Anybody speak Russian or Bulgarian?
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tihui — 17 years ago(August 31, 2008 01:40 AM)
Actually MacFundamentalist, English and French not so much as they are of two different language types.
Also, if you could speak ye olde English you would be able to converse with a Dutch person (not fluently of course but the similarities are astounding)
English has changed somewhat over the years but the grounding remains Germanic just as Russian and Bulgarian are Slavic. -
www-mia — 17 years ago(October 23, 2008 10:45 AM)
I can speak english, and i've been taking German lessons for about 2 and a half years now and i still can't speak it. There might be a resemblance, (though i can't see it) but it really does not work that way. If it did i would be getting straight A's in German by now.
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marc_18 — 17 years ago(February 28, 2009 03:36 PM)
Yeah he's right, was on a ski vacation there and i found it pretty easy to cammunicate with the locals (im russian myself).
p.s in bulgarian the word "yes" means "no" and "no" means "yes" - led to some freaking weired and funny incidents at first -
ManMadeHell — 14 years ago(November 02, 2011 07:26 AM)
Not the word-yes is still yes,and no is still no-da and ne.However,if you shake your head for "i disagree"(for example)in Russia,its the other way around in Bulgaria.Nod for NO and shake for YES,if that makes any sense,lol.
And,yes,russian and bulgarian are pretty similar. -
deinhard07 — 18 years ago(January 19, 2008 01:56 PM)
Bulgaria was part of Soviet Block. Everybody had to have Russian as a second language in school from grade three (3) to grade twelve (12) and more if somebody went to have a higher education. Russian is not my mother language but I speak and read Russian fluently, thanks to 14years of studying it at school.
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freddyclk — 18 years ago(January 21, 2008 05:09 AM)
My neighbor is Bulgarian, and he can "understand" and speak some Russian. I guess I can compare them to Spanish and Portoguese , perhaps But he, my neighbor, owns a coffee shop and he was able to communicate with Russian customers.
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TheMaskedMan52 — 18 years ago(February 08, 2008 08:01 PM)
My friend speaks Slovenian but is able to understand Czech. Slavic languages are quite similar when you take it down to the basics.
Everyone has the freedom of religion, but religion should be free.
~Anonymous -
Ashwem — 17 years ago(April 07, 2008 01:56 AM)
It's not like Victor and the Russian were having an intellectual conversation, so it's completely believable that they'd understand each other, even if slightly.
You are right, Slavic languages are quite similar in grammar, lexis and pronunciation, so if you are familiar with the context, or if it is not very difficult, Russians/Bulgarians/Polish/Chech/Ukranians etc. can understand each other, or at least make themselves understood. Plus, as some of the posters have already said, Russian used to be one of the major foreign languages learnt at Eastern European schools until early 90's.
But the trick is that
the "Russian with the medicine for the goat" in the movie doesn't speak Russian
Being Russian myself, I know that for sure:) I didn't understand a word from what he was saying, though it did sound like a Slavic language
What I can't get here is why the producers would hire a gifted and popular Russian actor for the role which makes no sense at all, and make him speak gibberish at that?%%% -
Kitten-from-Pluto — 17 years ago(April 09, 2008 02:39 AM)
My parents are Macedonian which was one of those countries a part of Yugoslavia so they understood a lot of it, I even knew some words although my skills in speaking the language is poor.
It might be different grammar and different words here and there most Slav languages can be understood if you know one language.
I bet that you look good on the dancefloor
Dancin to electropop like a robot
from 1984:SPERM-TTW -
hatul-1 — 17 years ago(May 11, 2008 03:28 PM)
That is very weird since I'm Russian too and i clearly uderstood what the guy with medicine was saying, with no accent of course being well known russian actor. Though I did get nothin of Tom Hanks speach addressed to the guy.
The languages are close, right. I've been to Bulgaria once, but probably not being so bright I understood nothing from their talking, thx to god they spoke russian. Some words sounded familiar but when they were speaking fast it was complete blank. -
shobra-ns — 17 years ago(May 18, 2008 06:26 PM)
I'm Serbian and I agree most Slavs could understand each other in a conversation if they put some work in it.
But the thing I don't understand is the taxi driver at the end
Goran
being Albanian.. that doesn't make sense
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temporary234 — 17 years ago(June 30, 2008 01:15 PM)
Russia never ruled Bulgaria Timmetie you are an idiot.. before you say something stupid like that check it
Maybe not, but Bulgaria was part of the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Sphere of Influence. So what's the big deal? -
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entej — 17 years ago(October 09, 2008 08:12 AM)
"""
But the trick is that the "Russian with the medicine for the goat" in the movie doesn't speak Russian Being Russian myself, I know that for sure:) I didn't understand a word from what he was saying, though it did sound like a Slavic language
what the hell? maybe you sould turn up the volume or something? This was the RARE case in the US movie when there was the REAL russian-talking guy without any foolish accent! I'm always getting realy mad when they try to make somebody speak "real" russian in the movies but NOT in this one