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Well I guess I’m learning Russian...

  Tags: Russian
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Brian_N
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 5769 days ago

200 posts - 202 votes 
Studies: English*, Russian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 33 of 248
24 February 2009 at 5:34am | IP Logged 
JuanM wrote:
Wow. Awesome find!


Yeah I thought so, I was very pleased. Since your also learning Russian I hope it can help you too.
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Brian_N
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 5769 days ago

200 posts - 202 votes 
Studies: English*, Russian
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 Message 34 of 248
24 February 2009 at 5:36am | IP Logged 
rafey wrote:
I entirely agree with the last post response. Knowing another language (or languages), even if you are not particularly fluent, conveys significant information concerning the way in which various cultures respond to their world and their immediate environment over time. Such knowledge additionally adds depth and character to one's own understanding of the world at large; increasing the colors of one's internal pallette, so to speak. Being sucked into Dancing with the Stars, American Idol and such comperable agendas only gives you 'jello brain (Bush Brain??).'


Yeah, the cultural understanding bit is a big part of why Iā€™m interested in learning another language. I think it would be almost enlightening to be able to look closely at another culture with a totally different language and mindset and see all the ways our common human heritage still makes us very much alike. Its one thing to read about all the ways we are alike...but Iā€™m going to guess that seeing it and understanding it with your own eyes is something totally different.
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Brian_N
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 5769 days ago

200 posts - 202 votes 
Studies: English*, Russian
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 Message 35 of 248
24 February 2009 at 5:40am | IP Logged 
Grammaticus wrote:
Brian_N wrote:
A little rant....(Part 1 => Annoyed)

Interesting, you never realize how small people are...until you start doing something different. And this time, to my surprise, these people are my own damn family.

Iā€™ve been studying Russian seriously for almost two weeks, and Iā€™m making excellent progress...my understanding is growing a little by little each day...and my annoyance at family is also growing a little by little each day.

I was sitting around one day drilling in words and my uncle asks me what Iā€™m doing. I tell him that Iā€™m learning some Russian, and then he immediately goes off on a rant about this story on how he doesnā€™t like Russians and has no respect for their country or culture because he met ā€˜oneā€™ that was a asshole. Like seriously...judging a country of over a 100 million, based on experience with 1 person from that culture...can you say small little man?   He even took the initiative to run out and buy me a book (from the 1980s) about this one intellectual who was persecuted in the Soviet union just so I could see how bad and f-ed up the Russians ā€˜really areā€™.

Iā€™m also getting the whole ā€˜wannabe communistā€™, ā€˜wannabe Russianā€ and a host of other little comments from other members of my family...sigh.

I really love my family, and they are sooooo lucky I do...because thatā€™s about the only thing holding me back from giving a few of them a good punch to the head.   Like, I could give a damn if my family doesnā€™t share my interests...I donā€™t expect them too, people are different. What I do have an issue with is them getting in my face about it. Itā€™s kinda starting to really piss me off.

This is definitely going to affect my learning...though not the way they are hoping. Before it was just a natural curiosity...about a people that could suffer 20 million casualties and yet somehow still emerge as a global power.   Now...now lol, its natural curiosity mixed with a whole lotta spite. Even if my curiosity of Russians wanes...Iā€™m still gonna learn this language, just to piss them off.

Those days were I actually gave a shit about other peopleā€™s opinions have long passed The way I see it, people can either accept me for who I am, or get the **** out of my way.   


Hi Brian,

don't worry - I know Russia reasonably well and can tell you the spite is reciprocal towards North-Americans ;-) (proportional to the fascination?). Keep up the good work - it's a stony road, but perfectly doable. There's an immense wealth of material in russian, so it get's very rewarding when you actually read and understand it.


Thatā€™s nice to know...The Russians hate us too...Iā€™m beginning to see some reoccurring patterns here as I look beyond my continent lol.

Well thank you, glad you like my work.   Overall Iā€™m not finding Russian that hard, just time intensive. It may take awhile but I know I will get it eventually. Its obviously not impossible to learn, all the Russians learned Russian...so I canā€™t see any reason why I canā€™t learn Russian too lol.    

Immense wealth of material you say? You wouldnā€™t happen to a few internet links to some of this wealth kicking around would you?   


Edited by Brian_N on 24 February 2009 at 5:42am

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Brian_N
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 5769 days ago

200 posts - 202 votes 
Studies: English*, Russian
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 Message 36 of 248
24 February 2009 at 2:07pm | IP Logged 
Feb 24th ā€“ Day 15 ā€“ Group 1 Vocabulary (+5)

Nouns ā€“ Part 1-4 => Complete
Nouns ā€“ Part 5 => (36/50) => Under Review
Nouns ā€“ Part 6 => (13/50)   => Under Review

Verbs ā€“ Part 1 => (11/50)    => Under Review
Verbs ā€“ Part 2-5 => Pending     

Adverbs ā€“ Part 1-4 => Pending   

Adjectives ā€“ Part 1-5 => Pending
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Brian_N
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 5769 days ago

200 posts - 202 votes 
Studies: English*, Russian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 37 of 248
24 February 2009 at 2:16pm | IP Logged 
Working...

Work is going again the hours are crazy...8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m daily. This is insane. I'm going to need to find and maximize every spare minute I have so I can get at least a couple hours of studying in. Not to sure how I'm going to do it...yet, but I'll come up with something.

No matter what life throws at me I refuse to ever have one of those days were there has been no progress made at all.
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pitwo
Diglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 6163 days ago

103 posts - 121 votes 
Speaks: French*, English

 
 Message 38 of 248
24 February 2009 at 4:17pm | IP Logged 
Ha, that site is awesome! I'm going to peruse it some.

Anyway, I am indeed a Quebecer. To be honest language policies are very complex here, at least for North America and tend to depend wth whom you're speaking with.. Different communities and all that.. Some biligual, some not, some people hate french, some hateĀ English, etc etc. I'll spare you the details :))

I forgot --- are you using an SRS ? (spaced repetition system)

Edited by pitwo on 24 February 2009 at 4:18pm

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rafey
Newbie
United States
Joined 5764 days ago

24 posts - 25 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 39 of 248
24 February 2009 at 7:48pm | IP Logged 
Now, inform your Uncle that you are also learing Arabic! (Just kidding) although I found Arabic and Persian equally fascinating, expecially when you are eventually able to indulge in reading their poetry and the Shamaneh.
But back to Russian: I thought it would be well to recommend the following books that I have found most useful to utilize as you progress:

1) Kolyma Tales by Shalamov, Varlam
   This comes in the original Russian version, entitled Kolymskie tetradi . It's relatively short and loaded with personal narratives of Shalamov's time as a prisoner in the Gulag. Very intense with poetic narrative and great practice because it is difficult to put down once you start reading.

2) Beginner's Russian Reader with Conversational Exercises

3) Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book

4) First Reader in Russian (This is pretty elementary - only in the present tense - but a terrific vocabulary workout, etc. I started to work on it after about 7 chapters into my initial Russxin language learning experience. Also helps to get you used to reading Russian text. Contains a good bit of systematic repetition as well.

5) Roots of the Russian Language: An Elementary Guide to Wordbuilding (This is incredibly thorough and makes a terric reference and memory aid. I can't say enough about this amazing text.

Language larning is not a mere academic exercise. Drawing these important connections between peoples (expecially liguistic connections)cannot fail to eventually provide multiple and incalulable benefits !!! I can verify this statement based on personal experience.
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Brian_N
Pro Member
Canada
Joined 5769 days ago

200 posts - 202 votes 
Studies: English*, Russian
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 Message 40 of 248
25 February 2009 at 4:45am | IP Logged 
pitwo wrote:
Ha, that site is awesome! I'm going to peruse it some.

Anyway, I am indeed a Quebecer. To be honest language policies are very complex here, at least for North America and tend to depend wth whom you're speaking with.. Different communities and all that.. Some biligual, some not, some people hate french, some hateĀ English, etc etc. I'll spare you the details :))

I forgot --- are you using an SRS ? (spaced repetition system)


Hey Quebec, greetings from Manitoba. Yeah, French/English language opinions in Quebec does sound like it would be pretty complicated and very touchy.

Um SRS?. My language learning experience spans a total of 15 days so Iā€™m not up to speed on all the special terms. Though I think I might be actually. Iā€™ll give you an over view of how I review.

Iā€™ll start with the program Iā€™m using, its called Declanā€™s Russian flashcards (they also have Japanese flashcards), each flashcard displays the particular word spelled in Russian, its translated English meaning and with the press of the (up) key on my keyboard I can hear the word spoken in Russian by a native Russian speaker.

The amount of words I review each day varies depending on what kind of time I have available, but usually I try to go for around 30. I in turn break whatever I take into blocks of ten and review each as a set.   Once Iā€™m ready to start I load a word group and put a piece of paper over my monitor screen so I canā€™t see the flashcard. I push the (up) arrow on my keyboard, I hear the word spoken in Russian and then I say what it means (or what I think it means) out loud and I write how I think its spelled. Then I lift the paper and then I compare what I have with the flashcard. If I was right, I cover back up my screen and push the (right) key on my keyboard and Iā€™m onto the next flashcard and I repeat the process until I make a mistake in either the meaning or spelling. If the meanings or spelling is wrong, I play the Russian audio file five times with me repeating the meaning (or writing the spelling) after each play and then I restart the cycle right back at the first flashcard. Once I can do the block of ten perfectly I move onto the next 10 and then next 10 until I finished reviewing the amount of words Iā€™ve chosen. Once I have finished I leave it for a few hours and come back to it...reviewing each block of 10 over again until I can again do them perfectly. Then I come back to it a few hours later and do yet again.

Spaced Repetition?



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