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kacir · 06-25-2009, 07:05 AM

I speak my mother language and another Slavic language from childhood. Then I learned Russian in school (10 years of study). As a result I can communicate with quite a few people including Polish, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian ...
I have started to study English after I stopped using my Russian actively. So just like you describe it, English somehow replaced my Russian. After a few years of learning English I went to the USA. I was trying to tell a joke in Russian, because some puns and jokes can not be translated from Slavic language to English without lots of explaining and killing most of the fun in the process.
As I was telling the joke in Russian my friends (that all understood Russian) were laughing like mad.
"Why are you laughing? I did not tell the punchline yet."
"Well, try to listen to yourself. Half of the words you are using are English" (mostly "well", "but", "or", and other "filling" words that you use unconsciously while thinking what to say next)
So I concentrated really hard on Russian and I was able to finish the anecdote without using English words. Then I realized that I was translating the text in my head, word after word from English!. Not from my mother language (Slavic one).
At that time I was already thinking in English when speaking English. Before that I was thinking in Russian when I used Russian language.
When it comes to reading, I have never been comfortable reading in "Russian Alphabet" - Azbuka. Despite lots of effort during my 10 years of study I was never able to read Russian Full speed.

06-25-2009, 07:05 AM	#23
kacir Wizard Posts: 3,463 Karma: 10684861 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20	I speak my mother language and another Slavic language from childhood. Then I learned Russian in school (10 years of study). As a result I can communicate with quite a few people including Polish, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian ... I have started to study English after I stopped using my Russian actively. So just like you describe it, English somehow replaced my Russian. After a few years of learning English I went to the USA. I was trying to tell a joke in Russian, because some puns and jokes can not be translated from Slavic language to English without lots of explaining and killing most of the fun in the process. As I was telling the joke in Russian my friends (that all understood Russian) were laughing like mad. "Why are you laughing? I did not tell the punchline yet." "Well, try to listen to yourself. Half of the words you are using are English" (mostly "well", "but", "or", and other "filling" words that you use unconsciously while thinking what to say next) So I concentrated really hard on Russian and I was able to finish the anecdote without using English words. Then I realized that I was translating the text in my head, word after word from English!. Not from my mother language (Slavic one). At that time I was already thinking in English when speaking English. Before that I was thinking in Russian when I used Russian language. When it comes to reading, I have never been comfortable reading in "Russian Alphabet" - Azbuka. Despite lots of effort during my 10 years of study I was never able to read Russian Full speed.