WEBVTT
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.040
I have always been and will continue to be a terrible speller in English.
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:14.960
I know this because when I was in university, I used to get extra time on my tests, basically like time and a half, because of a learning disability related to sensory processing issues.
00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:22.559
Now, in order to get approved for this extra time, I had to undergo a psychoeducational assessment with a certified professional.
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.679
The test confirmed that I did indeed need extra time.
00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.399
I tested in the 97th percentile for math, but only when the tests were not timed.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:33.679
As soon as there was a time restraint, my scores would drop.
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:40.159
But what I found shocking, and to be honest, just a tiny bit hilarious, was the result I got for my spelling skills.
00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.320
When the doctor was sitting across from me, reading the results, I could see her paper.
00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.439
Even though it was upside down, one number jumped out at me.
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.359
It was my score for spelling.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.719
It was seven.
00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:53.359
As in seventh percentile.
00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:02.000
When compared to other people with a similar education as myself, 93% of people would be better at spelling than me.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:07.359
When I saw it, I literally stopped her mid-sentence because she hadn't even gotten that far down the page yet.
00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.640
And I said, wait, does that say seven for spelling?
00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.519
So when I say I'm bad at spelling, I mean it.
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.680
And spell check literally changed my life.
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:21.519
Though there are still occasions when even spellcheck is confused and unable to figure out what I'm trying to spell.
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:28.000
So today I want to talk about some of the things that my analytical brain truly appreciates about Russian, starting with the alphabet.
00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:38.239
Russian uses a phonetic alphabet, and though there are things that can change the sound of some of the letters, like soft signs, stress, and devoicing, most of that, once you understand the concepts, is fine.
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:44.159
And because Russian uses a phonetic alphabet, the Russian language doesn't vary the way that English does.
00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:50.159
English has many different accents, and some are even quite difficult to understand, even as an English speaker.
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.400
Russian is Russian, no matter where you go.
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.640
Also, English uses multiple letters to make the same sound.
00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:09.759
For example, the sound f, what we think of as f in English can be simply f, it could be a double f, it could be a ph, it could be a gh, or even a double f followed by an e.
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.520
So why do we need five different ways to make the same sound?
00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.439
Especially because we already have a letter F that makes that sound.
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.479
I learned something recently that kind of blew my mind, but after I thought about it, it totally made sense.
00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.039
Do you remember spelling bees from when you were a child?
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:29.120
I just assumed that for every child in the world, this had been part of their childhood.
00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:37.199
But when talking about them with Russian-speaking friends, to my shock, they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, and basically looked at me like I was crazy.
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.599
But after I thought about it, it made complete sense.
00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:46.479
One of the reasons spelling bees make sense in English is that you often can't reliably sound words out from the spelling alone.
00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:47.680
They need to be memorized.
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.960
When you watch one of those high-level competitions, you will see the students thinking about their answer and then asking questions like, what is the word origin?
00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.039
Can they give the word in a sentence?
00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.280
And this is because English has so many different ways of making the same sounds.
00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:06.800
In addition, we have different words with completely different meanings that sound exactly the same.
00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.199
Think about the word no, as in no.
00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:13.120
If we add a W to the end, no becomes now.
00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.039
But if we also add a K, then it goes back to being no.
00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:23.759
So not only do we have multiple letter combinations that make the same sound, but we also have silent letters.
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:28.000
We have words that contain letters, but we don't actually pronounce the letter.
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:28.879
We ignore it.
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.159
We make it silent.
00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:31.520
So why is it there?
00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.240
Now I'm sure there is some historical reason why it's there, but I still think it's completely unnecessary.
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.919
So in Russian, I feel like a spelling superstar.
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.800
Seriously, finally, for once in my life, I can spell like an actual adult.
00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.919
The only mistake I'm likely to make in Russian would be missing a soft sign or putting it in the wrong place.
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:55.360
But this comes down to my ability to hear the difference between the soft and hard consonant, which I still struggle with.
00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:00.080
But I find the placement of the soft sign, if I know one is there, is pretty intuitive.
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:07.360
The second thing that I truly appreciate about the Russian language is the different types of words have specific endings.
00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:21.439
If you showed me a new word I had never seen before, and you showed it to me in its infinitive or nominative form, I would obviously not know its meaning, but I would most likely know what kind of word it was without needing any context.
00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.079
By that I mean is it a verb, is it a noun?
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:25.759
Is it an adjective or an adverb?
00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.199
Not 100% of the time, but most of the time I would know.
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.560
It's because Russian words are fairly predictable.
00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:37.680
Very often the endings give you a strong clue about what kind of word you're looking at.
00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.839
Now imagine you're learning English and you see the word book.
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.600
You think about that for a second.
00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:45.839
What kind of word is book?
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.240
If you think you know, you're wrong.
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:52.560
Because without context, there's no way of identifying which type of word I mean.
00:04:52.800 --> 00:05:02.079
I could mean book as in a noun, like I have a book, but I could also have meant book as an adjective, like I'm going to the bookstore.
00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.000
Or maybe I meant book as a verb, like I need to book a ticket.
00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:18.319
Imagine how confused you would be upon learning this, because you also learned that nouns like beauty change to beautiful when used as an adjective, or beautifully when used as an adverb.
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:20.319
So why is book not changing?
00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.319
How do you know what words change and what words stay the same?
00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:29.680
Thankfully, that is not something I have to worry about in Russian, though Russian gives me plenty to worry about.
00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:38.240
I've spent a lot of time on this podcast talking about the things that make Russian difficult, and don't worry, I have plenty more complaints saved up for future episodes.
00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.519
But every now and then I stop and I realize there are things that Russian does incredibly well.
00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:50.399
For someone who has spent their whole life fighting with English spelling, Russian's consistency is actually a breath of fresh air.
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.439
So if you're feeling frustrated with Russian today, remember every language has its quirks.
00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:01.519
Sometimes the things that make Russian seem strange at first turn out to be the very things you end up appreciating most.
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:03.120
Like spelling.
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.040
I have always been and will continue to be a terrible speller in English.
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:14.960
I know this because when I was in university, I used to get extra time on my tests, basically like time and a half, because of a learning disability related to sensory processing issues.
00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:22.559
Now, in order to get approved for this extra time, I had to undergo a psychoeducational assessment with a certified professional.
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.679
The test confirmed that I did indeed need extra time.
00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.399
I tested in the 97th percentile for math, but only when the tests were not timed.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:33.679
As soon as there was a time restraint, my scores would drop.
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:40.159
But what I found shocking, and to be honest, just a tiny bit hilarious, was the result I got for my spelling skills.
00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.320
When the doctor was sitting across from me, reading the results, I could see her paper.
00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.439
Even though it was upside down, one number jumped out at me.
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.359
It was my score for spelling.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.719
It was seven.
00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:53.359
As in seventh percentile.
00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:02.000
When compared to other people with a similar education as myself, 93% of people would be better at spelling than me.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:07.359
When I saw it, I literally stopped her mid-sentence because she hadn't even gotten that far down the page yet.
00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.640
And I said, wait, does that say seven for spelling?
00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.519
So when I say I'm bad at spelling, I mean it.
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.680
And spell check literally changed my life.
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:21.519
Though there are still occasions when even spellcheck is confused and unable to figure out what I'm trying to spell.
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:28.000
So today I want to talk about some of the things that my analytical brain truly appreciates about Russian, starting with the alphabet.
00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:38.239
Russian uses a phonetic alphabet, and though there are things that can change the sound of some of the letters, like soft signs, stress, and devoicing, most of that, once you understand the concepts, is fine.
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:44.159
And because Russian uses a phonetic alphabet, the Russian language doesn't vary the way that English does.
00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:50.159
English has many different accents, and some are even quite difficult to understand, even as an English speaker.
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.400
Russian is Russian, no matter where you go.
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.640
Also, English uses multiple letters to make the same sound.
00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:09.759
For example, the sound f, what we think of as f in English can be simply f, it could be a double f, it could be a ph, it could be a gh, or even a double f followed by an e.
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.520
So why do we need five different ways to make the same sound?
00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.439
Especially because we already have a letter F that makes that sound.
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.479
I learned something recently that kind of blew my mind, but after I thought about it, it totally made sense.
00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.039
Do you remember spelling bees from when you were a child?
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:29.120
I just assumed that for every child in the world, this had been part of their childhood.
00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:37.199
But when talking about them with Russian-speaking friends, to my shock, they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, and basically looked at me like I was crazy.
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.599
But after I thought about it, it made complete sense.
00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:46.479
One of the reasons spelling bees make sense in English is that you often can't reliably sound words out from the spelling alone.
00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:47.680
They need to be memorized.
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.960
When you watch one of those high-level competitions, you will see the students thinking about their answer and then asking questions like, what is the word origin?
00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.039
Can they give the word in a sentence?
00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.280
And this is because English has so many different ways of making the same sounds.
00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:06.800
In addition, we have different words with completely different meanings that sound exactly the same.
00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.199
Think about the word no, as in no.
00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:13.120
If we add a W to the end, no becomes now.
00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.039
But if we also add a K, then it goes back to being no.
00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:23.759
So not only do we have multiple letter combinations that make the same sound, but we also have silent letters.
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:28.000
We have words that contain letters, but we don't actually pronounce the letter.
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:28.879
We ignore it.
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.159
We make it silent.
00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:31.520
So why is it there?
00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.240
Now I'm sure there is some historical reason why it's there, but I still think it's completely unnecessary.
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.919
So in Russian, I feel like a spelling superstar.
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.800
Seriously, finally, for once in my life, I can spell like an actual adult.
00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.919
The only mistake I'm likely to make in Russian would be missing a soft sign or putting it in the wrong place.
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:55.360
But this comes down to my ability to hear the difference between the soft and hard consonant, which I still struggle with.
00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:00.080
But I find the placement of the soft sign, if I know one is there, is pretty intuitive.
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:07.360
The second thing that I truly appreciate about the Russian language is the different types of words have specific endings.
00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:21.439
If you showed me a new word I had never seen before, and you showed it to me in its infinitive or nominative form, I would obviously not know its meaning, but I would most likely know what kind of word it was without needing any context.
00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.079
By that I mean is it a verb, is it a noun?
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:25.759
Is it an adjective or an adverb?
00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.199
Not 100% of the time, but most of the time I would know.
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.560
It's because Russian words are fairly predictable.
00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:37.680
Very often the endings give you a strong clue about what kind of word you're looking at.
00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.839
Now imagine you're learning English and you see the word book.
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.600
You think about that for a second.
00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:45.839
What kind of word is book?
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.240
If you think you know, you're wrong.
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:52.560
Because without context, there's no way of identifying which type of word I mean.
00:04:52.800 --> 00:05:02.079
I could mean book as in a noun, like I have a book, but I could also have meant book as an adjective, like I'm going to the bookstore.
00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.000
Or maybe I meant book as a verb, like I need to book a ticket.
00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:18.319
Imagine how confused you would be upon learning this, because you also learned that nouns like beauty change to beautiful when used as an adjective, or beautifully when used as an adverb.
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:20.319
So why is book not changing?
00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.319
How do you know what words change and what words stay the same?
00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:29.680
Thankfully, that is not something I have to worry about in Russian, though Russian gives me plenty to worry about.
00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:38.240
I've spent a lot of time on this podcast talking about the things that make Russian difficult, and don't worry, I have plenty more complaints saved up for future episodes.
00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.519
But every now and then I stop and I realize there are things that Russian does incredibly well.
00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:50.399
For someone who has spent their whole life fighting with English spelling, Russian's consistency is actually a breath of fresh air.
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.439
So if you're feeling frustrated with Russian today, remember every language has its quirks.
00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:01.519
Sometimes the things that make Russian seem strange at first turn out to be the very things you end up appreciating most.
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:03.120
Like spelling.
