What I learned in class today...

Some fun things I learned in class today...

Like English, Russian also has a word for "guys"- meaning a mixed group of people ex: Hey guys, lets go to the movies tonight. You wouldn't use it for a group of all girls or a group of all guys, like you could in English. Our teacher uses it all the time (when she addresses our class) and I think I'll grow to find it very useful in my speech. Secondly, or teacher is great about sharing with us things that would be culturally inappropriate. It seems, at least to an American, that the Russian culture is generally easily offended. Not that people would ever come out and tell you that you've offended them, though. So, it's nice to have a heads up about a few things. For instance- when asked why a certain holiday is celebrated, you never respond "because this is Russia"...apparently that would be offensive. So different, because if askesomeone d you why you celebrate the 4th of July or MLK day- you might say "this is America" and be assured you wouldn't offend anyone. More interestingly though, is when you say attempt to say "I want you to do..." you can't directly translate that into Russian because it ends up with a unwanted meaning. I guess there were some situations where men said to their children's nanny's "I want you...(to feed them/ take them outside/ etc)"...but it you don't use another sentence construction to convey your meaning, you end up in a very awkward situation. Always good to know. Anyway...I could go on forever boring you all with useless facts about the Russian language, but next time you say "guys" or tell someone what you "want them" to do...think of us, and remember us in your prayers! We couldn't do this without all your prayers!