Forgot to add one story when Sharangovich was discussing Kolosov's situation in Philly.
I get where he’s coming from. I remember how tough it was for me at the beginning in America too. I didn’t know the language either. But the key is wanting to learn English and trying to connect with the guys. My agent actually advised me not to live with Russian players, but with Canadians and Americans — so that I’d always be surrounded by English and wouldn’t have a choice about what language to use.
In my first year overseas, the only other Russian-speaking player around was Yegor Yakovlev — and even he was constantly moving between the NHL and AHL. There was also Sergei Brylin, who I could talk to about different things and who helped translate when I needed to communicate with the coaches. But I didn’t spend nearly as much time with him as I did with my teammates. So I really had no choice but to learn the language through them. They even assigned me a tutor, but that couldn’t replace real-life practice with native speakers.
The main thing is not to be afraid of making mistakes. Sure, people might laugh a little, but they still help you out and give you pointers. For example, now I play with Kevin Rooney in Calgary — we actually started out together in the AHL, and he helped me a lot back then. These days, we joke about how much my English has changed. He still remembers how I used to walk up to him with my phone and use the translator app to ask for a ride.
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