Russian Language Self-Study

[russ 1]

Satellite pointed something very important out. You have the best resource in the world living with you right now. I'm sure one of her main reasons for not wanting you to learn Russian is because she doesn't want to lose her own English skills. I doubt she's worried about you talking to other Russian girls, but maybe she doesn't want you to understand EVERYTHING that she's saying to her family. A little privacy is nice sometimes. Implore her though, to teach you Russian, and even try to speak Russian in the home. That will help you more than anything. Plus, you can tell her, "well, granny wants me to talk to her... and when I talk to her, I must speak Russian perfectly!"

Probably not - she has spoken English since she was 3. Most of her friends live in the states anyway, so speaking to them isn't much of a problem either. I don't think this will matter at all in a year or so. Between TV/Movies and a few hours a day on the phone, I hear nothing but Russian pretty much all day. It shouldn't take much longer for my fluency to improve.

Learning a language is frustrating and time consuming. Probably the same reason that in Holland no one would try to speak Dutch with me or anyone else. It seems kind of pointless there, since everyone speaks English well. (In three years, I needed to speak Dutch exactly once - getting directions lost in the middle of nowhere. It is a small country, you need to look pretty hard to find middle of nowhere).

Does anyone have any other novels to recommend? Мастер И Маргарита is good, but a bit challenging to start with. It is giving my dictionary a good workout.

Also, if anyone is looking for Russian (or any other foriegn) books, I would recommend www.schoenhofs.com in Cambridge, MA. Used to buy a lot of books when I lived up there. Good selection for foriegn stuff (better than Amazon). Better for less-common stuff.

[slim 1,514]

Try reading Cheburashka childrens books.

Edited March 21, 2006 by slim

[russ 1]

Try reading Cheburashka childrens books.

Just found something else that is useful - Princeton has most of their Russian course materials on the web - pdf and mp3. Seems rather complete. Take a look at:

http://www.princeton.edu/russian/SLA101/

and

http://www.princeton.edu/russian/SLA105/

and

http://www.princeton.edu/russian/SLA207/ (incomplete)

I've just finished the Penguin book, I guess I will try this next. The more advanced lessons look pretty good (fairly difficult too).

As a bonus, one of my favorite movies is the example in the 207 class (not all of the material seems to be there yet..) And my favorite song: Никого не будет доме....

That is the only Russian song I can sing (badly) or play on guitar (even worse).

[slim 1,514]

Thanks russ. What a great find! Free at that! I'll definately be checking this out more later.

[russ 1]

Thanks russ. What a great find! Free at that! I'll definately be checking this out more later.

I'm through the first 2 chapters now (about 20 lessons). Very impressed so far. The first two courses are quite rigorous - better than any of the books I've seen up until now.

There are hundreds of lessons here - appears to be appropriate for anyone here.

[slim 1,514]

It's similar to the Pimsleur set. The Pimsleur set encourages more memory recall and the speakers don't sound so "proper." The speakers on this college lesson sound just like college professors. But, that's a good thing if you're trying to learn "proper" Russian.

[teukros 0]

I have a poor memory and it is not easy for me to memorize lists of vocabulary words and grammar rules. I know... that's what learning a language boils down to and there are no shortcuts. But to really get me started (beyond entertaining the relatives saying things like "New Yorkski piannyi") I want something like a Russian "####### and Jane"!

o Rosetta Stone Expensive, but not generally effective. I have learned some vocabulary from this, but it doesn't do much by itself.

I saw a tv ad for Rosetta Stone where it looks like they take that kind of approach. Maybe this would be appropriate for me?

o Random House Living Language Russian Cheap and Good. This was my first Russian course, about $20 with dictionary and cassettes. Mainly useful for grammer exercises. Seems to be a re-packaged US State Dept course.

o The New Penguin Russian Course This was highly recommened by Amazon. Just starting it now - for the price, it looks excellent. Too advanced for a beginner (learn the alphabet, numbers, basic grammer before this).

I'll order these next week. Maybe the Lonely Planet phrasebook and the Oxford dictionary too. I have a friend who had a Russian college course or two, I'll see if he has a dictionary I can use.

o Russian Children's Books My wife thought I was crazy for buying these. Got them in Russia, managed to learn the alphabet well, and some basic vocabulary. (easy - lots of pictures). Keeping them around for our kids.

Any titles you would recommend? I'll ask Diana to pick them up for me the next time she is in Kazan!

[slim 1,514]

The Oxford dictionary is great. The Lonely Planet Phrasebook is the book I'd buy if I had to choose only one book. I have both of these and they are the only ones that I use on a daily basis.

The Oxford dictionary sits on my desk next to my computer, and the Phrasebook I like to keep in a pocket or in my truck or somewhere else where I can pull it out if I have a little time to kill. (Think about all the places you read something that if you had a small book in your pocket, you could be studying Russian language instead of reading some lame article about how lycopene is now better for those with osteo-arthritis.... the doctor's office, the supermarket, waiting for the bus or in traffic, at a kid's sporting event, a restaurant, just about anywhere that you're waiting for something.) It's also very handy for travelling. I carried this book just about everywhere in Moscow while I was there.

For me, if I had to do it all over again, the only thing that I would get would be the Lonely Planet Phrasebook, the Oxford dictionary, and the Pimsleur CDs. (But that's just me... everyone has their own style!)

[Marc and Olga 0]

I started with Living language but (I admit) I did not devote enough time to that, even went back to it but I have really not enjoyed it.

I have the complete pimsleur set (1, 2 and 3), I won't go into details but it was the least I have spent on any Russian language material! I really do like it but the reading/writing part worries me!

I also bought many children's books, букварь and большая книга малыша (the latter was purchased during my trip).

I bought many movies on my friend, eBay including Kidnapping Caucasian style (english title), Prisoner on the mountains(english title), ночной дозор (which was playing in a local (Arizona) theater when I left for Russia in March!), гарфилд (the american garfield movie dubbed in Russian..sadly this is region code 5 (Russia) so until I can buy a region free DVD player... =( ).

Music, Olga picked out several CDs for me to listen to while I was in Russia, I have listened to these almost non-stop since I returned! =)

I am currently devoting much of my time to Pimsleur (at least half an hour each day but I have repeated the lessons more then I probably need to) , I figure writing will come...in time. I have a good working knowledge of the alphabet but there are some rough points (ш,щ, and ы).

I have lesson 1-1 at 100%, 1-2 at about 99% and 1-3 at about 90% 1-4 is about 60%. =O

Also, I took Elementary Russian 101 but found I was quite bored in this class as it was VERY basic and I already had a decent knowledge of the alphabet which is what 90% of 101 covered! Furthermore, due to schedule conflicts with work and sleep I cannot take 102 at this time.

My instructor did mention a good Russian - English/English - Russian Dictionary by Kenneth Katzner which I purchased 2 copies of, 1 for me, 1 for Olga. I had it throughout my entire trip but only needed it about 3 times.

I bought a software translator on my trip that, according to Olga is great! Problem was, it requires a Russian version of Windows, which I also bought! =)

(More specifically the translator is looking for a FSU "code page" which I could probably (now) set up in my old Win2k)

These last 2 items work well with my Russian/English keyboard and some slight technical knowledge (how to set shift-alt to switch from English to Russian and back, this took some time to work out with basic Russian knowledge and a Russian version of windows!

That is my 2 k(opek)

Marc

[slim 1,514]

Marc,

By Pimsleur's very own instructions, you only need to retain about 80% of the lesson you're doing to move on to the next one. (This may not have been in the Russian I,II, III, sets, but it was in the "quick and easy" set that I got before getting the others.) If you've got it down 100%, you're just memorizing what you've heard over and over, and you're not really "thinking" in Russian. That's part of what makes Pimsleur so effective is the "thinking" in the target language that you train your mind into doing.

You said you were doing about 30 minutes a day, that's great. (I listen to and from work, in my truck.... that way I'm all alone and can concentrate on what they're saying.) As long as you stick with it, you'll find that you'll start "thinking" in that language after a few weeks.

Try answering (in your head) in Russian when people ask you questions, or when you're talking about something in English.

As far as writing, there really is no way around that except memorizing the alphabet and looking at Russian words. Once you start speaking and understanding better, the words start making more sense too. You can read them "in Russian" instead of just sounding them out. You'll notice yourself saying them like the people in the Pimsleur sets. (Or like Olga!)

I've still got a long way to go, and I'm far from fluent. All I know is when I've happened to run into Russians here, they've been shocked that I could speak Russian "so well," and I attribute most of that to the Pimsleur set and studying the alphabet.

[teukros 0]

This is an old thread but for anyone who is only getting started learning russian this is useful for learning the alphabet:

http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/alphabet.html

[akdiver 3]

For what it's worth, I'm taking Russia through the local university. I got an "A" in 101 last semester (: This semester, I am taking 102 (first year, second semester), which meets 7-8:40pm on Monday & Wednesdays. Supplemented by practice with my wife, it's a good way to go.

The problem with self-study of all kinds is that you have to have the discipline to do it, and more often than not, you don't feel like it and it never gets done. When you have a schedule to stick to (such as going to class and doing homework for turn-in), most people tend to do better.

Good luck.

Cheers!

AKDiver

[slim 1,514]

The problem with self-study of all kinds is that you have to have the discipline to do it, and more often than not, you don't feel like it and it never gets done. When you have a schedule to stick to (such as going to class and doing homework for turn-in), most people tend to do better.

That's a fact!

[Ron-n-Natasha 0]

I am using TRS to build basics and Linguaphone to develop dialog. Thank Gawd Natasha speaks English almost perfectly, but I still want to be able to respect her family and friends by speaking with them, without relying on her translation all the time..

If anyone is intrested in the Linguaphone mp3s I can see about dropping it somewhere

Here is a part of lesson 3, this is a simple overview, and the next part goes into the listen/understand/repeat portion.

[teukros 0]

I am using TRS to build basics and Linguaphone to develop dialog. Thank Gawd Natasha speaks English almost perfectly, but I still want to be able to respect her family and friends by speaking with them, without relying on her translation all the time..

If anyone is intrested in the Linguaphone mp3s I can see about dropping it somewhere

Here is a part of lesson 3, this is a simple overview, and the next part goes into the listen/understand/repeat portion.

I'm very interested in anything I can listen to, I just don't have the discipline to wade through books of grammar

What is TRS?