Russian Language Self-Study

[akdiver 3]

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

Highly unlikely you will learn anything by osmosis. If you want something, you'll have to put some effort into it.

Cheers!

AKDiver

[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.

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?

TRS is short for The Rosetta Stone Language Learning System. It is PC based, and utilizes audio and text in association with pictures showing people, objects and actions. It seems a bit basic, but I am only into the second unit. I saw that it would be difficult to build dialog with this system, so I looked for some alternative to add to TRS. So now, I alternate days between TRS and Liguaphone, this seems to be getting me the best of all 3 worlds (spoken basics, written and conecting dialog).

I'll PM you to see about helping you with some MP3s to listen to.

[russ 1]

Some good news from me for a change.

I started a Russian Couse ( Russian III, I'm so ambitious) a few weeks ago. Speech is still difficult for me, but my reading comprehension is already much better.

Since I've already invested so much time into this, I've decided to continue with the course. (I have no idea when I will ever need to know Russian now, but it is a good activity to keep my mind off of things).

The textbook I'm using now is Голоса, кинга 2, though I still use the Princeton University materials too.

Thanks for your observations about TRS! I've used it in the past, but I'm not very impressed with it. There is no grammer instruction, but grammer is really critical in Russian. Without knowing the cases and declensions, it is very difficult to learn much. (you only need to learn 5 of them). Fortunately, Russian verbs, tenses and spelling are all very easy. (Princeton course covers this well).

Also, ramber.ru has an outstanding Russian-English dictionary. ( Click on Словари ). I use this all the time.

[John and Anna 0]

I was just curious what others here have been doing. Here are my general observations:

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

o Pimsleur Very expensive, but good. (An Air Force buddy of mine studied Russian for his new job and had these). Will not teach any writing or grammer, but is outstanding for vocabulary and pronounciation. I have them in my iPod now. If you are a serious student, you probably want these -(find them cheap, like from the library)

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 Teach Yourself Russian Grammer Looks good. I just bought this for the exercises - my grammer books didn't have enough. Starting to work them out now.

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).

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.

o Teach Yourself X in 14 days I've got a bunch of these, usally a phrase book and CD. Worthless, for the most part.

o Dictionaries I use the Oxford one ($5). There are a number that are good. The one on the rambler's website is said to be good as well (the built-in one on my mac is only OK, but convenient.) My wife only uses dictionaries entirely in English.

o Movies, TV Мастер и Маргарита, ироня судбу, Интердевоцка... My wife has a bunch of these. I still don't understand most of them. It will probably be a few months before I can watch them at all. I typically watch them in Russian with Russian Subtitles. Irony of Fate, which I saw about 500 times in Russia, I understand the best - but watching the same movie over and over again can get boring.

o Letters I've sent exactly one in Russian, to Russia. Not sure how much this helps me a this point. I will probably start writing one a week to my mother-in-law.

I'm not sure what is best for more advanced textbooks.

I'm also considering taking some courses here in FL (USF). Cheap, but I'm not sure how much they will help.

Great threat

What a good idea - childrens books!!!

I bought Rosetta Stone did not get that far with it.

[slim 1,525]

Childrens' books work well for memorization of objects too.

Along with that, you can post "stickies" (post-it notes) with the English/Русскии labels all over your home to quickly learn what stuff is called.

[russ 1]

Childrens' books work well for memorization of objects too.

Along with that, you can post "stickies" (post-it notes) with the English/Русскии labels all over your home to quickly learn what stuff is called.

I think for most people, drilling vocabulary isn't that important at first. You pick up enough words studying anyway. Knowledge of the grammar has been the biggest challenge to me (when to use the prepositional or accusative case, spelling rules, etc. ) The only thing my professor wants me to work on is grammar.

Сегодня, погода очен харкая во Флориде... Я хочу зима!

[Marc and Olga 0]

Childrens' books work well for memorization of objects too.

Along with that, you can post "stickies" (post-it notes) with the English/Русскии labels all over your home to quickly learn what stuff is called.

I think for most people, drilling vocabulary isn't that important at first. You pick up enough words studying anyway. Knowledge of the grammar has been the biggest challenge to me (when to use the prepositional or accusative case, spelling rules, etc. ) The only thing my professor wants me to work on is grammar.

Сегодня, погода очен харкая во Флориде... Я хочу зима!

очень

Darn that soundless ь

[russ 1]

очень

Darn that soundless ь

Getting Russian spell-checking working has been very nice (doesn't work here though).

But yeah, my spelling and grammar are still horrible. We'll see how it is at the end of the year.

[akdiver 3]

From what I can tell, about a month into my second semester of studying Russian, grammar is EVERYTHING. It's much more complicated than English.

If you're not getting grammar in whatever process you are using to learn Russian, then you're really not getting much.

Personally, don't think there is any substitute for taking a course. If you don't want to do this, at least consider working your way through a course textbook. The one we use is Troika. I recommend giving it and the workbook that matches it a try. There are some audio exercises for it on-line, you can try that too.

Check this:

http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=i...&bcsId=2271

and this:

http://mllc.utsa.edu/troika/student/Contents.htm

Good luck!

AKDiver

[Satellite 1]

Я хочу зима!

You made one more mistake in this sentence.

It is Я хочу зимy! Rather than "зима".

[russ 1]

Я хочу зима!

You made one more mistake in this sentence.

It is Я хочу зимy! Rather than "зима".

Damn accusitave case. Твою матъ. My professor encourages me to try and make mistakes (I have learned too many bad words, though

How about: Осенью во Флориде вывает очень харко. Я хочу зиму!

[Oregonfiancee 0]

Я хочу зима!

You made one more mistake in this sentence.

It is Я хочу зимy! Rather than "зима".

Damn accusitave case. Твою матъ. My professor encourages me to try and make mistakes (I have learned too many bad words, though

How about: Осенью во Флориде вывает очень харко. Я хочу зиму!

Осенью во Флориде бывает очень жарко. Я хочу зиму!

But I liked how you wrote "Твою мать" Very Russian! I was laughing.

Your russian is actually pretty OK, you have some small mistakes but it is all understandable.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Oregonfiancee

[russ 1]

Я хочу зима!

You made one more mistake in this sentence.

It is Я хочу зимy! Rather than "зима".

Damn accusitave case. Твою матъ. My professor encourages me to try and make mistakes (I have learned too many bad words, though

How about: Осенью во Флориде вывает очень харко. Я хочу зиму!

Осенью во Флориде бывает очень жарко. Я хочу зиму!

But I liked how you wrote "Твою мать" Very Russian! I was laughing.

Your russian is actually pretty OK, you have some small mistakes but it is all understandable.

I have enough trouble spelling in English.

[slim 1,525]

The only place where spelling is truly important is in automated translation websites.

When it comes to actual communication with a native speaker of any language, knowing root words is all that's really necessary. You're not going to be spewing poetry, but you will be getting on rather nicely in your target language.

However, it is nice to get the grammer and all that down as well. We all know what it's like to be speaking or reading in English and see (grown) people making mistakes when they should know better! But, that's where you, being a non-native speaker get a little leeway.

[Oregonfiancee 0]

Damn accusitave case. Твою матъ. My professor encourages me to try and make mistakes (I have learned too many bad words, though

How about: Осенью во Флориде вывает очень харко. Я хочу зиму!

Осенью во Флориде бывает очень жарко. Я хочу зиму!

But I liked how you wrote "Твою мать" Very Russian! I was laughing.

Your russian is actually pretty OK, you have some small mistakes but it is all understandable.

I have enough trouble spelling in English.

????????

I actually enjoyed how you you said "Твою мать". I was laughing because it was funny to hear russian slang from American. In Russia this "Твою мать" is very common. I did not laugh at your spelling or something (but spelling is important too because one letter sometimes can change the meaning of a whole word, so I just put your attention to this). I have lots of troubles with English myself and of course had no idea to put you down. Russian language is much more difficult to learn than English.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Oregonfiancee