Each of us perceives foreign speech in our own way, and each of us has our own associations associated with the sound of a particular language. But have you ever thought about how our native and familiar Russian language is perceived and associated with by foreigners? Here's what they say:..
Australia:
Russian sounds very brutal and masculine. This is the language of real machos.
(Will, financial analyst, Australia)
Czech Republic:
For me, Russian sounds exactly like Polish. The same intonation, the same “feminine” pronunciation, especially compared to Czech.
(Jakub, financial analyst, Czech Republic)
Great Britain:
For me, Russian speech is something between the roar of a walrus and the melody of Brahms.
(Abe, accountant, UK)
Ireland:
Before I started studying the Russian language, and some time after the start of Slavic lessons, the more it seemed to me like a recording of any other world language, run backwards.
(Gethin, scout, Ireland)
Mongolia:
The most amazing thing is that the Russian language can sound completely different: it all depends on the speaker and on what exactly is being said. In principle, if you wish, you can make the Russian language sound angelic. True true! Russian is plasticine, from which he can mold whatever he wants.
(Batyr, photographer, Mongolia)
New Zealand:
It’s as if someone hasn’t really cleared their throat, has taken a mouthful of saliva, and is trying to talk at the same time.
(Dean, retired, New Zealand)
Netherlands:
The Russian language is the sounds that a cat would make if you put it in a box full of marbles: squeaking, squealing and complete confusion.
(William-Jan, designer, Netherlands)
It always seemed to me that Russian is a mixture of Spanish with a rounded “r”, French with the addition of “zh” and German rough sounds.
(Jeremy, teacher, USA)
Italy:
It's like an invitation to desperate flirtation. And especially when Russian girls say their “PACHIMA?” in an incredibly sweet voice. Publish me please.
(Alessio, journalist, Italy)
Corsica:
A highly emotional language, Russians put a lot of feeling and passion into intonation. Example: “Wow!”
(Chris, consultant, Corsica)
Germany:
The Russian language is a pair of familiar words lost in the complete linguistic chaos of sounds that are unpleasant to the ear.
(Albertina, infectious disease doctor, Germany)
Great Britain:
Like the sound of sandpaper scraping along a rough surface covered with a thin layer of varnish. And if we talk about provincials, then their Russian is scraping sandpaper on a rough surface without any varnishing at all.
(Mark, teacher, UK)
Israel:
It's like the roar of a bus stuck in a traffic jam. “Yes-yes-yessssss.” And so - on an increasing scale.
France:
The Russian language is like a very poorly adjusted radio receiver: full of unnecessary rustles, crackles and creaks.
(Maria, translator, France)
Representatives of foreign countries that are more “distant” for Russians have already responded here, but now I want to talk about foreigners “closer”. So, Belarus.
In general, it’s worth saying that in Belarus a large number of people speak Russian, almost three-quarters of the population, if I’m not mistaken. This is understandable - the country was part of the USSR, plus decades of Russification. Because of this, and in general because of the still significant proportion of “Soviet people” who were brought up accordingly, many people treat Russian as their native language (although when asked about their native language they usually answer Belarusian). Regardless of the language of communication, almost any Belarusian is a Belarusian-Russian bilingual, therefore, Russian is perceived naturally, and it is difficult to say about any specific perception.
In Belarus there is another view. It is represented mainly by the Belarusian-speaking opposition and the intelligentsia. The perception of the Russian language is negative; it is usually called rude and artificial. But here, most likely, the main role is played by the attitude of these people to the Russian Federation, its politics, and certain moments of Belarusian-Russian history (historical memory).
Now this is a personal subjective perception. Being fluent in both Belarusian and Russian, it is quite difficult for me to hear one of them “with the ears of a foreigner”. But if I am internally “tuned” to Belarusian, then Russian words and forms sound somehow strange. I can’t say whether it’s beautiful or ugly, rude or melodic. It's just somehow strange, unnatural. It is, in principle, logical. This is the answer if the author by “perception” meant how foreigners hear the Russian language.
If this refers to the attitude towards the Russian language, then, again, in Belarus there are two opposing camps. One, huge, including the majority of the population, is neutral; this group of people is generally characterized by such a Belarusian national trait as “Pamyarkoўnasts” (I don’t know the Russian equivalent) in all views. As mentioned earlier, they have an attitude towards Russian natural.
There is also a second camp, not numerous, but relatively influential. In it, the attitude towards Russian varies from slight disdain to hatred of the “language of the occupiers”. It was formed by the nationalist intelligentsia, especially ardent activists of the “Druga Belaruskaga Adradzhennia” (the unofficial name of the wave of interest in the national language and culture), mostly the opposition, and partly the bohemians. Among “ordinary people” it is rare, rather rare. Representatives of the camp strongly associate Russian with something foreign, forcibly instilled, so they can react with irritation, refusal to speak Russian, although they speak it (by speaking Russian they seem to be “betraying” their integrity, their ideals, “ are renting out" under pressure from the Russians). It is very rare to come across inappropriate people who react with insults. But in general, there is no need to be afraid of any large forms of hostility. I will also note that the largest concentration of this camp is in the capital - Minsk, where active youth from all over the country gather. This is the answer if by "perception" we mean attitude.
P.S. I apologize for the verbosity. I apologize if I misunderstood the question. All of the above are subjective observations/conclusions and do not claim to be the absolute truth. The author does not pursue political or propaganda goals. The answer is an attempt to describe the perception of the Russian language in Belarus as accurately, unbiasedly and accessible to the Russian audience as possible.
Thank you for your attention.
The unusual sound of foreign speech is most often the cause of culture shock. In China or Vietnam, the sound of the local language, similar to “xiao-miao-liao”, may well drive us crazy. German speech in the style of “Rosenkleitz Rothenbertschmacher Steinblumenrichtenstadt” sometimes resembles Hitler’s election speech in timbre and intensity. But what does our Russian language, so native and understandable, sound like for foreigners?
Please find the answers below.
Australia:
Russian sounds very brutal and masculine. This is the language of real machos.
(Will, financial analyst, Australia)
Czech Republic:
For me, Russian sounds exactly like Polish. The same intonation, the same “feminine” pronunciation, especially compared to Czech.
(Jakub, financial analyst, Czech Republic)
Great Britain:
For me, Russian speech is something between the roar of a walrus and the melody of Brahms.
(Abe, accountant, UK)
Ireland:
Before I started studying the Russian language, and some time after the start of Slavic lessons, the more it seemed to me like a recording of any other world language, run backwards.
(Gethin, scout, Ireland)
Mongolia:
The most amazing thing is that the Russian language can sound completely different: it all depends on the speaker and on what exactly is being said. In principle, if you wish, you can make the Russian language sound angelic. True true! Russian is plasticine, from which you can mold whatever you want.
(Batyr, photographer, Mongolia)
New Zealand:
It’s as if someone hasn’t really cleared their throat, has taken a mouthful of saliva, and is trying to talk at the same time.
(Dean, retired, New Zealand)
Netherlands:
The Russian language is the sounds that a cat would make if you put it in a box full of marbles: squeaking, squealing and complete confusion.
(William-Jan, designer, Netherlands)
USA:
It always seemed to me that Russian is a mixture of Spanish with a rounded “r”, French with the addition of “zh” and German rough sounds.
(Jeremy, teacher, USA)
Italy:
It's like an invitation to desperate flirtation. And especially when Russian girls say their “PACHIMA?” in an incredibly sweet voice. Publish me please.
(Alessio, journalist, Italy)
Corsica:
A highly emotional language, Russians put a lot of feeling and passion into intonation. Example: “Wow!”
(Chris, consultant, Corsica)
Germany:
The Russian language is a pair of familiar words lost in the complete linguistic chaos of sounds that are unpleasant to the ear.
(Albertina, infectious disease doctor, Germany)
Great Britain:
Like the sound of sandpaper scraping along a rough surface covered with a thin layer of varnish. And if we talk about provincials, then their Russian is scraping sandpaper on a rough surface without any varnishing at all.
(Mark, teacher, UK)
Israel:
It's like the roar of a bus stuck in a traffic jam. “Yes-yes-yessssss.” And so - on an increasing basis.
France:
The Russian language is like a very poorly adjusted radio receiver: full of unnecessary rustles, crackles and creaks.
(Maria, translator, France)
Below is a selection of opinions of specific citizens from different countries about phonetics of the Russian language, expressed with all my heart.
- “It’s like an invitation to desperate flirtation. And especially when Russian girls say their “PACHIMA?” in an incredibly sweet voice. Publish me please.(Alessio, journalist, Italy)"
- “A highly emotional language - Russians put a lot of feeling and passion into intonation. Example: “WOW!”(Chris, consultant, Corsica)
- “The Russian language is the sounds that a cat would make if you put it in a box full of marbles, squeaking, squealing and complete confusion.”(William-Jan, designer, Netherlands)
- “It always seemed to me that the Russian language is a mixture of Spanish with the rounded “r” of French, to which they added “zh”, German rough sounds.”(Jeremy, teacher, USA)
- “For me, Russian sounds exactly like Polish. The same intonation, the same “feminine” pronunciation, especially compared to Czech.”. (Jakub, financial analyst, Czech Republic)
- “For me, Russian speech is something between the roar of a walrus and the melody of Brahms.”(Abe, accountant, UK)
- “Before I started studying Russian, and some time after I started Slavic lessons, the more I listened to Russian, the more it seemed to me like a recording of any other language, played backwards.”(Gethin, scout, Ireland)"
- “It’s like someone didn’t really clear their throat, got a mouthful of saliva, and is still trying to talk.”(Dean, retired, New Zealand)
- “Russian sounds very brutal, masculine. This is the language of real machos."(Will, financial analyst, Australia)
- “The most amazing thing is that the Russian language can sound completely different: it all depends on the speaker and on what exactly is being said. In principle, if you wish, you can make the Russian language sound angelic. True true! Russian is plasticine, from which any master can sculpt whatever he wants.”(Batyr, photographer, Mongolia)
- “The Russian language is a pair of familiar words lost in the complete linguistic chaos of unpleasant sounds.”(Albertina, infectious disease doctor, Germany)
- “Like the sound of sandpaper scraping against a rough surface covered with a thin layer of varnish. And if we talk about provincials, then their Russian is scraping sandpaper on a rough surface without any varnishing at all.”(Mark, teacher, UK)
- “It’s like the roar of a bus stuck in a traffic jam. “Yes-yes-yessssss.” And so on and on and on.”(Aim, artist, Israel)
- “The Russian language is like a very poorly adjusted radio receiver: Full of unnecessary rustles, crackles and creaks.” (Maria, translator, France)
Yes, most of them are not very pleasant statements. But we should take comfort in the fact that, in general, assessing language as rough or gentle is a subjective phenomenon.
In general, in the Russian language they blame the abundance of hissing words, the growling “R”, the swallowing of vowels, which makes the language seem harsh. Yes, indeed, in the English language, for example, it is customary to smooth out and soften even hard sounds, whereas in Russian they are pronounced clearly.
Yes, the Russian language is not simple, perhaps even very difficult for foreigners. Let us at least remember our 6 cases and many case endings, cunning numerals and protracted hissing participles, defending themselves from gerunds, not noticing the invasion of external enemies.
Nevertheless, Russian, like any other foreign language, can be studied, as was proven by many newcomers from the era of French tutors and German court guest workers.
Well, for those foreign citizens who find Russian grammar immeasurably difficult... you can smile and confidentially say in your ear: “Thank you that we don’t have a “tone” like in Chinese or Vietnamese, and we don’t write in hieroglyphs!” 🙂
Recently, an interesting question was asked on one popular question and answer site: “How do foreigners perceive the Russian language?” The question interested many people, and both our compatriots and the foreigners themselves answered it. We've selected the most interesting answers to get a rough picture of how foreigners actually "see" the way we speak. This is what came out of it.
1. Russian is very difficult to learn
Many foreigners are stunned when they see the letter "Y". Moreover, no matter how hard they try, they rarely succeed in pronouncing this sound. What can we say about the letters “Ъ” and “b”, which do not have their own sounds, but are nevertheless used in writing. The letters “Ш” and “Ш” come as a big surprise to many. They don’t see the difference between them and don’t understand why two letters “Ш” were needed in the alphabet.
2. Some sounds and letters are confusing
wp.com
Different nationalities perceive the Russian language differently. So, trying to imitate Russian speech, the Germans reproduce “dr”, “kr”, “tr”, “br”, explaining that it reminds them of machine gun shots. Vietnamese hear only clicking and hissing sounds in Russian speech. Argentines hear only consonants, while Scandinavians distinguish the sounds “x”, “w” and “r”.
3. Russian speech is difficult, almost impossible to perceive by ear
kulturologia.ru
It's not the grammar or word construction that's causing the difficulty. Many foreigners are confused by the pronunciation. For them, Russian speech is a mixture of sounds that are difficult to identify. It is difficult for foreigners to isolate individual words or phrases from the entire stream. And understanding where a sentence begins and ends is akin to science fiction.
4. Some people think that Russians speak backwards
/vashapanda.ru
This is how Americans comment on Russian speech. They perceive it as if someone had played it backwards on an audiotape. In addition, foreigners note that Russians speak too quickly.
5. Russian speech is harsh and rude...
kulturologia.ru
Many foreigners note that Russian speech is very rude and even cruel. When two people communicate, they often feel like they are about to start quarreling or even fighting. It is also difficult for foreigners to understand the intonation of Russians, which is why the first people think that we are making fun of them.
6. ...and at the same time melodic
nnm.me
However, there are also foreigners to whom Russian speech resembles the chirping of birds, and they do not hear anything rude in it.
7. Residents of different countries perceive Russian speech completely differently.
creu.ru
To some, Russian speech seems melodic, and to others - rude. It is noteworthy that the Germans consider Russian speech to be rude and harsh, even though we, Russians, perceive German speech in the same way. In most cases, Europeans hear rudeness, but residents of Southeast Asia and South America consider it soft and melodic.