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How similiar are Russian and Ukrainian?

Hi! I was wondering if any Russian and Ukrainian speakers could give me their input on how similiar the two languages are. I was told they are very similiar and if you know one, you can probably understand the other. I worked at an elementary (primary) school that had a program for Russian-speaking children and a lot of them had moved from Ukraine and a few from Moldova as well as Russia, but the classes were taught in Russian and the Ukrainian children had no problem understanding it. The teacher was from Ukraine and she said they're almost identical. What I'm wondering is if I study Russian, would I be able to understand Ukrainian, too, or would I probably need to study it in addition to Russian? Is the written language different? Maybe it also depends on which part of Ukraine it is? Thanks for your help! By the way, if anyone would like to help me with Ukrainian or Russian in exchange for English, please let me know!
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    StuckStuck profile picture Jul 12, 2005 @ 05:54

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Hello! I was born and grew up in Ukraine, but I don't consider Ukrainian as my mother tongue, Russian is my native language, and I'll explain why. Actually Ukraine can be divided into two parts: Eastern and Western. The eastern part, including Crimea speaks Russian, maybe because it is closer to Russia, I don't know, it is just how it is. And the Western part speaks only Ukrainian. Districts that are close to Poland have some kind of language mixture (Ukrainian + Polish + Chezh). That part is quite nationalistic. They don't really like Russian people. And I heard so many stories how Russians were treated badly in that part of Ukraine. In the capital of Ukraine people speak both Russian and Ukrainian.  

 




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    LalooshLaloosh profile picture Jun 04, 2011 @ 05:43

      Люди не спорьте... Українська та російська мови звичайно схожі.... Це ж все таки слов'янські мови. Але в ніх є і свої розбіжності, зокрема, в орфографії та орфоепіці. 




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        AlexLovecraftAlexLovecraft profile picture Jul 22, 2010 @ 23:47

          Hello,

          here is a site I build to learn Russian

          (very  similar   to  Ukrainian language)  

          with a Russian keyboard to Chat 

          and learn many   languages of   the   world :

          Arabic,  Hebrew,  Russian,   Macedonian,

          Albanian,  Breton,   Irish Gaelic,  Swedish,  Swahili ...

          http://lang.svenska.free.fr

          and   also  a  "Polyglot Chat"  to   speak  with  people

          all   over   the  World  in  many   different  languages.

          Best   regards   from   city  Toulouse    (Southern  FRANCE)

          François




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            languages1001languages1001 profile picture Mar 01, 2008 @ 02:57

              Hello. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

              Russian and Ukrainian are similiar in many ways but they are far from being identical. Alphabet and Syntax  are rather the same, but grammar is not. Ukrainian grammar is more simple and stands much nearer to other slavian languages than russian one does. Vocabulary also have many serious differences. With a surprise I found out that greater part of people in Russia can't follow fluent Ukrainian and the most of them don't get even written Ukrainian while people living in Ukraine in common know both languages because of historical conditions. You will not feel yourself more comfortable with one language if you know just the other. You have to  study both of them separately otherwise you get no chance to express your thoughts. As for a non-native slavian speaker it makes the task even more difficult.

              However... Those were right who said that understanding any of those two is just a matter of beeing used to. So, while Russian is more difficult and has greater amount of exclusions it can be  more preferable to concentrate on studying it. In the other hand, Ukrainian makes more good for the success with other slavian languages.




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                DrexDrex profile picture Jan 31, 2008 @ 10:33
                   

                  Hi, a lot of my family members are either historians or somehow their job is  related  to it or they just study it for pleasure and curiosity.  I see that  member  "gigant26" the person  that wrote: 

                    "Being a native of both Ukrainian and Russian, and also being an amateur linguist, let me explain a few things. First, Ukrainian did not develop directly from Russian or vice versa. Ukrainian developed from the language spoken in the Kievan Rus'.    etc. "

                  is quite knowledgeable in both history and current events of Russians and Ukrainians. I AGREE WITH THIS MEMBER TOTALLY.... please be aware that most of what is now was created at some point in history. Everything that he said  is correct, these languages ARE similar in several ways, i read all of the comments on this topic and i noticed that a lot of people are saying that the Russian and Ukrainian languages are not similar, wrong, *please don't take this personally* either you didn't notice the similarities, or are not so familiar with both/either languages or some other reason. I believe that not all people have it easy to learn a language. 

                  However, just  because you  know  Russian/Ukrainian doesn't mean you  can  easily understand  Ukrainian/Russian. There are* similarities  between these languages and you will* understand (not fluently) one of them, if you know the other  fluently.

                  I can go on  "lecturing" forever (at least until i get tired or bored of it), but these  facts, i suppose,  are basically   what you asked, am i right? WELL THEN Alrighty-almighty,

                  adios, sayonara, dasvidanie, dopobachenya, areua, chocolom, and finally in english... bye




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                    weindreamsweindreams profile picture Jul 18, 2007 @ 10:38
                      I was born and I live in Ukraine and often at all I do not notice in what language now speak on the TV for example. That is for the majority ukrainians Russian language and ukrainian language are similar. But they (ukrainians) heard ukrainian and russian since the childhood at school and in the streets and anywhere. But for Russians, Ukrainian language is difficult. Many hear and understand some words or do not understand at all. Many words similar to hearing have absolutely different values. Many Ukrainian words, unlike Russian have a latin origin. There is a difference in a pronunciation too. Because in ukrainian language as well as in the majority of other slavic languages there is no reduction of unaccented vowel sounds. And in Russian practically always. There are also other differences. Any way for russians learning ukrainian is not so difficult as learning english.


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                        StanyStany profile picture Dec 28, 2005 @ 15:18
                          Ú Ò¦ÚÄ×ÏÍ ¦ ÎÏ×ÉÍ ÒÏËÏÍ! ÕÓ¦Í ÕÓØÏÇÏ ÎÁÊËÒÁÝÏÇÏ, ÝÏ ÕÓ¦ ×ÁÛ¦ ÍÒ¦§ ÚĦÊÓÎÉÌÉÓÑ!


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                            zhigulizhiguli profile picture Dec 24, 2005 @ 17:57
                              òÁÄÉÊ ÚÁ ÔÅÂÅ. õ ÍÅÎÅ ×ÓÅ ÔÁËÏÖ ÄÏÂÒÅ. í¦Ö ¦ÎÛÉÍ - Ú ò¦ÚÄ×ÏÍ èÒÉÓÔÏ×ÉÍ! ôÁË, ÎÁÐÅ×ÎÅ ÔÉ ÍÅÎÅ ÚÎÁ¤Û Ú õΦìÁέÕ. Actually, yes, many "l"s have turned into "v", which is however pronounced similar to English "w". Belarussian has this feature too, and even has a separate letter to represent this sound.[br][edited by gigant26 on 2005-12-24 15:58:48]


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                                gigant26gigant26 profile picture Dec 24, 2005 @ 15:58