[velociraptor]

(Original post by petromasha)
Babushka issues....
She was a complete nutjob, bitched about me and the girl I was living with to each of us, as if we didn't talk to eachother and find out
Her (late 30s,lazy and jobless) whale sized son wandered around in his tiny boxers and made us feel awkward, couldn't even pass his room on the way to the bathroom because of him, he'd sit in the kitchen all day so we couldn't go in and argued with her constantly.
Place was filthy, she only cleaned (I use the term loosely) when we complained to the school and even then she was really aggressive to us about it and told us we were wrong....oh, and told us she wouldn't make us eggs for breakfast because of the things we'd said
...which was just as well because there were hundreds of bugs and cockroaches in the food, as it turns out!

I went all super spy like and filmed it one night, showed the school and got moved into the hostel. Just moved in with another family and they seem lovely! Fingers crossed!

Oh my! I'm really glad you are out of there now!

[mimimimi]

(Original post by IlliteratePedant)
Shouldn't исползуете in Q.8 be используете? With a soft sign?

Yep, it should be... Someone else told me that too - I thought I'd changed it

[petromasha]

(Original post by Zoedotdot)
That sounds sort of like the babushka I had when I was in St Petersburg.... Particularly the lazy jobless son wandering around in his underwear. He also cleaned engine parts in the bath. Which school are you with, RLUS?

George? Apparently there are always complaints about George... Yep I'm with RLUS

(Original post by velociraptor)
Oh my! I'm really glad you are out of there now!

Me too!!

[Zoedotdot]

(Original post by petromasha)
George? Apparently there are always complaints about George... Yep I'm with RLUS

Oh my God, that's my bab!!!! (If you're talking about her son being called George, that is...). Thankfully we were only there for three weeks though, she was really mental. For one of our breakfasts she served us these blini that actually tasted like she'd fried them in petrol. I am not surprised that you left.

[petromasha]

(Original post by Zoedotdot)
Oh my God, that's my bab!!!! (If you're talking about her son being called George, that is...). Thankfully we were only there for three weeks though, she was really mental. For one of our breakfasts she served us these blini that actually tasted like she'd fried them in petrol. I am not surprised that you left.

Yep she's Lyudmila and her son is George. The oil she fried them in had probably been around for several years I'm afraid, perhaps why they tasted so bad! Thoroughly unpleasant woman, all she cared about was the money and she just made us miserable. George was made to put some clothes on though, which is a minor victory!
But....cockroaches....cockroache s EVERYWHERE. *shudders*

How was she with you, other than trying to poison you?

[Zoedotdot]

(Original post by petromasha)
Yep she's Lyudmila and her son is George. The oil she fried them in had probably been around for several years I'm afraid, perhaps why they tasted so bad! Thoroughly unpleasant woman, all she cared about was the money and she just made us miserable. George was made to put some clothes on though, which is a minor victory!
But....cockroaches....cockroache s EVERYWHERE. *shudders*

How was she with you, other than trying to poison you?

Money grabbing as well. She charged us 1500rub for an evening meal and 1000rub to wash my friend's clothes!! Sounds pretty similar to your experience as well tbh - George drinking with his friends in the kitchen, walking around in his underwear, very low standard of cleanliness, lots of arguing and so on. Did you meet her other son? He was away when we were there and she told us that he was working but she couldn't tell us what his job was - blatantly the mafia

[superwolf]

Started watching Идиот on youtube with English subtitles - seems pretty good, and they mostly speak quite clearly. First part:

[petromasha]

(Original post by Zoedotdot)
Money grabbing as well. She charged us 1500rub for an evening meal and 1000rub to wash my friend's clothes!! Sounds pretty similar to your experience as well tbh - George drinking with his friends in the kitchen, walking around in his underwear, very low standard of cleanliness, lots of arguing and so on. Did you meet her other son? He was away when we were there and she told us that he was working but she couldn't tell us what his job was - blatantly the mafia

Oh yes, it was allll about the money. I wouldn't eat her breakfasts, partly because of health reasons and partly because I'm not a breakfast person- she was told this long before I got there, and told I would still pay my full rent regardless of eating or not, and even before I got there she was whinging about it, making out to one of the students there that benedict wouldn't give her the money. Then she bitched to my friend about me 'trying to save 30roubles a day' by not eating breakfast because it's stupid....it just went on. I never used her washing machine, thankfully!

I can't believe she charged you that, what is she on?! Did you complain about it? Please tell me you didn't pay it She's horrendous. When was it you were out there? Apparently she was banned from having students for a year before...

She really didn't like me because I outright told her that I thought her dinners were too expensive, considering the standard of them, even though she was charging us the 250r as she was meant to. Although she did prepare food for us without us asking, practically force us to eat, us thinking it's free, then spring a charge on us after 4. I refused :P

All we knew about the other son is that he is working somewhere....deffo mafia! Hehe, I really wouldn't be surprised if it's not legal. I reckon George was doing a bit of gypsy cab driving now and then but no idea.
What a mess! Did you move out or were you off home after your time with her?

[velociraptor]

(Original post by petromasha)
Oh yes, it was allll about the money. I wouldn't eat her breakfasts, partly because of health reasons and partly because I'm not a breakfast person- she was told this long before I got there, and told I would still pay my full rent regardless of eating or not, and even before I got there she was whinging about it, making out to one of the students there that benedict wouldn't give her the money. Then she bitched to my friend about me 'trying to save 30roubles a day' by not eating breakfast because it's stupid....it just went on. I never used her washing machine, thankfully!

I can't believe she charged you that, what is she on?! Did you complain about it? Please tell me you didn't pay it She's horrendous. When was it you were out there? Apparently she was banned from having students for a year before...

She really didn't like me because I outright told her that I thought her dinners were too expensive, considering the standard of them, even though she was charging us the 250r as she was meant to. Although she did prepare food for us without us asking, practically force us to eat, us thinking it's free, then spring a charge on us after 4. I refused :P

All we knew about the other son is that he is working somewhere....deffo mafia! Hehe, I really wouldn't be surprised if it's not legal. I reckon George was doing a bit of gypsy cab driving now and then but no idea.
What a mess! Did you move out or were you off home after your time with her?

I can't believe she is allowed to be a host! Doesn't the school or the university bother checking your living arrangements?
I wish I could invite you all to live with me in Moscow. Cockroach free and all that =)

[petromasha]

(Original post by velociraptor)
I can't believe she is allowed to be a host! Doesn't the school or the university bother checking your living arrangements?
I wish I could invite you all to live with me in Moscow. Cockroach free and all that =)

Aww, the thought is appreciated I've just met the other student who has lived here for 6 months and he said the hosts are lovely and has certified it cockroach free! Ura!

The school apparently inspects all the places before they use them, but obviously not very well. It must have been a long time ago too, really there should be periodic checks. But given the number of complaints about her and George with nearly every student, you'd think they would stop using her. Apparently they've just kept her because she's so close by, but won't now....for a while at least


Also, I need to confess my shame somewhere...I was in Lush earlier...and because I had zero idea what the assistant was saying to me....I pretended I was deaf It started as a misunderstanding...but I rolled with it.
I'm a horrible person

[hitherto]

(Original post by IlliteratePedant)
Shouldn't исползуете in Q.8 be используете? With a soft sign?

Finished. There weren't as many spelling mistakes as you thought although there was one at the beginning where 'Opros' should have been 'Vopros'.

But it was a generally good survey to take, I didn't know that I knew so many social sites.

In the future, I will gladly participate in more.

[superwolf]

(Original post by Zoedotdot)
That was me.... last year all wrapped up now, although it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be!

Zoshchenko's a good topic. I love his essays, they're written with such beautiful clarity - much easier to read than his novels! Also Zoshchenka (Zosh, Zoshie etc) is a nickname I picked up in second year when we were studying Мы so I have a soft spot for him

Bloody hell I've got a bad memory. So you must be finished your degree now? Hope you're still keeping up the Russian, otherwise Putin will be disappointed in you.

Think you're getting mixed up between Zoshchenko and Zamyatin there.







A new generation of Stakhanovites!

[Zoedotdot]

(Original post by superwolf)
Bloody hell I've got a bad memory. So you must be finished your degree now? Hope you're still keeping up the Russian, otherwise Putin will be disappointed in you.

Think you're getting mixed up between Zoshchenko and Zamyatin there.

Nope, I did my dissertation in my third year, just coming to the end of my final year.

And yes, whoops Easy to do, particularly as we studied Zoshchenko as well as Zamiatin in second year. I like both of them, as it happens!

[superwolf]

Putin sanctions zombie gun!

[danadd9]

^ P. sure I read on some...conspiracy theory...website that the U.S. military had developed similar weapons decades ago. This new thing probably has more validity but whatevs .

[superwolf]

(Original post by danadd9)
^ P. sure I read on some...conspiracy theory...website that the U.S. military had developed similar weapons decades ago. This new thing probably has more validity but whatevs .

This is Putin, so we can trust that he's telling the truth.

[danadd9]

Where do you guys find the motivation to learn this notorious language anyways?
I'm still at the basics but my only learning methods so far have been with books and some websites...
ALSO, I'm not sure if using mnemonics would help me learn vocabulary quicker either - do you use them?

[Anatheme]

(Original post by danadd9)
Where do you guys find the motivation to learn this notorious language anyways?
I'm still at the basics but my only learning methods so far have been with books and some websites...
ALSO, I'm not sure if using mnemonics would help me learn vocabulary quicker either - do you use them?

I think everyone learning languages use mnemonics, whether consciously or not. Let them come to you rather than try hard to find a good one, 'cause you could end up remembering the mnemonic and not the actual word. You may find that rote learning with flashcards works best for you, or that making sentences using that word is better (speaking to yourself or writing, etc).

[ShinXtrem]

I find that making mental images helps me a lot as well as breaking down the words into syllables.
So say for example бабушка
its ba, try imagining a sheep going baaaa
bush, try imagining a bush
ka, try imagining a Ford Ka.
then you can even make a story out of it, say a grandmother drives a ford ka into a bush and kills a sheep.
Your brain processes the word and even if you remember your made up image but not the word, you're already half way there.
Also sometimes I find that when dealing with some very complicated, new and difficult vocab that it is good to give it a go, but not expect too much. Again, let your brain process it and next time it will seem just a little bit easier and more familiar.
Also I try to keep learning new vocab to something like 5 a day, and then keep practising them until they get better.

There is a difference between remembering and recalling. Ideally you want to be able to think of an english (or whatever) word and know the russian word for it. That way you'll be able to speak and write, as well as read, listen and understand.

[Infallible]

(Original post by ShinXtrem)
I find that making mental images helps me a lot as well as breaking down the words into syllables.
So say for example бабушка
its ba, try imagining a sheep going baaaa
bush, try imagining a bush
ka, try imagining a Ford Ka.
then you can even make a story out of it, say a grandmother drives a ford ka into a bush and kills a sheep.
Your brain processes the word and even if you remember your made up image but not the word, you're already half way there.
Also sometimes I find that when dealing with some very complicated, new and difficult vocab that it is good to give it a go, but not expect too much. Again, let your brain process it and next time it will seem just a little bit easier and more familiar.
Also I try to keep learning new vocab to something like 5 a day, and then keep practising them until they get better.

There is a difference between remembering and recalling. Ideally you want to be able to think of an english (or whatever) word and know the russian word for it. That way you'll be able to speak and write, as well as read, listen and understand.

Do you have an iPhone? If so, there are a couple of Russian language applications that are really good for your boosting vocabulary. I have one that contains 500 nouns.

This is for people in this thread, but how difficult did you find it to roll your 'r's'?