Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Understanding but unable to create?

 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages Post Reply
w.shipley
Groupie
United States
Joined 5682 days ago

42 posts - 43 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 1 of 4
08 September 2009 at 3:49am | IP Logged 
I'm not sure if what's happening with me is a problem or not, so I decided to just ask and (hopefully) get some advice.

I've been studying Russian for almost two months (although not as much as I would like since school started and things have been quite hectic). I understand that learning this language will take time, and I'm generally an extremely patient person, but I think I may have a problem.

I've noticed that I comprehend Russian much better than I can speak and formulate ideas. I have a semi-decent understand of the case system, but I don't really think in cases. I don't read something and think, "oh, well this is a masculine noun but it just ended in -ом so therefore, it's clearly in the instrumental case." Is that bad? I just read the sentence and the meaning is more or less understood. However, I'm worried this will have negative repercussions when I do attempt to speak later on. Is this correct? And why is it so hard for me to speak? I have a rather limited vocabulary (1.5 months=~200 words. Is this my problem?

Or do I just need to relax? Is it typical to understand more than can be spoken/written at the beginning? I'm rather new to language learning.

I'm sorry if my question seemed rather scattered. Thanks in advance!
1 person has voted this message useful



Bao
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5
Joined 5772 days ago

2256 posts - 4046 votes 
Speaks: German*, English
Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin

 
 Message 2 of 4
08 September 2009 at 4:30am | IP Logged 
It is normal and happens to almost everybody, or everybody using certain techniques. Some people will tell you it doesn't matter and will sort itself out eventually. Others will tell you it is something you have to avoid at all costs. Even others will tell you that sooner or later it should become easier and if not, you need to work more on production.
(I personally prefer to first get a decent level of comprehension and then work on production, but that's just me because I do not get satisfying results working on both at the same time.)

Edited by Bao on 08 September 2009 at 8:53am

1 person has voted this message useful



w.shipley
Groupie
United States
Joined 5682 days ago

42 posts - 43 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 3 of 4
08 September 2009 at 5:43am | IP Logged 
Thank you so much. That makes me feel quite a bit better.
1 person has voted this message useful



Rhoda
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5606 days ago

166 posts - 196 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Latin, Swahili, Ancient Greek, German

 
 Message 4 of 4
08 September 2009 at 6:01am | IP Logged 
I definitely get the feeling with Latin, though oddly enough with Swahili, my active and passive skills are at about comparable levels. I guess it depends what you focus on in the beginning. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. You're only two months in after all! If in another few months production is still really difficult, you can always focus on it then (write some short papers, talk to yourself, etc.)


1 person has voted this message useful



If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.2500 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.