Good question, man:) Honestly, I consider myself both, since I am bi-lingual and with the preponderance of American culture. Regarding kids, I guess there isn't much choice here: growing up in this country, they are, and will be, mono-lingual and mono-cultural Americans. I definitely welcome it.

I do not agree with you, True Russian Woman. My daugher was 14 months when we moved here, now she is 9. It did not stop her from having 2 native languages, read, write etc. in both Russian and English; and being milty-cultural for that matter. And I definetely prefer it this way. Choices are always present.

true russian woman- how long have you been here?
I neposredstvenno otvet na vopros - ya sebya schitau russkoi i vse okrygaushie toge menya schitaut rysskoi. Ya imeu v vidy , kollegi. Kak mogno chyvstvovat sebya amerikankoi, kogda ya givy tyt menshe 2 let, angliiskii y menya normalnui, no poka eshe dalek ot ideala, plus - rysskii akcent?... Vse ego srazy zamechaut. A y vas, true russian woman, net yge akcenta? Kak vam ydalos' izbavitsya? Ya toge hochy!!!!

Drugaya Natasha, I've been here for a very long time and I have since bought into American culture and the language, of course, and made them my own. However, I am still saying "both",not entirely American. Now, it's understandable that after being here for only a couple of years, you still feel Russian, but the good news is, it may change with time. Assimilation usually takes a while, maybe a few years, maybe more, depending on age, personality and other variables. And then again, some people never assimilate. Regarding the accent, I believe I am accent-free, but this is a separate issue. I know it's not easy to get rid of a foreign accent in an adult age, and much however I would like to help you, I can't, very sorry. I guess it requires a professional approach--try to find out if there are accent reduction classes available. Good luck and keep me abreast:)

тру, кончай выпендриваться, preponderance my ass.
по словарю словечки выискиваешь?

Izbavi'sya ot akcenta mozhno ochen' prosto - poidite na kursy, i cherez 6-12 mesyacev (v zavisimosti) ot "nesovershenstva vashego anglijskogo vam ego uberut.

Russkij li ya? Skoree net - russkij mentalitet ponimayu s ochen' bol'shim trudom. Amerikanec? Po passportu - tak ono i est' :) A bol'she nichego i n trebuetsya ;)

искатель, а preponderance у тебя какой?

lol

True Russian Woman, spasibo za sovetu i poddergky. :) Chitau vas yge pochti bez slovarya. :) Kstati, a skolko vu yge tyt givete? I chto delali dlya togo, chtobu znat yazuk lychshe? Esli vu priehali suda rebenkom, i hodili tyt v shkoly, to eto menyaet delo. Ya hogy v colledg na ESl, 7 yroven , poslednii, i menya vse pedagogi ochen hvalyat, osobenno moe proiznoshenie. Hotya slovarnui zapas yge ne tot, ya g pochti 15 let yge yazukom ne zanimalas', chas vot vse vspominat' prihoditsya. A kogda-to hodila v shkoly s angliiskim yklonom. Seichas mne 33, i vu sami ponimaete, chto nelegko vse daetsya. No ya OCHEN hochy znat angliiskii horosho!!! Hochy govorit' kak amerikanka. I vse ravno dob'us' svoego. True russian woman, a vu pryamo voobshe ne chyvstvyete nedostatka v slovarnom zapase ili buvaet poroi? Kstati, priem prostogo zazybrivaniya slov bez dalneishego ih ispolzovaniya ne rabotaet pochti. A vot te slova, kotorue hochesh - ne hochesh no slushish kagdui den i sam ih ypotreblyaesh - te zapominautsya.

Govorit na angliyskom bez russkogo akcenta i imet siniy passport vovse ne oznachaet bit amerikancem .Mne slishkom doroga nasha bogateyshaya RUSSKAYA kultura , nashi talantlivie lyudi ,nashi pisateli , kompozitori , uchenie chtobi otkazivatsa ot vsego etogo.ya slishkom gorjus svoey naciey , svoim yazikom itd , chtobi vse eto zabit.I nesmotrya na to chto ya ochen lyublyu Ameriku , lyublyu svego amerikanskogo muja , vse-taki ya sdelayu vse dlya togo , chtobi moi deti govorili na russkom yazike , znali svoi korni , nashu bogatuyu literaturu , velikolepnuyu russkuyu klassicheskuyu musiku ,istoriyu...I moi muj absolyutno menya v etom podderjivaet.On s udovolstviem uchit Russkiy yazik (prichem eto u nego zdorovo poluchaetsa) i vobshe schitaet , chto Russkie devushki -samie zamechatyelnie na svete.
A po povodu zamechaniya "Iskatelya" , tak eto - tipichno sovkoviy mentalitet...

Zaranee predpolagaya izdevku ot kogo-nibud tipa" Iskatelya" , kak naprimer: "Chego je ti tak gordishsa russkimi i ne vishla zamuj za talantlivogo russkogo?" , hochu skazat , chto ya polyubila konkretnogo cheloveka i togda uje ne vajno kto on Russkiy ili Amerikanec ili Chukha..
No ne vajno v kakoi strane ,s kem ya jivu, na kakom yazike ya v osnovnom govoryu , ya vsegda budu ostavatsa russkoi.
Amin'.

Nu ti smotri, opat etot Anonym razvonalsa. Zatknis ushe i primiris s misliu, chto eto Amerika, to est anglogovorashaa strana, i podavlaushee bolshinvo ludei govorat po angliiski. Vot sidish v svoem OCC i sidi, uchi ESL i moshet bit kogda-nibud, let cherez 90, i ti tak smozhesh.

Anonym, making fun of yourself, huh? Not know "preponderance"? Tis little handy word, need read more, maybe pick it up someday. Here, give you example-- Due to the preponderance of Russian speakers in the Village of (insert name), it was renamed Ivansville.

спикер, какой замечательный пример про village. Можно продолжить:

Due to cornucopia of Russians divulging Buffalo Grove,
this once quiescent locality has become the locus of assemblage
of vaunting individuals with a superfluous propensity to delineate
themselves as being Russians with the preponderance of American culture,
much to dismay of the autochthonous denizens of said place.

Обыденные же словечки типа majority или dominant не канают, так как выдают плохое знание языка!

А вообще, ты эта...иди лучше артикли учи, и не забивай голову ерундой ;)

Bad English Speaker, I am falling off my chair laughing:) Stop horsing around, you speak English like everybody else, I can tell:) And listen, don't even waste your finger motions on this Anonym/Onanym guy--he has big time issues.

Drugaya Natasha, just got around to respond to your message, sorry for the delay. Well, I wish I'd come here as a kid, but no, I didn't. And I didn't go to a specialized English school either; we didn't have those in our area at the time. Ironically though, one opened up as soon as I left. But I did start speaking English as a kid, and by the time I came here, I was pretty fluent. I never took ESL here, but I am sure it's very helpful, so I'd say stay in school and get as much as you can out of your class. Additionally, just keep your eyes and ears open to English, listen for the correct accent, watch American articulation, and I am sure you'll be successful. Thirty-three is still a young age--you've got plenty of time:)

да, и важно помнить: никаких horsing around, а то все затея will end on the rocks!

True Russian Woman, you got it right, baby:) I am a native speaker and the guy does have problems. Take care, dear.