'I have half a pound of sausages and cut into slices': how Russian is lost in immigration

Author of the channel “Queen in the USA” on Yandex.Zen talks about why the Russian language in immigration often turns into a mixture of half-learned English and a half-forgotten “native” base. Next - from the first person.

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I am a fan of the Russian language. A devoted admirer and passionate lover. I love both the classical, pure language and new word forms. I am amused by the play on words, and I literally enjoy every line written in rich language.

It is clear that the demand for the Russian language in the United States tends to a minimum. Here everyone - both natives and newcomers - cares only about English. Some people simply know only him, for others it is a matter of successful assimilation.

As a result, under the pressure of the language of the environment, the native language of immigrants turns into a dirty mess of half-learned English based on half-forgotten Russian.

Why is this happening?

Our brain is arranged in such a way that if it repeatedly collides with the name of any object or concept in one language, then it is simply too lazy to look for an equivalent in its native language in the back streets of memory.

That is, if you regularly say the word “appointment” when making an appointment with a doctor or to visit any official authority, then your brain will helpfully suggest you say “appointment” in a Russian sentence. It will take seconds to remember that this is a “trick”. This is a pause. For oral speech there is a long pause.

These pauses are annoying. And this constant selection of words makes the mind work. And I want to at least speak my own language relaxed. After all, with English you need to strain constantly.

On the subject: Train, dinner and building: how Russians begin to speak after moving to the USA

Brevity of English

Another reason is that English words are often shorter than Russian ones. For example, a kindergarten teacher is simply called teacher. As soon as there is a choice between saying a word of two syllables (“ti-cher”) or six (vo-pi-ta-tel-ni-tsa), the brain quickly gives preference to what is shorter. And before you even noticed, you said: “Our teacher wrote a long letter today.”

And then there are words for which we have to spend hours searching for equivalents together. For me, one of the stumbling blocks in this sense was the word “caregiver”. Super-capacious. I love this word. It means any person who cares about his ward. Parents are caregivers, kindergarten teachers, caregivers accompanying children or the infirm - all of this can be called a caregiver. It’s impossible to find a translation for him in one Russian word.

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Passive Russian

Among immigrants, there are only a few people who zealously guard the purity of their Russian. Usually it’s easier for people not to bother. I'm keeping an eye on it, but I can't say I'm doing it 100%.

In general, in general, due to the fact that the amount of communication in Russian is reduced, many words are becoming a liability. More and more often it is necessary to select the exact shades, to remember the word. And I've only been in immigration for 3 years. All this time I continue to read books in Russian, write articles, edit, translate and communicate at home exclusively in Russian.

And yet, after applying to college, she called her husband and, in a hurry, said: “I’m too busy, there’s still a pending deadline, I need to pay the bill.” Which in human terms means: “I submitted an application, it is being considered, I need to pay the bill.”

Finally, a common anecdote in the Russian-speaking environment of the United States:

Auntie in the store: “I’d like half a pound of that sausage over there.” Just not with a pussy, but with slices. And layer it more thinly. Is it okay that I speak English with you?”

Original column published on the blog. “Queen in the USA” on Yandex.Zen

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