You probably want to know what Americans think about Russians and vice versa. Below you can read what Elena from Russia has to say in answer to some ideas expressed by James K., an American language professor and cross cultural trainer:

Elena from Novorossysk, Russia:
A little more on cultural differences in reply to Jamie [James K.]:

First of all I have to say a couple of words on the «secrecy» complex, which I think is only alive in older people here.

You mention that a Russian man and a Russian woman have a problem with keeping innocent things secret. I do not know how old they are and when they immigrated into the USA. It could have been possible in the early 80s here, but not any longer. If they moved at that time they might have extinct traits which you can’t find now in Russian, otherwise there could have been more innocent purely psychological reasons found in any culture. The situation when people suffer from something, want someone to sympathize with them and do not tell what the problem is, it is something mysterious and needs further facts in order to judge if a person falls into this or that stereotyped acquired habit prescribed by this or that mentality, I truly have not often seen this in Russia, most people I meet tend to be more or less articulate and try to explain and express their feelings to the outside world.
(more…)

A German company was involved in negotiations in Moscow trying to sell some 100 million dollars worth of manufacturing equipment to a Russian State corporation. Negotiations went smoothly but differences remained. So Martin Bayer himself, the CEO of the German Company, decided to come to Moscow to head the talks. Besides caring about his business, the CEO wanted to go to Russia to hunt bears. (more…)

 I think some people (especially the young) think it is hip and cool to
use such expressions. They can be forgiven in some cases because
we non-Americans usually learn all about how to curse or swear as
we say in GB through the Hollywood films. (more…)

There are indeed problems associated with teaching a foreign language but at the same time there are delights. The latter proliferate if your students are adults and keen to learn and also if the language that you’re trying to teach is your own. In my case this happens to be English and I’ve learnt more about the language from teaching English than I would ever have garnered from a hundred dryasdust fussy grammar books. I sometimes felt like Mon Jourdain in Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme by Moliere, who suddenly finds he’s been speaking prose all his life and with me it was a realisation that I’d been using grammar all my life. My first encounter with a live class was at a small school in a place situated on the south coast of England. Some schools sadly and to my shame spring up willy-nilly in this area and are blots on the escutcheon, pains in the neck and in a nutshell a complete rip off. I heard of one where the students had to assemble in a classroom and were mystified why the desk in the front was sans teacher. Instead there stood an imperious-looking loudspeaker from which emitted the teaching –no you can’t grace it with that noble nomenclature – instruction? – no even that would be exaggerating – how about information delivery? For that’s all it was. The poor students, well they weren’t poor materially because Mum and Dad were loaded and worked in foreign embassies thousands of miles away, but they were poor in the sense of wretched because they didn’t really learn anything and it was impossible for them to go home and complain. Still, I believe our leader when he’s finished sorting out the world, may one day get round to making his Education Secretary ban these joints once and for all. But I digress. The school that I went to as a novice was, I assure you, kosher, pukker and all round of a sound character. But back to my small school on the south coast of England. (more…)

     Task 1.  Read the text and try to understand it
             “Kaikoura is New Zealand’s most beautiful island,” Jim Banning said to the latest group of tourists. “You can often see whales here, too, swimming near the shore,” Jim was a fisherman, but during the summer he gave guided tours of the island. He used to tell the tourists exciting stories about a sea monster which lived off the coast of New Zealand. Of course, he had never seen it himself and didn’t really believe it existed. Still, tourists enjoyed the story, and Jim hoped this would help to improve business. (more…)