Questions in English

[xolang]

Hello!

Does anybody here writes English (or German)?

I got some questions about Belarus.

[abrakadabr2002]

Feel free to ask your questions in English or German hier.

[Singidunum]

Just remember - politics and provocation is not welcome

[xolang]

You're free to judge whether my question is provocative or not. It certainly is not meant to be.

It's a simple question:
Is it true that Belarusian language is dying out?
I've read this in different sources.

And a related one:
I've learned to distinguish Polish and Russian just by hearing. Do you think it's possible for a foreigner to distinguish Belarusian and Russian just by hearing?
I've listened to some audio examples, but I still cannot distinguish them. Any tips?

I'm just interested in languages.

Thanks!

[abrakadabr2002]

Originally Posted by xolang

It's a simple question:
Is it true that Belarusian language is dying out?
I've read this in different sources.

That is not true. I would say that the situation with the language is preserved at certain level and with the pass of time even improves slightly. If we compare the 70's when Belarus was part of the Soviet Union, and the language was really vanishing, with what we have now- it is a huge progress. At the same time if compared with the first half of the 90's it is a step back. Anyway the situation is far from 'dying out'. Belarusian is taught at all schools and at least officially has the same number of lessons per week as Russian. 25% of the schools (if I am not mistaken) are fully in Belarusian language (those where the entire education is in Belarusian not just lessons of Belarusian language and literature as in common secondary schools). Unfortunately those truly Belarusian schools are mostly concentrated in villages not in cities. Urban population speaks Russian. That is true and that is pathetic.

And a related one:
I've learned to distinguish Polish and Russian just by hearing. Do you think it's possible for a foreigner to distinguish Belarusian and Russian just by hearing?
I've listened to some audio examples, but I still cannot distinguish them. Any tips?

I'm just interested in languages.

Thanks!

At this point I would disagree with AlexRiga. The differences are big enough to distinguish between two languages just by hearing them. At least the Russians themselves don't either understand or can correctly reproduce spoken and written Belarusian. It goes not only about lexicon and grammar - the pronunciation of academic Belarusian shows a number of differences if compared with Russian. According to my observations the foreigners can perceive these differences.

For good samples of Belarusian I would recommend you to visit the following pages: www.belsat.eu - that is the Belarusian TV. On the homepage they have a flash video of their daily news block. Another good option is radio stations. Try visiting www.svaboda.org or directly http://realaudio.rferl.org/BR/news/news_BR.mp3 for their latest news block.

I hope you will share your findings with us. The topic is very interesting.

[inz]

Originally Posted by Singidunum

Just remember - politics and provocation is not welcome

Can I ask why politics are not welcome?

[abrakadabr2002]

Originally Posted by inz

Can I ask why politics are not welcome?

We are discussing architecture and construction here. There are definitely nice places on the web to talk about the politics.

[Sindiani]

Would anyone shed light on the impact of the current crisis on announced projects in Minsk? How many have been canceled, frozen, delayed or defaulted on investments?

Thanks

PS: Minsk is lovely; take it from someone who knows over 80 countries

[abrakadabr2002]

Originally Posted by Sindiani

Would anyone shed light on the impact of the current crisis on announced projects in Minsk? How many have been canceled, frozen, delayed or defaulted on investments?

Thanks

PS: Minsk is lovely; take it from someone who knows over 80 countries

None that I know of.

[kirilmhs]

Originally Posted by Sindiani

Would anyone shed light on the impact of the current crisis on announced projects in Minsk? How many have been canceled, frozen, delayed or defaulted on investments?

Thanks

PS: Minsk is lovely; take it from someone who knows over 80 countries

As a matter of fact, many of the current construction developments have been defaulted on investments because of the crisis and the turn of the year. On the other hand, none of them has yet been cancelled. Besides, there is a Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus № 2031 dd. 26.12.2008 "On some measures on activation of cooperation with foreign investors" with a Supplement List of 115 investment projects planned for realization in 2009 – 2010 according to decisions of the Head of State, the Government of the Republic of Belarus, local legislative and regulatory authorities. This doc imposes personal responsibility for the timely realization of the enlisted investment projects on the heads of the Republican public authorities and other state organizations under the Government of the republic of Belarus, regional executive committees, Minsk City Executive Committee etc.
I believe that most of the projects won't meet the deadlines, but there is practically no doubt that in the near-term outlook they will all be realized.

P.S. Thanks for the comliment. The soonest move out of production facilities and development of new parking lots will provide for even better impression on the citizens and the guests of Minsk.

[Marin85]

ops sorry, i edit, i just read that it's better not to speak about possible "hot" themes.

but only one thing: you can imagine up which's militarist ass Belarus people must put these radio transmitters, cause they are dangerous for belarus people living (and also not so, cause if it has a range of 10k km...) nearby.

[Alexriga]

Well, it is partly true. I think it is possible to distinguish for slavic language speaker. Don't think you will be able to do it because languages are very close.

[Singidunum]

The TV clip sounds almost exactly like Russian while those videos of "underground learners of Belarusian" on YouTube sound much softer but I could understand them both. Radio news presenter sound a lot different from video clips and if I heard them without knowing which language it was I would have thought it is Slovakian and it's a bit hard to comprehend it. But then when it turns to female presenter it sounds more Russian again and is more understandable. I have just found what it could be, those that I understand better are probably speaking in Trasianka (Meshanka) and those whom I understand less are probably using pure Belarusian.

[xolang]

Thanks a lot!

It's still very hard to distinguish them, but I guess Belarussian sounds softer and breathier.

[abrakadabr2002]

That is probably the main difference apart from grammar and vocabulary. Belarusian pronunciation is softer.

[Iluminat]

I have one little stupid question... Is it true that modern plastic windows are still very rare in Belarus ?

[abrakadabr2002]

Originally Posted by Iluminat

I have one little stupid question... Is it true that modern plastic windows are still very rare in Belarus ?

Why are you asking? Well, not very rare but in older buildings wooden frames are de facto widespread. Actually that is the common issue in the post-soviet countries

[Iluminat]

In some article few years ago they mentioned that in village where Lukashenko was born there are many plastic windows wich is rare in Belarus... Sometimes you remember weird things

[Singidunum]

Plastic windows are actually cheaper and uglier than wooden

[VelesHomais]

I will also use this thread to address questions to those living in Belarus

Is it true that the last Belarusian school in Minsk was closed something like 5 years ago?
Is the amount of Belarusian taught in schools and universities increasing or decreasing?