There are situations when not everyone in the company speaks the same language. This can happen on vacation, if you suddenly find yourself in the company of locals and communicate only with gestures and signs, or at home, in the company of expats. The Village asked an etiquette coach, translator and psychologist about how to deal with translation difficulties.
Larisa Evans
etiquette trainer, founder of the International School of Etiquette
All etiquette trainers will say that this is “rude” - a gross violation. The exception is situations when you do not speak any languages other than your native one, and in order to somehow justify your presence at a particular event, you communicate with a compatriot. The correct way out of the situation would be this: if in a group of people you do not speak English, and everyone else says, you should apologize for your ignorance and ask a colleague or friend to keep you updated. It won't be a mistake: don't hide the fact that you need help. A polite person, in turn, will offer such a service without reminders in order to at least briefly convey what is at stake. In this case, a mutually polite apology is mandatory.
You can also consider a situation where you know a foreign language, but prefer to speak your own. For example, in a group of English people you and a friend are talking in Russian. In this case, you should apologize and say that you are discussing, say, your grandmother’s health and you would like to talk for a few minutes in your native language. If you communicate in the presence of others in your language without warning, this is considered bad manners and a violation of etiquette.
Kristina Buinova
teacher of the department Spanish MGIMO Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, simultaneous interpreter
I translate mainly synchronously and by chuchoutage - into the ear, without interrupting those present (translated from French chuchotage means “whispering.” - Ed.). I would preface the answer to the question with one important remark: context is important. From the experience of working at international conferences, I can say that what is considered unethical is not so much speaking in a language that one of the participants in the conversation does not know, but an unexpected switch to this language during a conversation in neutral English, for example. Once, in a conversation that our Latin American group was having with the Koreans, the latter were distracted by a joke on a topic that one member of the Korean delegation told to others in Korean. They laughed, but no one could translate it into English, let alone Spanish. It’s not that the Argentines and Mexicans felt offended, but the joke that was supposed to unite everyone only caused confusion.
In general, this problem cannot be solved without reservations. Is it always possible to find a language that all participants in a conversation know? What is the purpose of the conversation and its format? If we are talking about official reception or, on the contrary, about a friendly atmosphere, it is very important not to let a person feel out of place. In this case, you should avoid separate conversations in a language unknown to the guest. But if this is a business meeting that involves brainstorming, then constant concern about not offending anyone can derail creative process. In general, the main thing is to find a middle ground.
Sergei Klyuchnikov
Director of the Sergei Klyuchnikov Center for Practical Psychology
If a person went on vacation to another country and does not know local language, then he must be psychologically prepared for the fact that he will find himself in such situations. You should stock up on a phrasebook or find someone who can help with translation. There were studies that said that if a person stays for a long time in a country where he has no guides, and he can only communicate in the language with a waiter, then after some time he develops anxiety syndrome. A person constantly wonders whether what people say around him has anything to do with him, and begins to take many things personally. Suspicion or even neurotic states develop.
If a person finds himself in the company of foreigners in his own country and the conversation is conducted in a different language, it all depends on the situation. For example, a person may be embarrassed because he does not know foreign languages; he may envy his compatriot who communicates freely with a foreigner. If the conversation is of a business nature and the person is being translated, he may feel a suspicion that some nuances are eluding him, that he may be deceived. If he speaks himself, it may seem to him that the translator does not translate everything and misunderstands. In cases where the price of the issue is high, he will monitor the facial expressions of his interlocutors, but this is quite difficult, because someone else’s facial expressions are connected with other people’s meanings - sign language is not always and not everywhere universal.
Illustration: Nastya Grigorieva
Preamble
Means mass media, banks and trade do not work to consolidate Russian society. And they will not work for this goal because they do not belong to the Russians.
What should we do?
Participant #1
Get out!
Participant #2
Are there enough guns, Participant No. 1?
Participant #3
Well, the trunks in Russia have been produced for 100 years in advance.
Participant #2
Where does this confidence come from, Participant #3?
And are those trunks Russian?
Participant #1
With a pitchfork, Participant No. 2, you need to cut them down, with a pitchfork or whatever you have to, so that it’s clear that nothing can save them. In general, that's enough. They are all heroes in the mouth, but when it comes to business, they leave in the bushes.
Participant #2
I agree, Participant #1. But to bring down at the level of N-sk is one thing in which you can get by with a pitchfork or your pound fists. But to “cut down” at least at the regional level - here the pitchforks are clearly not enough, and they will not help.
Participant #1
Participant No. 2, if you consider that they all love nature and go there much more often than you and me, then everything is real. The question is not in quantity, but in topic. In general, if the mass of the people realizes what’s wrong with them once again do. I think that an armored jeep and guards with guns will not help. No equipment can withstand exposure to a bottle of gasoline. Even a modern tank. That's how the world works. Everything ingenious is simple. And in cramped city streets or corridors, even a trunk won’t help much.
Participant #2
Everything seems to be written correctly and I even agree. But this will be a “Pugachev rebellion” like Kondopoga and Sagra. But these events did not help - the media, banks and trade were not Russian and remained so. Well, why not start an internal war with “also Russians” in a “multinational country”?
Participant #1
You know, Participant No. 2, unfortunately, as you say, all Russians think. And this is our common problem. Why not start a war, everything needs peace. But what is really happening. There is a quiet expansion going on. Replacement under plausible pretexts of the indigenous population with another. Previously, this was in the form of open conflicts, now everything is hidden. emigrants, nutritional supplements, vaccinations, etc.
If a Russian was killed, this is a statistic; if a Jew or Caucasian was killed, this is a tragedy and nationalism. You don’t need to rack your brains, just judge them in our own country according to their law as they judge us. According to the Torah and Talmud of the Jews, according to the Sharia of the Muslims and that’s it. If they don’t want to live in truth, let them live where they want. You remember from the dorm, they are all afraid only of force. And they behave normally only when they know that it’s different.
Don't know. On the other hand, I’m glad that I’m in Nsk. The non-Russian infidels and others once taught us how to treat them. So now, in any case, they behave adequately. Of course, there are excesses, but as a rule they themselves and all these issues immediately run to close them. What can you do Nsk. Corrupt and gangster city.
Participant #2
This is a fact - at the provincial level everything is really like this and you are right, everything is simpler. 100,000 - 300,000 people in rural areas with their own farmsteads are much more independent in self-determination. Again, all relatives are nearby. but at a more global level there are already problems. Even using the example of taking a pitchfork: you are a pagan, I am Orthodox, my brother is a Bolshevik, my colleagues are liberals, etc. How can such a diverse crowd be organized in a metropolis?
Participant #1
In general, I think children need to be raised correctly. As expected. So that they have honor and conscience. Then not a single scum will be able to degenerate or corrupt us. Otherwise, all this scum has a thin gut. We, Participant No. 2, beat them and will continue to beat them. Since after a Russian lost a loved one in the war. Scarier than a man No. And their cutting off heads and so on will seem like the gardens of Eden to them.
IN last issue This year we bring to our readers an interview with Igor Rasteryaev, about whose work the Nizhny Novgorod Diocesan Gazette has written more than once. We talked with the artist about topics that concern many residents of our country and overwhelm his creativity. Which have worried Russian people for centuries and, no doubt, will always worry - about faith in God, the fate of Russia and its mission in the world, about the divinely inspired nature of creativity and much more.
Igor, in your songs you rhyme “God’s road.” How do you feel about the religious side of life, including based on the traditions of the Cossacks, to whom you consider yourself? Who and what is God for you?
I have a very positive attitude towards the religious side of life, especially in lately. I myself, my mom and dad are worldly people, but my younger sister and her husband are churchgoers. Moreover, at the most serious level, they fast even on Wednesday and Friday.
One day, friends came to my sister - also, accordingly, churchgoers. And so we sit in the kitchen, drink tea, and I gradually realize that this is the first time I have found myself in such a noble society. I began to talk with them about religious topics, in particular about other religions, about reincarnation, about the fact that God is one for all...
And then I asked the young girl Irina how she felt about divorce. She said negative. Then I asked: “And if people came together without thinking, why should they be angry for years?” And this girl suddenly says to me: “In general, I think that the meaning of marriage, in the end, is not happiness for a person, but in birth.” large quantity children, in their Orthodox upbringing and humility." I'm just speechless...
This girl, with one phrase, with her very existence, canceled all attempts by NATO provocateurs to make a consumer basket out of her soul. And such strength was behind her, she was so calm, and dignified, and unpretentiously natural in her faith, that I simply admired her from the bottom of my heart, and I felt calm for the Orthodox faith. Because I saw with my own eyes that this faith continues to live in the hearts of people who, by the way, are much younger than me.
After this, my parents also asked me how I felt about my sister’s unexpected churching, whether this was an excess, or fanaticism. And I’m fine with it - even with all the excesses. Because today our Motherland is under such a burden of vulgarity and lack of spirituality that perhaps only the Church can serve as the only counterweight. The only thing that can resist central television is the girl Ira, who believes that a person on earth does not necessarily live for happiness.
Just look at what is happening outside our cities - huge territories have already been “cleared” of the indigenous local population, as if they were prepared for some kind of foreign invasion. Everyone is driven into the cities so that people do not feel like they belong to their land, so that they do not feel like they are masters of it. To sit in concrete cages and listen to zombie information about careers and personal development. Who can resist this today?
In my opinion, only the girl Ira, who dreams of large family. And the more girls like this we have, the more chances we have to live. Otherwise we'll just disappear. Without any war, we will be populated by all sorts of guys, and one fine day there will simply be no one to object to anything.
I myself, I repeat, am a purely worldly person. And since the conversation turned to the Cossacks, I’ll say this. The Cossacks did not want to take the oath not only because they did not want to lose their will. Although, of course, to be honest, in my opinion, that’s the only reason. But they thought something like this: we kill people, our life is war and raids, we are sinful people - it’s not right for us to kiss the holy cross, that means. That is, people behind whose backs the Orthodox faith grew stronger considered themselves unworthy to kiss the cross. What nobility these people were, I think now.
And in the church they stood - and the sabers were slightly taken out of their sheaths, so that the blade would listen to the righteous word. So I’ve been like this all my life - a little away from churching, more and more I communicated directly with God, although, of course, my believing relatives blame me for this. But everyone has their own path - some in the church, others in the worldly field.
As for the rhyme “God’s road,” there were other options; it could have been “the main protection and help is the Russian road,” for example. I just liked “God’s Road” more.
Based on the long-standing debate between Westerners and Slavophiles and based on your experience as a person living in two cultures - city and village - how do you feel Russia?
Yes, how I feel... They are knocking out our village. Recently I was driving across the steppe from Rakovka to the Rasteryaev farm, or more precisely, to the place where he was (my relatives and I erected two crosses there in memory of him: this is our family farm, where our ancestors lived for several centuries). Believe it or not, he washed himself with tears, not being embarrassed by anyone, because there was no one there to be ashamed of.
There are three courtyards on the Kashulin farm, and seven on Zelenovsky. I talked to a farmer who came from Frolovo to work there - to farm. “I,” he says, “bought foreign tractors, they do everything themselves, and our task, ideally, is for the three of us to cultivate all the areas on these machines.” That is, even now a farmer in Russia plans his work based on the absence of assistants, as if he were not in the center of a huge power, but on the moon or in Antarctica.
- What helps you resist the temptations of vanity, love of money, and pride? Is it really just Russian laziness?
For some reason everyone thinks that after “Combineers” I felt so strong. On the contrary, I felt very weak. Because it was absolutely clear to me, more than anyone else, that this would not happen without intervention from above. That God did everything. All coincidences, all accidents, all continuations of this story, all thoughts and melodies, lines - they come from somewhere, someone gives them. Therefore, I am not inclined to exalt my personal merits.
Comparing the life of young people in the capitals and in the villages, can you say that they are one people with one homeland and history?
Certainly. Especially when you consider that most city dwellers have rural roots, one way or another. At least partially.
There is an opinion that with the loss of memory of the Great Patriotic War The unity of the spirit of the Russian nation will also disappear. How do you feel about this?
I do not share such opinions. Is the unity of the spirit really supposed to be strengthened all the time by terrible tragedies? For example, I would like the unity of the nation to be strengthened by some very peaceful idea. Normal human life.
IN recent years In Russia, interethnic conflicts, essentially criminal (sometimes social), have become more frequent. Tension in society is growing, as is xenophobia. As a person who knows the life of the Russian south from the inside, where representatives of different ethnic groups are historically mixed, what do you see as the causes of these conflicts?
Not long ago I was on tour in Georgievsk, this is the Stavropol Territory. Before the concert, the organizers were called to the relevant authorities and asked: “What kind of “Russian Road” is this? What are you going to do there? Why Russian? What is this, some kind of Nazi gathering? Who is this Rasteryaev? Is he a fascist?“ The organizers had to make excuses, explain something to the authorities... And this, mind you, was not even in the Caucasian republic, this was a conversation in the Stavropol region! In Mother Russia, figuratively speaking. We are driving through Georgievsk, Youth Day is taking place on the square. Russians, by the way, are all young people. The sponsor is a beer company, all with some cans and bottles.
The organizers say: “If only the national diasporas had only a hint of this, you know what would have happened to these beer comrades!” They told a lot of things...
4 thousand rubles from the budget are allocated for Russians, about 50 thousand for Caucasians. Plus they don't pay utilities. Everything is legal, everything is approved from above. Why be surprised after this? Who should feel like the boss? Who ultimately won? Who lost? Who pays indemnity to whom? So no need to be surprised. What other moods could there be?
you found yourself modern singer Russia, the Russian world with its tragedies and insights. What is the secret of the Russian soul, Russian destiny for you? And what does Russia mean to you?
Last September, my friend Lesha Lyakhov and I went fishing. The weather was cool, and we were also a little cold. And then we put on waterproof overalls so that it would not be cold to be in the water. And so we walked through the forest in these overalls, and when we reached the river, we took them off and climbed into the water just like that. Then we got out, dried off, put on our waterproof overalls again and walked home through the forest. Russia is somewhere here.
Is the mysterious tactical technique from “The Russian Road” a poetic insight or ancient Cossack wisdom?
This is how it came up. First there was an idea, and then all sorts of phonetic variations came. As a result, the phrase sounds like this.
Previously, they wrote music and poetry in offices or in nature. You say that your melodies are often born on the road, while driving. Does your muse love the noise of the road and city?
Not really. You just drive and sing all sorts of nonsense, all sorts of gibberish - your head turns off, there’s no control, you’re alone in the cockpit. Apparently music likes to live in nonsense. And sometimes I just sat down and played new music. Just like that - without preparation, I took the accordion and played. From start to finish. I don’t know where it comes from. With poetry it is much more difficult. It's really hard.
- Do you always feel that a real song is being born, or do you have to “discard” the material?
If you like the melody, this is the first indicator. If you feel a theme about it, go for the second one. If two or three endings of a verse or some correct word jumped out due to emotions, the third one. Then you roughly figure out the plan of the song - so as not to drown in emotions and beauty, but, more simply, what the thought will be about, what you want to say specifically. And then work on the text begins. And this is really difficult.
At the end of the twentieth century in Russia there were many original rock groups and performers, the scale of whose talent has still not been surpassed. What do you see as the reason for the shortage of such talent today?
Children don't walk in the yards much, and they don't have many unusual experiences. From the cradle everything is common - a computer, the Internet, chocolate bars. What unexpected, non-standard thing can one chicken from an incubator tell another chicken from an incubator? There are few events. There is a lot of awareness, but no knowledge. Television and society dictate the same and aggressive criteria for success and norms. Format - from infancy.
What does not fit into the format and is difficult for one’s own brain to digest is perceived as a joke, just in case. Infantility is all around because... You can even compare the youth cultures of those years and modern ones - lubbers, rockers, street rappers, metalheads, Alisomaniacs against emo and goths, compare temperaments.
Many have not seen real life - everyone grew up on a computer. And the temperament is at the level of a dead cell phone. That's probably why. Although at the same time I am sure that now children are smarter than me, for example, and more intelligent. And they will do a lot more - no doubt about it. Therefore, there will be no shortage. And today should not be assessed now.
- What inspired you to create such a very church-themed song as “The Ringer”?
In the beginning, as always, there was a melody. Moreover, it came up suddenly - during intermission variety program at the BUFF theater, where I serve. There are half-naked ballerinas all around, guys in shiny vests - in general, nothing churchy. And once the melody appeared in my head. Apparently, the melodies don't care when they appear.
And I quickly took a cell phone from a colleague and sang this melody into the recorder, and then forgot about it altogether for six months. And later I remembered that I was recording and asked my friend to turn it on. At first I thought it was music for symphony orchestra. And then I picked it up on the accordion and realized that the song was about a dream.
When people ask me what I would have become if I had not become an artist, I always say that I still like two professions: a bell ringer and a pickpocket catcher. So I wrote to myself, it turns out. I can’t say that the song is very churchy. It's more lyrical and generalizing, or something. And I immediately realized that a girl should be singing there. And the text took a year and a half to write - in general, this “Ringer” is the heaviest song. And the most uncharacteristic, perhaps, for me so far.
- Christmas is coming. How does this holiday make you feel?
To be honest, the holiday of Christmas does not evoke any special feelings for me, because I, like all Soviet children, never celebrated it. Besides, Christmas is coming New Year holidays, and against this background it seems to be lost. As a child, we went from house to house in Rakovka to glorify Christ: we sang carols and threw candy and money into a big red bag. But these are just childhood associations - rather casual, but certainly not religious.
But Easter has always been celebrated in our family (and throughout the country). Therefore, this is a big holiday for me. I remember one time on Easter we were going to visit my great-grandmother on the subway, and my nose began to bleed. I was six years old. At the Grazhdansky Prospekt station they took me out of the car and called an ambulance. I remember the doctor tried to stop the bleeding and said: “Hold on, Cossack, you will be an ataman.” And I kept thinking: “How does he know that I am a Cossack?”
Sometimes I think: why soviet people Have you always celebrated Easter? The most important thing, probably, is the spectacularity of the rituals - baking special Easter cakes, painting eggs, beating them, making Christ, watching the religious procession... All these things are spectacular, lush, beautiful and symbolic, therefore they are very important for our people, they fit very well into the idea of how right and good.
You understand this abroad when you enter some church. Everything there is orderly, noble, quiet, solemn and stingy. And no, mind you, any strain. And in the decoration of our churches there is something of wedding table- both in gilding, and in icons, and in iconostases, in all rituals. If you really pray, do not sit, but with your forehead on the floor, which is why holy fools are so valued among us. Apparently we are very theater people. We love you external factors, deep feelings. Isn’t that why people greet you by their clothes?..
Merry Christmas to everyone! I wish that with each subsequent generation this holiday becomes more and more significant. Good luck and God's presence to everyone!
Interviewed by Svetlana Vysotskaya.
“Nizhny Novgorod Diocesan Gazette”, No. 24(213), 2011.