Native English speakers, how do you feel about the Russian accent, does it sound pleasant, do you like it, does it infuriate you?

I work with Eastern Europeans a lot and not only do I like their accent, I love their “no nonsense” attitude.

It can be hard to understand. It sounds very flat which to English ears sounds as though the speaker is very harsh and humourless.

>does it infuriate you I can safely say that I've never had emotions this strong about an accent in my entire life. English is spoken all over the world by different people with different accents. I enjoy accents that are different from mine! I find them interesting. my only concern is being able to understand you.

As an American English speaker, all the Russians I have worked with sound like they're severely depressed. I think it's the cadence of the language where Russians' pitch tends to fall at the end of sentences whereas English tends to rise at the end. There's this one woman, Oksana, who we hired as a contractor and every morning at standup she sounded like she was one bad day away from jumping out the window even though she insisted there was nothing wrong. The Russian cultural norm to not smile certainly does not help.

I like it, I've never been bothered by it

I like the Russian accent. I think it is one of the easier to understand.

It can sound cool sometimes and no accents "infuriate" me.

What can frustrate is obviously if an accent is so thick it makes it very hard to understand a person, and that is independent of the actual type of accent in my experience. If you mean: has the anti-Russian propaganda meant that we are predisposed to distrust a Russian accent here in the UK? The answer is not really because we couldn't really tell between a Russian accent or any other eastern European accent. If someone is going to get infuriated by an accent that person is likely bigoted and probably have issues with any accents, not just Russian ones.

not sexy (like french or italian) but not annoying (like... yeah no😁). depending on the words, sometimes may be difficult to understand.

It merely identifies place where speaker was when young, say birth to 3 years old.

Personally I think it's pleasant and not much different to me compared to many other accents. Sometimes it's actually quite sexy, but it's a shame that there are a lot of examples in American media where a Russian speaker is engaged in some illegal or illicit activity, or is the villain, or double-crosses the "good guy", etc. I find it easier to understand compared to other accents (for example: I really struggle with Thai and Vietnamese accents), but I don't know if that's a sentiment many English speakers share or not.

It sounds very calm in all situations, except when it's not.

I don't have negative thoughts about foreign accents really, I actually kinda like them. I save my ire for local accents. Like the Chicago accent...

As someone who is learning Ukrainian, Russian just sounds like gibberish with the odd word that I recognize here and there. I think Ukrainian is way more pleasing to the ear.

I am a hockey fan and I love when the Russian players do interviews! Their accents sound really nice to me.

My take.. in men it has an edgy tough guy sound. In women... Ya... It's kind of hot.

It usually makes me think of Boris Badenov or Natasha Fatale from Rocky & Bullwinkle.

I feel pretty neutral about it! Honestly, my biggest concern is, can I understand what you’re trying to convey?

I like how it sounds

out of all the foreign accents i think it’s more understandable than japanese but less understandable than spanish accents if that makes sense. i like how it sounds too

I like it! My Russian teacher said to get a decent Russian accent, imagine the Russian winter weather and trying to talk so you didn't have to open your mouth too much. Yeah, I do think that kind of sounds like the Russian accent sometimes! (There's this resonance inside the mouth more in the back and centre than the front that's kind of hard to explain.)

I think it makes the person sound calm and reasonable. It can be difficult to understand because the short i and short e sounds, which are very common in English, are difficult for Russian speakers to master.

As a kid I found it to be one of the most fun accents to try to copy, along with English and Scottish (I’m American) It doesn’t infuriate me, but people with russian accents are often portrayed as being tough or sometimes villainous in our films, so I understand if other native speakers have a different reaction.

No accents infuriate me, I’d say the same for most people too

The Russian accent can sound a bit harsh at times, but I enjoy it!

There's a big difference between having an accent and being easily understood with an accent. I can assure you, all "infuriating" feelings come from bad enunciation and grammar, and has nothing to do with the accent. You should practice clear enunciation and listen to relevant voice actors. 

I like the accent and find it easy to understand (biased though because I studied russian and worked there). The consonants are very clear to me when a russian speaks them, vowels harder. The most intriguing quirk I’ve noticed is a lot of russian native speakers pronounce a “w” on words that start with a “v” in English (example: pronouncing very as wary). Friends have told me they were taught to do this by Soviet teachers but I still haven’t figured out why. V is a common sound in russian so why reach for a w when it isn’t even in the word? Just say вери haha.

I don’t have any strong feelings about it. It’s just another accent.

I don't think you'll find much agreement. For the most part, accents are personal preferences. I like Russian accents, personally. I know people who don't.

uh, on first impression, it kinda primes me to expect bullshit. but if that's not immediately forthcoming, I think it's quite warm and friendly. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of. there are just, understandably, a *lot* of Russians paid to bullshit people. but hey, they tend to be quite direct about it when that's the case, at least.

It sounds cool

The Russian accent is pleasant, I like it. Kudos to all peoples who learn to speak English, I hear it's a tough language.

Typically seen as harsh to many native English speakers, although mostly from leftover cold war stuff. I personally think Russian accents sound amazing in singing.

Accents no, lack of an attempt to reach an understanding bugs me more. I'm not correcting your pronunciation, in trying to understand how you pronounce things with your accent so I can follow along better.

It's a very fun accent

I love it

Speaking as an American, we don’t get out much since our country is so huge, so we automatically love all accents and find them charming. A Russian accent specifically does come across a bit flat and perhaps overly serious, but that can set you up well for some dry humor.

honestly i like hearing foreign accents. Russian in particular will definitely catch my attention, but not in a bad way.

I think it's just kinda... neat? The main ways russian accents show up in english fiction was mostly villains if i'm honest (cold war and all that) but that was almost always stuff that's just kinda silly in retrospect (it's delibretly even more over the top but look up Tim Curry from Red Alert 3 for the most stereotypical version) especially since the overwhelming majority of the time, it's english speakers doing imitations of those same kinds of films. And those films are english speakers doing imitations of those kinds of films and etc etc. But I think anyone normal will know that's over the top nonesense so when they're met with like a normal person speaking normally the reaction is "oh so that's the real thing, neat!" As for the sound itself, it's fine. It's not especially grating or especially pleasant just kinda is

I like all accents different from my own

I think it is endearing. Most people like it I would imagine. It’s quite distinct. There is no widespread dislike for Russians that I am aware of, at least in the US.

I will ignore you. I played counterstrike enough

The only accent I don’t like is a Tagalog accent. Idk why. I love the people. Just something about that one bugs me.

I think it's very cute and pretty. It sounds a little bit melancholy, but it also has a beautiful "texture" that you don't usually hear in English. There's sort of a trilling sound? I'm not sure what it is. And most of the associated stereotypes I can think of are pretty glamorous. Spies, supermodels, great authors, rugged outdoorsmen who can fight you in a blizzard (and will probably win). 🫠 I think most native English speakers like Russian accents.

i actually really like the russian accent

I really like it personally.

Russian is a tier 1 accent IMO.

I find basically any Slavic accent charming and cute when a woman has one, but I grew up with Polish family/parents, so I'm potentially biased here.

Russian's fine! Never had a problem with it. Regarding "infuriate": 1. That may be a stronger word than you meant to say, "infuriate" (to become furious/having fury) is reserved for deep and passionate anger, one step shy of hate. "Frustrate" is a much milder word that seems more applicable, being frustrated is being annoyed or a *little* angry but generally only temporarily. 2. As an example... This may just be a personal thing, but the main thing that will frustrate me when non-english speakers speak English is the substitution of "w" for "v" I would hear among foreign students when I was in grad school, because the sounds aren't related at all. They involve completely different lip+tongue movements. It's not like with "s" vs. "z" (where voicing is the only difference) or "d" vs. "th" (where the main difference is tongue placement on the upper teeth). That said, it was so common among speakers from particular countries that I'm less frustrated with the students and more with whoever taught them English bc the teachers clearly aren't doing their job.

I find soft accents nice, but strong accents aren't unpleasant. Typically, if someone gree up speaking both English and Russian, in this example, they'd have a softer Russian accident when speaking English. But if they grew up speaking only Russian and learned English later, they'd have a stronger accent. And it's the same for any language accent. French, German, Indian, whatever. A soft accent adds a bit of "flavour" where a strong accent might take effort to understand. For a strong accent I would need to pay attention more to what is being said instead of just naturally processing it. One good thing about all accents is that it can help me understand the person more, as far as culture or word choice is concerned. Why they said something the way they said it.

I NEED to know why you ask if it infuriates us

It’s my absolute favorite accent, I think it’s very sexy.

I like it

I think as an American, I may be able to speak for all of us in saying that we like all accents and think they all make the speaker sound much smarter than we are.

Not pleasant at all

It’s fine, but I grew up in the 80’s so a Russian accent always sounds a bit like a villain to me.

I like it.

Russian accents are hot as hell, go watch A Fish Called Wanda

In my experience Russian accents and accompanying volume tend to have an energy and intonation that sound forceful, humourless and large. It becomes particularly noticeable in meetings which are coasting alone at a common pace and tone and then one of my Russian colleagues makes a comment and everyone shifts and looks at inanimate objects because they have colonised the room in the first few syllables LoL.

I personally love it. The palatalization and tapped r sounds are like ear-candy.

I love all accents, but some biases are instilled from an early age. Most of my opportunities to hear German were from war movies, so it took me a while to realize how beautiful German can be. To be honest, when I hear Russian, I hear hints of villain…. “All of your base are belong to us!” But I do know that is just from the weird cultural exposures.

I think it sounds badass. 

>does it infuriate you? No >does it sound pleasant, do you like it, Also no It just is I don't care one way or the other

It’s an accent. I don’t find it pleasant or unpleasant, it’s just how some people sound.

I like any type of accent, tbh

This reminds me of comedian Dan Soder’s [routine about it](https://youtu.be/LhAcd405leI?si=dxmGgZgcgkx8VrBh) at around the 3:32 mark

The Russian accent is fine.  I have no idea why it would infuriate anyone.  To me it sounds almost "sing-song"y.    What's funny to me is when they speak Russian it usually sounds kind of angry to an English speakers ears. 

I don't like it, and I REALLY don't like it when they speak English but still omit all the articles and verb forms. If I can learn German and make a decent effort at der/die/das, then russian-speakers can learn how "the" works.

No strong opinions. Easier to understand than the people of Newcastle to me most of the time

I adore accents of all kinds (and I'm being serious here, I have a borderline obsession with other languages/dialects and accents are a slight extension to that), but Russian accents in particular are just so nice to listen to! I love them!

i love russian accents, i know a lot of other native english speakers who do as well. although, i might be biased (my mother is russian lol)

I’ve never been infuriated by an accent. How could something so mundane and lacking emotional content whatsoever make you angry?

It makes me want vodka.

I can't really comment on this because my family is Russian. 😄 The vibe I've gotten from Americans is that Russian accents are sometimes perceived as aggressive or villainous probably because of the prevalence of Russian villains in American media.

I love it.

It is one of the best-sounding accents in English, as long as it isn't so strong that it interferes with understanding.

It's neutral. I only dislike it if I dislike the person speaking.

It’s one of the ones I think is fun to try and imitate despite doing it poorly. I don’t get infuriated with any accent, people can’t help where they’re born and what they learn first. Learning other languages is hard as hell and accents even harder to change. Though realistically I kind of like hearing people’s accents, it’s a cool nod to their own upbringing and where they come from.

I think they sound really nice.

Russian accent is the sexiest of them all.

I do think it sounds pleasant. I mostly enjoy accents generally, provided I don't have any trouble otherwise understanding the person. I hate asking people to repeat what they said because I feel like I'm being a bad listener.

I enjoy it. One of my favorite things about Russian speakers learning English is their trouble with do-support. It leads to sentences with so much personality.

Honestly Russian is in my top 5 for accents. Far better than French or German.

The Russian accent is the accent of my childhood bond villains. Which was also one of the first movies my parents let me watch with nudity and sex. Which makes my internal associations with Russian accents rather odd.

Neutral I guess, I don’t hate the sound of it at all but I also wouldn’t call it pleasant or pretty

I'm not a native and have a slight Russian-like accent, hope it's not infuriating people. I love the American English accent though.

Very pleasant. I love Russian accents. There aren't any accents that infurate me.

It’s fearsome-in a good way. I am not native but that’s coming from me as a quite good English speaker.

Like others I’ve never been infuriated by an accent but I actually love Russian accents- I love harsher/stronger sounding languages and accents so much

I'm a fan of accents in general, and a Russian accent can be very pleasant to listen to. An accent is perfectly fine as long as the person can communicate their thoughts clearly. :)

Sometimes I find it a little annoying tbt. There was a computer guy that would throw in "guys" all the time which I found bothersome. But overall it's not bad. I had a girlfriend who was Russian and I loved her accent.