Why Russians do not smile (2002)

Post by theshrike79 » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 7:19 AM UTC

dagmx wrote: post #451

andreskytt wrote: post #256

Estonian here. At Skype (10+ years ago) I observed, that members of large cultures (American, British, Hindu etc.) had real trouble adjusting to the predominantly Estonian-based engineering culture. Probably because they had never had to adjust, commonly people adjust to _their_ culture as it tends to dominate large organizations. But once they did make an honest attempt, that was always most welcomed and gained them…

Do you mean Indian instead of Hindu? In context of your post, it would seem Indian is what you meant, given you refer to everyone else by nationality. I see it as a common conflation where people substitute Hindu (religion) with Hindi (language) with Indian (nationality/heritage). But yes, as an Indian myself, we often have a different understanding of personal space and contact versus European/American cultures. It'…

As a Finn just the Google Image results of "Indian queue" make me anxious. I would never ever be that close to anyone in any situation unless forced.

Post by theshrike79 » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 7:22 AM UTC

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #429

3pt14159 wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a great quote, though I have a minor quibble about alcohol being necessary as some of the Russians I befriended were former alcoholics and sober for years. Though others drank beer at dawn. I found I made deep friendships more easily after speaking even a bit of Russian. If you can say "My name is X" and "awesome" and a couple other small phrases it helps. That said, it wasn't until I had put in around 1000 h…

>> One of the things that learning Russian clears up is why they sound so angry to English ears. Funny. To me (I'm Greek) Russians sound like they're always complaining about something. It's Germans that sound angry. Edit: I wonder what Greek sounds like to foreign ears. The closes I've come to understanding it is hearing Spanish people talk, who sound a lot like Greek -that I don't understand.

Both Spanish (The Spain-version, not the Mexico-version) and Greek have a bunch of S sounds _everywhere_.

That's what makes them sound similar to people who don't speak the language that much.

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)

Re: Why Russians do not smile (2002)