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Learning Dilemma - Where To Start? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| pherber12 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5409 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 10 12 July 2010 at 5:01am | IP Logged | ||
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I have decided to learn Russian, and I have all the materials I need but I don't know how to start. I'm not sure if using different texts and programs at the same time will be beneficial or just confuse me.
I will be listening to audio for about an hour every morning while I walk my dog. I'm not sure if I should start with Pimsleur or Michel Thomas. Should I alternate the programs so I am listening to Pimsleur one day and Michel Thomas the next or should I just do one till the end and then start the other?? Would it be too confusing to do both at the same time?? I have the same questions about textbooks. I have the Golosa Textbooks and Workbooks. I have also printed out the Princeton Course. If I have a several hours each day to study should I be doing both, like two hours of Golosa followed by two hours of the Princeton course or would that be too complicated since they don't start off teaching the same material. I'm not sure if it would help me learn Russian faster or just confuse me because I would need to learn different concepts all at once. I also have Assimil's Russe Sans Peine from 1971, as well as the Russian Without Toil from 1951. Should I start those first, or use them later?? Or can I use them at the same time as the above programs? I want to use so many different programs because I want to get as much basic information as possible and I know I can't get that from one or two sources only. I have lots of time off this summer and I want to get a good jump start on Russian. So yeah, any advice would be appreciated. I know a lot of people on here like to use a couple different programs to learn so that they don't get too bored or burnt out -- but if I want to really study intensively would I be better off to just stick with only either Golosa or Princeton at first or would it be just as effective to do both at the same time?? (I also have the Penguin course, Linguaphone, Rosetta Stone, and Living Language to use as backups, if I need them, but I really want to use the programs above.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| grunts67 Diglot Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5331 days ago 215 posts - 252 votes  Speaks: French*, English Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 2 of 10 12 July 2010 at 5:18am | IP Logged | ||
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First, I want to specify that I ma still a beginner in Russian so I don't have much experience. Still, I have use some of the material you have so I think I could give you some hints.
I would avoid Rosetta Stone as it does take an awfuul lot of time for only some basic vocabularies. Also, they don't explain the grammar. There's no need to go furthur on RS as it has already a enormous amouth of thread on this topic. I tried Pimsleur and Micheal Thomas. I found both of them boring, specially MT. Nevertheless, Pimsleur can be a good program for a limited amouth of vocabulary but, more important, it will definitivly improve your prunciation. Assimil's Russe Sans Peine from is an incredible course, it's recommanded by user of this forum. The same goes for Russian Without Toil but it should be your main program because of the age. Though it will complement nicely another program. In any case, if you want to use the Assimil method at the beginning, you NEED the audio. Without it, they are pretty much useless for a beginner. If you like drill, you could use the DLI course. There's a thread in the forum with the link to download the course for free and legally. As I don't know the others ressources you mentionned, I can't discuss there efficency. You will need to experiment and find what type of course suits your learning style and is efficent. Good luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5381 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 3 of 10 12 July 2010 at 6:38am | IP Logged | ||
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I prefer using several sources at once, while combining them by grammatical topics. For instance, I am learning Dutch and have several books that all cover grammar, albeit in different manners. By combining these sources, I get to see more examples, read (perhaps better) explanations, and also complement that with a more diverse set of vocabulary. In many of my books, the grammar points are covered in roughly the same areas of learning, so it isn't too big of a deal.
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| pherber12 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5409 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 4 of 10 12 July 2010 at 5:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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grunts67, I won't be using either Pimsleur or Michel Thomas as a major means of study, it's just something to listen to in Russian while I walk the dog. I'm not expecting to get all the basics down from them, just get a good handle on pronunciation.
I do have the audio for both Assimil's Russe Sans Peine and Russian Without Toil, so I can definitely use those in conjunction with the Golosa and Princeton courses. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pherber12 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5409 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 10 12 July 2010 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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tracker465, Thanks for the input. I think it's a good idea, now I'll just have to match up the lessons from my programs so that I am covering the same grammatical topics at the same time.
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| grunts67 Diglot Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5331 days ago 215 posts - 252 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 6 of 10 12 July 2010 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | ||
With those informations, If I was you, I would use Assimil's Russe Sans Peine as my main course and use Golosa and Princeton courses as a supplement. I would not use Assimil's Russian Without Toil before I finish the first Assimil course. As for MT and Pimsleur, I would definitvly use them while you walk your dog or you could listen and review your Assimil lessons. P.S: You are lucky to have found the audio for Assimil's Russe Sans Peine 1971, they hard to find these days. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6040 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 7 of 10 12 July 2010 at 6:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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WRT: MT & Pimsleur.
Both courses are designed to slowly and constantly expand your language. There is very limited overlap between the two courses, at least at the early stages, so they will not be reinforcing each other -- you would be effectively doing two things at once, which might make it harder. Do one, then the other. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pherber12 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5409 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 8 of 10 12 July 2010 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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grunts67, I've sent you a pm. I got the Assimil audio from a nice member of another language forum.
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