Count me in as well.
Why on earth did you pick Russian?I dabbled in Russian many, many years ago, but did not pursue it as I turned my attention to Romance languages instead. That was back in the pre-internet, Cold War era, so resources were few and far between, and it was almost suspicious to learn Russian, unless you worked in the foreign service or military intelligence
. Now almost 30 years later I took it up again. I love the language itself, the way it sounds, the puzzle of the grammar, all that I find very attractive. More importantly though is that knowing Russian gives access to a huge culture. I have always enjoyed reading the classics, in particular Dostyevsky, but over the last few years I have also discovered the rich contemporary post-Soviet culture: music, films, literature. A minor consideration is that Russian can also be useful in my job. I have many Russian colleagues and we deal a lot with the country. Finally, given the current geopolitical situation I also enjoy being able to get the "Russian perspective" on world events directly from the sources, not through the translation and interpretation of "Western" media.
How long have you been studying?I have been studying more or less actively for the last five years. I say more or less, because overall I do not put in that many hours per month. Unfortunately I don't have much free time for languages right now.
What are your goals?Currently I am at a B2-ish level in reading an listening comprehension, somewhat lower when it comes to speaking and very weak in writing. I aim at a C1 level in all skills, but I have no timeframe for achieving this.
Anything else you feel like sharingI have stopped using courses, although I do go back and refer to them from time to time if I want to check a specific grammar point or a construction. I read as much as I can, both extensively and intensively, and basically try to learn by doing things I enjoy with the language. I do need to work more on internalising certain grammar points, so I will try to take a more structured approach to it than I have done over the past couple of years.