Fortheo wrote:Your log tempted me into dabbling with the Russian made easy podcast. It's a really nice entry into the language, and I agree that the videos in their media center are a really nice way of not only reviewing what was covered in the episode, but exposing learners to native media and keeping us interested. I too found that there was a bit too much English at first, but the availability of the exercise mp3 files really eliminates that fault when it comes to reviewing.
How would you compare the Russian accelerator course to the Russian made easy course? from what I understand, accelerator is basically the next level after Russian made easy, is that right? Do you find it significantly more challenging?
You might want to refill your morning coffee before reading this, because no one will ever accuse me of being succinct.
Russian Accelerator is similar to Russian Made Easy in terms of the relaxed approach to language learning. Mark (an American who learned Russian as a second language) is the “main teacher”, but most of the Russian is spoken by both male and female native Russian speakers (one of whom is Mark’s wife Dasha). I’m doing both Russian Made Easy and Russian Accelerator in tandem, and they complement each other, but Russian Accelerator definitely goes deeper and provides more practice. I would say that Russian Accelerator is significantly more challenging than Russian Made Easy, but it feels just as "easy". Mark has a gift for making you feel smart and capable. That is truly a magical quality in a language teacher.
I really like the video format, because I learn better when I can both see words written and hear them spoken. The clipart in the videos is cheesy (
edited in and out here trying to express myself…I would appreciate more diversity) and I’d be quite happy if it were just words, but that’s my only complaint.
There are definitely a lot of English explanations in the course, but I find them helpful and necessary. The course builds on itself, but it isn’t at all stressful. I feel like I’m learning a lot, and - while grammar isn’t taught explicitly - patterns and constructions are introduced and practiced in a very natural way. I don’t know the grammar terms for what I’m doing, but I’m getting more and more comfortable with the way that words change - at least in the structures that I’ve learned so far. Keep in mind, also, that I’m not in a rush to learn, and I’d rather my learning be slow and pleasant.
Each lesson has a variety of short activities and exercises. So, for example, in yesterday’s lesson (Unit 5 Lesson 2):
-37 second dialogue audio (all Russian, using the words and constructions from this lesson)
-12 minute video introducing new vocab (English and Russian)
-10 fill-in-the-blank sentences to practice new words, with audio to listen to the correct answer
-12 minute grammar video to practice constructions (he says a sentence in English, there’s a pause to let you answer out loud, and then the sentence is written in Russian and read by a native speaker)
-repeat of the 37 second dialogue audio (all Russian - and this time you can understand all of it because you’ve learned new vocab and practiced constructions) and 54 second audio of the same dialogue (all Russian, but slower)
-transcript of the dialogue, with a super-literal English translation, followed by a “normal” English translation
-5 minute vocabulary practice video (he says a sentence in English, there’s a pause to let you answer out loud, and then the sentence is written in Russian and read by a native speaker)
-6 minute listening practice audio, with short dialogues in Russian followed by English translations
-”homework” suggestion: write down all of the verbs you know; this list will be used in the next lesson
There are 18 units, each with five lessons. At the end of each unit, there’s a 25-minute podcast, reviewing what was learned in the unit. These podcasts are reminiscent of Russian Made Easy. Sometimes Dasha and Mark’s adorable son helps out in the podcast, which is cute and fun. There’s also a media centre with 20-35 video clips for each unit. Some of these are the same clips from Russian Made Easy, but others are different.
Couple all of these audio and video resources with paper flashcards and a grammar notebook (yep, old-fashioned and hand-written), and I feel that I’m progressing well.
The first 3 units took me about 30 minutes per lesson, but now that I’m in unit 5, I have to set aside an hour. Along with my paper flashcard reviews, which took about 15 minutes yesterday, I spent a full 80 minutes on unit 5 lesson 2!
The course is working very well for me. I did the three-week trial for one dollar before signing up, so you can try it out for yourself before committing. It is definitely expensive (I signed up for 3 monthly payments of 97 dollars), but it’s yours forever. I much prefer this payment format to the eternal 20-30 dollar monthly payments that other language learning sites charge. Their business practices are honest, too. I received a very clear and friendly email a few days before being charged for the course, to remind me that I still had time to cancel. Customer service is excellent, with same-day replies to any questions. You also have access to a native language speaker who will correct written sentences and comment on audio files of you speaking (although I haven’t used this myself, I think that it’s a really amazing thing to offer).
And if it matters to you, Mark and Dasha are based in Ukraine, although they recently sent an email saying that they've been in Poland since day one of the invasion. When things turned horrible last week, this helped me with motivation.