я очен жалъ
I am working on my Russian. Not as regularly or as much as I need to, but I'm getting there.
I just learned a new way to say "I'm sorry". Litterally translated it means "it is such a pity for me".
It struck me as such a strange way to express regret, putting the focus on oneself instead of on the the person. But maybe that is better. What I was saying to my Russian friend was "It is so sad for me that I cannot spend time with you".
When we say "I'm sorry" in English the subtext of what we are saying is "I regret I cannot spend time with you but I have something more important I must do. " I think the Russian way is really much nicer.
I just learned a new way to say "I'm sorry". Litterally translated it means "it is such a pity for me".
It struck me as such a strange way to express regret, putting the focus on oneself instead of on the the person. But maybe that is better. What I was saying to my Russian friend was "It is so sad for me that I cannot spend time with you".
When we say "I'm sorry" in English the subtext of what we are saying is "I regret I cannot spend time with you but I have something more important I must do. " I think the Russian way is really much nicer.