Americans don't say that: 10 English words that only Russian speakers use and how to replace them

American Justin lived in Russia for a long time, and then talked a lot with Russian-speaking people in the United States. He noticed that in conversation, Russians use some English words incorrectly or out of place, or even use outdated expressions that Americans themselves never speak. On my own YouTube channel he spoke about 10 such words and advised how to replace them.

Next - in the first person

I think that this is due to the fact that in schools in English classes you are taught these obsolete words. And although the Americans will understand you perfectly, you will still sound a little strange when you say these words. It will be very clear that English is not your first language.

1. Let it be is not “let it be”

In English, we almost never say let it be. But Russians really love to say let it be in English, because “let it be” is a very popular phrase in Russian.

Example: How many people do we need for a team? - Let it be 4. When will we meet? - Let it be tomorrow. In these cases, the Russians will say in English: Let it be four and Let it be tomorrow.

But Let it be in English has a different meaning. It's about when you tried to overcome some kind of obstacle, and then spat on the situation. Like "well, to hell with it."

Example: I fight with my wife all day. - Let it be (it means "leave it! Don't argue with her anymore!").

What to replace: just don't say anything where in Russian it could be “let it be”, and definitely don't say Let it be. How many people do we need for a team? – 4. When will we meet? - Tomorrow.

2.Copybook

When I was teaching English to Russian children, they would often come and say they had done something in their copybook. It's a word that your teachers taught you, and their teachers taught them, and so on.

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Copybook sounds too formal and a little weird. It used to be true that the word was used in the USA, but no longer.

What to replace: Instead, just say notebook.

3. To my mind

This is a very interesting English expression, because I first heard it when I came to Russia. Russian-speakers are trying to say something like “in my opinion” or “it seems to me” with this phrase. But Americans don't do that!

What to replace: instead of to my mind, just say in my opinion, it seems to me.

4. So so

I often hear Russians say this expression. And although native speakers also speak it, we do it quite rarely. It seems to me that so so can only be used as an answer to the question "How are you?" and only if things are not going well for you.

What to replace: to sound better just say not bad or I'm allright. These two options sound much better, they are not weird, and speakers use them very often.

5.Frankly speaking

I really like this expression, and we use it, but only in very serious situations. But Russians often use it in a light, non-serious context when they are trying to say something like “to be honest.”

“Honestly” can be used in almost any situation: “To be honest, I didn’t really like this movie.”

But frankly speaking is not suitable for this. It should be used in serious situations like Frankly speaking I'm not very happy about the quality of your work.

What to replace: instead of speaking frankly in non-serious situations, speak honestly.

6. Pedagogical

Here is another word that I never heard until I came to Russia. Yes, there is such a word in English, but if you use it, you will sound very, very pretentious.

What to replace: if you want to say that someone is a teacher, then just say that he is a teacher. And the faculty of pedagogy will simply be Faculty of education.

7. My dear!

Yes, at school you were taught to start letters: Dear, Henry! But even in letters, no one writes like that anymore.

What to replace: For formal occasions, you can use Good morning/evening/afternoon.

And if you are talking about a thing, for example, an expensive (not about the price) laptop, it is better to say my lovely (although this is a little sarcastic), or my wonderful, or another positive noun.

And dear is used in relation to each other by people who are in a relationship.

8 Variant

There is a Russian word "variant", which is used a lot and can often be heard. But in English we don't say variant, we have option.

9. Bartender, quest, stewardess

These are English words that are used in Russian, but their native speakers never speak English.

Bartender in English is also barmen, but no one uses it. Instead, we say bartender, both male and female bartender.

If you do not mean an adventure computer game, but are talking about something like a quest room, then in English it is called a locked room or escape room.

Stewardess is a very old-fashioned word in the English language. Instead, say flight attendant (this word is used for a flight attendant, both male and female).

10. Idioms

Stop using idioms like busy as a bee or raining like cats and dogs. The problem here is not that we never say them, we use them. But the Russian education system places too much emphasis on these idioms.

As a result, when you use them too often, it looks not only old-fashioned, but also strange. It's like you're trying really hard to pretend you're fluent in English. So try to use them less frequently.