I met a Russian lady during my third romance social in Veliky Novgorod. We were lucky to have interpreters at the social because she did not speak a word of English. We stayed together all evening and afterwards we went dancing at a local club... when I took her home I asked her to join me in Saint Petersburg for the remaining few days I had left. The next day we traveled to St. Pete and immediately went to a book store and bought a Russian to English translation dictionary. The communication was slow but we could communicate simple ideas and thoughts using the translation dictionary. When I left Russia she immediately hired a private tutor and within two months time we could carry on phone conversations. After nine months I visited her again and it was a night and day difference, she had mastered English... as long as you did not use slang words.
Two years ago I met a Ukrainian lady and she likewise did not know any English. However this time I had an electronic translator (Ectaco itravl TL-6) and it made a world of difference. I could type a full paragraph and it would translate it to Russian... it made our first correspondence simple and easy. She likewise took English lessons and has mastered the language so we never use the translator for language translations only for playing mp3's now.
I would take it slowly and feel her out more because her wanting you to visit so soon is a red flag... to me.
I hope this helps! Oh, the Ukrainian lady and I are engaged and she should arrive in the States sometime this spring
Thanks for the advice. I was actually trying to find out what was considered an acceptable amount of time before the first visit and between subsequent visits. I searched the forums and found a thread where the amount of time was all over the place. It seemed like each poster had their own idea as to how long was long enough or too long. One good thing was that I didn't see anyone say 2 weeks, lol. I'm just taken back a little bit seeing in the 2nd or 3rd letter from some ladies professing their undying belief that we are soul mates and then asking me how much longer before I rush out to meet them. One of these ladies I have had the honor of doing live video chat with so I know she's real. But she's telling me how much she "misses me" and honestly I'm not sure if there's a translation mistake or if there's something else going on here. I just feel like this is all too sudden and too soon.
I almost feel bad for corresponding with one or two because they make their situation sound so dire as if they needed to be rescued from something. I know that the reality couldn't be that, but it makes me feel guilty and unsure about using the service.
Kirk,
I've setup a profile on the site RB mentioned but it's very slow going as I have still yet to figure out how to find friends on it. I'm looking for something that will translate an entire web page for me.