Re: Russian Language Learning
Osoulo Lejeune
About 14 years ago I started learning Russian on my own, and I stuck with it. Today I can read novels in Russian, understand movies, radio interviews, and speak quite comfortably, although with mistakes. I have made presentations in Russian to language learning conferences in Russia, via Skype, and have been interviewed in Russian.
I had always had a fascination for the vast country of Russia. I had read some Russian novels in translation as a teenager, and have always thought it would be cool to be able to read these in the original Russian. The language sounds lovely, as if spoken from the depths of the legendary mysterious Russian soul.
One of the motivations for learning Russian this last time, was to test out my approach to language learning. In my view, traditional language instruction makes much too much of a fuss about grammar. By explaining the language to a learner before the learner has had any experience with the language, these well meaning language instructors just throw up a big obstacle to what could be a more enjoyable interaction with the language. If the teacher actually expects the learner to produce the language correctly, based on a bunch of grammar rules, this just compounds the problem.
I was so pleased with my foray into Russian, that I subsequently have taught myself Czech, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Greek using these principles, and am now working on Arabic and Persian.
It is no surprise that the Russian writing system is almost parallel to the Latin alphabet, since both the Russian and Latin alphabets come from the Greek alphabet. There are a few letters that are unique to Russian. There is also a soft sign (Ь) and hard sign (Ъ) which I essentially ignore but need to know when writing. (I use a spell checker to make sure I get them right.) Similarly there are two letters [Шш and Щщ] that apparently are pronounced differently, but to me sound the same.
There are some letters that look the same as Latin letters, but they are in fact pronounced differently. The old Soviet Union was written CCCP which would have been SSSR in the Latin alphabet. Sometimes these letters that resemble different letters in the Latin alphabet are the most difficult to get used to since they are hardwired in our minds.
So my advice is to be aware of some of these grammar issues, and watch for them as you discover the language. But rather than trying to nail these things down, or worrying about your inability to nail them down, try to enjoy the language. Read, listen, watch movies, talk to people when you can, ask questions, and just immerse yourself. You will find yourself going back again and again to explanations and grammar tables when you are curious. To some extent this will help, but mostly it will be your involvement with the language, engagement with the language that will teach you, as your brain gradually gets used to it.
Disagree .Echo Moskvi is special program ,and it doesnt show all Russians behavior at all. To follow your logic,Americans are great liars just because I hear a lot of lie from American TV,but its not true! So,as Russian,have to admit,that some Russians know very well what they are talking about ,but some dont not at all! Americans are the same and even worse! Im seing Americans very assured in anything they believe,even its a complete nonsense .
I think, that it is better not to learn cases by rote, but first of all master all another subjects of essential grammar and then to practice cases. I think that it is helpful to read text for better understanding of cases. Generally, cases and perfective aspect of verbs are the only two difficulties in Russia, but it can be learned for one day(I mean, theoretical part), everything else is much easier!
I think that Russian is not so hard to learn, as for example Arabic or Japanese. Because the Russian alphabet is more understandable and easier for learning than hieroglyphics. For example, if you are trying to translate a Russian text file to English, you need to understand the meaning of words and their synonyms. In the case of the Japanese language, one must be able to distinguish hiragana from romaji and others.
Below we have highlighted a number of free Russian language resources that we have found especially helpful. You can find these and additional resources for Russian and our other languages and regions in the Resource Library. If you are a language teacher, student, or resource creator with a resource you would like to see us feature on the website please email us at cee...@uchicago.edu.
An Open Source website that compiles definitions from a number of other free dictionaries on the internet. It currently has 121,611 translation entries available for Russian-English and English-Russian searches.
An online dictionary and translator that now supports tens of languages but was originally built for Russian. It displays definitions from a number of proprietary and specialty dictionaries as well as allows users to add new words to flashcard decks.
Sputnik Textbook (Part 1 and 2) is an introductory Russian course designed to develop basic reading, writing, listening and communication skills. Sputnik is designed both for classroom use at the university/college level as well as a helpful self-study guide for beginning learners of Russian. It is a companion to the Russian For Everyone website by the same author, which also contains a number of introductory lessons on grammar and pronunciation.
Although the textbook itself is not freely accessible online, the interactive online workbook that accompanies the textbook can be accessed free of charge and offers an innovative, easy, and thorough way to speak, and read Russian confidently. The website is full of videos, audio, and self-correcting exercises. The enriching material on the website reinforces the basics of the lessons in the book, helping you acquire Russian skills in a natural, engaging way.
For more advanced learners this online multimedia system allows students to learn Russian grammar and vocabulary through works of classic Russian literature. Students can explore the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy and Blok, each presented in their historical context. The website offers annotated versions of the texts alongside spoken Russian recordings, video discussions, and interactive exercises.
This extensive list of web resources to assist students learning the Russian language was developed by SRAS and is now hosted on Folkways. It has some of the resources listed here as well as many many more.
A service of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, the Global Language Online Support System offers 650 free interactive Russian lessons at 4 different levels, with an emphasis on reading and listening comprehension.
Rockin Russian is designed to give students exposure to the Russian language and culture through the medium of Russian music videos. Students are able to perfect their grammar while rocking out to music videos from Russia's pop stars. Based on Russian music videos from MTV Russia, Rockin' Russian is supplemented with exercise materials focusing on pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammar and cultural features. Parts of the videos are embedded into exercises in each category that students can revisit, strengthening their language skills.
Many years ago, we built this website to encourage friendship and understanding between people all over the world. We also wish to remind everyone that Putin does not represent the views of ordinary Russians. As such, we encourage everyone to continue acting with kindness towards each another.
To our dear friends in Russia. We urge you to spread the truth and stand against violence. The Russian media has falsely implied that this invasion is a defensive action. It is not. All of Ukraine has been attacked. Please encourage your friends and family to seek alternate sources of information.
If you want to learn Russian then you have come to the right place! We offer a free online Russian language course for everyone. All our Russian lessons are free, and we intend to keep it that way. We have audio and video recorded by native Russian speakers. Our site is growing and we are adding more and more features to help you learn to speak Russian.
Are you learning the basics of the Russian language for you next holiday? Perhaps you looking for a head start before studying or working in Russia? Or do you wish to become a fluent Russian speaker? There are many reasons people love to learn Russian. It is one of the world's most rich and expressive languages. Regardless of the reason let us assure you that it is worth the effort. We have everything you need to get started learning right here.
In our first lesson you will learn the Russian alphabet. If you can sound out words and place names then you have a huge advantage while travelling in Russia. There are may Russian words that are similar to English they just look different. If you know the Russian alphabet you can also read signs, menus and place names. It may surprise you to learn that the Russian alphabet is easy! Unlike English, the Russian alphabet has one letter for each sound.
Lesson three will teach you basic phrases in the Russian language. By the end of lesson four you will be able to count, say hello and good-bye and order yourself a drink in a Russian bar or cafe. You can learn the basics of Russian quickly and it will help you an enormous amount while travelling. You will be able to see and enjoy more on your Russian holiday.
This site is still fairly new, but we are regularly adding new lessons and content to the site.You can start each lesson by clicking on the link to the left.Each lesson will introduce new concepts about the Russian language in the main lesson section.Each lesson will then have additional sections with exercises and other detailed information to help you learn Russian quickly.
Be sure to bookmark our site before you start learning Russian so you can find your way back here to continue your lessons.If you like our site, please be sure to link to us from your personal blog or webpage. Telling others about our site by linking directly to us in forumsand other places on the web is the best way you can help us. The more visitors we have, the more we will be able to spend time adding new Russian content.
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