lilshadowdweller Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 So today I went to the Russian consulate to obtain a VISA in order to visit Russia. I reside in Canada and my long-term boyfriend who I live with had his parents invite me over so I can meet them and see the beauty of Russia. They are very excited about and so am I. But here's one thing which really bothered me today. It's not a big deal, it's not something I'm going to wallow over, but see, at the consulate, there's this cashier. She's a nasty thing, my boyfriend and I had dealt with her before. Bad attitude, ect. ANYWAY, all of the the consulate members speak English AND Russian, which is reasonable, right? They're obviously Russian residents who immigrated to Canada, and they deal with both Russian and English-speaking people who need visa's or have spouses, ect. But this cashier, she positively, 100% WILL NOT speak English. And c'mon, really? She can't not know it, living in Canada? I'm sorry, but if I immigrated to Russia, would I expect everyone to speak English to me? The Russian language is a beautiful language, don't get me wrong, but it's useless in North America unless you have a job catering towards Russian or teaching Russian. It's unrelated to English unlike Spanish and French, French is the required language here, and 80% of our population can and does speak English. But she refuses. She just ranted on instructions to me in Russian, and when I asked her nicely IN RUSSIAN to speak English (I also included that I don't know A LOT of Russian), she just laughed to herself and told me "Thank you" in Russian. I find it very rude and conscending. I get it. You want to keep your culture "alive", you want to make it "important" and whatever. Those lousy rude English speakers, how dare they speak English in a Russian consulate in Canada! BUT GUESS WHAT? You come to Canada, you obtain a job in Canada, then perhaps you accomondate those who GIVE YOU MONEY and need to understand complex instructions. You don't punish everyone for not speaking your language. I'm TRYING to learn Russian, but when I'm Canada, I'd anticipate a little bit of consideration and patience, Russian is a difficult language for native English speakers, English being a Germanic/Latin mix while Russian not even close to these! SHE IS A FEMALE DOG WHICH GAME BIRTH AND SHE SHOULD GO BACK TO HER NATIVE LAND. Gurr. Sorry for the rant. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angeló Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 too much vodka will fry the brain cells .. that's all i have to say on the subject :S or maybe u looked Russian to her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibi_chibi_tsukino Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 It can be annoying when people in a customer service job don't speak English. I remember I had a similar experience years ago. I was studying in Czech Republic (at an English University) and lived in a dorm for international students. To enter the dorm we had to show our ID to an elderly lady at reception (yes, the dorm had a reception, weird, I know). The problem was that she didn't speak A WORD of English although the dorm of mainly for international students (there were hundreds of us). I had only been in the country for a few weeks and didn't speak any czech. The whole situation sometimes became really difficult since we couldn't understand each other and that caused problems. I simply don't understand why and how someone who doesn't speak a word of English ended up in this job. Anyways, I hope you will get your visa sorted and have a great time in Russia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 i agree with angelo that maybe you looked russian to her. i know a lot of people think i am armenian and will automatically speak it to me thinking i know it as well. even though i am not armenian. and maybe she figures if you know russian she shouldn't have to speak english, although i agree that if she does know english and people are speaking english to her, she should respond in english. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welcome Back Apathy Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 To be fair...perhaps she has the same view of "Don't come to a country if you can't speak the language!" After all, she's in charge of getting people to Russia. If they don't speak the language, then why are they going to Russia? So perhaps it's a test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperAttackPea Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 That's sad. But what's worse is that those Quebecois expect you to speak french and they pretend they don't understand english even when they are fluent in english. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puzzles Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Same thing can be said for English speaking Canadians who visit Quebec. While most of us can speak English. Its unpleasant to have someone come up to us and go. "SPEAK ENGLISH NOW." . <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilshadowdweller Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 That's sad. But what's worse is that those Quebecois expect you to speak french and they pretend they don't understand english even when they are fluent in english. I've heard of that happening before. It's annoying, certainly. My own experience regarding Quebec was quite positive, they were very friendly and spoke English despite it not being their first language. So it depends on who you meet! Same thing can be said for English speaking Canadians who visit Quebec.While most of us can speak English. Its unpleasant to have someone come up to us and go. "SPEAK ENGLISH NOW." Who demands that? o_0;; And if they say it like that, chances are, they aren't native English-speakers but various tourists from other nations. These hostilities between Francophones and Anglophones needs to stop someday. But to be fair, a lot of us aren't exposed to enough French, and the Anglophones who do know French want to show off their abilities (so I would hope they would prefer speaking French in Quebec!). I don't assume everyone in Quebec knows English, as 80% of the Quebec population is French speaking, while the rest is actually (contrary to popular belief that the rest is English) a mix of many different languages! PS - how odd that once again, you play devil's advocate.... To be fair...perhaps she has the same view of "Don't come to a country if you can't speak the language!" After all, she's in charge of getting people to Russia. If they don't speak the language, then why are they going to Russia? So perhaps it's a test. That view point doesn't make sense. Keep in mind that I didn't say anything about her visiting - just her living here. Plenty of tourists come to Canada, entirely unaware of English, I don't see people going; "Don't come to Canada if you can't speak English/French!" Wouldn't desiring tourism in Russia assist Russia? Now, maybe she did think I was Russian, my Dad's family (My Grandma) immigrated here from Slovenia (former Yugoslavia), and Slovenian is a Slavic language with the people looking similar to Russians, and maybe that's why she laughed. But I recall speaking with a man (he speaks English) who goes to the consulate on behalf of people to get their papers/documents/passports (he assists Russians and whoever else), and he told me she never speaks English to him. Perhaps it is a test, but it's a stupid one, especially when she's got nothing to do with who goes to Russia and doesn't (she just takes the finalized cheque). It's like she's on some sort of power trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibi_chibi_tsukino Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Perhaps it is a test, but it's a stupid one, especially when she's got nothing to do with who goes to Russia and doesn't (she just takes the finalized cheque). It's like she's on some sort of power trip! I think so actually. Her behaviour doesn't make sense. I guess she just likes being rude. Lots of people do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passiflora Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Can she not speak english or did she just refuse to speak english? That sucks either way - I think it's reasonable to expect someone to be able to speak at least one of your country's official languages if they're going to be working in said country! That's sad. But what's worse is that those Quebecois expect you to speak french and they pretend they don't understand english even when they are fluent in english. I've heard of that, but I've also heard that they'll usually "play nice" if you at least put in the effort. If you just assume they'll speak english to you, there might be some rude people who pretend not to speak english - but if you attempt French and show them that you fail at the language, they won't prolong your embarrassment. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilshadowdweller Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Can she not speak english or did she just refuse to speak english? That sucks either way - I think it's reasonable to expect someone to be able to speak at least one of your country's official languages if they're going to be working in said country! She may not be able to speak English, although I kind of doubt it. It's possible she keeps herself entirely surrounded by the Russian community. I've heard of that, but I've also heard that they'll usually "play nice" if you at least put in the effort. If you just assume they'll speak english to you, there might be some rude people who pretend not to speak english - but if you attempt French and show them that you fail at the language, they won't prolong your embarrassment. :P I think they would, I mean, it shows that you're trying to adapt to another culture, and it's certainly difficult to learn a different/new language. :) Like I said, they were nice to me, hardly any trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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