At our last language lesson, I got into an argument with Marina. While I must admit that it was not the first, I think it was the first heated one. We take tests that I find somewhat subjective because, based on context, it seems that more than one answer would work. Anyway, I don’t know why I found (find) that so frustrating, but I guess I didn’t (don’t) want to get the question wrong (I can be a bit stubborn at times).
For a bit of context, in Russian there are an unbelievable number of verbs of motion, and they are all used in different ways. You have to determine a countless number of things before you decide which to use: how are you going there, did you go there, are you going there, do you regularly go there, do you intend to go there, are you going and coming back, … and on and on.
I forced Marina to give me the speech that she has given me so many times I am able to repeat it myself. “There are two stages to learning Russian. First we have to let the language form our thoughts, then we can use the language to express our thoughts.” While I don’t understand the mentality behind why instead of directly translating “it is raining” it is appropriate to say the English equivalent of, “rain walks.” At this point in time I just have to accept that as the way it is. It is so hard to not translate everything word for word from English but maybe someday I will be able to use words the way I want to use them.
Dave
