да! (I’d say so. Despite Russian being my first language, I’m better at English. I’m also learning Arabic)
Mom was a year older
My dad came to the U.S. with his family at a young age, as did my mom. They actually went to school together but didn’t really talk or pursue each other until MUCH later.
They are quite interesting. We mainly speak English there as it’s a common language and everyone speaks it. I barely know any Hebrew despite my mom being from Israel.
For example, if I was an alcoholic as a woman, in Russian I’d be алкоголичка, but as a man, I’d be алкоголик. If I’m tired now, I’d be устал, but as a woman, I’d have been устала.
In Arabic (Standard Arabic), if you want to ask a woman her name formally, you ask “ ما اسمك؟” (ma ismuki), but you say ma ismuka to a man.
I only know some Arabic, Russian, and English, so I’m usually comfortable with just Russian and English. As someone who used to be transfem, I had to get used to changing the way I said things in Russian and Arabic now that I’m a man.
ohhh i get it, thanks!
that’s awesome!
In actual Egyptian Arabic, you’d say, اسْمَك إِيْه؟ (ismak eh) to a man. It’s written the same when said to a woman, but it’s ismik eh.
In Levantine Arabic (I guess i’d be of Levantine descent), you’d say (casually) شو اسمك؟ (shu ismak/shu ismik to a woman)