101 Comments
No, the message isn't clear at all. You're looking at this and thinking it says, "This is Ukraine and that's Russia and Russia needs to stay out of Ukraine." But try reading it like this: "Это Украина" pointing to Kiev on a map, "Россия вот здесь" pointing to Donetsk.
There's not a clear political message either way. So perhaps the course creators had no political agenda at all with this sentence and were actually just trying to teach us a couple useful country names??
The Russian course for anglophones was added to the incubator less than 2 years ago, whereas Crimea was annexed over 2 years ago, so I imagine the contributors to this course were well aware of the political situation when they designed this question.
Obviously, but ErnestasDo was pointing out a possible implication of the sentence for the purpose of making a joke.
Then why not Russia and France instead. Clearly Ukraine and Russia appear in the same part of the course for a reason.
Maybe because Ukraine is a rather relevant country if you're learning Russian? Just a possibility?
Does that mean we will hear about Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia? (bounces excitedly).
If it was up to me it would be Kazakhstan all over the place, as I'm from Kazakhstan :)))
So does that mean Duolingo will offer Kazakh?
[Technical note: I wanted to reply to Larisa_L's comment, but comments squeezed too far to the page's right lack Reply links so I had to reply to PfifltriggPi.]
The_Noob_Eternal, 99% No - the language is simply too small, there won't be enough users.
But why is it relevant? Because of historical and political reasons or do you think it is just basic geography?
About half of Ukraine uses Russian as its daily language. Not political. Just a fact. That might make it just a teensy bit relevant, as Ukraine has a population of around 40million people.
All of the above. Ukraine is right next door to Russia, they come into each other's history quite a lot, and Ukraine is making plenty of appearances in Russian media right now. All reasons why Ukraine is a useful country name to know if you're learning Russian.
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Well...I guess that is the same when United States talk about Mexico, or any member of the European Union talks about any other member of the group. If you visit any of those countries you will need to know what is the name of their neighbours or at least the name of the countries that share a common history or has a big influence on them.
Benjamin-Ukrainian language is very similar to Russian, and people in Ukraine also speak Russiaan. Imagine someone in Ukraine thinking they're in Russia. They can't seem to find Moscow so they ask someone for directions to Moscow. They reply while pointing to a map, " Вот Украйна, и вот Руссиа." (Not sure if I spelled it right.) Basically, showing someone where to go. That's how I remember it.
We just wanted to give a couple of examples for countries, but not many, as there are more important things to teach other than country names. Ukraine was just kind of natural choice, it's known to English speakers, it's easy to spell, we also have Ukrainian course on Duolingo, Ukraine is another country with a Slavic language and it's Russian's neighbour. Those are all the reasons - nothing more. We didn't even think about it as deeply as it's discussed here. We're obviously aware of the political situation, but it has nothing to do with the sentences in the course.
That's the problem that I had with Swahili. I gave up very quickly because they seemed to want to start the course by teaching the names and nationality of every Country.
I understand that both 'вот' and 'здесь' can be used individually as indicatives of 'here', can someone explain how they combine to mean 'over here'? Is one a more direct 'right here' than the other?
using both at the same time is what makes it more direct or specific. Like you said 'right here' in this specific spot.
I suppose it's sort of like saying 'this here' re-iterating the indication, which is what 'over here' is really saying in English. Makes sense to me at least
In my opinion, this sounds like one person showing another where the two countries are located on a map. Maybe we should stop looking for political agendas and focus on learning the grammar.
It's surprisingly hard to get out of the habit of calling it "The Ukraine". According to Wikipedia It's been more than 20 years since it was commonly referred to that way, but I've rarely had occasion to refer to it at all in the meantime, so the way I learned to say the name in my childhood has stuck...
It would be probably interesting for you to know that in Russian there is similar situation but not with the name of the country itself but with the preposition before it. It is very politicized. In soviet period and before it it was often said "на Украину" (to Ukraine). Preposition "на" in Russian is usually used with territories, not independent countries. There are some exceptions but they are almost all islands. After 1991 ukrainian government started to force form "в Украину" as "в" is used with country names. The problem is that ukrainian government doesn't have rights to decide how to use Russian language, only Ukrainian one. But now many of ukrainians say "в Украину", but most russians still say "на Украину". which lead to many hot discussions.
It is not commonly referred to that way? I have always heard it called "The Ukraine".
It is by out of date people like us. :-D The younger generation apparently doesn't.
I am only 17. :)
Ah ha! Im 61, i keep saying the ukraine and get teased, im still not sure why i say it
Question regards to this sentence. If Россия вот здесь is "Russia is over here", could I say Россия вот там for "Russia is over there", or is it just Россия там? How far does вот go in translation to point out something?
So, to the slow ones (like me): The direct translation is "Russia is here here", but because of 2 x here, it becomes specifically here, so "over here"?
No. "Вот" has different meaning from "здесь". You say "вот" pointing to something. It is more like "this is". If somebody asks you "где повесить картину?" (where to hang a picture?) you may answer "здесь", "вот здесь" or "тут" (almost no difference between these options) but you cannot just answer "вот".
So "here is the thing here" is kinda what they mean together? Which is pretty much what 'it's over here" means
Rossiya vot zdes literally means "Russia is right here". No further explanations.
Please! Don't speak about politics. It' s all about geographical positions. One land is " the kitchen" and the other one is the "bathroom". Two different rooms. Think " Belgium" Instead of "Ukraine" if it's appease your mind .... But no fights,it's not the solution.
Because of the word "вот". Your translation would work if the sentence read "Россия здесь", but "вот здесь" means "over here".
Em português seria algo como: Esta é a Ucrânia, a Rússia é bem aqui(tipo apontando para um mapa).
Just curious - I'm on mobile, so no hints or anything.
How specifically does вот здесь translate? In the literal sense. Does вот literally mean over? Or does combining "here-here" turn it into "over here"?
This is my answer: This is the Ukraine. Russia's over here. It was marked wrong......
Apparently the "the" was officially dropped sometime over 20 years ago, so maybe that's why.
Надеюсь однажды наши страны и народы снова станут едины под одним общим новым флагом и честным, открытым правительством.
I can't figure out what letter и is and what sound it makes. Can someone tell me?
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Does вот здесь mean over here or over there? I've used вот здесь for both meanings in different questions.
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вот - is to present something Вот карандаш = here is a pencil. Здесь is point something out Здесь тоже дерево = There is also a tree here.
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" Россия вот здесь " - Russia here here ? Or вот здесь just really translates to "over here" as one word ?
Or is there another explanation about this ?
"Здесь" is "here", as in "я здесь".
"Вот" means "here is", as in "вот Анна".
"Вот здесь" is a set phrase meaning "over here".
To me "This is Ukraine. Russia is over there" sounds more natural. Am i mistaken?
Yes you are. It just has a different meaning. "Вот здесь" is clearly "over here"; "over there" I believe is "вон там". Both of these would be perfectly fine phrases depending on the context, but they are not synonymous.
Why the dot is so importante Fals just because of it
This is ukraine "." russia is over here
Kurwa! jaka jest roznica miedzy Вот a tym drugim "here" i dlaczego czasem sa obok sievie tzn. Вот i to drugie
soo.. Russia is 'over here' in Ukraine's business?.. it took me a second to understand the logistics of that sentence in English
Not really, it could just be someone pointing to two different spots on a map to indicate where each country is.
It could just as easily be someone standing in Yalta sweeping his arm around the streets clogged with Russian troops and APCs.
