Faina, could you please answer a question that's been bothering me for a while? Whenever I hear references to Belarus in the US media, it's pronounced "Bella-ruse," but from what I remember from my high school Russian classes, I thought it was actually pronounced "Byella-ruse" (in other words, the first vowel should be a "yeh" not an "eh"). What is correct?

(Yes, I know English speakers usually use an Anglicized version of a country's name, e.g. "Italy" rather than "Italia," and so forth, but just for the record on Belarus....?)

It's like "Bella Italia" not "Byella". Same pronanciation, no comparison between those 2 countries :)

Can you say "net"="no" in Russian? Same sound, it's "net" not "nyet".

As others have said, Croatia is enormously popular as a vacation destination for Europeans. In fact, my good friend from Prague told me that he is sick of going there, because he runs into so many Czech people, and doesn't even feel like he is on vacation! Italians go nuts over that place, too. It is beautiful & cheap, and you should definitely check it out. Just because some (or a LOT) of Americans live under a rock & have no idea about other countries, you should not be discouraged. Hey, one woman I've worked with for 9 years still asks me if I'm going back to RUSSIA this summer (I've been to PRAGUE every summer for the past 8 years...!) :-) !!!

tcreath, you posted this one day ago
& the amount of replies you rec'd proves what I am sadly discovering:

Croatia is VERY in!. As of later, the press has been abundantly favorable to the point that I am having a hard
trying to get the dates I want in Sept.

July-Aug are way hot & overcrowded
& Oct appears to be their off season.

My library has supplied me w/a bunch of the usual guides & I'm getting more today thru their interchange system.

Do not heed those w/o wanderlust-
they know not what there is to see!

This idea that Croatia is undiscovered is a very US-centric point of view. Croatia (and "Yugoslavia" before it) has long been a popular destination for Europeans of all nationalities. I went there in the 70s, and it's vastly popular for a standard 2 weeks on the beach package holiday from the UK. In fact, one of my colleagues has just bought a holiday villa there (cheap as chips - get in quick).

This reminds me of the time we were in Umbria, having a communal dinner in a castle, sitting by an American couple. My partner was regaling the dinner party with stories of her travels, including accidentaly eating dog in Vietnam. The American couple couldn't get over it. Not the fact she ate dog, but "Nam? You went to Nam? Why on earth would you go THERE???"

Emphasis on (what used to be) "cheap" is what initially drew many visitors.

Well, you have to admit.. the news here is very quick to blare the initial details of wars and such but generally loses interest after a short while. Rarely does anyone here ever get to hear that a war is over. I still can't recall ever hearing that a newscast that Croatia's part in the war was over. Considering how many people get their news only from TV...

Wait until you take that trip to Romania. Do you know I had to convince several people that Transylvania wasn't a fictional place? :D

We got the same response from people about going to Turkey in 2003. You'd think the Turks were fighting the "war on terror" on the *other side*...but people are so ignorant about the world sometimes, they don't know that there is life outside the USA or maybe Western Europe that might be worth visiting.

I even admit that it was DH's idea and I had plenty of preconceived notions about what a Muslim country would be like, and wondered a lot about our personal safety -- until I got there and realized what a precious country Turkey is, and how the Turks are not only part of the NATO Alliance, but clearly want to be considered a neighbor and friend to The West while acknowledging their key position in that part of the world, both politically, socially and militarily.

However, once you've travelled in an off-the-beaten-track country, you realize there is even MORE to see than just the basics, and the more far flung we got from the West, the more fun we had.

People say "why?" out of pure ignorance -- they don't know why, so they're asking. Tell them, and when you get back, tell them how it went and how cool it was -- and why you liked it so much.

When we returned from Istanbul, 3 days later some bombs went off in the city at Jewish sites, and everyone was asking me "Wow, aren't you glad you weren't there?" Well, DUH, yeah, I'm glad I wasn't in front of the car bomb...

Jules

Clifton, you've convinced me, LOL

Wow, I've NEVER heard anyone say that "no" in Russian is "net" instead of "nyet." Is this possibly a regional thing, like variations in how "oui" is pronounced around France?

It's "nyet" -- and from a Belarussian website: The language is: Беларуская мова/Bielaruskaja mova -- spelled with the letter "yeh."

Hmmm... I must be better with pronunciation then with spelling :) Maybe we're saying the same, just differently?

When you say a name, like Tanya there is a sound between "n" and "a" dividing the name. This is not how "net" is pronounced.

Is there a website (or Berlitz tapes) where you can hear the word? I don't know how else to explain, sorry.

In Russian letter "e" means soft sound already, I always think of Y before E as a divider, different sound. There is another letter meaning a hard sound like e backwards, looks like 3.

Somebody help me aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :)

Because many people don't know that Croatia and Turkey are good vacation spots (or not, depending on your interests) that somehow makes them ignorant and/or inferior to us superior worldly travelers? God, are we full of ourselves or what?

Please look in the mirror folks. Bigotry and prejudice start right here--inside our need to feel superior in whatever petty ways to others.

Yeah, I catch myself doing it at times, too.

Gosh--Europeans are more aware of minor European countries than Americans or Canadians or Mexicans, or Filipinos are? That's a shocker.

I think it is worth differentiating between 1) Not know where Croatia is vs 2) Wondering why someone would want to go there

I am trying to plan a trip to Croatia in September and I had to look at a map. I consider myself relatively wordly. But we all can't know everything. I know the geography of India and South Asia quite well. I don't expect everyone too.

I do however feel more, concerned, judgemental I suppose, when people curl their lip up at a destination they don't understand.

Nutshell - expecting knowledge isn't fair, I am shocked by a lack of eagerness to know.

Rufus, I wasn't really critizing anyone, just curious. My point was that they (the several people, mostly co-workers, who made comments to me) were quick to make judgments regarding the type of place Croatia is without knowing anything about it, and many comments had little to do with convern for safety and more to with the assumptin that there is nothing there to visit. I was just more surprised by the lack of open-mindedness, even when I tried to explain a little about the country.

I don't feel superior in the least for choosing to go to Croatia (or anywhere else) on vacation. Many can't understand why I would want to go there, much less go there themselves so they are far from jealous.

Faina, buried somewhere on the Fodor's web site is a language feature that includes audio samples; I don't know how many languages are covered, offhand.

It sounds like Croatia is a very scenic and pleasant place, unless you happen to step on one of the thousands of land mines that remain strewn throughout the countryside. Some areas have been demined, but the process is far from complete.