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Russian or Ukrainian
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Posted by: bellh1

Is it true that most people from Ukraine speak Russian, even though the official language is Ukrainian? Going to Ukraine soon and have been studying Russian. Had to find books audio CD's on the Ukrainian. Will I be able to get around if I now basic Russian?

Posted by: Chrismc

Depends where you are going bell................in most areas they speak Russian but in Northern/Western Ukraine they tend to speak more Ukrainian!! The Government are pusshing for Ukrainian to be the first language, but I think it has a long way to go yet before that will ever happen, but I do believe official documents are now in Ukranian.

Chris

Posted by: bellh1

Chris,
Kiev then Odessa. Spending most of my time in Odessa. Thanks!

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellh1

Chris,
Kiev then Odessa. Spending most of my time in Odessa. Thanks!

I have not been but as it is a Black Sea resort I would think it is mostly Russian speaking?

Kiev the same you will be OK there.

Posted by: Chrismc

Bell

Odessa is the fifth-largest city in Ukraine and its most important trading city. In the 19th century it was the fourth city of Imperial Russia, after Moscow and St. Petersburg, and Warsaw

Chris

Posted by: markgm

Where your going they all speak Russian although documents are in Ukrainian. I have also been to 5 cities on the western side and contary to what everyone thinks they too speak Russian.

Posted by: Jill

And now that Yanukovich has become prime minister, I imagine Russian will become even more common

You can certainly get by with Russian in Kiev and Odessa.

Posted by: waiting123

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jill

And now that Yanukovich has become prime minister, I imagine Russian will become even more common

You can certainly get by with Russian in Kiev and Odessa.

My wife was telling me yesterday that Yanukovich is going to allow Russian to be the second "official" language.

That seems to be going around in Ukraine right now...

Posted by: Kathy

Russian already has second language status in some regions. And most people in Kyiv don't speak Russian. They speak surzhik.

Posted by: Raspberry

In the areas I have visited in the South and east, it is definitely more Russian. You can tell by the sineage on streets, and billboards. However, in Dnepropetrovsk, although Russian is the dominant language, I noticed a little bit more Ukrainian than initially expected.

In Mariupol, Greek is the third language, behind Russian and Ukrainian. You will have very few signs, but you will hear Greek spoken here and there in the Mariupol area. Supposedly, 65-70% of Sartana(near Mariupol) have some knowledge of the Greek language, so it is considered the quasi-official third language there.

I have friends that visited Lvov, and a somewhat similar thing in certain areas there, with Polish being spoken even more than Russian, as they were telling me. And with Lvov being in the west, they definitely do speak more Ukrainian.

Posted by: markgm

Nat lives on the western side of Ukraine everybody in her town speaks Russian as there everyday language Nat prefers speaking Russian then Ukrainian then polish.
They also speak Ukrainian when they need to my daughter who is now 5 and at school over there is being taught Ukrainian as the first language and English as the 2nd language she does already speak Russian, Ukranian, basic Polish and now some English puts me to shame and she's only 5.
Wherever you travel in the Ukraine nearly everyone knows Russian and understands it so you would not have a problem with Russian.

Posted by: Jill

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathy

Russian already has second language status in some regions.

I know they were talking about it in Donetsk and Crimea recently, but hadn't heard that it had officially passed. I guess it has then?

Quote:

And most people in Kyiv don't speak Russian. They speak surzhik.

I think there's more Russian spoken in Kiev than Surzhyk--I've heard it much more often in the regions, for example. Although people originally from the regions who have moved to Kiev do sometimes speak it--my father in law, for example, does; but my husband and brother in law who grew up in Kiev speak Russian, not Surzhyk.

Posted by: cedarwind

My friend lives on the Azov sea and she helps to publishes the paper in her town and for the neiboring towns and all is done in only Russian.

Posted by: bleushkva

Russian is a difficult language to master. It's just a different dialect with exactly the same words.

Vlashvlamos.

Posted by: bleushkva

Although you could learn it someplace else and speak an even funnier dialect.