BREAKING NEWS ON BLONDE

[matt674]

but Jen got bored after 2 hours. She's a girlie.

Even so she's got stamina!! Its 1 hr and 59 minutes longer than i would have lasted

[AndrewT]

did you get a go on any trains while there i hear there is one that will take you all the way to asia

and its also possible to get to south africa only having to change train 4 times

The Train Station in St Petersburg is named "Moscow Station" because it goes to Moscow, & in Moscow, they use the same logic. Could get confusing......

I spenty two whole days in St Petersburg - sorry - Moscow Train Station, in St Petersburg, just soaking up the atmo. Ditto when I was in Moscow.

I did the same in Helsinki with Jen, & even sat in a train to get the atmo, but Jen got bored after 2 hours. She's a girlie.

Here's a fact you might be interested in.

Major train stations in Russia are known as 'vokzal', after Vauxhall in London, because the terminus of the first Russian railway at Pavlovsk (from St Petersburg) had a pavillion at its entrance, which was modelled on the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and became known as the Vokzal. Over time this name was used to refer to the whole building and, as the railway network expanded, the major stations in big cities were called vokzals, with a separate word for smaller stations.

[tikay]

did you get a go on any trains while there i hear there is one that will take you all the way to asia

and its also possible to get to south africa only having to change train 4 times

The Train Station in St Petersburg is named "Moscow Station" because it goes to Moscow, & in Moscow, they use the same logic. Could get confusing......

I spenty two whole days in St Petersburg - sorry - Moscow Train Station, in St Petersburg, just soaking up the atmo. Ditto when I was in Moscow.

I did the same in Helsinki with Jen, & even sat in a train to get the atmo, but Jen got bored after 2 hours. She's a girlie.

Here's a fact you might be interested in.

Major train stations in Russia are known as 'vokzal', after Vauxhall in London, because the terminus of the first Russian railway at Pavlovsk (from St Petersburg) had a pavillion at its entrance, which was modelled on the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and became known as the Vokzal. Over time this name was used to refer to the whole building and, as the railway network expanded, the major stations in big cities were called vokzals, with a separate word for smaller stations.

Fascinating!

[KingPoker]

Dont know if this was a stupid dream but when i was younger i always wanted to learn russian. I dont know why but it was a language that just spoke to me somehow and have always had a dream about driving from one side of russia to the other. That really is my major life goal, or at least up there with the best of them. The reason i dont think it will happen is just because of the corruption aspect to the country and the safety issue. I feel it would be the last journey i would ever make if i were to embark on it. Im fascinated by the transiberian highway and the road of bones and just the total isolation. They never had to tie the prisoners up who built the road coz it was quite simple, there was nowhere to go and you would die. I just cant imagine a place so vast, would be amazing.

[kinboshi]

Russian grammar is very complex so I've heard, lots of verb forms.

Although apparently not as complex as getting your winnings out of the country without being bent over (so to speak).

[KingPoker]

Russian grammar is very complex so I've heard, lots of verb forms.

Like welsh.

I believe russian is seen as the 3rd hardest language to learn, welsh being 4th or 5th

[kinboshi]

Russian grammar is very complex so I've heard, lots of verb forms.

Like welsh.

I believe russian is seen as the 3rd hardest language to learn, welsh being 4th or 5th

I've heard the grammar is the hardest to master.  But that was from a uni lecturer who spoke over 12 languages!  I guess it depends on the language(s) you already speak and have studied. 

[KingPoker]

Russian grammar is very complex so I've heard, lots of verb forms.

Like welsh.

I believe russian is seen as the 3rd hardest language to learn, welsh being 4th or 5th

I've heard the grammar is the hardest to master.  But that was from a uni lecturer who spoke over 12 languages!  I guess it depends on the language(s) you already speak and have studied. 

True.
But aslo there is a hell of a difference between speaking a language and being able to write in that language. There is no definitive language that can truly be said to be harder than others (although i believe mandarin is pretty much accepted as being the hardest) due to the different factors that are involved in defining a language "hard".

[kinboshi]

Russian grammar is very complex so I've heard, lots of verb forms.

Like welsh.

I believe russian is seen as the 3rd hardest language to learn, welsh being 4th or 5th

I've heard the grammar is the hardest to master.  But that was from a uni lecturer who spoke over 12 languages!  I guess it depends on the language(s) you already speak and have studied. 

True.
But aslo there is a hell of a difference between speaking a language and being able to write in that language. There is no definitive language that can truly be said to be harder than others (although i believe mandarin is pretty much accepted as being the hardest) due to the different factors that are involved in defining a language "hard".

I'd say that Chinese is easier to learn to read and write than Japanese.  But conversational Japanese is far easier to learn than spoken Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese or whichever other 'version').  That's from a native English speaker's point of view.

I'd imagine Welsh is pretty hard to learn - just because so few people speak it and therefore the opportunity to practice and learn is limited.  Same with Dutch apparently.  A friend of mine worked over there for quite a few years and wanted to learn the language - but whenever he tried to use it, people spoke in English to him.

[KingPoker]

Russian grammar is very complex so I've heard, lots of verb forms.

Like welsh.

I believe russian is seen as the 3rd hardest language to learn, welsh being 4th or 5th

I've heard the grammar is the hardest to master.  But that was from a uni lecturer who spoke over 12 languages!  I guess it depends on the language(s) you already speak and have studied. 

True.
But aslo there is a hell of a difference between speaking a language and being able to write in that language. There is no definitive language that can truly be said to be harder than others (although i believe mandarin is pretty much accepted as being the hardest) due to the different factors that are involved in defining a language "hard".

I'd say that Chinese is easier to learn to read and write than Japanese.  But conversational Japanese is far easier to learn than spoken Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese or whichever other 'version').  That's from a native English speaker's point of view.

I'd imagine Welsh is pretty hard to learn - just because so few people speak it and therefore the opportunity to practice and learn is limited.  Same with Dutch apparently.  A friend of mine worked over there for quite a few years and wanted to learn the language - but whenever he tried to use it, people spoke in English to him.

Although i have always been in what we call in wales the "bilingual" unit, meaning you are taught in welsh and english i didnt naturally pick it up from that. my mum and all of my nans side speak welsh and it was only in uni i really felt the urge to try and learn so 2 of my flatmates (girls) always used to gossip in welsh so i wouldnt understand but i asked them to speak more welsh so i could pick it up. So again i know how the grammar side of welsh works but i wouldnt be able to write this post in welsh. Instead i undertand what people are saying e.g dewi speaking it to me in apat cardiff but again because he is from north wales their dialect is totally different from the west wales one im used to so is very hard to decypher what he's saying.
Im sure as you have learnt other languages such as japanese you would pick up welsh quicker than the majority. Kaz is a much better speaker of welsh than me as she went to welsh lessons and has learnt how to address people properly but i use more slang and wenglish (half english- half welsh)

[kinboshi]

You couldn't understand Dewi because he was lashed.  He couldn't understand what he was saying!

[KingPoker]

You couldn't understand Dewi because he was lashed.  He couldn't understand what he was saying!

Its gonna be a good craic at BB4. We'll have some drinks i tell ya!

[Ironside]

welsh might be the 4th or 5th hardest to lear but its also the number 1 most pointless language to learn