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Decoding the Riddle, Mystery, and Enigma | ||
Tags: Russian | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| jedimindtrick Diglot Groupie United States 8monthsinukrain Joined 5220 days ago 90 posts - 119 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 9 of 92 15 August 2010 at 6:27am | IP Logged | ||
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I didn't do any book/computer studying today. I got real, on-the-spot practice! It actually started last night, after the whole "verbs of motion" fiasco. Our car battery died and while my finace was outside looking at the car his parents called. Somehow I successfully managed to explain in Russian to them what was going on, and it's good that I had been reviewing the said verbs because had I not- I'm sure I would have said "Он уехал" (he left-by a vehicle) instead of "Он ушёл" (he left-on foot), which would have totally confused his dad. How appropriate! And he told me today that his parents had been really impressed with me on the phone, that I said everything correctly and without even an accent! I have no idea- sometimes I can just fake it, I guess. They should put me in the movies :p I'll be Angelina Jolie in "Salt 2."
And then, this morning, I popped out of bed before 7 AM (yes, majorly weird, I know) and had this genuis idea (yeah, like 7:15 AM, even weirder!) to use a penpal site contact some Russians who live in the area we want to move to. I did a search, found a bunch of interesting people of all ages and genders, and wrote away (in 50% English, 50% Russian). I have only heard back from one individual but we've hit it off well and I was given some very good inside advice about this particular city. Sweet! Then my finace's parents came in to town to help us with the car (his father is a mechanical genuis and can fix anything.) Usually spending long periods with them is very taxing for me because of the language barrier. This time, however, because of my recent studies, I was excited to see if I could communicate better. Either the excitement and/or the studies paid off- I was still tired by the end of the day, but I definitely understood more and said more. : ) This 'studying-every-day' business is still new for me (not even when I was a student!) but so far I've been really happy with it. I was going to blow off this post but then I thought no, it's a commitment to me (and to my readers, if I have any) so here I am. But that's it for today. Hey, it's Saturday night!! Shouldn't we all be out dancing somewhere? Edited by jedimindtrick on 26 September 2010 at 6:30am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| clang Groupie United States Joined 5340 days ago 54 posts - 82 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Italian | Message 10 of 92 15 August 2010 at 9:36am | IP Logged | ||
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JMT: I love your idea about googling the words you are learning. I always get stuck on the question "but how would
anyone ever USE that?" Google seems like a simple and effect way to answer that question. Keep up the studying and keep giving me good tips! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| clang Groupie United States Joined 5340 days ago 54 posts - 82 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Italian | Message 11 of 92 15 August 2010 at 10:02am | IP Logged | ||
So. I've read a lot of stuff about how the idea of aspectual pairs in Russian verbs are really a constructed grammar explanation placed on top of a system of verbs and that the explanation doesn't really fit with reality. I think for non Russian speakers when to use which is something that you get a feel for after a ton of input. Anyway, here is my understanding of the differences between я буду ехать and я поеду: Я буду ехать часто на море. I will be going to the sea often. Я поеду в Руссию завтра. I'm heading off to Russia tomorrow. Поехать puts the emphasis on the fact that I am leaving for Russia, not necessarily on the completion/incompletion idea. I'm sure a native speaker would give a better answer, but this is where my understanding as a nonnative speaker is at the moment! Edited by clang on 16 August 2010 at 11:46am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jedimindtrick Diglot Groupie United States 8monthsinukrain Joined 5220 days ago 90 posts - 119 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 12 of 92 16 August 2010 at 6:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Clang, thank you! I feel like every time I encounter a new example, I get a little closer to figuring it out intuitively. You're totally right, grammar in any language seems to be something you get a feel for over time. That's why I waited 5+ years before I even got interested in fixing my bad, bad Russian :p Sometimes now I can sense when it's right or not, but not often enough to satisfy me yet. Anyways, your words are kicking around in my brain and in the meantime, I'll just keep listening...so thanks, you rock! : )
Today I opened Начало and found myself on the О России section. The topic was "Getting Married in Russia" which ironically I want to do! (Drive around in a car with friends, everybody honking, a giant ring adorning the top of the car, taking pictures at all the famous monuments...at least, that's what I've seen happen at Russian weddings.) So, I'm working on memorizing the vocab and verbs relevant to this topic. Ha, I remember not paying attention to this exact subject about 3 years ago in Russian class. I guess it just goes to show, laziness doesn't usually pay off! Anyways, here's my fav word from today- свидетель, свидетельница - witness (m.& f.) Also, in the last 2 days I have been corresponding with Russian penpals from the city we're planning to move to. A lot of the conversations are in English but still, I'm counting it as cultural practice. Edited by jedimindtrick on 16 August 2010 at 6:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kraft Newbie Russian Federation Joined 5224 days ago 34 posts - 45 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 13 of 92 16 August 2010 at 11:08am | IP Logged | ||
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Я буду ехать часто на море. It's impossible to say like that. It should be Я буду ездить часто на море.
Я поеду в Руссию завтра. Я поеду в РОссию завтра. я буду ехать and я поеду. The difference is quite clear: I'll going by a vehicle. and I'll start going by a vehicle. So Russian is a very simple language. :) Edited by kraft on 16 August 2010 at 12:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| clang Groupie United States Joined 5340 days ago 54 posts - 82 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Italian | Message 14 of 92 16 August 2010 at 11:50am | IP Logged | ||
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And I fail disastrously.
Did you mean "I'll go by vehicle" or "I'll be going by vehicle"? Or is it even possible to differentiate the two in Russian? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kraft Newbie Russian Federation Joined 5224 days ago 34 posts - 45 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 15 of 92 16 August 2010 at 12:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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I meant "I'll be going by vehicle". Sorry for the mistake. Edited by kraft on 16 August 2010 at 12:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jedimindtrick Diglot Groupie United States 8monthsinukrain Joined 5220 days ago 90 posts - 119 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 16 of 92 18 August 2010 at 3:44am | IP Logged | ||
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Clang and Kraft, thank you for the input : ) I see what you mean about using ездить instead of ехать. That's good to remember for the future. So then, what would be an example of “я буду ехать...”? I guess this is not a common phrase...
Today I watched a Russian film- Вор / The Thief from 1997. It was a good film....an unhappy one, of course, but I enjoyed it. It came with subtitles I couldn't turn off so I tried to listen more than read. I can understand conversations occasionally and pick out lots of words, but with no subtitles on I would miss a lot of the plot. Soon- within a couple of years- I want to be able to watch a Russian film with no subtitles and understand it all. Also, I received a letter from a Russian penpal today. Hooray!, I was able to read the entire thing both to myself and then out loud and- going around the words I didn't know- understand the general topic of conversation (ie, she bought a hamster for her daughter, the hamster had babies, the hamster then escaped with the babies, and so on). Here's some vocab: хамячок / hamster, детёныш / baby (cub, etc.) She also sent me a card that reads: "Подруга, помни! Мужчина должен иметь на плечах голову...." and then says inside "А женщина- меха!" (Girlfriend, remember! A man should have a head on his shoulders....and a woman (should have) furs!) Haha :p One more exciting thing that is going on: I'm still in contact with my old job at the refugee resettlement agency. They had a new family arrive- I don't know if they're Russian or Ukrainian- but I was invited by the trainer to ride along with them on a bus training tomorrow. Obviously, the point of this activity is to help them adjust to their new life here, not for me to get language practice (there's a professional interpreter coming), so I'm going to just listen and be available and see what happens. Who knows?! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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