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Russian or German. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6513 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 17 of 41 08 February 2010 at 5:20am | IP Logged | ||||||||
OT, but Russian is at least related to English and other European languages. Arabic is a Semitic language, and the way they construct and manipulate words is from a completely different place. Plus, it has more exotic sounds than even Russian. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5396 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 18 of 41 08 February 2010 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I like that one too. hahaha and the letter for "sh" which I don't know how to type. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Hydrolyzer Newbie Australia Joined 5213 days ago 2 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 19 of 41 09 February 2010 at 4:45am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I chose to learn russian because of the alphabet. It looks badass, but mostly its because early on when i lost motivation I could just write some English words phonetically using cyrillic and it made me feel like I was already making heaps of progress. The language itself felt foreign enough to keep me interested. earlier when i tried Spanish it was SO similar to English that i didnt really feel that i was learning anything. German is a little more removed from English but not the same as russian, also there seems to be a large history of russian literature. Edited by Hydrolyzer on 09 February 2010 at 4:48am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5734 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 20 of 41 09 February 2010 at 5:10am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I dabbled with both then chose German. Here were my pros and cons:
German: Actually useful in the city where I live in Mexico. Plenty of native speakers around who WILL and DO correct me without hesitation. German is just so damn interesting. Love the logic of it. Feels industrially good in your mouth. Russian: Cool alphabet. Always wanted to read all the Russian literature I read in uni in Russian. Only met one Russian here. I think the MT course put me off Russian in the end though. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6193 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 21 of 41 09 February 2010 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Are people who are learning Russian thinking of residing, vacationing or doing business in Russia? Or are you primarily interested in just learning for love of the language, literature, phonology, etc.? I'd be interested in knowing how many Russian learners here plan to actually live in Russia. I'm not a fan of severe winters, and this might disuade me from learning Russian, given that most of the best cities in Russia are located in these fridgid zones. I also have lost interest in Russian literature and I am ambivalent towards its landscapes and geographical features. I must say, I do like the amazing architecture in the major cities.
However, if Russia were somehow to be considered a future must have for commerce etc, and regain its standing as a major economic superpower, i could reconsider and perhaps learn it as it could prove useful in my work. Russia's economy probably will surpass Germany's in the future. Another factor pushing me towards Russian or German is that I want to learn a language that uses cases because I've always wanted to speak a language that works in this free flowing way. Edited by aquablue on 09 February 2010 at 11:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| dangre37 Newbie United States Joined 5200 days ago 12 posts - 16 votes Studies: Russian | Message 22 of 41 26 February 2010 at 4:01am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I have been studying Russian off and on for the last ten years or so. There is an internal logic and consistency to the language, that makes it quite beautiful. German is not as beautiful a language as Russian, but would be more practical for a westerner. Russia is not likely to become an economic powerhouse anytime soon. However, it does have one very important asset that will undoubtedly be very valuable in fifty years or so: LAND! Plenty of it. Vast expanses of it. I don't know how costly the land in Siberia is, but my guess is that you could probably buy a few acres much cheaper than elsewhere. The world's population keeps growing, but Russia's population is steadily dwindling. Do the math.
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| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5233 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 23 of 41 26 February 2010 at 5:21am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I'm not a learner yet, but Russian is on my list. I want to learn it because the Cyrillic alphabet looks so damn cool, and I believe it's the most-spoken language that uses the Cyrillic alphabet. I may dabble in it and decide against it, but at the very least I want to learn Cyrillic. If I do learn it, I will visit Russia. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6193 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 24 of 41 26 February 2010 at 10:10pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Goldman Sachs, according to several studies (BRIC countries) thinks Russia will be one of the richest countries in the world by 2050, surpassing many G7 countries. Could be a good reason to learn it, if you happen to be a future minded business orientated person.
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