4 ms·

Russian is spoken by 250 million people. I hope they are not all your enemies.

by bromuro 10mo ago

sublimefire 10mo ago
I think you miss the point. I am talking about the incentive to learn somebody’s native tongue. I doubt people want to know it to meet an emigrant in Germany and have a conversation in russian. Equally I do mot learn spanish to talk to my neighbours but to have a conversation with a local in spain.
- jbstack 10mo ago
  But by your own reasoning, you're also saying it's reasonable to learn Russian as a way to better understand Russia because your country happens to be opposed to them. If you accept that this relatively obscure reason is a valid motivation (which I agree it can be) then you must also accept that there are all sorts of other motivations that are equally valid including "so I can speak to emigrants" or even just "because I find it fun".
  - oytis 10mo ago
    It's not an obscure reason, many people engage with the enemy professionally. That's one of the most frequent motives to learn a language probably. Either you want to immigrate to a country or you want to conduct business with it or it's your enemy and you need to undersrand it. First two options are out for the Western world at the moment
    - FpUser 10mo ago
      >"First two options are out for the Western world at the moment" The West still trades with Russia. Obviously at reduced rate and sometimes under the table.
varjag 10mo ago
Only perhaps 90-100 million of them are Russian citizens. For many others it's a second language too.
- FpUser 10mo ago
  So you gonna assign anyone who happen to have Russian passport as an enemy? Plenty of those are in the west and also have US/Canadian/etc passport What the fuck is wrong with the world?
  - varjag 10mo ago
    There are some good people among Russian citizens, abroad or not. Some great people even. Unfortunately they are few and far between and are not representative of the mindset, aspirations and values of their home nation. So saying "the Russians are the enemy" is entirely fair. It is an actively hostile society much like Nazi Germany was during the WW2 and this nitpicking over good individuals is not making the blanket evaluation unfair in any way.
    - FpUser 10mo ago
      >"There are some good people among Russian citizens, abroad or not. Some great people even. Unfortunately they are few and far between and are not representative of the mindset, aspirations and values of their home nation." You lost me here. You sound exactly as the people you are trying to put a blame on.
      - varjag 10mo ago
        Well I for one didn't start, participate in or have supported the ongoing war of extermination and conquest. And I am not trying to win any Russian hearts and minds; that's one thing about being enemies.
        FpUser 10mo ago
        >"And I am not trying to win any Russian hearts and minds; that's one thing about being enemies." Never mind Russian hearts. Think view might have a problems well beyond Russia.

Russian is spoken by 250 million people. I hope they are not all your enemies.

by bromuro 10mo ago

Russian is spoken by 250 million people. I hope they are not all your enemies.

I think you miss the point. I am talking about the incentive to learn somebody’s native tongue. I doubt people want to know it to meet an emigrant in Germany and have a conversation in russian. Equally I do mot learn spanish to talk to my neighbours but to have a conversation with a local in spain.

jbstack 10mo ago
But by your own reasoning, you're also saying it's reasonable to learn Russian as a way to better understand Russia because your country happens to be opposed to them. If you accept that this relatively obscure reason is a valid motivation (which I agree it can be) then you must also accept that there are all sorts of other motivations that are equally valid including "so I can speak to emigrants" or even just "because I find it fun".
- oytis 10mo ago
  It's not an obscure reason, many people engage with the enemy professionally. That's one of the most frequent motives to learn a language probably. Either you want to immigrate to a country or you want to conduct business with it or it's your enemy and you need to undersrand it. First two options are out for the Western world at the moment
  - FpUser 10mo ago
    >"First two options are out for the Western world at the moment" The West still trades with Russia. Obviously at reduced rate and sometimes under the table.

varjag 10mo ago

Only perhaps 90-100 million of them are Russian citizens. For many others it's a second language too.

FpUser 10mo ago
So you gonna assign anyone who happen to have Russian passport as an enemy? Plenty of those are in the west and also have US/Canadian/etc passport What the fuck is wrong with the world?
- varjag 10mo ago
  There are some good people among Russian citizens, abroad or not. Some great people even. Unfortunately they are few and far between and are not representative of the mindset, aspirations and values of their home nation. So saying "the Russians are the enemy" is entirely fair. It is an actively hostile society much like Nazi Germany was during the WW2 and this nitpicking over good individuals is not making the blanket evaluation unfair in any way.
  - FpUser 10mo ago
    >"There are some good people among Russian citizens, abroad or not. Some great people even. Unfortunately they are few and far between and are not representative of the mindset, aspirations and values of their home nation." You lost me here. You sound exactly as the people you are trying to put a blame on.
    - varjag 10mo ago
      Well I for one didn't start, participate in or have supported the ongoing war of extermination and conquest. And I am not trying to win any Russian hearts and minds; that's one thing about being enemies.
      - FpUser 10mo ago
        >"And I am not trying to win any Russian hearts and minds; that's one thing about being enemies." Never mind Russian hearts. Think view might have a problems well beyond Russia.