Russian: What is "nuuuepuЯ"?

I am a Japanese teacher in a university in Russia. I came here in Russia a year and half ago with no Russian skills.

Actually, I was not interested in Russia when I came here. I just wanted to teach Japanese somewhere in the world, and then I accidentally found the job in Russia.

I can say that the beginning of my life in Russia was really weird.

One problem was lack of information.
I even didn't understand what kind of shops near my house because I couldn't read letters. For example, I totally did not understand the name of the restaurant "nuuuepuЯ" (pic2).

I thought:
"Is this written in English?"
"Why?"
"I've never seen "Я" besides Toy shop!" etc...

Another problem was communication.
I only communicated with those who could speak Japanese. Otherwise I told what I wanted to say with my body. Furthermore, I was not used to working so that it was hard for me to make time for learning. That's why body language was the only way I can survive in Russia.

I felt like I'd got back to a little tiny child who could only cry or smile.

And then, the time had come.

Like as everyone around the world, I had to spend time inside my house just because it was 2020. Also for my case, I needed to stay not only home but also in Russia. I didn't return to Japan considering situations around me.

Because of this situation, I got a plenty of time. I decided to use this time just for myself. So, I started learning Russian in Amazing Talker.


Russian is hard. But it is so much fun to learn as well.


For me, Learning Russian is like climbing long stairs (not like mountains or slopes).

Every step is quite heavy.
Fundamental is very important. If you try to skipped some stairs, you feel much harder later, or you may even fall down to the beginning.

But you see an amazing sight when you arrive at a landing floor of the stairs.

When I arrived there for the first time, I was so surprised!
I feel like I grew up in a flash!

It's been almost a year since I joined Amazing Talker.

Now I can communicate with my colleague and neighbor who cannot speak Japanese. I feel I got closer to them. Even more than that, now I feel accepted by them. My world had got wider than before,

And now I can read the name of restaurant near my house.
It is not "nuuuepuЯ. " It is "Пиццерия."

This letters in the picture look different from "Пиццерия" because they are handwriting. I found that both of typing and hand writing is essential if you want to live... I mean survive in Russia.

Also, experience of learning a language reminds me of importance of respecting language learners who take steps every single day. I'm so happy to share difficulties with my students recent days. As a language teacher, I must keep it in my mind.

Of course it is still a lot of space of improving, but I feel much more comfortable being in Russia thanks to leaning a language.

Now I want to learn about Russian and Russia more and more.
Fiinally(?!) I am interested in Russia so much.

Thank you Amazing talker!

And thank you for reading:)








1 Comments

  • Hello there, Kazuki! I'm a new teacher on this platform, a native Russian speaker 🖖 I understand your story very well and that's exactly what I'm here for! My goal is to help you survive, help get rid of that paralyzing fear of speaking Russian, making mistakes.

    You can find a bit more details here, I hope the link works, lol. Don't hesitate to contact me if it's something you'd be interested in!

    https://en.amazingtalker.com/teachers-and-tutors/diana-88af468f-3c83-4384-9429-c32797b25ce5?page=2&from_tutors_page&language=russian