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I am XXX and I study Russian... | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Русский |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5362 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 77 31 May 2010 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have never been at an AA-meeting, but I have seen so many of them in American films that I feel like I have, and invariably there will be a "I am Judy, and I'm an alcoholic" scene.
So I thought we could follow that pattern and use it to introduce ourselves, and see who of us are doing Russian - and a what level. When we gain enough confidence, we could even start posting in Russian - as is the intention with this room :-) Anyway, here goes: Origin and level I am Norwegian, and have tried to learn Russian since March (after two previous failed attempts). I do not even know how to decribe my level - it is not complete beginner, even though I still struggle with the Russian letters, but I am at a very basic level. My main problem is that with a full time job and a lot of family commitments I do not have any free time. I therefore do the bulk of my studying on the train to work (a 10 minutes ride), walking to and from the train and while I do my housework or gardening. I listen to Russian quite a lot, but I never get time to actually sit down and do any proper studying. Reason for studying Russian Through my work I deal with an international organisation which is Paris based, and where so far only German, English and French have been official languages. Now Russian is being used more and more, partly because Russia has become a member, and partly because several Eastern European members speak only Russian and their own language. I also have Russian speaking friends in Ukraine, and I want to be able to communicate with them. And of course, after having studied the language for a little while you just want to learn it because it is fun. Main linguistic challenges As mentioned, I am at a very, very basic level, so the alphabet is still difficult, and since I am extremely impatient, and would like to read Anna Karenina tomorrow, I struggle when I try to read unknown texts because the words are not the same as in the dictionary, and I have not mastered even the simplest of grammar points yet. UHRGG. Totally frustrating. Will get there though. Loved Datsunkings word in another post. "This is war, and I'm going to win it" So who else is out there trying to learn Russian? Why do you do it, where are you from and how far have you got. Good advice is also welcome!! 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Siberiano Tetraglot Senior Member Russian Federation one-giant-leap.Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6521 days ago 465 posts - 696 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, ItalianC1, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Serbian | Message 2 of 77 01 June 2010 at 2:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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What do people find exciting about Anna Karenina? I managed to get through almost the entire book, but was quite bored, and even re-thinking the plot later, to gasp the main point of the book seems like to catch a neutrino.
I knew a Norwegian who was good at Russian and spoke freely after 2 years of study. So this is quite possible for you. Edited by Siberiano on 01 June 2010 at 2:35pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6474 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 3 of 77 01 June 2010 at 3:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm from Ohio, in the U.S., and I'm studying Russian because I just like how it sounds. I also like Russian culture, and am interested in Russian history.
As to how far I am - I'm not sure, really. I'm half way through a few different courses, so I suppose you could say that I know enough to realize how little I know. My biggest difficulty with the language is that the vocabulary just doesn't want to stick to my memory. It's slowly getting better, but I still struggle with learning 20 new words, only to find that when I see them the next day, I haven't a clue as to their meaning. The various prefixes and elements of words that repeat over and over throughout the vocabulary tend to make a lot of the words look and sound an awfully lot alike to my English-speaking brain. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ruskivyetr Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5509 days ago 769 posts - 962 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 77 02 June 2010 at 1:23am | IP Logged | ||
I know how you feel. I used to feel that way all the time. When I finally hit my breakthrough with Cortina Russian I felt so relieved, but then things started getting confusing again. Now I'm just at a point where I'm letting myself trudge along at a slower pace, but still a pace nonetheless. When you hit your breakthrough, EVERYTHING will seem better. You'll understand how things work better so reading and finding words in the dictionary will be less of a hassle. What I did to get the most difficult grammar points out of the way (and what I usually do when I'm having trouble: Take your grammar book (one with exercises), and take a weekend or a vacation and just study your brains out with things you don't understand. For example, I keep forgetting personal pronouns in the dative, instrumental and prepositional case. One day in the next few weeks I will just sit down and drill drill drill. Russian isn't a cake walk, it's a walk through hell. You have to make sure you're comfortable before you move on. Comfortable means that you can use whatever concept actively in a conversation with yourself. And just some help for those Russian learners who are unhappy with their books: Schaum's Russian Grammar is GREAT. There are a few other books I'd like to get, but I don't have the money right now. Russian isn't something you just decide on one day, it's a HUGE undertaking, and you have to be prepared with the right books. Happy studying :D. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6170 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 5 of 77 02 June 2010 at 2:42am | IP Logged | ||
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It doesn't apply to me yet, but it will in a month! I'm so excited to begin studying Russian. I love this language for the sounds, the culture, the history...
I'm from the US also and I actually started Russian about a year ago, but then had to drop it last August for lack of time because of school. Now I've learned to make better use of my time (although this still needs some work) and am ready to begin it again. When I left off, I could read/write the alphabet, conjugate regular verbs and a few irregular ones in the present and past tenses, decline nouns and pronouns in a few cases (accusative, prepositional) and the nominative plural, and I knew one or two hundred words of vocabulary. I've now forgotten a lot, but can surprisingly still remember some of those: alphabet, conjugations (no irregulars though), some declensions, and some vocabulary. I realize that Russian is not going to be easy, but I will enjoy the challenge since я люблю русский язык! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5794 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 6 of 77 16 June 2010 at 4:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm originally from Neath, South Wales, but now live in Nottingham as I am studying Russian at university. I began studying it principally because the complexity of the grammar was refreshing after being used to the Romance languages and German for so long. I am interested in Russian literature and history. As for my level, it's really quite difficult to say. I always get the top band of marks in Russian exams at uni but in practical terms that means absolutely nothing - in reality, my Russian is not all that fantastic. In terms of grammar, I find word order to be a bit of a problem and aspects are sometimes a little more problematic, but other than that nothing gives me any trouble - noun declensions are just something which needs to be memorised, and I'm good at that.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7043 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 77 16 June 2010 at 10:38pm | IP Logged | ||
I'm studying Russian (although you can hardly call what I do "studying") because it was the first non-latin script that I really paid much attention to and I liked the sound of the language. I started over a decade ago but back then I didn't really know what I was doing (I hadn't even heard of Assimil and Pimsleur was just a strange word). I started seriously studying a couple of years ago, but it's on vacation at the moment. My listening comprehension wasn't that bad and I could even read basic sentences, but it's all gone to pot due to relative inactivity.
Sorry to go off-topic, but it's nice to hear about someone studying in my alma mater. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5866 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 8 of 77 23 June 2010 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am Swedish and I study Russian.
My initial reasons for studying were work motivated, but lately I have become quite a "Russophile" and now I am continuing to study it because I simply want to know it. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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