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An experience in learning Russian vocab | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| jong Newbie Chile theheap.awardspace.c Joined 7003 days ago 23 posts - 26 votes Speaks: Spanish* Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 7 21 September 2006 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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There's always a moment in which one knows enough vocabulary to understand and be understood, but not enough to feel confortable. And, no matter what one does, new words seem to appear everywhere and it is difficult to learn new vocabulary. I think I'm in this stage in Russian right now.
Here's a little discovery: Not long ago, I created a website about the (little I know of the) Russian language. I had to create a mail account for the website, and just to make things look more Russian, I decided it had to be a .ru account. Some days later, and having looked at the dictionary only once or twice, I had got acquainted with words and expressions such us "folder", "inbox", "draft", "send", "check mail", "trash". But in Russian, of course. I can't recall the meaning of words I've seen lots of times written on some vocabulary notebook or some piece of paper sticked on the wall. Even "basic" words. But I could learn these e-mail related words having seen them few times, because they were in context. I had to learn the words if I didn't want to accidentally erase my email! So, I just thought I would share this old, old lesson with you: it's important to learn words in context. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ItsuNaneo Triglot Newbie United States Joined 6539 days ago 24 posts - 24 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 7 06 October 2006 at 7:39am | IP Logged | ||
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I think context is especially important in languages like Russian. In learning Spanish, it was very easy to make work hooks, and frankly, alot of Spanish is like english, so vocab was no big deal...but with russian, word hooks are harder and learning something in context, for example, I learned the vocab of everything I would come across in my classroom and school. Never forgot any of them.
Here is something else i've found. When a native russian speaker told me what a russian word meant, I never forgot it...and I never had to "study" the word like I would if I took it out of a dictonary. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 6953 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes  2 sounds | Message 3 of 7 06 October 2006 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for emphasising that point. I have to agree that it's harder with Russian as fewer words resemble English. Basic words like самолет and гостиница don't resemble anything Latin-based. I've been tempted to look up all the words in texts I don't understand completely. Yet, it doesn't seem like it would be productive as I would likely forget words I didn't have to use much. EDIT: I didn't realise till after composing this that I was posting in someone's Learning Log and not all that related to the first post. So thanks to jong for the good advice. Edited by Sir Nigel on 06 October 2006 at 11:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Darobat Diglot Senior Member Joined 7037 days ago 754 posts - 770 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin | Message 4 of 7 07 October 2006 at 10:48am | IP Logged | ||
Perhaps not, but Russian is nice because the words have analyzable roots. Both words you used as examples can be broken down into their roots which clearly shows what they mean. Самолет Сам - self лет - flying So Самолет is a self flying thing, or an airplane Гостиница Гость - guest иница - just a suffix. If it's analyzable, I can't tell. So гостиница is a "guest thing" or a hotel. Maybe not as crystal clear as the previous example, but the root of the word is still clearly visible. Edited by Darobat on 07 October 2006 at 10:50am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 6953 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 5 of 7 07 October 2006 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's true especially with the really long words. They're often (all?) just shorter words joined together.
Russian is so logical.... yet not easy when you study things like genitive plural and verbal aspect! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Darobat Diglot Senior Member Joined 7037 days ago 754 posts - 770 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin | Message 6 of 7 08 October 2006 at 10:51am | IP Logged | ||
Самостоятельно само - self стоят - standing ельно - adverb ending So it's an adverb meaning to standing on your own, or "independantly". Правоохранительный право - law, rights охран - protection ительный - an adjective ending which indicates it's someone who does the aforementioned. So it's an adjective for someone who protects the law, or "law-enforcement" Приземлять при - motion towards зем - earth, ground лять - a verb ending So it's a verb meaning motion towards the ground, or "to land" like when talking about airplanes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6121 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 7 of 7 30 September 2007 at 1:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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A great vocabulary resource for Russian, published by Routledge (London) in 1996, is Nicholas Brown's frequency list of 10,000 Russian words, "Russian Learner's Dictionary". It was also published in the USA. Edited by William Camden on 30 September 2007 at 1:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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