Poor Guy

Im thinking of learning Russian or Czech and dont know ANYTHING about them apart from they both sound very confusing.

Can anyone on here tell me anything about these languages?

thanks

2000TLondon

Russian would probably be more beneficial, assuming more people speak it? Dunno if that is a good theory!

Speaking Czech may get you discounts in Prague. Dunno if that is a good theory either!

InvisibleMan

i work in a company with russian/ukranian/czech/polish & everything inbetween & yup very confusing, i should have picked up afew words by now but havent. I can figure out the swear words though. several dialects in all of these. All i know is czechs dont really see eye to eye with the russians

Brendan Hughes

They're all from the Slav family, so it will be a bit like choosing between Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or French. As above, Russian may well be more useful just because so many more speak it, but for the last 10-15 years all the East Europeans have been learning English rather than Russian at school/university (well, all except the Belorussians ) so don't expect to walk into a job over there.

Handy for chatting up the blondes though

BTW, there's a few guys on here learning Russian, I think they're usually connected with the oil business, unless they're connected with a Russian

Brendan Hughes

One other thing - what's your experience of learning languages? It's a sweeping generalisation, but if you were no good at French or German, you won't enjoy learning Russian. Don't worry about the alphabet, although most people think that's the difficult bit, it's actually the easiest (and as it's phonetic, it really is easy). The grammar's a pig though.

Poor Guy

learned French and got a GCSE in it (A)
can speak Italian due to visiting there a hell of a lot as a boy. also tried german for a bit but the teacher rarely showed up so didnt learn much.

Ken 275

Mandarin or Spanish are probably a better bet from a commercial point of view but I understand that the learning curve for the former will be steep.

K.

InvisibleMan

or would you get further in business if you spoke Cantonese, being the language of Hong Kong, even though there are billions more Manderin speaking Chinese

Brendan Hughes

Well if you've got some language learning under your belt, give it a go Tell you what though, it will make your life a lot easier if you can find a proper native to speak with (or, far better, go to the country for a week or two). Learning for a couple of hours a week at evening classes is a good way to progress slowly and you'll feel like you're never making progress - once you have the whole alphabet and some basic sentences, go and throw yourself in at the deep end!

Poor Guy

ive always found the best way to learn a language is to go to the country. i used to know a lot of italian when i was 8/9 because we were always with italian friend in italy. when i returned after a couple of years i could tell what people were saying but not talk back, but last year it all came flooding back.
"dove e la mercato? vorrei formaggio e panna!"

anyways.
As much as id like to learn chinese languages I think ill start with czech or russian. im still not sure which to try.

Brendan Hughes

Basically, Czech to be individual, Russian to be universal. I was trying to explain digital cameras to a Russian in a shop in Bangkok, as the assistant only spoke English... that was a laugh.

I suppose it's a bit like saying do I learn Italian or Spanish. Italian gets you to Italy, but Spanish takes you round 15? countries in South America, the Philippines, etc. And you can try it in Italy too.

Poor Guy

hmmmmm. If i learn one will the other be easier to learn? looking at czech and russian "how are yous" they seem a bit similar.

InvisibleMan

any particular reason why czech specifically? met a nice Czech girl during your Praque weekends?

I would do Russian. Out of the 2 countries, if your in a situation that really calls for knowing what the hell is going on, then its got to be Russia. Then again if you dont know the language your less likely to put yourself that situation. Czech Republic really doesnt compare in that sence

Ive been teaching our guys our "english phrases" i really should learn some of theirs...

Poor Guy

i want to go to prague, but i watch films with some russian in like night watch. plus underworld has some czech in it.
i always like to know a bit of the language or else i feel like a right ignorant pig. also people seem more interested when you try to speak their language.

Brendan Hughes

Er yes, that's what I said at the beginning - all part of the Slav family.

I hope you pay more attention to your teacher

Poor Guy

Whats in the Slav family? I know bugger all about these languages.

InvisibleMan

thats because sooo many films are made there, fab architecture - obligitory Charles Bridge shot...

Brendan Hughes

Most of Central and Eastern Europe, but not Hungarian, Romanian, or the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia). So Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian, Bosnian (?), Serbian definitely, Polish, Ukranian, Bulgarian... thereabouts.

Iwan

I'm learning Slovak, a bit similar to Czech but still very different. It's probably an easier language to learn from scratch than english, as it actually seems to be pretty logical. All the letters are pronounced phonetically but there are some weird stuff to remember with how it all works.

Lots of words are common in Russian/Ukrainian/Polish/Czech/Slovak, they are all slavic languages as has been said above.

BTW: Easiest way to learn is to move there, or pull a chick from there who can speak the lingo.

Poor Guy

so if i did GCSE russian at college it could be a base for czech. Think ill take that up next year at night while im doing my HND.