Russian Study Group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
Xmmm
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Languages: ru it tr
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Xmmm » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:25 am

Teango wrote:
blaurebell wrote:My "favourites" in the Russian language:

1. Verb aspect - arcane black magic that nobody seems to be able to explain and at least doubles the amount of vocabulary to learn.
2. Verbs of motion - It's doing my head in to go anywhere in Russian, since there seem to be a gazillion ways of getting a single verb wrong. I better just stay home.
3. Cases - Having the potential to make 3-20 additional mistakes in a single sentence and getting confused about who killed whom with what.
4. Participles - Why don't you just accumulate a gazillion verbs in one sentence to make them even harder to understand ...!
5. Word order - It's even more insane than German word order and that's saying quite something.

Oh wait, that's pretty much all of Russian grammar. :lol: :cry:

And if that weren't already enough to outwit a sleuth of bears...there's ударение (grammatical stress) roulette - placé your bеts now!


I think this is just a good example of why studying grammar is unnecessary and just plain wrong. :)

1. Read 20000 pages (preferably out loud)
2. Watch 1000 hours TV
3. Do Glossika
4. Do Ari's Chinesepod method

Massive exposure rules, grammar drools.
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Ещё раз сунешь голову туда — окажешься внутри. Поняла, Фемида? -- аигел

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blaurebell
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Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:24 pm
Location: Spain
Languages: German (N), English (C2), Spanish (B2-C1), French (B2+ passive), Italian (A2), Russian (Beginner)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby blaurebell » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:39 am

Xmmm wrote:Massive exposure rules, grammar drools.


In my experience massive exposure does indeed make a huge difference, but if you don't study grammar at all you only know that you're making a mistake, but not necessarily why or how to say it right. Otherwise there wouldn't be people who have been living in a country for more than 20 years and still make grammar mistakes all the time. I'd be so happy if massive exposure were enough, but sadly I believe that studying grammar is essential to get past B2 :cry:
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neofight78
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Posts: 539
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 8:02 pm
Location: Novosibirsk, Russia
Languages: English (N), Russian (B2+), Spanish (A0)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby neofight78 » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:14 am

I think as always there is a happy medium, and that medium very much depends on the learner involved. Some things are easier to assimilate though exposure, some through grammar study and some through a combination of both. I think it's a mistake to exclude completely either approach, however one needs to choose a balance that suits your temperament and how your brain learns.
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MamaPata
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Posts: 1019
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:25 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), French (C1*), Russian (B1), Spanish (B1).

Long lost: Arabic and Latin.
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:58 pm

How is everyone doing? I am slowly chugging away and I am seeing some progress, though my speaking lags behind my comprehension. What resources are using at the moment? Is anyone reading/watching anything they would recommend?
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Fortheo
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Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:03 pm
Languages: English (N), French (?) Russian (beginner)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Fortheo » Wed Apr 26, 2017 2:55 am

MamaPata wrote:How is everyone doing? I am slowly chugging away and I am seeing some progress, though my speaking lags behind my comprehension. What resources are using at the moment? Is anyone reading/watching anything they would recommend?


Well, I'm still studying for at least 30 minutes a day, so that's good. I finished Michel Thomas advanced a little while back, but I think I'm going to wait before I start the vocabulary course because I was very burnt out and unmotivated by the end of the advanced course. For the past few weeks I've shifted my attention towards Assimil. Fortunately, I haven't encountered any grammar structures in assimil yet that I didn't already see in Michel Thomas, but I'm sure that will change quickly. I only do a few lessons a week, but i'm already noticing that not only will Russian grammar be a big hurdle, but Russian vocabulary will be a very big, scary, slippery mountain.

I'm not at the level where I can recommend any fun resources yet, but ask me again come 2020 ;)

Stay strong fellow students of Russian!
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blaurebell
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Languages: German (N), English (C2), Spanish (B2-C1), French (B2+ passive), Italian (A2), Russian (Beginner)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby blaurebell » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:21 am

MamaPata wrote:How is everyone doing? I am slowly chugging away and I am seeing some progress, though my speaking lags behind my comprehension. What resources are using at the moment? Is anyone reading/watching anything they would recommend?


I'm not making much progress at the moment because we're about to travel and I was trying to finish a few other things. Right now I'm really only doing intensive reading and Clozemaster, which I will try to keep up while we're on our trip. I'll continue with Modern Russian and higher intensity reading when we're back. I'll be doing the 6WC with Russian myself and hope to make lots of progress on reading.
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

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neofight78
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 8:02 pm
Location: Novosibirsk, Russia
Languages: English (N), Russian (B2+), Spanish (A0)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby neofight78 » Fri May 05, 2017 3:01 pm

Anyone here using goodreads to keep track of their Russian reading? I've just started using it and wondered if it might be useful to see what people were reading / recommending etc.

My profile is here: https://www.goodreads.com/neofight78
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blaurebell
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Languages: German (N), English (C2), Spanish (B2-C1), French (B2+ passive), Italian (A2), Russian (Beginner)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3235
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby blaurebell » Fri May 05, 2017 5:23 pm

neofight78 wrote:Anyone here using goodreads to keep track of their Russian reading? I've just started using it and wondered if it might be useful to see what people were reading / recommending etc.


I just sent you a request. I'm a big fan of goodreads, so once I finish some Russian books I'll add them there too. I'm still on the first book but I'll probably finish it in the next couple of weeks.
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

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MamaPata
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Posts: 1019
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:25 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), French (C1*), Russian (B1), Spanish (B1).

Long lost: Arabic and Latin.
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3004
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Fri May 05, 2017 5:58 pm

neofight78 wrote:Anyone here using goodreads to keep track of their Russian reading? I've just started using it and wondered if it might be useful to see what people were reading / recommending etc.

My profile is here: https://www.goodreads.com/neofight78


That would involve me actually reading in Russian again... :oops: I'm not sure anything I read will be of interest - I'm definitely only at the kids' translations stage, when I read - but following you might be good for me!
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neofight78
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 8:02 pm
Location: Novosibirsk, Russia
Languages: English (N), Russian (B2+), Spanish (A0)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=833
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby neofight78 » Fri May 05, 2017 6:16 pm

blaurebell wrote:I just sent you a request.


I've had a friend request from MamaPata, but I don't seem to have received yours. Not sure why, maybe try again?
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