English Phonetic Interference in the Spelling of Emigre Russians

It is unusual and perhaps impossible for an emigre’s native language to remain unaffected after living abroad for several years. Phonetic and spelling rules that may have been drilled into their minds in childhood quickly disappear while the emigre struggles to master the language of their new home. Almost all people claim to read in their second language more proficiently than they speak1, however, emigres who attend high school and college in a foreign …

…the diktanty, I asked if they considered themselves to be good spellers, what sounds or groups of letters are difficult to spell correctly, and how they think their English has influenced their Russian. I asked the Americans which sounds they considered to be the most difficult for them to spell, how much easier or harder it was to spell in English as opposed to Russian, and how their Russian has influenced their spelling in English.