[oldnemesis]

(09-06-2011 02:02 AM)Ami5 Wrote:  

Basic Russian. I mentioned already. I can read/write perfectly, and if someone is talking about normal, usual things, I can understand on surface level what he/she is talking about.

If you can read AND write, this means you know the words and know the grammar enough to combine the sentence. Your Russian is WAY above basic.

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Because, believe me - if you wear indecent clothes as if you just woke up, and spoke in Indian accent along with usual beta behavior - it would make you not stand out as such. I always believe a person should try to make the best out of themselves.

Wearing indecent clothes is a VERY different story, and it indeed matters. Beta behavior also matters. But those two things have nothing common with your accent. As I said, your accent doesn't matter - as long as she actually understands what you're saying, you should be fine.

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No, many people know what 'Indian accent' is, but you are right, they never care about it! They care about understanding. My usual accent is not Indian, so I don't have to imitate or try hard speaking English in any other way.

Understanding has very little in common with accent when you:
- Try to speak slowly and make larger pauses between words. It is hard to understand for an untrained ear when the first word ends and the second word starts.
- Stick to common words. She doesn't have a dictionary with her, and you won't lose much by saying "small" instead of "tiny/miniscule/junior size".
- Skip culture-specific humor. She is very unlikely to know what the "third base" means. Hell, I still don't know what the "third base" means!

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Yes! But since I know they learned English at school, I expected them to speak English good enough.

They didn't learn English at school the way you did. It was typically two hours a week in a group of 30 people. Anyway, language needs constant refreshment - if you know the language and don't use it for years, you will forget it.

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And importantly, believe me, it sucks to not to be even able to talk to a 9 sitting near by, just because you can't speak the fucking language!

Yes, it sucks. That's why I suggest learning Russian, pretty much everyone (outside Lviv) speaks it.