therefore, the educational process turns out like television, with commercial breaks - before them you have to sing or dance. Figuratively speaking.

Vladimir Abarinov: And Diana Gratigny believes that all this torment is not in vain.

And this is the cross of the Russian language. And Russian literature, and Russia. They draw you in so much and suck you into themselves... It seems: oh well, I stayed here, left and that’s it. But no. Here he takes you by the heart and holds you. And then they start rushing about: we want to come - and they come, and read, and read, and become translators, researchers. And it all starts with something completely innocent: I didn’t know anything, I decided to try.

ABARINOV

With us were teachers of Russian language and literature in American colleges Elena Reznikova, Yulia Trubikhina and Diana Gratigny.

In traditionally university Irkutsk, foreign students are not uncommon. In almost every group of every university or institute there are a couple of foreigners who, for various reasons, decided to get an education in Russia and chose a Siberian city for this. Students from the USA told The Village why Irkutsk is better than St. Petersburg, what is the most important word for Russians, and why there are dumplings for breakfast.

Faina

State of Indiana

The roads in Indiana are worse than in Irkutsk. It's not so bad here, there's asphalt everywhere

I knew practically nothing about Russia before I came here. Like many in America. There are people who still think that there is communism in Russia. The only thing I was familiar with was Russian culture. I listened to classical Russian music a lot. I wanted to know Russian so I could understand songs and sing them. I really like Rachmaninov. And my favorite Russian song is “Fly away on the wings of the wind.”

I love Russian literature. Especially Gogol and Dostoevsky. Russian literature is more complex and psychological. And also, in general, probably darker. But it is different from just sad books in America. When Americans write something dark, it's just sad. Sadness for the sake of sadness. In Russia it makes sense. I love dark literature. With its help we can see the best parts of people and humanity.

I have been in Irkutsk for 2 months already. I came here because I am writing a report on Siberian literature for my university. I study the works of Vampilov, Tarkovsky and Rasputin. In addition, when I lived in St. Petersburg, there was too much communication in English. American students know that in St. Petersburg and Moscow there is always a party. It's difficult to study seriously there. In the end, I liked Irkutsk more than St. Petersburg. People in Irkutsk are more open, but not as open as in my state. In Indiana, strangers talk to each other on the street, and it seems completely normal.

Russian language is very difficult. When I started learning Russian, I spent 10 minutes saying the word “hello.” And then another 10 minutes to say “Tatiana.” Words in Russian are very long. For example, sights and mutual understanding. Very hard.

The roads in Indiana are, frankly, worse than in Irkutsk. It's not so bad here, there is asphalt everywhere. I love that Russia has a transport system. Buses don't run often in Indiana. Sometimes people wait two hours for the bus.

Isaac

State of Vermont

The landlady often calls me to the TV with the words: “Look what your Trump is doing!”

I live in Vermont, in a small suburb, on a farm. I've been in Russia for a month and a half now. Before that, I studied Russian for four years, but not seriously, always together with other languages. In addition to Russian, I studied Chinese, Arabic and French at school. The most difficult is probably Russian.

I started learning Russian when I was a freshman. I listened to Russian music a lot and so I decided to try it. I have been interested in Russian music since childhood. I listened to a lot of Leningrad, although I didn’t understand a word. Dad showed it to me. He is a musician and has his own small band. Once he even wanted to translate the songs of “Leningrad”. Together with his friend who knew Russian. However, only one song was translated. Before that, I didn’t even know what the Leningrad songs were about. It was funny. Then I listened to “Civil Defense” and Russian rap.

When I started studying Russian at university, I myself tried to translate Russian songs or poems. I translated for my friends and girlfriend. They love poetry. Especially Russian. We do not have such literature as in Russia. There are no major poets or writers. One Russian asked me who our main writers are, the real ones. I couldn't name it. We don't have Pushkin.

In Irkutsk, I rent a room from an elderly woman, so I can immerse myself in Russian culture. Eating traditional food and seeing how ordinary people live in Russia. Watch Russian TV. On the very first day, the hostess said that we would not talk about politics, but after an hour she could not stand it. She often calls me to the TV with the words: “Look what your Trump is doing!”

There are many difficulties in Russia. For example, it’s not easy for me to cross the road. In America there is a concept that if a car doesn’t slow down before crossing, it means it won’t stop. You have to wait until they let you through. Fortunately, you don't have to wait long. There is no point in waiting in Russia. To cross the road, you have to try. You just have to go and then they will let you through. This seems like a pretty dangerous undertaking.

Lance

State of Pennsylvania

I've been in Irkutsk for less than two months and have already eaten dumplings more than forty times

I have been living in Irkutsk for two months now. I’ve been studying Russian for several years, since my first year at university. I chose Russian because Russia is an important country. Every day I read something about Russia in the news. By studying Russian, I can learn about Russia on my own. This is very important because I can create my own opinion.

Everyone I've met here is very kind. Everyone is interested that I am from America. They often ask: “Oh, you’re from America, right? Why Irkutsk? This is the main question for them. Irkutsk is a very good city, very beautiful, in my opinion. In general, this is my second time in Russia. I lived in St. Petersburg for 5 weeks, and was in Moscow and Novgorod. This time I wanted to see a different part of Russia, so I chose Siberia. Siberia is very far from what I have seen before. It's a different world here. In Siberia, people are kind, because life seems to be not so fast. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, people always need to go somewhere, do something. Here, apart from the minibus, life in general is slower.

The Russian language is very different from English. It seems to have more synonyms, for example for the word "die". I saw 30! This is amazing. “Die”, “perish”, “move your horses”, “play the box”, “die”. They say that the more important a concept is for a country, the more other names it has. But Russian, in principle, is a very rich language.

From Russia I will bring a pack of Belomorkanal and Armenian cognac. I would like to take real Russian food, but there are many restrictions at customs. I have one favorite dish from Russia - dumplings. I have been in Irkutsk for less than two months and have already eaten dumplings more than forty times. Sometimes I eat dumplings for breakfast. I also really love poses and fat. We don't have all this, unfortunately.

There are many myths about Russia. Many people in America think that everyone in Russia wants to defeat the United States. But I have not yet met anyone in Russia who would like more than just to go to America and see New York and San Francisco. I have yet to meet anyone who is angry that I am American. Everyone is just interested in learning something about America. There are many myths about nasty Russian or American societies. But I think we are all the same. People are like people.

Text and photos: Anna Teresa

According to the studyW3Techs, in March 2013, the Russian language took 2nd place in terms of use on the Internet, and in the 20th century, the Russian language became one of the so-called world (global) languages. At the beginning of the last century, according to Wikipedia, Approximately 150 million people spoke Russian, and by 2000 the number of Russian speakers increased to approximately 350 million people. In the United States, the Russian language ranks 10th in terms of the number of speakers - over 700 thousand (0.24%) Americans speak Russian.

The fewest Russian speakers live in the state of Wyoming (only 170 people, or 0.02% of all Russian speakers), and the most in the state of New York (218,765 people, or 30.98% of all Russian speakers ). In 2009, state Governor David Paterson signed an amendment to the election legislation, according to which all documents related to the election process must be translated into Russian.

Russian is not the most widespread language in the United States (it closes the top 10), but it is also one of the most difficult to learn. It is clear why it is studied by Americans who have married Russian-speaking immigrants. But why and why do those Americans who chose it of their own accord learn Russian? ForumDaily I spoke in Russian with 5 New Yorkers to find the answer to this question.

“They think there is still communism there”

Name —Chase Winters

Age — 27

Activity— musician

Level— Advance

Study experience - 4 years

Chase writes songs in Russian and welcomes any opportunity to practice. Photo from personal archive

Chase knows the word “boring”, but does not understand what “stream of consciousness” means (after translation, he understands), writes and performs songs in Russian, and also loves cover versions of popular Russian rock products: Zemfira, DDT, Spleen.

He writes his own songs in Russian. Talks to me without an interpreter. “I will speak Russian, I have almost no practice, this will be at least some,” he says.

Chase was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island. 4 years ago, while working at a factory, I met a Russian company, heard Russian speech for the first time and fell in love with it. Listened to training videos on YouTube, worked on the site masterrussian.com, bought a Russian grammar textbook. I have never studied with a teacher.

“The biggest problems are pronunciation, stress and cases,” he says. - They are hard to remember, they are not in English. It was also difficult with the prepositions “in” and “to”, I constantly confused them.” Also, at first, Chase was confused by the order of words in a sentence and the rules of its construction. For example, he had difficulty understanding how to ask “What do you want to eat?” (Are you hungry? What are your wishes for the menu?).” There were problems with participles and how they are used in spoken language. Now he can calmly carry on any conversation.

Last year, Chase toured Russia, playing and singing songs in Smolensk and Moscow, where he has many friends. I've been to Russia three times and want to do more.

“You know, I would even go there to live for a while... how long can I live there? 90 days? Six months? I have a multiple visa, however, it is expiring. I'll get a new one. Friends (my group) are afraid to travel with me: they think there is still communism there. And it's just a different culture there. In my opinion, people there are even more honest. Previously, at school, I tried to learn Spanish and Italian, but it didn’t work out. But I think breaking down language barriers is a worthy mission. When I become a pensioner and master Russian so much that I can speak freely about everything I want - for example, about science - I will start learning Swedish. Well, it’s just that my good friend lives in Sweden, that’s why.”

Laughing, Chase talks about how, after a year of studying Russian, he realized that he had poor taste in music.

“My friend Peter played Philip Kirkorov and Agutin for me and said that this is Russian music. For a year I honestly enjoyed Philip Kirkorov. Then it turned out that in Russia there is Zemfira, “Splin” and the group “Kino” - now this is my favorite group. Yolka is also pop, of course, but I like it.

In fact, I have seen as many as 60 Russian films - starting with the classics: “Operation Y”, “Cruel Romance”, “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”. It was a little difficult for me to understand all the words in “Heart of a Dog” - the language there is old. I also have a project in Russian, it’s called “Road of Love, etc.,” but my friend from North Carolina came up with the name for it. I go on tour with him. So, soon I will travel to 7 states, the program is mixed, there are also songs in English. I also work with the Russian group “Letters to Nepal” (Novosibirsk).

Sometimes, when I hear a Russian text and can hardly understand anything, I am terribly disappointed: I worked so hard! I taught so hard! Well, by the way, most of all I worked on the alphabet, the pronunciation of each letter - that’s why I probably read and write better than I speak.”

Chase, however, does not always understand the content of the songs of Zemfira and DDT - but this, in some way, is a common story even for Russians. Not long ago he took part in 2 Russian festivals: “Rock Without Borders” and “Charity Rock Marathon” in Brooklyn.

Twenty is not the same as two hundred.

Name — Ben Sigelman

Age — 27

Activity — teacher, translator, tutor, master of Slavic studies

Level — Fluent

Study experience - 9 years

For Ben, one of the most difficult things about Russian is the “y” sound. Photo from personal archive

Ben Siegelman was born in New York and speaks English as his native language. However, the roots are Russian-Jewish.

“I started studying Russian 8.5 years ago, on my own. However, it was difficult to go this way. I also have a very close friend who was born in Yekaterinburg, so I already knew the Russian language and Russian culture at a very basic level before my studies began. I even understood the Cyrillic alphabet a little. At school I took a course on the Cold War where we watched documentaries. Russian was often spoken in these documentaries, and the language just began to seem very beautiful to me. Therefore, when I already entered the university, I decided to take a Russian language course, and I really liked it.

The “y” sound is probably the most difficult for almost all foreigners. I couldn't pronounce it correctly until my first trip to Russia. Before that, I just pronounced it like “and.” And “you” is like “ti”. There were problems with the soft sign; I didn't pronounce it at all.

And I also have difficulties with stress and types of verbs, they are becoming less and less over time, but in Russian there is simply no such logic for using stress as in Spanish, for example.”

Ben recently completed his master's degree at New York University in Slavic Studies. There he teaches Russian to students.

“There are many funny stories related to the process of learning the Russian language. I was surprised by the existence of cases, because they simply do not exist in English. When I studied in Russia, I wanted to pretend that I was not a foreigner, which definitely didn’t work out. I was confident in myself, in my pronunciation. However, in practice everything was different. One case was at the Udelny market. I wanted to buy a collection of Blok's poems. I asked the seller how much it cost. He answered me that it cost 20 rubles, but for some reason I heard 200 - and offered 150. He was surprised and explained that he said 20, not 200, which was easy to agree to. I visit Russia quite often, twice a year, but I wish it were not so far away.”

Brothers Karamazov and Cheburashka

Name— Grace Chen

Age — 24

Activity — Teacher, Master of Educational Research, preparing for PHD

Level — Intermediate

Study experience - 5 years

Grace is a fan of Russian classics. Photo from personal archive

Grace speaks English to me, but if you ask me to read or say something in Russian, she copes slowly but confidently. She began studying Russian literature as a student high school, started with “War and Peace.” The beauty and depth of the display of human nature impressed her so much that she decided to study the language. She liked the sound and rhythm of this language just as much. Then there were “The Brothers Karamazov” with its beauty and, at the same time, the grotesqueness of human characters. With archaisms and strange expressions.

“Nothing helps us understand the peculiarities of human nature like Russian classics,” says Grace. — I also watched a lot of Russian films, the first was “Tchaikovsky” - translated, of course. I watched “The Cranes Are Flying”, “12” by Nikita Mikhalkov...”

Over time, she began listening to audio courses, learning to write, read, all on her own. There was no teacher - only books.

“Then I met the Russian-Jewish community, there was one little boy there, he taught me a little. A little later I took up the alphabet in depth, which is why I still read now. I know the past tense quite well, I can name many objects in Russian if you show me pictures. I have a good understanding of how prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of words. In general, a translation that is derived from grammar and pronunciation is terribly interesting. I tried to get as close to the language as possible, but languages, in general, do not come easy to me.

I know 4 in total: English, spoken Chinese (my family's language), Spanish, and Latin, which I hated in college. Now I need to learn French for work. However, in college I chose Russian to study; in class we read Pushkin and Bulgakov, gradually began to translate, expand our vocabulary, and study vocabulary; I dived deeper into understanding the words.

I remember once they taught Cheburashka’s song about a birthday - “Suddenly a wizard will fly in a blue helicopter”... about popsicles, I remember, it was - and it was a challenge, thanks to which I almost lost my accent. When I felt that I could say 3 words, I was completely happy.

In college we spent a lot of time on texts, literature, and translation. This is great, but I didn’t have any speaking practice or cultural communication. I would like to go to Brighton Beach someday, listen to Russian, and be surrounded by it. Learn a living language, live communication, feel this atmosphere.

Finally, go to St. Petersburg. The professor once explained to us the signs of friendship among Russians and compared them with the friendship of Americans. You are constantly in touch with each other, and our friendship is often limited to casual meetings.

I had a million questions: what should we do with the soft sign? How not to get confused between Ш and Ш? However, the biggest problem was the accents. And the letter “Y”. Pronouncing it is a huge problem for an American.”

Knowledge of the Russian language does not play a special role in Grace’s professional success, and this is a big problem: it takes 2 times more motivation and self-discipline to study. However, the desire to read literature in the original is a good incentive.

A proverb keyboard is a great way to remember new things. Photo from personal archive

“My friends say that Doctor Zhivago should only be read in Russian. For me, this is access to a different vision of the world. In addition, the experience of studying a language on your own helps a lot in teaching - you understand from personal experience how to interest a student, how to explain something that is less well understood. I have to teach spoken Chinese, the practice turned out to be useful. At least Russian phonetics are not so different from English.

What evokes most emotions in me are those Russian words that have no equivalent in English. You read and think: why did people come up with such words? What prompted them to do this?

For example, the word “bearded man” - why would a man with a beard be represented in one word? What is the goal? Or, for example, “Academician” - why is it even used?

There are words similar to English (“businessman”, for example), but they are easier to use. Or, for example, some clothes... How is this in Russian? Cape. It looks like a garbage bag, but without sleeves. Or Batman's cape. But this is an old word. I am terribly happy when I learn a new word, because it’s not enough to learn it, you also need to understand how to insert it into a sentence. Well, here’s the traditional problem: buying a textbook does not mean finding the time and energy to study from it.

I once met a man in New York; his parents emigrated from Russia when he was 12. He collects Russian things and knows a lot of Russian proverbs. I even stuck a few on my computer to teach them. In fact, I even know “bad” words in Russian, I just need to remember how they sound. It seems that some Russian students contributed more to my education than I did.”

Great-grandfather's music

Name —David Tanzer

Age — 54

Activity - programmer

Level —Beginner

Study experience - 25 years

David's love for Russian began with lullabies. Photo from personal archive

Dave's ancestors come from Eastern Europe, mostly from Russia, but there were also Jews from Czechoslovakia, Belarus and Lithuania. All of them emigrated to America at the turn of the last century and the century before last, speaking both Russian and Yiddish. Those from Russia fled from the pogroms - and it turned out that it was thanks to early emigration that they did not suffer from the Holocaust.

“I remember how my grandfather read a Russian newspaper in Cyrillic, I was impressed, and my aunt and grandmother sang the Cossack Lullaby to me - even then I was amazed at the beauty of this language and this melody.

Only now did I understand, to put it mildly, the ambiguity of Lermontov’s verse. It contains, albeit a drop, but a drop of outright nationalism (“The evil Chechen is crawling to the shore”). However, the music was still convincing. However, she was also older than poetry.

(The phrase about the Chechen became a catchphrase and was even mentioned in the Moscow State University course “Language and Intercultural Communication” - as an example of a text that provokes national hatred - author.)

In college I took a course in Russian history and literature. We read Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov. I also read some socialist literature - it felt like it happened in another life. All this prompted me to learn Russian in order to read literature in the original. And I found a tutor - Sergei from Jersey City, with whom I spent six months. He was terrible as a teacher: he spent most of his time complaining about the communists. I was extremely ambitious until a completely new alphabet, pronunciation features, accents and exceptions brought me back to reality. One soft sign is worth it.

Actually, that’s when I gave it all up for a long time.

Then I had a friend Natasha for a short time, who reminded me of Russia. One day she took me to a Russian store in Brighton and taught me all the names of the products (I don’t remember them now). And the Russian language fell asleep in me again, and woke up as part of the music.

There was once a period when every summer I went to Balkan music festivals with my family. We got acquainted with Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian songs. I generally like Slavic languages, the whole group. And then I turned to Russian music again. Its chords amazed me with their depth, returning me to the experience of my ancestors, to the childhood feeling of my grandmother’s lullaby.”

Dave prefers Russian romance, folk songs and... jazz. And its goal is to achieve high-quality, authentic performance of Russian songs through understanding Russian, reading and pronunciation lessons.

Singing and reciting texts over and over again is a useful practice for any language learner. Teachers and polyglots even recommend this method as a life hack: pronounce or sing aloud some foreign text. This is how Dave managed to develop good pronunciation, despite the fact that conversation and grammar still remain at the level beginner. Mastering the language so that it is more than a piece of music is currently a long-term program for Dave.

“My way of learning a language is immersion in the environment. Walking along Brighton Beach, listening to random snatches of Russian dialogue. This is how children learn language, and this is how I would like it. For example, not long ago I was there and asked the waiters to recite the verses of the songs that I taught. I received a lot of material for further work on pronunciation. One day I will be able to make a high-quality program that includes works from both my jazz and Russian-language folk repertoire.”

Dave sometimes attends the band's concerts Eastern Blockheads, performing songs by Edita Piekha and other Russian music of the 60s.

There are special websites and free events for people learning new languages, and Dave recently discovered meet up— meetings where speakers of different languages ​​exchange knowledge and cultural traditions.

“Funny incidents during the learning process? Yes myself meet up- funny incident! Who would have thought that it was there that I would make one of my best friends!”

Salesman in the metro and Elena Vaenga

Name - asked not to be named

Age - 20 years

Activity - chocolate seller on the New York subway cars on the B and Q lines

Level — Advance

Study experience— 2 years

If on lines B and Q you meet a girl in the carriage selling chocolates, speak to her in Russian. Photo by Trevor Kapp

One day, it seems, in September, a young girl, wandering chaotically through the subway cars with a huge box of cheap chocolate, accidentally tripped over my foot. Turning around, looking at me and making a short appraising pause, she said in Russian:

- Excuse me, you understand Russian, right? Sorry, I did it by accident.

The girl actually had an accent. However, it was a controlled accent - the accent of a person who knew how to deal with it and train his pronunciation.

Her parents are Mexican and her native languages ​​are Spanish and English. She lives in Brooklyn and sells chocolates from railroad cars.

4 years ago she saw on YouTube Elena Vaenga and fell in love with her work so much that she began to learn Russian. She learned all of Vaenga’s songs, all their lyrics and moved on to studying phonetics, vocabulary and phraseology.

She knows the difference between “carrying a child” and “being responsible.” She never had a teacher, she gained all her knowledge from Russian lessons in YouTube. If she ever has money for college, she will go to study to become a translator.

She happily gives out her phone number, but for some reason she never picks up. Perhaps because of the specific work. Or maybe for another reason. Those who frequently use the B and Q lines may find her on board during the day, during hours that are not overcrowded with passengers.

The editor of a popular Western publication, Susie Armitage, began studying Russian and soon realized that this was an activity for the strong-willed.

1. When you first see the Cyrillic alphabet, you think: “Cool! I can handle!" and get ready for adventure.

2. In these early days, every little victory feels exciting. Now you have managed to read the word “bread” without racking your brains over it for five minutes, and you can already imagine how you read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in the original.

3. But you soon realize that knowing the alphabet is one thing, but speaking Russian is completely different.

4. “Imagine being kicked in the stomach,” your teacher says, explaining the “y” sound.

5. After just three weeks, you can already pronounce “hello” correctly.

6. And when it comes to “sh”, “sh” and “ch”, you think that they are not so different.

7. But now you confuse them in a conversation, and it turns out that the Russians do not understand you. “What other “box”?! Ah-ah-ah, a box!

8. Then the baby “b” appears, who crawls into some words and changes them beyond recognition with his black magic.

9. And one day you will be looking for a store that sells “sofas, beds and tables” - because the word “furniture” is too difficult to pronounce.

10. Your first attempts at translation will be absolutely, hopelessly incorrect due to the peculiarities of Russian grammar.

11. And when you come to terms with the existence of one case, you will find that you need to learn five more.

12. You will have to remember that the TV is a “boy”, the newspaper is a “girl”, and the radio has no “gender”.

13. Then you come across verbs of motion. I remember when I asked the teacher after a couple of months of training how to say “go,” he replied that we were not ready for this yet.

14. The teacher gives you the task of writing a story about a walk around the city using the words “go”, “go”, “go out”, “go around”, “cross” and “enter”. I think I'd rather stay at home.

16. Gradually you will get used to using the imperative mood, because otherwise your speech will seem strange.

17. You'll look down on your friends who are learning Spanish or French (but secretly be jealous of them).

18. One day you will certainly tell someone that yesterday you wrote all evening. Although in fact they wrote.

19. Or ask about the cost of a good circumcision with education in mind.

20. When you run out of vocabulary, you'll just start adding the ending "-ow" to English verbs and pray to the gods of intercultural communication that it will work. At least this works from the start.

21. When you arrive in Russia, you will need to ask the bartender for Sprite or Long Island in the most exaggerated accent to be understood.

22. Get ready for your name to be severely mutilated. But you will still have to introduce yourself with the Russian version of your name, because otherwise no one will know how to address you. Guys with names like Seth or Ruth were especially lucky.

23. Even if you study it for years, the Russian language will still manage to screw you over. For example, someone will notice that you put the accent incorrectly on a word that you use all the time.

24. But despite all the headaches, you'll still be glad you got involved with all this.

25. Because it’s not for nothing that the Russian language is called great and powerful. And now you simply cannot live without it.