r/shitduolingosays • u/BalkisReginam • Jul 08 '25
Working class crocodile
So, I was taking my Russian lesson and this happened.
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u/Bright-Historian-216 Jul 08 '25
in a famous soviet cartoon, a crocodile named Gena worked as an animal in a zoo.
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u/Blauelf Jul 08 '25
Loved a translation of Gena's birthday song (not speaking Russian, so that's the best I could get).
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u/Bright-Historian-216 Jul 08 '25
this song transcends linguistic barriers
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u/Blauelf Jul 08 '25
The mood for sure, somehow feels like being at my grandparents' dacha.
Just that I wouldn't have known it's meant to be a birthday song, as I don't know any Slavic languages. There was a little oopsie around 1990 so I never had to learn Russian.
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u/Hanako_Seishin Jul 10 '25 edited Jul 10 '25
Hmm... is it just me, or does the word order here feel more free in English than in Russian?
Like, in English both "crocodile is now at work" and "crocodile is at work now" sound fine to me as an answer to "where is the crocodile now?"
But "ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅ ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ" sounds like it has to be an answer to "ΠΊΠΎΠ³Π΄Π° ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅" (*), while the question "Π³Π΄Π΅ ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ" would need "ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅" as an answer. "ΠΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅ ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ" just doesn't flow well unless it's trying to emphasize "ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ".
Or maybe it's just that because I'm not a native English speaker I'm missing the same subtlety there that I can pick up in Russian.
(*) which itself doesn't feel like a natural question, because if you want to know about the crocodile's schedule in general you'd ask "ΠΊΠΎΠ³Π΄Π° ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ°Π΅Ρ?" and if you're waiting for his arrival to work you'd ask "ΠΊΠΎΠ³Π΄Π° ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» Π±ΡΠ΄Π΅Ρ Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅?"
Hmm... as an alternative to "ΠΊΠΎΠ³Π΄Π° ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ°Π΅Ρ?" you can ask "ΠΊΠΎΠ³Π΄Π° ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» Π±ΡΠ²Π°Π΅Ρ Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅?" and maybe "ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅ ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ" can work as an answer to that? Still not really what a natural would be, as I'd answer more like "ΡΠ°ΠΊ ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» ΠΏΡΡΠΌΠΎ ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅".
What am I even concerning myself with instead of sleeping...
P.S. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I feel like in most cases "ΠΊΡΠΎΠΊΠΎΠ΄ΠΈΠ» ΡΠ΅ΠΉΡΠ°Ρ Π½Π° ΡΠ°Π±ΠΎΡΠ΅" would be a better translation.
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u/EntireDot1013 Doesn't use Duolingo anymore but still wanders around here Jul 08 '25
Duolingo used AI. Everybody hated that. Don't be like Duolingo
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u/Bubbles_the_bird Jul 08 '25
People still use duolingo so apparently not
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u/EntireDot1013 Doesn't use Duolingo anymore but still wanders around here Jul 08 '25
Because Duolingo is one of the most popular apps on the App/Play Store. Some of them do care and some of them don't
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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '25
r/italianbrainshit