Pronouciation of "Zdravstvyuitye"

[Emily Saunders]

Hello,

I feel compelled to differ on the point that ribald or off-color  
mnemonic devices are across the board 100% inappropriate.  It really  
should depend upon the student group and the teacher's discretion.  A  
class of high school students?  Probably best not to mention it.   
British sailors?  It may serve to lighten the mood and produce a  
chuckle.  Learning a language, in my opinion, is first and foremost  
fun.  We do not just use language for cultural edification but also  
for punning and joking with our fellow men (and women).

So to lighten up this discussion a little I thought I might forward  
along some "mnemonic-esque" devices that go the other way.  Perhaps  
some of you have seen these before as they were circulating around the  
internet a few years ago.  They're not exactly the same thing as the  
donkey device, but close enough to be illustrative of the fun one can  
have with wordplay.

Emily Saunders

P.S.  Having taught English to Russians (as I'm sure have many  
SEELANGSovtsy, I can personally vouch for the fact that any question  
beginning "Who is...?" tends to promote snickers -- at least initially  
and then they get over it.

P.P.S.  My apologies for a few off color words (or implied off color  
words) in the list below.  Getting rid of them would lose the joke.   
The last three may take some puzzling out...

***

Genial Translations - Гениальные Переводы
	Can you hear me?  --- Ты можешь меня здесь?
	Manicure -- Деньги лечат
	I'm just asking. -- Я всего лишь король жоп.
	I have been there. -- У меня там фасоль
	God only knows --- Единственный нос бога
	We are the champions. -- Мы шампиньоны.
	You feel alright? -- Ты справа всех чувствуешь
	Bye bye baby, baby good bye. -- Купи купи ребенка,  
ребенок хорошая покупка
	To be or not to be -- Две пчелы или не две пчелы
	I fell in love. -- Я свалился в любовь.
	Just in case -- Только в портфеле
	Oh, dear -- Ах, олень.
	I saw my honey today. -- Я пилил мой мед сегодня.
	I'm going to make you mine. -- Я иду копать тебе  
шахту.
	May God be with you -- Майская хорошая пчелка с  
тобой.
	Good products -- Бог на стороне уток
	I've just seen your balance sheet -- Видел я ваш  
баланс...так себе баланс



On Mar 4, 2008, at 12:09 PM, Stephanie Sures wrote:

> 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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