Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's Log: German (B2-C1) and Russian (B1)

Postby motylyok » Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:31 pm

Woah okay so that's nearly four months.

I am still learning Russian and I am technically still learning German.

So I am living in Russia still, 100% living the ~immersion dream~, and my Russian has improved LOADS since the last time I wrote. However, I am currently in the midst of working on my university project, which is to be written in Russian. On the one hand this has meant that I have learned a lot of new words and read loads of material about a topic that I am really interested in. On the other hand after working at it for four or five hours today, I am experiencing this thing that I think is basically burn out. I really really hope it doesn't last for too long because I am starting school again next week and I wanted to finish the first draft before then. Hopefully a good night's sleep will do the trick. I was reading and reading and suddenly everything started to look like hieroglyphs!

But yeah I have just been attending all the lessons and paying attention in class, trying to pick up native speaker friends and practice as much as possible. I am even dating a Russian now!! They say this is the best way to learn a language... but we'll see how it turns out. It's certainly a very motivating way if nothing else.

As for German, I have done... nothing. Except watch Lindenstrasse which I am very obsessed with. But I am going to Berlin in 2 weeks to meet my family and celebrate a birthday, I am hoping that by understanding to what degree I have lost my ability to communicate will be enough motivation to have me do something about it. I've done a little reading, I've read some short stories, but the German books I have with me are admittedly piling dust on the shelf..!

Anyway here's to a good rest and hopefully having a refreshed mind in the morning that will make it possible for me to continue my project work! I have read that burn out can last a lot longer, and I really hope this isn't the case for me.
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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's Log: German (B2-C1) and Russian (B2)

Postby motylyok » Wed Feb 17, 2016 7:00 am

I finished writing my project!) I learned lots of juicy new words and phrases for it. My favourites include в конечном счете, упадок (в этом контксте про мораль) и предпосылка. However, the only problem with this was that it was all reading.

Anyone reading this who knows anything about Russian will know how Russian has basically got "random stress". Well, there are actually fixed rules for about 90% of Russian words, but the ones that do not have fixed rules happen to be the ones that are most frequently used. This means that reading is not the most useful activity for fixing up pronunciation and listening comprehension. Therefore, I have decided to blow the dust off the best YouTube channel for intermediate-advanced learners and start watching StarMedia with Russian subtitles. This decision was taken partially on recommendation of a friend who told me the following: "Your vocabulary is excellent for a foreigner, but your mistakes in stress make it evident that you need to practice listening more". I agreed with him, and now I am working through a series about the Romanovs (because if there is one thing anyone should know about me, it's that I'm super into my Russian history), trying to listen to how the stress falls on words. However, as with many things surrounding language learning, I think there is no easy quick fix to my issues with getting stress right, and I am hoping that the more I watch, the better it will gradually become.

This week I also went back to school. However, I was taken ill on Sunday so I popped in on Monday and with ears full of mucus and a foggy brain, I decided to take yesterday off. One thing I did learn about on Monday is the material from my favourite vocabulary building class, which I have decided to share with you here, as I have made a promise to myself to upload everything onto Quizlet. We take a verb stem every week, add all the possible prefixes onto it and find out how that changes the meaning. In my opinion it is a very useful activity for better reading comprehension and just sounding more natural when speaking. So here is the link https://quizlet.com/_20gbqx

Всего хорошего!
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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's Log: German (B2-C1) and Russian (B2)

Postby motylyok » Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:44 am

Настало время уехать из России. Завтра у меня полет в 10 часов (утром). Д проводит меня в аэропорт, несмотря на то, что ему придется встать часов в 5, если он хочет встретить меня вовремя. Вчера я поняла, что моя способность понимать устную речь в общем гораздо хуже, чем моя способность читать, несмотря на долгое время в России. Д читал вслух какой-то ярлык, на котором я знала каждое слово, когда я его видела, но когда он вслух читал, я почти ничего не понимала. Значит, что большая работа вперед. Я решила заодно и читать, и слушать аудиокниги. Д неплохо понимает английскую речь, поэтому он рассказал мне о своем методе. Он просто смотрел, смотрел, смотрел телевидение на английском, сначала он не понимал, но постепенно замечал разницу. На самом деле, не знаю, пригодится ли такой подход к изучению русского, потому что я не люблю смотреть сериалы и телевидение, но теперь я знаю, что мне пора перестать бояться и просто слушать без помощи русских субтитров.

Я прочитала несколько книг на русском, с тех пор как я в прошлый раз написала, в том числе 2 книги Сергея Довлатова (Чемодан и Иностранка), книгу Газданова. Иногда уставала от чтения на русском, поэтому читала на английском, иногда даже на немецком.

Этим летом я буду учиться в Германии. Надеюсь, что вспомню все, что забыла, но только без ущерба на мой уровень русского.

Извиняюсь за ошибки.
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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's Log: German (B2-C1) and Russian (B2)

Postby motylyok » Sun Jun 11, 2017 7:41 pm

It has been an unacceptably long time since I've posted on this log. So this post will probably be unacceptably long as I try to summarise what has happened in the past year and then set a framework for what I want to do here in the future 8-)

Life updates
Last month I completed my last exams for my degree so I am now waiting for the results then I can say I am a graduate. I have had a very stressful time at university working part-time in retail on the side as well, and was not taking good care of myself or my languages. BUT that experience is behind me! And I am ready to move onto the next steps in my life! :D

Summary of languages in the past year
German: Since I came back to the UK at the beginning of August, I have been using my German to pass an exam.

Russian: My boyfriend (now ex :roll: ) is Russian so we were speaking a lot in both English and Russian but since we split up, I've not been practicing my speaking and used the language primarily to try and pass my uni exams. :(

There is a new addition!

Ukrainian: I signed up for a Ukrainian course at university this year and took it sort of like extra credit. :D Unfortunately I had no time to do more than the minimum required work for this because of the rest of my responsibilities :(

BUT exams are over now!!) So with that in mind I have decided to set some goals and work towards them before I am thrown into the brutal world of work.

Language goals
Russian: I guess the biggest news related to this regarding to my future is that I am moving back to Russia! :D :D :D It's a bit complicated, because I will be taking the first year students at my university in 2 weeks to St Petersburg, where I will spend a month and then I will have just 10 days to sort out my work visa before heading for Moscow at the beginning of August.

With that in mind, I want to fight to regain my depleted spoken Russian abilities. Which means I aim to speak as much as I can when I am in the country, although there are certain challenges, being that in St. Petersburg I will be in charge of a large group of students who speak minimal Russian, and in Moscow I will be teaching English so no Russian can be spoken at work. But I will be hopefully staying with host families again, which I found hugely helpful when I lived there before.

Beyond that, at some point in the nearish future I really want to sit ТРКИ-3. I haven't done much research into this, and I know if I need preparatory courses or something I definitely won't have the cash for it in the next year but hopefully within 2-3 years I can sit it, because I do believe my Russian can be at that level.

German: Oh German, the thorn in my side, that I have neglected for 2 years now... :? I have been learning this language for half my life... and so I should do something with it. I am considering studying in Germany after next year, which would require me taking a language test. But I suppose a key area for me right now would be vocabulary. With this in mind, I want to do more reading and have set myself the Super Challenge (although I will probably just log that in my personal diary). The "film hours" will not be a problem since I am a German soap opera junkie :D but I must start reading again! It's just starting that can be so hard...

And finally the newcomer!

Ukrainian: This is the language I am studying most actively (partially due to the fact it is my newest and thus worst) now that university has finished. This is pure fun, I am finding it lovely and easy to pick up because of my Russian background and I am starting to think that it sounds just fantastic. But regarding what I would like to get out of learning Ukrainian, I want to experiment with self-study methods, now that I am out of university, and see how it is balancing a relatively easy language and working in Russia. I would like to reach a degree of proficiency (something like intermediate) and also experience studying a less commonly learned language, which I have found a little bit alienating and difficult at times so far.

So that is that. I think I will make a separate post outlining my current study methods because it will be an important reference point for me where I can add resources I come across as I go along.

До зустрічі! До встречи! Bis dann!
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Batman
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Re: Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

Postby Batman » Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:14 am

Цікаво і завжди дещо неочікувано бачити, що хтось всерйоз взявся вчити українську. Неочікувано, бо не можна сказати, що наша мова дуже популярна у світі, чи що знання її дуже корисне =)
Щиро бажаю успіху!
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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

Postby motylyok » Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:42 pm

Batman wrote:Цікаво і завжди дещо неочікувано бачити, що хтось всерйоз взявся вчити українську. Неочікувано, бо не можна сказати, що наша мова дуже популярна у світі, чи що знання її дуже корисне =)
Щиро бажаю успіху!


Дякую! :D Я ще погано знаю українську, не можу зараз нормально писати чи говорити! :P
(I still don't know Ukrainian well, I can't write or speak normally now!) But the words of encouragement are much appreciated, and I'm sure it is very surprising for you, as people are surprised enough by me knowing Russian! In my opinion, Ukrainian is useful because it is good for my brain. :lol:
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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

Postby motylyok » Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:52 pm

Study methods

I have been dying to make this post, as I will hopefully continue to update it and add materials that I come across.

Russian:
Speaking as much as possible in Russia
Drilling vocabulary using Memrise, as there are a few courses there for advanced learners
(I tried Lingvist but it was not for me as I found it a little bit easy)
Watching мелодрамы
Reading novels (pictures of bookshelf to come! :D )

Russian TV
https://melodrama1.com/rossiya-1/
https://russia.tv/video/index/menu_id/267/

Russian films to watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmGxGHQH9lY

German:
Drilling vocabulary using Memrise, as there are a few courses there for advanced learners
Watching soap operas, Lindenstrasse and Sturm der Liebe
Reading Siddhartha

Ukrainian:
Working through a 20,000 word long frequency list using Memrise
Textbook "Вивчаймо українську" with 23 lessons in total

Ukrainian media
http://www.bbc.com/ukrainian

Ukrainian podcasts
https://movacast.wordpress.com/

Ukrainian grammar sources
http://ukrmova-ru.ucoz.com/ (in Russian)
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motylyok
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Re: Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

Postby motylyok » Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:34 am

I haven't done too much this past week, but I have been using Memrise almost daily, mostly just to review vocabulary, but I have also been learning some too. :) It has been a hectic time, I have moved my stuff out of my house at university and received my degree results, which I am really happy about :D :D

I have been thinking a lot about my plan to take ТРКИ-3 because a language centre in St. Petersburg is accepting registrations for next month, when I will be there. I believe I could pass the speaking, reading and writing, but I am concerned about the listening. I think I will leave it until next spring, as I will have been in Russia for at least half a year by that time and will have much more time to prepare. Therefore I have been thinking about ways to train my listening skills.

As I would recommend any learner of British English to listen to the plays on BBC 4, I am leaving a note to myself to try and find something similar in German and Russian. If anyone has any recommendations I would be grateful.

I noticed that the exam also plays clips from old Soviet films, so I will start going through the Мосфильм YouTube channel and seeing if anything appeals to me since I find it hard to understand older, fuzzier dialogue.
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Re: Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

Postby MamaPata » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:07 am

motylyok wrote:It has been a hectic time, I have moved my stuff out of my house at university and received my degree results, which I am really happy about :D :D


Congratulations!
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Re: Motylyok's log: German, Russian and Ukrainian

Postby DaveBee » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:27 am

motylyok wrote:As I would recommend any learner of British English to listen to the plays on BBC 4, I am leaving a note to myself to try and find something similar in German and Russian. If anyone has any recommendations I would be grateful.
For french I looked up the bestselling play texts on Amazon.fr (I assume these are set books at french schools), and then searched for performances on YouTube.

EDIT
1. I found some french drama/documentaries on Arte Radio. (I believe Arte is a french-german collaboration). I was tracking down french nominees for the Prix Europa.

2. NDR Kultur looks a bit Radio 4 ish.
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