日本語 + Русский + norsk (part 1, CLOSED)

[tarvos]

My problem with Russia isn't the Russians. I know plenty of Russians that have accepted my transition (!), it's rather with the government in general (and that's not just concerning LGBT laws). But there's one thing I'm not doing right now and that's travelling to Russia. The reason is that I have no intention of dying as long as I don't obviously pass as female. You can get around as LGBT in Russia, as long as you stay undercover and go underground. I've actually had a bunch of gay Russians study Dutch with me X). This makes practicing Russian somewhat difficult, but I have fixed people I speak Russian to so I don't hugely care (and my Russian is fluent anyway so I don't really require practice).

My advice if you are LGB is to keep on the downlow and don't wear your flamboyant glittery suits. Look for underground places. If you are trans, then you better have your documents in order and be passable or pretend to be someone you're not. Violence is rampant. And avoid Chechnya and the Muslim south like the plague.

(Actually, half my clientele is LGBT, which is hilarious.)

And Leiden has fantastic departments for certain studies, yes. Very good university, and actually partly my alma mater (I studied chemistry there for a while, because my bachelor's degree was split between Leiden and Delft).

[brilliantyears]

Thank you for your replies everyone! @Lawyer&Mom I'm glad you enjoyed Leiden so much! I am so grateful I get to wake up and live in this town every day I'll say hi from you!

Tarvos, your reply is very helpful! I agree with the government vs individuals thing, and I suspect it's the same in most places where governments have laws like these. (And the opposite: in supposedly tolerant countries you'll end up finding plenty of homophobes and transphobes too...) It's just a pity that such laws also tend to encourage the general public to hold negative opinions.
It's very cool to hear you have so many LGBT clientele! Somehow we always end up finding each other, don't we

My advice if you are LGB is to keep on the downlow and don't wear your flamboyant glittery suits.

Oh ok then *puts the flamboyant glittery suit back where it came from*
(Personally I can easily 'hide' so I shouldn't run into problems in that respect.)

[tarvos]

As someone put it to me last month: "Other people accept me, but you will understand." Because I've gone through the same shit.

And yes, having a predominantly LGBT clientele is HILARIOUS. I think at least 50% of my clients so far have been gay men. Everytime I notice this it's just like... what the fuck is UP. I am a magnet for queer folks.

I think where I live most of the homo/transphobia is a little less overt. I am very openly trans, so people kind of watch their mouth around me also I think. I think it might be subtle. But most people really just don't care.

[brilliantyears]

And yes, having a predominantly LGBT clientele is HILARIOUS. I think at least 50% of my clients so far have been gay men. Everytime I notice this it's just like... what the fuck is UP. I am a magnet for queer folks.

So relatable Also, not sure if you had this happen to you but: one by one many of my old friends have come out over the years... We were all friends before we realised we were queer. What's up with that
(also why the one (1), just one (1), and certainly no more than one (1), token gay person in movies is so unrealistic )

[tarvos]

Nope, not that many, although a few turned out bi I think?

[brilliantyears]

I'm slowly starting to make Russian studying plans for this summer. I have two more classes to go, and then 3+ months of nothing until the next semester begins. My plans are roughly to study ahead for the next semester (all vocabulary, some grammar etc) and to practice listening and pronunciation specifically (since I suck at both).

And I'm looking for entertainment for the summer, and other ways to improve my Russian in general

I'm considering joining a challenge, maybe even the Super Challenge..? I'd love to join for Russian, but I have no idea if my level is high enough to make anything of it (yet). By the end of this semester, I should be at A1.2. Still, watching a lot of movies (and maybe even reading something) wouldn't be bad.

[brilliantyears]

I did it! I signed up for the Language Super Challenge Half Japanese, half Russian. Japanese to maintain, Russian to improve (drastically, hopefully!). We'll see how it goes. Now I need to go and find Russian reading materials for my level Kids' books?

[MamaPata]

Wooo! Exciting!

I don't really know about kids books - I read Winnie the Pooh, which wasn't a bad option but it also taught me a lot of unnecessary vocab, which I think is true of a lot of kids books. How often do you need to know all the animals and trees? (although, to be fair, trees do seem to come up a lot in Russian).

I think thisis a really good dual language option - it's real people's narratives so it's all very colloquial, everyday language and it matches your interests in LGBT stuff. You can get the Russian for free, but I think especially at your level, it's probably worth having the translation, so might be better to leave it if you want to pay. (There are also lots of other dual language books, but I have less experience with them - the only one I've used so far was fairytales which again, teaches you a lot of useless language).

[brilliantyears]

@MamaPata You recommended the Gay Propaganda book to me before I read the Dutch edition and tried to get the Russian e-book but they haven't sent it to me yet. I kind of regret not getting the English edition with the Russian included...

I’m still on the hunt for reading materials. I found a few dual language books online, i.e. First Reader by Irina Ivanishko, that I might try. At this point, anything that isn't my textbook will do. My library carries a lot of Japanese and plenty of Korean and Chinese, but very little Russian I hope to score a few easy books at the (used, free) book store this weekend, if they’re open.

I've been thinking a lot about how to go from here with Russian. Just practical things. I’ve decided it would be a good idea to study the most frequently used Russian words this summer, but I can only find Memrise courses and/or lists in English. I don't quite trust myself and my level in Russian yet to pick the correct translation for things and create my own list. So that made me think... should I adopt English-Russian materials into my studies? Right now all my base materials are Dutch, and honestly studying Russian from Dutch seems to make a lot more sense (when it comes to grammar etc, but also vocabulary). At the same time, excluding English also excludes a lot of potentially interesting study materials

I’m feeling full of energy right now, and my Super Challenge started off well (with movie-watching in both Russian and Japanese, and more Japanese reading than I was expecting!). My Super Challenge page is here, by the way.
I suspect the usual will happen: I’ll burn out/lose interest at some point. But for now I’ll embrace this burst of energy
On a less positive note: I’ve been working a lot, also in my free time, which means a lot of sitting in front of a computer... and as a result I’m now experiencing some mild RSI symptoms. I guess that’s a good excuse to avoid the computer and focus on other things (books and movies, but also going outside )

[MamaPata]

Woops! My brain's clearly on top form! (So reassuring)