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What's your learning method?

Way to Russia Talk Lounge Forum Index -> Practise Your Russian

Author	Message
muffeteer Just Starting Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2	Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:26 am    Post subject: What's your learning method? How are you all picking up Russian? I'm interested in hearing about how you learn this fascinating language. Any tips? I'm at beginner's level learning on my own with books and audio from the library... and living in a Russian neighborhood is a big plus. I start off learning the Cyrillic alphabet, memorizing the sounds, then taking it to practice with short russian words. It's like learning to read all over again! It reminds me of a secret language kids used to play with each other, like the H is really an "n" and P is really an "r".... I try to read as much Russian as I can get my eyes on no matter if it's jibberish to me. It's amazing when you're doing all this, the brain really sucks it all up and your neurons are changing. You can stop reading for months but when you do pick it up again it's easier than before. Somehow. Someway! You think it's like learning how to ride a bicycle? I can't stop now because I'll soon forget! One boo boo I made was to memorize words on a glossary page. Too many words on one page is distracting. Index cards really really speed up the learning process, with one side of the english word, the other side the russian cyrillic word with phonetic spelling in small print. Learning phrases are very helpful, you can break down each word so you learn several words in one card. I'm saving grammar and spelling as the last step. Does anyone find that the learning gets easier as you go on? I guess it's like how easy it is to pick up words in a native language, but harder for foreign words unless you intuitively get the feel of its structure. Anyone who feels discouraged with Russian, no matter they say it's such a difficult language to learn, please don't give up! I flipped on a Chinese channel one night and saw a ring of people from all parts of the world, european, indian, african, hispanic = they all spoke Chinese fluently! Any tips on learning? I'm also curious to know how many languages do you speak? I'm of Chinese descent so Russian is the goal of my third tongue. Oops! I said too much!
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wavetossed WayToRussified Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 339	Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 9:12 pm    Post subject: There are two rules. Follow them religiously and you will find that it is EASY to learn Russian and lots of fun as well. 1. Spend some time on Russian every day, 365 days a year, no exceptions. Spend as much time as you can. Maybe some days you will be busy and a half hour is all you can manage. But on other days you can spend several hours on Russian, scattered throughout the day. 2. Use Russian in every way you can possibly imagine. This is the key to success at doing it every day. If reading gets boring, then listen to Russkoe Radio or watch a film or practice some audio course. You really do need to get imaginative to think of new ways to make Russian interesting for you. Maybe buy some kids books? Or buy the bible in Russian? Or buy a kids bible in Russian? Or maybe you could read some text out loud? If your mind is frazzled then read out loud a passage that you have already read, or if you can focus, then read a new passage, check new vocabulary at the end of each sentence, then read the sentence out loud a second time. Or have an imaginary conversation in Russian with yourself or with an imaginary person. If you are home alone, you can speak this conversation out loud. If you can't think of a word, then try to say the same thing in a different way. Then, at the end of the day, look up the words you need in a dictionary and learn them. By doing this you are creating your own personal vocabulary of words you really do use in your own speech habits. Repeat things that you have already studied, but only after 6 months have passed. You will be amazed at how much easier it is but you will notice some subtleties that you missed the first time. Two rules. One requires dogged unrelenting pursuit of the goal. The other requires creativity and imagination. Together they will give you greater fluency in Russian than 90% of foreigners. And you can apply the same technique to other languages as well. You need to learn both the visual language and the audible language. Reading all kinds of things. Writing all kinds of things on keyboards, printed letters and using script handwriting. Listening to songs, movie dialogue, conversations on the bus, your own voice, phone calls. Speaking to friends, lost tourists in the street, yourself. And don't forget the power of the subconcious mind. Play Russkoe Radio or Golos Rossii all night long while you sleep. Watch films in Russian even if you can't follow every word. Often the subconcious fills in the blanks and teaches you new words or the real meaning of words that you thought you knew.
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ME Frequent Guest Joined: 22 Jun 2005 Posts: 14	Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:55 pm    Post subject: wavetossed wrote: Two rules. One requires dogged unrelenting pursuit of the goal. The other requires creativity and imagination. Together they will give you greater fluency in Russian than 90% of foreigners. And you can apply the same technique to other languages as well. This is an amazing truth... You can aply it not only to other languages, but to any area of life! I've been learning russian for about 1.5years now. And the first year I lived in a rural village in the Ukraine where there were only one other person who could speak english. There I learned alot! I didn't need a program or anything... Life was the program! Now I live in Moscow where I mainly work with english speaking people. After some time I realize that I am not learning all that much. I've also come across some great applications that you can download free (and legal) from the internet that helps alot with vocabluary. My bigest problem is the GRAMMER... I always seem to offend sombody by saying ты when it should have been вы. But as for the Language... I LOVE IT Me
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DITTRICH WayToRussified Joined: 13 Jun 2004 Posts: 429 Location: London UK	Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:13 pm    Post subject: I had to learn russian for my job in the far east. There were 2 other foreigners but in my (finance) department no-one spoke any english. You learn fast that way. It took me 3 months. My only recommendation is to learn the alphabet by heart first off. You need that just to be able to pronounce words. Les
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Woman Just Starting Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 2 Location: Moscow, Russia	Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:40 pm    Post subject: Learning method Dear mr. Wavetossed! You have a great experience in learning languages, so PLEASE, give me an advice how to reanimate my english, using a penpal, to improve my english in case, when I took a good english courses 10 years ago & never! have been using english up to now. When I read any texts, I could understand everything, but my problem is grammar, of course, & it's very hadr to me to formulate my ideas in english. I frequently take myself at my ideas that I try to think in english. Thanks a lot.
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mediashark Moderator Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Posts: 1599	Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:19 am    Post subject: When you've got your basics down, then the next step is to.... Think in Russian! Don't translate your thoughts into speech/writing! When you do this you are subconsciously learning every hour of the day.
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MrSpice Lounge Wizard Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 3431	Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 6:18 pm    Post subject: I think the rule is same as in learning any other language. You need to learn new words, learn pronunciation, read easy text first, moving on to books and newspapers. Listen to TV programs. Watch movies with subtitles that will help you learn better. Communicate with native speakers. Visit the country. In the US, you can watch russian channels on your sattelite or cable system. For example, when I studied English in Russia, I used to buy USA Today and read articles in it, circles the words and expressions I did not understand, wrote them down with translation on pieces of paper and studied them while I riding the bus or in the subway on my way to work/school.
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init6 WayToRussified Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 363 Location: Москва, Россия	Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:50 pm    Post subject: I don't know of any Russian satellite channels available here (granted, I'm in Florida, not NYC). Which ones? Any way to view these online? I've downloaded tons of Russian movies, but most of them are badly encoding and won't even play. But back to learning methods, I tend to carry my "Beginner's Russian" book with me everywhere. Any spare moment, I'm reading it. I use tact, obviously, but I don't mind reading aloud (softly) in public, no matter if I get some strange looks, hehehe. I'm a bit of a drinker, so I take my Russian book to the pub with me almost every time I go. Strange looks, indeed, but my sitting there drinking beer and reading aloud from a Russian book has led to far more interesting conversations, and meeting interesting people, than it has to any sort of problems. I second "think in Russian." I still catch myself thinking in German, and I haven't been to Germany in 9 years. It's a slow process, but perseverance is definitely the key. I have a long, long way to go even to become functional in Russian, but I'm committed. That's what it takes in any language. This has got to be one of the best threads on the entire forum.
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wavetossed WayToRussified Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 339	Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:53 pm    Post subject: You must be using a Mac. Try downloading VideoLan or VLC for OS/X That will play anything except IV41 and IV50 codecs.
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e VIP Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 654	Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 9:24 pm    Post subject: Quote: PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:50 am Post subject: I don't know of any Russian satellite channels available here (granted, I'm in Florida, not NYC). Which ones? Comcast Digital does carry a Russian channel as well as the French TV5 and German DW TV. But only in certain markets i.e: the major cities with lots of Russians and Europeans. I have access to the channel but as you say Casey, you don't because you're in Florida. Just like here, it doesn't come standard so you have to order the channels separate. If you're willing to shell out the cash (which is pointless since you're leaving anyway) get DirectTV or Dish satelite network and you can get the channels. Check your local library Casey. The local library here has friggin shelves full of DVDs and Tapes of Russian movies. You might be able to find one or two. The tapes and DVDs are formatted to NTSC so they'll play in player fine.
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overseas_expat VIP Joined: 11 Jan 2005 Posts: 741 Location: Moscow	Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Learning method Woman wrote: Dear mr. Wavetossed! You have a great experience in learning languages, so PLEASE, give me an advice how to reanimate my english, using a penpal, to improve my english in case, when I took a good english courses 10 years ago & never! have been using english up to now. When I read any texts, I could understand everything, but my problem is grammar, of course, & it's very hadr to me to formulate my ideas in english. I frequently take myself at my ideas that I try to think in english. Thanks a lot. Woman, I think your English is pretty darned good. God knows it's better than my Russian.....I'm so ashamed when I hear little toddlers who speak better Russian than I do. English grammar is easier than Russian grammar for all practical purposes, but stop worrying, we don't care! I think Americans are unconcerned when foreigners speak imperfect English. We usually understand what you're getting at, and often that's plenty good enough. As long as we get the gist of the meaning we're ok. Don't worry so much about perfection. Americans flunk English all the time. I wish the Russians were so forgiving of errors and mispronounciations. They're brutal. One wrong vowel sound and they have no idea what you're talking about, throw up their hands, and walk away. Russians seem to have zero tolerance for badly spoken Russian. You people need to mellow out some.
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init6 WayToRussified Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 363 Location: Москва, Россия	Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:40 pm    Post subject: They probably have some in south Florida, there are a load of eastern Europeans down there, but I'm smack in the middle. Anyhow, yes, I'm on a Mac, but I have VLC. I meant, are there websites or anything that "compile" links to Russian broadcasts? I'd love to be able to watch NTV, hehehe.
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dmndxalin Frequent Guest Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 20 Location: las vegas, nevada	Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:45 am    Post subject: !!!!!MUSIC!!!!! THE BEST WAY TO LEARN ANY LANGUAGE, MY METHOD: ARTIST OR GROUP+LYRICS+DICCIONARY+TRANSLATE, IF YOU HAVE A RUSSIAN FRIENDS IS A "BIG" PLUS
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