Learning Russian
 

I'd like to learn Russian, both speaking and reading but honestly reading/writing is more important to me.

I already know Spanish fairly well and a bit of German. Obviously this won't help me directly with Russian but it does help in the sense that I've had some success learning languages before and am comfortable learning new syntax and grammar and things (everybody says the first new language you learn is the hardest and it just gets easier after that-- I definitely had that experience when I started to learn German after knowing Spanish).

Anyway, what's the best way to do this short of moving to Moscow? I learned Spanish and German in classroom settings and, while it was good to have regular interaction in the language, I felt the classes moved slower than I would've liked. I could hire a private tutor but I'm a cheapskate and would prefer something cheaper if I'm not giving up too much. I found a thread in EDF from a while back by private joker asking about learning Chinese ( here ) and there's some good general advice there but I thought I'd see if anybody has any other suggestions.

I've kind of started on my own and just learning the cyrillic alphabet is really really hard.... I haven't learned an alphabet in like 27 years [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Learning Russian
 

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I'd like to learn Russian

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

Re: Learning Russian
 

[img]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5mYI9ERHrIAAqw6jzbkF/SIG=12h8c9g6m/EXP=1195787656/**http%3A//www.gmrmedia.com/dolph/gallery/pictures/dolph-m175.jpg[/img]
I must break you.

Re: Learning Russian
 

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[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to learn Russian

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like Russian literature, Russian music, and Russian opera. Reading stuff in translation has always irritated me. I'm going to Moscow in a couple weeks so that's gotten me more interested in the language, too. I'm obviously not expecting to learn much between now and then.

I'd like to learn French, Arabic, and Chinese too but one thing at a time.

Re: Learning Russian
 

Learning Russian is incredibly hard. It is a language you can only learn by being immersed in it. Speaking it is hard enough - writing... boy...

Re: Learning Russian
 

I found the conversational russian i picked up in Moscow pretty fine to get started on. It's a whole new alphabet to get used to, but it is that, it's not like learning ideographic or syllabic scripts.

So you should get a feel for writing, reading and speaking quite well, and as ever, listening is the hardest. Just getting books/CDs like Rosetta Stone (fwiw i've never used it), Berlitz etc. or taking evening classes should do you fine.

Also, it's a good idea to learn Russian since if the cold war restarts and this time Putin gets the win, we'll all be saying Na Zdarovye as we sink our vodkas and eat pirogi. Maybe Mandarin is another you should consider...

Re: Learning Russian
 

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Learning Russian is incredibly hard. It is a language you can only learn by being immersed in it. Speaking it is hard enough - writing... boy...

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I'm a very visual person; reading and writing languages has always been easier for me than speaking/understanding. I know it's going to be wicked hard; I'm just looking for a good way to get into it. I know a whopping 100 words/phrases right now (learned from a friend who is a native speaker and thrown into an Excel spreadhseet) but nothing about grammar, structure, etc.

Re: Learning Russian
 

Oh boy. Ohhhh boy. Godspeed.

ps Alphabet and reading is by far the easiest part. We read exactly the way its written, no tricks or missing sounds (like "th" or "oo" or "e" at the end in English). Speaking on a "I understands u, u understands me, ve is fiends" level not a big problem either. But gramma, spelling and writing - we spend 10 years studying the language at school and still almost noone can write correctly. Understanding the oral I guess may be a problem too due to a big number of dialects and slang.

Re: Learning Russian
 

ya ne dumayu eta tak slozhna

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
ya ne dumayu eta tak slozhna

[/ QUOTE ]

te ne dumayesh pravelna

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ya ne dumayu eta tak slozhna

[/ QUOTE ]

te ne dumayesh pravelna

[/ QUOTE ]stalin politburo trotsky putin neit, ya?

Re: Learning Russian
 

See what I am talking about? 5 mistakes in two sentences.

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to learn Russian

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.playboy.com/magazine/inte...ia_2006_12.jpg

Wish there was a Russian foreign language program at my HS back in the day, large Russian/Ukranian population and even the hottest Eastern European girls got absolutely NO love from any American guys [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ya ne dumayu eta tak slozhna

[/ QUOTE ]

te ne dumayesh pravelna

[/ QUOTE ]stalin politburo trotsky putin neit, ya?

[/ QUOTE ]

ya tvoy nrag?

Re: Learning Russian
 

CIA listening into this thread

http://www.goodstorm.com/files/image...34BC24B5_3.jpg

Re: Learning Russian
 

Rosetta Stone

Best software out there to learn languages. Used by the US diplomatic corps for example.

Pretty sure it's mentioned in the Chinese thread as well.

Re: Learning Russian
 

My friend checked out Russian a year ago (just a bit) and he says the alphabet is pretty easy since it's all phonetic.

Also, French would be easier. Arabic and Chinese, not so much.

I'm bilingual (French/English) and tried to learn German. Event hough German is a harder language than English to begin with, I still find the fact that it's my 3rd to make it harder than the second. Maybe that's because it's much easier to get immeresed in English. Or maybe that's because English words will pop in my mind when I try to think of the German one. Either way, good luck.

Grats on trying, I still have my 3rd language-learning thing on hold.

Re: Learning Russian
 

sightless picked up a girl on the subway because he speaks Russian. true story.

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
Rosetta Stone

Best software out there to learn languages. Used by the US diplomatic corps for example.

Pretty sure it's mentioned in the Chinese thread as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've looked at that software and it's pretty pricey. I think somebody in the Chinese thread panned it as being weak on vocabulary (or maybe I read that somewhere else). Have you (or anyone else) actually used it? It seems most posts about it have been second-hand.

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to learn Russian, both speaking and reading but honestly reading/writing is more important to me.

I already know Spanish fairly well and a bit of German. Obviously this won't help me directly with Russian but it does help in the sense that I've had some success learning languages before and am comfortable learning new syntax and grammar and things (everybody says the first new language you learn is the hardest and it just gets easier after that-- I definitely had that experience when I started to learn German after knowing Spanish).

Anyway, what's the best way to do this short of moving to Moscow? I learned Spanish and German in classroom settings and, while it was good to have regular interaction in the language, I felt the classes moved slower than I would've liked. I could hire a private tutor but I'm a cheapskate and would prefer something cheaper if I'm not giving up too much. I found a thread in EDF from a while back by private joker asking about learning Chinese ( here ) and there's some good general advice there but I thought I'd see if anybody has any other suggestions.

I've kind of started on my own and just learning the cyrillic alphabet is really really hard.... I haven't learned an alphabet in like 27 years [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I took three years of intensive russian in college, and i would not have considered myself a particuarly proficient speaker. it is a very difficult language with a pretty complex grammar (especially compared to english and spanish). My professor wrote what is apparently the leading textbook for introductory Russian (its called Golosa, fwiw) and I dont see how I could have done it without him. i think it would be difficult to learn a language like that w/o at least some kind of instructor to give you feedback.

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
I took three years of intensive russian in college, and i would not have considered myself a particuarly proficient speaker. it is a very difficult language with a pretty complex grammar (especially compared to english and spanish). My professor wrote what is apparently the leading textbook for introductory Russian (its called Golosa, fwiw) and I dont see how I could have done it without him. i think it would be difficult to learn a language like that w/o at least some kind of instructor to give you feedback.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for your input. I have a friend I chat with on IM a lot who is a native speaker so I can practice on her and get some feedback but I don't want to put the burden of teaching me completely on her.

Re: Learning Russian
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to learn Russian

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like Russian literature, Russian music, and Russian opera. Reading stuff in translation has always irritated me. I'm going to Moscow in a couple weeks so that's gotten me more interested in the language, too. I'm obviously not expecting to learn much between now and then.

I'd like to learn French, Arabic, and Chinese too but one thing at a time.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol yeah me too : ). get a private tutor, it's worth it. knowledge is worth a lot, it's an investment. what also could work just as well is if you found a Russian person who wants to trade lessons with you, you could teach them english, spanish or music or whatever you ahve to offer (sex?)

Re: Learning Russian
 

Livejournal is very popular in Russia; it has a pretty decent community of people trying to learn the language.

Re: Learning Russian
 

I've been married to a Russian for 6 years. Despite the fact that she emigrated from Russia when she was 2 yrs old she is fluent in the language. Every time we get together for a family occasion I remain eternally thankful that I do NOT speak it.

Having said that, you can download several learn to speak Russian programs from itunes which are rated pretty highly.

Good Luck.

Re: Learning Russian
 

You want to learn Russian for the literature? Pretty much every foreigner I know that speaks Russian fluently still reads the translated versions. It's a pretty fn hard language as it is, but then those books are a whole other ballgame. You might wanna set the bar a little lower if you're just starting out.

The alphabet on the other hand should only take like 2, 3 hrs tops WTF?

Re: Learning Russian
 

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The alphabet on the other hand should only take like 2, 3 hrs tops WTF?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, the alphabet wasn't tremendously difficult but relearning how to type is killing me. It takes me an hour to type one word in cyrillic because I have to hunt and peck at my keyboard [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] My main problem with the alphabet is the letters that look similar to Roman letters but aren't pronounced the same way-- when I'm sounding out unfamiliar words, my first impression of the sound is always the Roman one.

Re: Learning Russian
 

Pimsleur's courses are the best by far.