Pronouciation of "Zdravstvyuitye"

[Stephanie Sures]

Agreed. It's sloppy. And, dare I suggest...culturally insulting.

When I took my first Introductory Russian course over 5 years ago, we
learned words simply by reading and hearing our professor say them. Drills,
exercises, role-plays with classmates - with the words exactly as they were
written, practising until we could say them in our sleep. There's no reason
to lower ourselves to debasing any language with mockery. To do otherwise
denotes a lack of respect and cultural sensitivity. Isn't a love of culture
partly why we study languages other than our own?  

Consider how English speakers would feel if, in the course of teaching ESL
to non-English speakers, a phrase in another language was rendered so
crudely. I don't think we would stand for it. Wouldn't we be bothered by it? 

Stephanie Sures
B.A., Russian; Honours Psychology student
University of Manitoba, Canada

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