Russian name

[tallc00lone.livejournal.com]

For history we're doing a project where we have to act as immigrants to America. I was assigned Russia, which is basically the hardest langueage to learn any words to *pulls hair out*

Well, that was off subject.
But anyways, my immigrant is going to be a poor, struggling ballerina named Anastasiya* Roccanova. Do you think this name fits both her character, and ethnicity?

**Anastasiya is pronounced Ahn-uh-staw-see-uh

Comments

[tallc00lone.livejournal.com]

http://masterrussian.com/aa031001a.shtml

See? That's where I found Anastasiya.

And what's wrong with being a ballerina? In case you're not familiar with ballet, but a TON of famous dancers are Russian.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

ahnahstahSEEya is not Ahn-uh-staw-see-uh. See the difference? And the emphasis on SEE is more Greek than Russian. But you're right, why should I take the word of the Anastasia I worked with over a website that doesn't appear to originate in the former Soviet Union? She was born in Pavlodar and spent 26 years of her life there so I expect she doesn't know how to pronounce her own name.

Russian ballerinas tended to be gainfully employed in Russia, and if they moved to the US were quite likely to travel as sponsored employees and go straight into a company. It's a honking great cliche precisely because 'a ton of famous dancers are Russian' (yes, and many more pretended to be), just as it is to make all Italian immigrants work in pizza parlours and all Pakistani immigrants become shopkeepers. Use some imagination, your teacher will appreciate the effort.