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You, your girl and an interpreter.
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Posted by: Hostile_hostage

I'm corresponding with a lovely girl who knows little English. We are meeting for the first time in March and obviously an interpreter is going to be with us.
I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience.
Talk about three being a crowd.
I've had more dates than i care to remember but have experienced nothing like this.
I'm not sure if I'm going to get close to my 'girlfriend' as she will probably feel that the situation is a little strange and not totally comfortable.
It's not like you can prpare and eat a nice meal in your apartment and then settle on the sofa for a cosy chat.

I'm definately going................it'd just strange to think I won't be alone with my 'girlfriend'.

So if anyone has experienced a trip like this I'd like to hear about your experience.

Posted by: Cheburashka

It will be fine! It will be so much better than the two of you trying to act out what you are trying to say to each other. Get used to interpreters. They are a way of life if you plan to get anything done in FSU.

Posted by: Mr.Humble

Learn yourself some russian really fast....you will by no means be fluent in the language in this short of time....but...between what you learn (use audio learning if you can...waaaaay better)....and having a little book that works both ways...you should be able to communicate without much problems.

I learned this by accident actually...I studied russian (Pimsleur audio) for maybe 6 weeks (32 lessons at the time I hopped on a plane...listened to them all to some degree on the flight over (canada...lots of time to sit and think)....anyways...I had some practice talking to a lady that did not know more than 6 english words using what I knew plus a book and managed to have an intelligent conversation for 3 hours....since she was not the lady I had gone to visit i was not as nervous. When I met the lady I had traveled so far to see...her english was better but not by much...so the practice on the plane sure helped...I had a book...she had a book....her english was slightly better than my russian...we managed alright =)

That is if you feel awkward around interpreters (kinda hard to talk without thinking about them...)....probably I just gave out a bunch of useless info but thougth I'd give my take on it....
Laters

Posted by: Pin Boy

no humble, not useless information...you'll manage a little more than you might think if you're having fun and feel a connection. a little, little bit of silliness and some good laughter will help quite a bit. and don't forget about the body language and eyes.

pin boy

Posted by: Spakoyna

HH, I would like to share my experiences a bit. When you first meet your lady an interpretor will be very important. If there is a connection between you and your lady an interpretor will not be needed so much. If you make a connection then you should only need one for more difficult subjects.

You need to be carefull if your interpretor is a lady, and most especially one you find attractive or may find you attractive! The 2nd interpretor my wife and I had fit this bill( Our 1st meeting was a Moscow then onto Kiev trip). We hired an interpretor as an interpretor and guide. The 1st few days she was married. This latter was stressed to me on several occasions that she just had a boy friend. She was too young for me but I guess I was not to young for her. We had a few bumps in the road because she was not translating correctly. We let her go a couple of days early and learned from the experience!

Posted by: jpierce55

Also buy an Ectaco translator or get Pocket Prompt like somebody else on the site did. It will help.

Posted by: cedarwind

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hostile_hostage

I'm definately going................it'd just strange to think I won't be alone with my 'girlfriend'.

So if anyone has experienced a trip like this I'd like to hear about your experience.

You do not need a interprerter to kiss......unless you are kissing the interpreter!!!!

I had this concern also as my “GF” speaks very very little English and I speaks even less Russian.

I am taking a electronic translator, a phrase book, and a Russian/English Dictionary and also a small note book and pen with me. I also made up some little cards with Russian and English romantic phrases and some silly one's written on them. I made one set for me and one for the “GF” that way as we feel the desire we can pass them back and forth to each other. And at the same time we will both learn some new phrases.

If it comes down to it I can at least draw a picture.

Posted by: Spakoyna

I was asked a question privately and felt my reply might be helpful to some!

I did not find out about the mis-interpretations in our letters until later. There was one biggie which I can not discuss that might have been a major problem for others. With the problem interpretor I could see my now wife becoming upset about things that should not have upset her. I realized what was happening and we hauled butt back to the hotel to clear the air. I was right as she was not translating what I was saying. The funny thing is I do not even remember now what it was about, only that she was trying to cause us problems.

There is no way to know for certain when using a translator if she is translating correctly at the time other than by gut feelings. Watch reactions and facial expressions closely. We spent a lot of time discussing things between oursleves with dictionaries, etc. at a later time. The #1 rule with 2 people who speak different languages is patience and making certain both of you fully understand what the other is trying to say. It is very easy to become lazy and just say you understand when you do not! This was a problem I had in the begining with my wife. She would tell me she understood me when many times she did not! I fully believe you should confirm between yourselves anything translated by a 3rd party which is important.

It is funny how my translation equipment evolved! Mt 1st trip I only had dictionaries. The 2nd trip to her hometown I purchased the Etasco pocket translator. While I was with my wife on my 2nd trip I bought her a computer and installed 2 translation programs. Prompt was by far being the best.This more than paid for itself as we emailed each other every day after I returned home! It also helped my wife tremendously as she was 45 or more minutes 1 way to her agency on a good day. Our 3rd trip we met in Moscow again. I brought a laptop with the Prompt program. We rarely use the computer now. We only need to look up the odd word now and then!

As far as translating for yourselves I do recommend the Prompt translation program. The important thing about using the program is to cross translate everything you write. If it does not translate back correctly then reword what you are writing until it does translate correctly. After a short time you will learn to write in a more direct and easy manner which will translate correctly. Russian to English translations seem to be one of the most difficult.

Posted by: Spakoyna

I would also like to add if you and your lady are not able to sit down and communicate important issues you are not ready for marriage! One issue at my wife's Moscow Embassy interveiw she was drilled about was how could we communicate together!

Posted by: joelunchbox

My experience is this. My girlfriend's best friend is our interpreter. I suppose that has its good and bad sides but I know that she has her friend's best interests in mind. (that is good!) When I go to visit her in february, one of her coworkers is a translator for her company. I think that is good also, because she should be more relaxed around someone she knows. I think.... It seems there is usually someone close by who can speak english..... It would be interesting and daring to just go and see if you can bump into someone at the needed times!

Posted by: swindoom

When I first met my wife she spoke very little English and my Russian was even worse, she had a very old Russian/English dictionary, I had a etaco electronic dictionary and we had the phone number of a translator friend of hers for emergencies. We managed to communicate very well and we had a great time, lots of fun miming and making noises, it is alot harder work than having an interpretor but it was a far more personal experience.

Posted by: clever1

Quote:

Originally Posted by cedarwind

You do not need a interprerter to kiss......unless you are kissing the interpreter!!!!

Hmmmm Don't you need to kiss the interpreter, then she/he kisses your friend to translate it ?

Great idea with the cards, start off playing Snap, then hopefully move on to Happy Families......... lol

John

Posted by: clever1

Quote:

Originally Posted by swindoom

When I first met my wife she spoke very little English and my Russian was even worse, she had a very old Russian/English dictionary, I had a etaco electronic dictionary and we had the phone number of a translator friend of hers for emergencies. We managed to communicate very well and we had a great time, lots of fun miming and making noises, it is alot harder work than having an interpretor but it was a far more personal experience.

Which ectaco did/do you have swindoom ?
I have the partner x8 which is more for a russian to learn english, was wondering if I could change the memory card for a russina speaking one, and it would work.

John