more about opera: smotret' or slushat'?

[Sara Stefani]

Native English speakers would say "to see" an opera: "What did you do on
Saturday?" "We went to the opera." "Oh? What did you see?" "We saw 'La
Traviata.'" If an English speaker said, "What did you do yesterday?" "I
listened to 'The Magic Flute,'" the inference would be that you listened to a
recording of it, not that you went to see a live performance. I don't think
we'd ever use "to hear" unless you didn't actually attend the opera but just
overheard it: "They were playing 'Carmen' in the park yesterday." "I know, we
could hear it from our apartment."

On another note: are native Russian speakers really starting to 
"neuterize" the
word kofe? How common is this? I assume it's a new development? Are there any
connotations regarding education/class/background/etc. if you use one over the
other? I.e., is one more conversational/colloquial/casual? Is the masculine
starting to sound archaic?

Best,
Sara Stefani

Quoting Inna Caron <caron.4 at OSU.EDU>:

> Here's another controversial item, also likely to be written off as an
> archaism.
>
> When I was a little girl, my parents always corrected me when I said "my
> smotreli operu," - "Operu ne smotryat, a slushayut." Now it would be as
> difficult for me to use "smotret'" (regardless of how pompous and
> pretentious it may sound to other native speakers), as to accept the
> legitimization of neuter for coffee, and not mentally wince when someone
> says "moe/chernoe kofe."
>
> So, I'm wondering - and this is not the matter of conducting a research
> - just plain curiosity:
>
> 1) Do other native Russian speakers use "smotret' operu," or "slushat'
> operu," when referring to live (not recorded) performance?
>
> 2) Do native speakers of English say "to see" or "to hear" in the same
> context?
>
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