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5_Zvehzda
Just Starting
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:00 pm Post subject: Russians learning English |
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This question is directed towards the Russians on this forum, but input is welcome from anyone from all over. How long have all of you been studying English? For how many months/years of your life has it taken you to the level you are at now? Many of the Russian members have great communication - Dimitri’s writing is excellent, Alice and Victor are really good, RussianBoy sounds like he’s beginning, etc.. Just wondering how much time and effort it’s taken everyone to learn English - considering the various differences between the Russian and English language.  |
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Camrade
VIP
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 516
Location: Ñàíêò-Ïåòåðáóðã
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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I've been studying English since 2nd form at school
So now i still study English at the university... however i don't care about my grammar or spelling when i write into this forum i just want to be understandable. |
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AliceFromMoscow
WayToRussified
Joined: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 411
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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| i have studied it at school 3 hours a week during 5 years |
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brandalpayne11
Talk Show Host
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 245
Location: NC, US
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Alice do u get to interact with english speaking people often. The reason i ask is because in our earlier conversations u said that u wouldn't feel comfortable talking with someone who spoke exclusively english. |
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AliceFromMoscow
WayToRussified
Joined: 10 Jul 2004
Posts: 411
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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No, not often...
I feel absolutely comfortable "speaking" english on the internet... But in real life i need more practice... |
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waytorussia
Frequent Guest
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:42 am Post subject: |
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I started to learn English when I was like 6, because my father thought it was a good idea. He took me to some school for children, where I learned the phrase "what is your name", was given a lot of cool games e.g. these images with pictures (fox, plate, etc.) and their name in English written on them, and I stopped going to this course after I went there twice, because (I guess) they thought I wasn't so motivated. However, after that I was often playing with my father these English picture-text card games, so that was a good practice. Then I stopped for a couple of years, and then when I was 9 I found a "teach yourself English" book and started to take lessons one by one. For some reason I was really motivated and organized myself completely in this, and quite quickly I could say things like "This is my pencil" or "I am from Moscow", etc. Then my father again helped me a lot by buying a few English-language study films and tapes, I also bought a few myself, some children's books, some more serious books, and I was just exploring it on my own quite regularly. Then by 12 I was already the best in my school (but well, if you saw that school... it was really funny... we weren't studying but doing all kinds of stuff there), and then when I was 14 I went to England for 3 weeks and could speak English quite fluently by then also.
Then a few more tapes, some John Grisham's books, some real interactions, a few more trips abroad, working as a graphic designer in a big Dutch-owned publishing house in Moscow when I was 16 and my boss was a great American man called Mark who taught me a lot of things, including how to speak better English.
After that I was just watching films, speaking with people, studying it a bit, then I made this website, so all this was a very good practice. Especially speaking with people was really helpful.
However now I feel that I'm in a kind of trap, because I can explain myself, but my grammar is not perfect and it's hard to make it better, because I really need to always have somebody checking how I write and how I speak and of course in most situations you won't have it. So, I'm thinking about getting some more advanced grammar books and finally learning these things... Like I still don't understand the articles very well, and sometimes my sentences are too Russian-like... But I find it's also cute... |
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VictoR-Tdot
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:45 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | No, not often...
I feel absolutely comfortable "speaking" english on the internet... But in real life i need more practice... |
So I should come visit...give you more practice 
In Russia I learned a little bit in gr. 1 &2....but mainly i learned english here (canada)....because I went to school right when i came...and I think it's easier to pick up a different language when you are a kid....so it only took a few years to be able to speak ok, although i was in an ESL class till gr. 8.
My grandma...when she came here she was completely blind and still managed to learn english in a few years at her age.
Anyway, I've lived here 11 years so I don't even have an accent anymore, parents still do.[/quote]
Last edited by VictoR-Tdot on Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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waytorussia
Frequent Guest
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:45 am Post subject: |
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 my previous post was really bad english.... but it's really late now also... |
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VictoR-Tdot
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:50 am Post subject: |
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It wasn't bad.
If you want I could go through it and point out any mistakes I find...dont want to just do that without asking cause some people take offence. |
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waytorussia
Frequent Guest
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| No, it's OK, I can do it myself It's just sometimes I take pleasure in writing the way I want because all the rest of the time I need to be really careful about the texts. After all, 80% of 500+ pages on this site were written by me... |
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VictoR-Tdot
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:55 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | After all, 80% of 500+ pages on this site were written by me... |
Oh yeah I forgot 
| Quote: | | I take pleasure in writing the way I want because all the rest of the time I need to be really careful about the texts. |
At one point I was starting to forget the spelling of words because I used msn too much and would never spell anything correctly . |
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markhagelin
Talk Show Host
Joined: 31 Oct 2004
Posts: 208
Location: Maine, USA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| WayToRussia wrote: | | my previous post was really bad english.... but it's really late now also... |
No it wasn't, I've seen Americans who can barely read or write.
The majority of the Russians on this forum are very knowledgeable on the correct usage of English and it shows, so don't cut yourselves short.
You all deserve a pat on the back.
I think it's easier for any of you to learn English than it is for me to learn Russian.
I have had 3 years of French, 2 years of Latin and 1 year of German. It is easier when you don't have to learn a new alphabet and new words at the same time.
And unless I am mistaken the Roman/Latin alphabet has less letters than the Cyrillic.
Mark
Last edited by markhagelin on Fri Dec 10, 2004 3:49 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Dr-Fauste
Site Admin
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 2:46 am Post subject: |
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I laugh. Dmitri, you are a hundred times better than me.
My native language is English and I am awful. I have a form of Dyslexia for writing called Dysgraphia. I actually find Russian easier to write than English. |
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theworkingman
Just Starting
Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:43 am Post subject: How long for a Russian to be able to speak English? |
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| Lets just say a friend is engaged to a beautiful Russian lady who speaks no English but she is learning and he speaks a very little bit of Russian. How long if they both work hard until they will be able to communicate well? |
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vitalsigns
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 2784
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| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:45 am Post subject: Re: How long for a Russian to be able to speak English? |
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Good bye!
Last edited by vitalsigns on Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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