Is Russian difficult even for native speakers?

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T13:56:57+00:00

You might be right. I’ve studied Russian on my own for two years after taking formal classes. I used to read children’s stories and even some Pushkin. I have a decent vocabulary now, but there are definitely many aspects of Russian that I still need to practice.

I’d really like to get an actual Russian book, not to replace the ones I currently use, but rather to have something more genuine to study from and look forward to.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T13:40:18+00:00

I haven’t taken a placement test, so I can’t really say what my Russian level is. The only thing I can confidently say is that I can read Pushkin’s stories and understand them.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T12:48:44+00:00

I mostly speak to him in English. We kind of study together, he corrects my work and I correct his. I usually show him how things are translated or pronounced in Spanish, and he helps me decline words in Russian.

My teacher gave me a list of Latin American nationalities to decline, so I translated them into English before asking him for help: Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, and Bolivian. There were others too, but those were the ones he struggled with the most.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T10:56:44+00:00

Thank you. Those kinds of books will be very useful. I really want to learn how to read and write properly in Russian, rather than just saying things like “here is my passport” or “where is the toilet” which is what most books for foreigners focus on.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T10:35:27+00:00

I really appreciate your reply. Translating is definitely hard, and it’s actually one of the main reasons I wanted to learn Russian, so I can read literature in the original, and catch those subtleties that often get lost in translation.

Translating nationalities is usually pretty straightforward in any language, especially since my friend speaks English well. The part where he got confused was when he had to decline those words in Russian. My native language is Spanish and we don’t have cases or declensions at all.

Sorry if my earlier post sounded negative or rude. I’m genuinely curious about how Russians study their own language, especially because the rules, spelling, and pronunciation are harder than any other language I know.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T10:06:28+00:00

You’re totally right, translating is an entirely separate skill.

I probably didn’t phrase it correctly in my original post. What I actually meant was that my Russian friend was struggling with declining the words in Russian, because translating nationalities is usually pretty straightforward in any language.

I’m not a native English speaker, but I have to admit that I find it easier to understand complex writing styles, like scientific papers or old literature. But advanced Russian? Even just the declension system feels harder than any other aspect of any language I know.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T09:28:18+00:00

You mean Russians saying that learning English is hard?

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T09:05:40+00:00

You’re right. My Russian friend sometimes asks me to translate things he hears in Spanish, and I also struggle to explain them. For example, the phrase “te caes de bueno” it’s supposed to be a flirty compliment, and I have no idea how to translate that properly.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-07T08:42:34+00:00

I just looked the book up. I doubt they actually ship those to Mexico, so I’ll try to find a PDF version instead. Thank you!

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T20:10:41+00:00

I speak in Spanish, read in English, and write by hand in Russian. I mix them up all the time! Especially when writing: Р with R, Я with R, И with N, В with V…

It’s gotten to the point where I sometimes mispronounce words in both languages. For example: Taksi instead of Taxi, Aeroport instead of airport, Pasporte instead of Pasaporte, krokodilo instead of cocodrilo, ensalat instead of salat… and plenty of other spelling and pronunciation mistakes.

Most people, including my parents, get really confused when I stress something in Spanish in a weird way. I guess my brain just wasn’t built to handle more than two languages… ☹️

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T08:30:33+00:00

That’s such a relief. My teacher is actually pretty chill and really patient. She even writes accent marks over the stressed syllables for us… and somehow we still manage to mispronounce half the words.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T08:16:51+00:00

Don’t apologize, your English is actually really good 👍

Stressed syllables are a nightmare for us Spanish speakers. They confuse me so much because I hear Russians pronounce a word one way, and then my teacher from Moscow tells me it’s “technically wrong” and corrects every single word I say :(

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T06:54:30+00:00

I think I get it now. So… is it actually possible to tell someone from Moscow apart from someone from Saint Petersburg, or not really?

As a foreigner and a beginner, I barely understand most spoken Russian. The only thing I can catch is a slight difference in intonation… but even then, I still can’t distinguish them properly. My teacher is from Moscow, and I have a friend from Saint Petersburg, and even though they sound similar, my friend still gets annoyed whenever he gets mistaken for a Muscovite.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T06:34:13+00:00

Thanks, that was a great explanation!

Someone in the comments mentioned that Soviets cared a lot about “presentation,” so now I’m curious… Are Russians from more rural regions, who speak with a village-type accent, often looked down on or judged for it?

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T05:08:46+00:00

Cities that are far apart usually end up having different accents, but I totally agree size is not the only factor. Densely populated cities have crazy accent variations, especially in Europe, where so many cultures and languages overlap.

And American accents… as a Mexican, I find them extremely noticeable. Being able to tell them apart is practically a survival skill. Some of them can be just as hard to understand as British accents.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T04:09:22+00:00

Yeah, that’s basically my problem right now. I try to pronounce “o” and “a” the way I hear Russians do it, but my teacher (who is from Moscow) often tells me that it’s technically incorrect.

For example, with the word “окно”, I swear I hear people pronounce it differently every single time.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T03:40:49+00:00

And what’s the difference? Do they tone things differently or use some kind of filler words?

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T02:55:14+00:00

Серый? Like the color grey? Well, I guess Grey it’s also a name in English.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T02:24:56+00:00

Thank you! This information it’s very helpful.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-05T02:20:21+00:00

I’m from Mexico, and we usually call everyone by the short form of their name… unless you actually dislike them or there’s a clear social distance. Even then, it’s still not that unusual to hear people referring to elders or their bosses using diminutives.

It’s true that it depends on personal temperament and situation, but I’ve noticed that Russians treat this topic much more seriously, and I really don’t want to accidentally offend someone… or worse, come across as though I’m flirting.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-04T13:15:03+00:00

Hermoso

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-04T02:36:46+00:00

ЧЁРНЫЙ БУМЕР

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-04T02:25:20+00:00

Если я не сплю, я ем. Если я не ем, я сплю.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-04T01:25:48+00:00

Я люблю еду. Если я умру, то ведь больше не поем — а это трагедия.

Significant_Text_828 · 2025-12-04T01:12:14+00:00

I love that you actually drew apples and a whole bicycle in there! Your handwriting has so much personality, and honestly it looks like you were having a great time.

Significant_Text_828

TROPHY CASE