日本語 + Русский + norsk (part 1, CLOSED)

[tarvos]

I've never really studied German outside school; I think I did fine with German. But I've used it a lot since.

My French could have been better, but I went for the sciences so I only had four years of it.

[brilliantyears]

I've never really studied German outside school; I think I did fine with German. But I've used it a lot since.

My French could have been better, but I went for the sciences so I only had four years of it.

I went for culture but I dropped French as soon as I was able to (and still had to take it half a year extra because I failed so badly )

[brilliantyears]

Ok, I'm in doubt about Russian - should I sign up for a language course or not? I really miss pronunciation feedback and interaction with others. I'm still such a beginner I don't think there's a point in looking for a tutor (iTalki?) yet Language classes would fix this problem...

Might also be that I'm only feeling intimidated because I just started, and I should simply sit this out until I become comfortable with Cyrillic and listening skills. I am pretty sure I felt equally intimidated by Korean when I just started and that all worked out fine eventually (but with the help of classes, so I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make )

I have about two more weeks to make up my mind on this. I mean, it would also be a social thing and an opportunity to meet new people, which would be nice. And my friend (actually, the friend I'll be doing some of the travelling with) is planning to take the same class, so that'd be added fun.

The biggest reason not to do it is money. Classes aren't that expensive but it's money I could use for travelling instead. On the other hand, my Korean class might be cancelled this semester because we had some drop-outs and it doesn't look like enough people are going to sign up. That would mean I might as well spend the money on Russian (but I seriously hope Korean won't be cancelled )

[brilliantyears]

Ok, so there's basically no way Korean class is going to happen this semester. It looks like 4 people will sign up at most This means I'm changing around my language learning a bit.

Korean
I still intend to take TOPIK I in November. It's confirmed to be held in my city so there's no reason for me to skip (also, it's significantly cheaper than the JLPT ). I am now looking for good materials to study for it. Classes gave me a pretty good starting point, but I checked some old exams and I understand nothing I'm going to see how far I can get with TTMIK and the TOPIK I vocab course on Memrise. Should be doable to learn all of the vocab before November and at least a couple of levels for TTMIK.

Russian
... I signed up for class I feel like I failed because I was so insistent on doing this all by myself, but on the other hand: I am excited about class! I'm looking forward to getting feedback, and it's also very much a social thing for me (Also, yay, I can now add it to my log's title )
Classes start in a month, so until then I'm going to continue low-key studying with NPRC and the official Memrise Russian course (mostly to get comfortable with reading and listening). The textbooks used in class are Паспорт в Россию ("Paspoort voor Rusland"), which I'll get next week.
I also started looking into Russian cinema. This in itself feels like a whole 'nother adventure

Essentially: Korean has priority right now because of TOPIK, but I'm definitely loving Russian a bit more every day!

[brilliantyears]

Welllll I've officially signed up for TOPIK I! I'll be taking it on November 18th. I've been studying my ass off the past few weeks and will continue to do so until the exam, but I have a good feeling about it

Russian class officially starts next week. I'll be missing the first class, so I've started reviewing the first chapter. I really like our textbook! And I'm really looking forward to class. Even better: my friend also signed up for this same class. The same friend I'll be travelling with next year, and we also made up our mind on where we are going: Kazakhstan! Hurray, looks like we'll actually get to use our newly acquired Russian

[brilliantyears]

It's... been a while

I’m kicking this topic back in gear because I actually signed up for the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava, hurray! Even though I haven’t felt very polyglotty lately. The past half year I’ve been incredibly busy with a project and some personal stuff, and language learning (besides classes) has been shoved to the background. I’m super excited about the Polyglot Gathering though! It's also a great excuse to finally visit Bratislava

I am sort of preparing for the gathering by reading Japanese again (and feeling serious relief about the fact my Japanese hasn’t gone downhill at all, even after not actively using it in (I had to check) a year and a half! ). Also have a German book on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time, so perhaps after I finally finish Harry Potter in Japanese

Korean
I ended up taking TOPIK I back in November and lo and behold, I passed! By one point...
I've put Korean on hold for now. I'm much too focused on Russian and I can't handle two languages at this level. Besides that, the moment I moved to self-study I realised I'm maybe... just not that interested. I'd love to come back to it one day, probably when I've got a firm basis in Russian, but the incentive just isn't there right now.

Russian
Russian, oh Russian. This is my second semester of the evening course and I love it. Learning Russian was really an experiment as I started from zero and didn’t know anything about Russia or the Russian language. I definitely wasn’t expecting to actually fall in love with it, but joke’s on me.

I’m surprised how manageable the language is so far. Cases and gendered words aren’t as bad as I remember (I’m looking at you, German!), and I’m also unlocking a ton of new Slavic languages which is neat! Last semester I passed level A1.1 and this semester we're studying toward A1.2.

I do realise more and more that I know very little about Russia as a country, so I’m trying to school myself in my free time. Book and movie recommendations welcome, on just about any Russian topic (but just assume I know nothing) (and I’m particularly fond of space stuff).
This is such a fun part of this particular language experience, but I’m also struggling with accepting some realities (i.e. the government’s immensely homophobic laws ).

[MamaPata]

I do realise more and more that I know very little about Russia as a country, so I’m trying to school myself in my free time. Book and movie recommendations welcome, on just about any Russian topic (but just assume I know nothing) (and I’m particularly fond of space stuff).
This is such a fun part of this particular language experience, but I’m also struggling with accepting some realities (i.e. the government’s immensely homophobic laws ).

*Rolls up sleeves* Oh boy is this all something I have opinions about.

In terms of recommendations of general stuff about Russia, there is a lot. There are a ton of history books about modern Russian history, so I won't go into that kind of thing - there's so much out there. I know bits and pieces about space stuff, because a friend of mine is really into it, but it's not something I've actively looked into. In terms of modern Russia, I think Masha Gessen is very readable and interesting. Anna Politikovskaia is the obvious writer, but my memory of her book on Putin's Russia is that it is incredibly detailed, so you might want to read one or two more general things. I'd also really recommend, if you are a twitter user, following Russian Studies academics. In the Netherlands, Leiden has some really good academics working on Russia. In the UK you want people who work at SSEES, or in Russian Studies Departments at any of the major unversities - KCL has a developing Russian Politics Department which is doing really interesting work. Once you follow one, you start seeing all the others.

I have so many film recommendations - I watch a lot of Russian and Soviet films. I'm not great at giving plot summaries because I can never work out what will be a spoiler, but I list what I'm watching in my log and on letterboxd. I know there are some recent films on space, but I personally haven't seen any so can't make any recommendations. What kind of films do you like?

I do understand what you mean about the politics and homophobia. It's not insurmountable - on this forum Tarvos and I both study Russian and have a lot of opinions about LGBT rights, as do many other people here (and generally). But equally, I know lots of people won't study it because of the political situation and how it would affect them. There is a lot of stuff happening in that realm if you're interested in following it - Meduzapublish quite a bit about LGBT themes (and a lot of articles are available in both Russian and English), LGBT-net also have a lot of short articles about their work in Russian and English as do The Side by Side Film Festival. I'm currently re-reading this book: Gay Propaganda: Stories of Love (Пропаганда гомосексуализма в России: Истории любви). It's a dual language book of short accounts of people's experiences, so it's a nice little read and very good if you're starting out. It is available to buy here, but you can also download just the Russian section for free.

Ahem, apologies for the delude of information.

TL;DR: I have a lot of opinions about Russian culture and would love to help.

I look forward to seeing how you go with it!

[brilliantyears]

@MamaPata thank you so much for this super detailed reply!

RE: the first part, I did not even think to check out Leiden academics (and I feel very silly, since this is literally my university ). I'll check out the authors you mentioned, thank you!

I have so many film recommendations - I watch a lot of Russian and Soviet films. I'm not great at giving plot summaries because I can never work out what will be a spoiler, but I list what I'm watching in my log and on letterboxd. I know there are some recent films on space, but I personally haven't seen any so can't make any recommendations. What kind of films do you like?

I'll check out your letterboxd account I really love science fiction, some fantasy, comedy and adventure. (And I'm very interested in LGBT+ themed cinema, and hoping I'm not out of luck here...)
I recently got a cinema 'subscription', and our local cinema tends to show a lot of art house and foreign movies, so I've been able to catch a few Russian ones there. Not usually my first choice of genre (mostly drama, Нелюбовь and Аритми́я for example), but I'll catch whatever I can.

I do understand what you mean about the politics and homophobia. It's not insurmountable - on this forum Tarvos and I both study Russian and have a lot of opinions about LGBT rights, as do many other people here (and generally). But equally, I know lots of people won't study it because of the political situation and how it would affect them.

I did not avoid the region for this reason but I certainly didn't seek it out (at first)... I do have one specific question that's been worrying me re:travel plans, do you mind if I send you a pm about this?

There is a lot of stuff happening in that realm if you're interested in following it - eduzapublish quite a bit about LGBT themes (and a lot of articles are available in both Russian and English), LGBT-net also have a lot of short articles about their work in Russian and English as do The Side by Side Film Festival. I'm currently re-reading this book: Gay Propaganda: Stories of Love (Пропаганда гомосексуализма в России: Истории любви). It's a dual language book of short accounts of people's experiences, so it's a nice little read and very good if you're starting out. It is available to buy here, but you can also download just the Russian section for free.

I actually started reading Gay Propaganda just this weekend I ended up ordering it in Dutch because it was cheap, but I've also downloaded the Russian ebook. I'll definitely check out your links! As someone who identifies as queer, this is an important topic to me

[MamaPata]

Definitely feel free to PM me.

I mostly watch dramas - Russians love melodramas but I'll have a think about some films and get back to you! Personally, I haven't really come across much Russian LGBT+ themed cinema (and some of it can be kind of problematic). There are a few female 'buddy films' in which the women tend to have relationships with men, but the female friendship is at the heart of the film, tends to be quite intense and in some ways mirrors a romantic relationship. Two of those that I quite like are Страна глухих (Land of the Deaf) and Кококо.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Leiden!!! I love Leiden. I did the linguistics summer school there several years ago. Such a fun experience for a language lover. Please say hi to your wonderful town for me!