Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 1 of 248 11 February 2009 at 2:05pm | IP Logged |
Well I guess Iβm learning Russian. Why? Not too sure myself. Call me an American, but Iβve never really cared for foreign languages. Iβve always been quite content with English, which is perfectly understandable. Growing up in North America why would you need anything else? You really donβt.
Over the past months though thereβs something about the Russian language thatβs pulling me in. Donβt ask me why, damned if know myself. More and more I find myself tuning into one of their radio stations just to listening to the language. Couldnβt tell you what they're saying if my life depended on it though. Does that bother me? Not in the least.
Russian is one of many things that I find interesting. But it has one thing that I find very unique, my interest in it isnβt transitory. Every time I leave it, I find myself coming back to it. Each time a little quicker than last. If I put it down now itβs almost guaranteed that in a few days Iβll be back at it learning yet another small little piece. So instead of doing something else, Iβll be preemptive and take the hint and the initiative.
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 2 of 248 11 February 2009 at 2:12pm | IP Logged |
Despite some obvious differences between Russian and English, they are both still languages and in its simplest form a language is nothing more than a system of sounds meant to convey meaning. So it only makes sense that any attempt should focus heavily on recognition and understanding of those sounds, at least initially. It also only makes sense to begin with building a vocabulary. For now the alphabet, grammar, reading and speaking will be secondary too being able to recognize a spoken word and give both its meaning and spelling. Grammar will go much quicker if I can recognize most words immediately because itβll free up my attention to observing how their grammar modifies root words.
A thousand initial words, taken almost equally from nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives should suffice for a decent look into the grammar. But if not, then I guess Iβll learn another thousand, and if necessary another thousand after that. Time is something I do have.
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 3 of 248 11 February 2009 at 2:14pm | IP Logged |
Feb 10th - Day 1 Initial
Nouns β Part 1 => (Spelling 29/50) + (Meaning 45/50)
Nouns β Part 2 => (Spelling 6/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 3 => (Spelling 9/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 4 => (Spelling 11/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 6 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 4 of 248 11 February 2009 at 2:15pm | IP Logged |
Feb 11th - Day 2 β Spelling (+25) β Meaning (Unchanged )
Nouns β Part 1 => (Spelling 34/50) + (Meaning 45/50)
Nouns β Part 2 => (Spelling 11/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 3 => (Spelling 15/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 4 => (Spelling 20/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 6 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 5 of 248 12 February 2009 at 10:49am | IP Logged |
Feb 12th - Day 3 β Spelling (+33) β Meaning (Unchanged )
Nouns β Part 1 => (Spelling 42/50) + (Meaning 45/50)
Nouns β Part 2 => (Spelling 30/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 3 => (Spelling 23/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 4 => (Spelling 18/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 6 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Edited by Brian_N on 12 February 2009 at 10:51am
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 6 of 248 13 February 2009 at 10:22pm | IP Logged |
Feb 13th - Day 4 β Spelling (+28) β Meaning (Unchanged )
Nouns β Part 1 => (Spelling 43/50) + (Meaning 45/50)
Nouns β Part 2 => (Spelling 27/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 3 => (Spelling 24/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 4 => (Spelling 19/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 5 => (Spelling 18/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 6 => (Spelling 10/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 7 of 248 13 February 2009 at 11:16pm | IP Logged |
Becoming More Efficient
Well so far itβs going pretty decent. Words are being drilled in at a reasonable pace. About 20-35 a day, nothing to really cry about. But I should be learning quicker and I have some ideas that should make it happen.
For starters the whole βbrute force learningβ has to go. It is way too time consuming to be writing out a single word 20-30 times because it was a missing during morning test, especially when Iβm missing well over 100 words. I figure instead Iβll simply take the first 60 words I get wrong and turn them into 12 mini blocks of 5, reviewing each until I can get all them all memorized. Then leave it alone for about 15 minutes and retry. Then after that 30 minutes, and after that 1 hr, and after that 2 hrs. You get the picture. Giving that it doesnβt take me that long to memorize things itβll save me quite abit of time. The periodic reviewing will also definitely help word retention.
Lol yeah, this will so work.
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Brian_N Pro Member Canada Joined 5769 days ago 200 posts - 202 votes Studies: English*, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 8 of 248 14 February 2009 at 11:55pm | IP Logged |
Feb 14th - Day 5 β Spelling (+25) β Meaning (Unchanged )
Nouns β Part 1 => (Spelling 48/50) + (Meaning 45/50)
Nouns β Part 2 => (Spelling 41/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 3 => (Spelling 27/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 4 => (Spelling 22/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 5 => (Spelling 18/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Nouns β Part 6 => (Spelling 10/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Verbs β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adverbs β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 1 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 2 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 3 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 4 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
Adjectives β Part 5 => (Spelling 0/50) + (Meaning 0/50)
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