neofight78 returns from his Siberian exile? [RU, ES]

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neofight78
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby neofight78 » Fri Aug 07, 2015 8:26 am

I absolutely agree with you about the snowball effect, you naturally just pick up the patterns in terms of roots, prefixes and suffixes. After a while it almost comes as a surprise when you can't hook in an new word with something that you already know.

I also struggle when things are not clearly pronounced despite the fact that speed normally presents no problems unless it's really extreme. I'm hoping some time with films and subs2srs will help clear up this problem. Although I think part of it is being familiar enough with the language that you can just fill in the gaps, rather than it being a listening problem per se.

Thanks for the tips on slang, I'll check out those links when I get home. Suffice it to say, sometimes you get lucky with a standard dictionary but it's not a common occurrence.
Last edited by neofight78 on Fri Aug 07, 2015 1:32 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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motylyok
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby motylyok » Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:58 pm

Hope it went well at the visa agency, I was there myself last Tuesday and annoyingly had to wait to use the computer to add a telephone number on my form, somebody was literally filling out the entire form in front of me... I got my passport back on Wednesday, to give you some idea of how long it takes.

Also thank you very much for linking the transcripts to Анжелика off Polydog, I'd been struggling through them witout any subtitles, so I'm glad to get a bit of relief!
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neofight78
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby neofight78 » Fri Aug 07, 2015 1:56 pm

Cool, what kind of trip have you got planned? Yeah, they said it'll be 5 working days plus a day or two for delivery so that figures. I guess the true test of success is whether I get my visa or not! In terms of travel I left home at around 5:15 and got to the centre at 8:50. I waited about 5-10 minutes to be seen, and it was only a few minutes to sort the application out. Got back home at 13:00, so everything was accomplished in pretty much the minimum amount of time. I need to go catch up on some sleep now, as I only got about 2:30 hrs, but I should still have the evening free to work on my Russian. Taking the car was the right choice, if I'd gone by train the whole way it would have cost much more and I would have had to wait around London all day until early evening for the off peak fare, no to mention the earliest I could have got there would have been much later. The whole things is a pain of course, but it today went as smoothly as could be hoped for.

Glad you found the link useful, they have transcripts for a few different series over at polydog. Star Media have a some stuff on their YouTube channel with Russian subtitles as well. Generally, if I ever need a transcript for something and it's not available, I'll get it done fairly cheaply at LingQ or Elance. If at some point I get a whole series done rather than individual episodes I'll be sure to post it here.
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neofight78
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby neofight78 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 3:17 pm

Saturday morning update:

In today's lesson I struggled to be honest. Hopefully, it's just down to tiredness but I spoke pretty slowly. As before, we replicated the oral exam format. Again I ran out of time preparing, and didn't have enough time to create a plan. I think I need to change my approach. At the moment I read through everything making notes as I go. I think next time, I shall read through everything quickly, create an outline plan and then use the remaining time to add details to that plan. That way if I run out of time, it's only going to be some smaller details missing. We'll see how it goes...

My speech was slow last week too. I've dropped down to one lesson a week, to concentrate on exam prep but I wonder if I need to practice talking a bit more in order to maintain my speaking ability/speed.

One stubborn and recurring problem was seen again today: I consistently fail to use the past tense after чтобы. This is despite knowing the grammar and having done quite a few flashcards on it. I'm keen to fix it, as I don't want to end up with any fossilised mistakes. But I'm not sure what I can do. Trying to analyse the cause has given me a new theory. It's a conjunction, so I think I'm throwing out the first phrase + чтобы, and then I pause to think about the second phrases and in the process of thinking about that, I forget it needs to be put it in the past tense. So perhaps it's being caused by the pause + a sort of cognitive overload. Not sure that leads me to any ideas on how to fix it though...

On the plus side I did seem to use double negatives a bit more in the lesson, something that I've been practicing with flashcards. Again, it's not particularly complicated it's just a case of trying to keep the brain from using the English structure. It seems those grammatical constructs that are basically the same between the two languages are the easiest, and then ones that are completely different are a little bit harder, and finally those that are slightly different are the hardest, at least while speaking.
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motylyok
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby motylyok » Sat Aug 08, 2015 6:28 pm

neofight78 wrote:Cool, what kind of trip have you got planned?


I am going to Moscow for my year abroad!

neofight78 wrote:Glad you found the link useful, they have transcripts for a few different series over at polydog. Star Media have a some stuff on their YouTube channel with Russian subtitles as well. Generally, if I ever need a transcript for something and it's not available, I'll get it done fairly cheaply at LingQ or Elance. If at some point I get a whole series done rather than individual episodes I'll be sure to post it here.


Thank you very much for the information and kindness about sharing these things!
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neofight78
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby neofight78 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 6:59 pm

motylyok wrote:I am going to Moscow for my year abroad!


Ah yes, of course. I've read your thread about it, somehow it didn't get connected all up in my brain! I was hoping perhaps to spend a year in Russia too, but personal circumstances have not really allowed it this year. I'm settling for a couple of weeks now, but we'll see what the future holds. Anyhow, I shall be very interested to track your progress! :)

Edit: Addendum, I'm also curious to know what kind of level UK graduates typically have at the end of their course too.
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motylyok
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby motylyok » Sat Aug 08, 2015 11:09 pm

neofight78 wrote:
motylyok wrote:I am going to Moscow for my year abroad!


Ah yes, of course. I've read your thread about it, somehow it didn't get connected all up in my brain! I was hoping perhaps to spend a year in Russia too, but personal circumstances have not really allowed it this year. I'm settling for a couple of weeks now, but we'll see what the future holds. Anyhow, I shall be very interested to track your progress! :)

Edit: Addendum, I'm also curious to know what kind of level UK graduates typically have at the end of their course too.


Ah, well, I hope you enjoy it in October, will this be your first time in Russia?

I have to say I think it really depends on the individual. I have one friend who is 3 years older than me and graduated last summer, she accompanied us on our first year trip to Russia and having spoken to her about it, she said her level was "nearly fluent but probably after another year in Russia", so maybe it's around B2. However, I'm hoping to push myself a little bit further than that and maybe reach the C1 threshold. One of my teachers is convinced that I will "come back from Russia speaking like native" so we'll see about that... Watch this space, I suppose!
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neofight78
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby neofight78 » Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:25 pm

motylyok wrote:Ah, well, I hope you enjoy it in October, will this be your first time in Russia?

I have to say I think it really depends on the individual. I have one friend who is 3 years older than me and graduated last summer, she accompanied us on our first year trip to Russia and having spoken to her about it, she said her level was "nearly fluent but probably after another year in Russia", so maybe it's around B2. However, I'm hoping to push myself a little bit further than that and maybe reach the C1 threshold. One of my teachers is convinced that I will "come back from Russia speaking like native" so we'll see about that... Watch this space, I suppose!


Yes, my first time in Russia. My first time in a foreign country without a friend acting as a guide/interpreter. So I am a combination of excited and nervous. I just hope I manage to make the most of my time there and that I don't shy away from speaking to people.

Hmm... B2... Makes me feel better about reaching B2 after three years :)
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby motylyok » Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:12 pm

neofight78 wrote:Yes, my first time in Russia. My first time in a foreign country without a friend acting as a guide/interpreter. So I am a combination of excited and nervous. I just hope I manage to make the most of my time there and that I don't shy away from speaking to people.

Hmm... B2... Makes me feel better about reaching B2 after three years :)


Oh, well, have a wonderful time! I went through the same thing when I went to Germany in June, first time travelling alone etc., and I had a blast. Having said that, it was made slightly less intimidating by the fact it was my 6th time over there...

You should be really proud of it, actually, especially considering that Russian is not an easy language to learn. It took me 7 or 8 years to reach B2 in German which is an easier language to learn from the native English standpoint!
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neofight78
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Re: neofight78's log - Wayward Ramble to Russian Fluency

Postby neofight78 » Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:26 pm

motylyok wrote:Oh, well, have a wonderful time! I went through the same thing when I went to Germany in June, first time travelling alone etc., and I had a blast. Having said that, it was made slightly less intimidating by the fact it was my 6th time over there...


Thank you, I will try to! :) I remember when I first started taking lessons, online and in person, and when I first started doing language exchanges via Skype, it was all very nerve wracking. Now I'll speak to someone new without a second thought. So I expect it will be similar, if I get out there enough and put myself in enough situations where I *need* to speak Russian, eventually it will be normal and the confidence will come.
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