An experiment with Russian

[Querneus]

I think it's good that you have such very specific goals in mind, namely reading those three linguistics books. That should be much more straightforward than becoming able to pick up a random Russian novel and read it.

It might help to start with Russian linguistics terms, or at least get to them soon. https://onlinerussianlanguageschool.blo ... terms.html has an English-Russian linguistics glossary. Likewise https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/Категори ... истические термины/en.

http://www.speakrus.ru/dict/index.htm has a downloadable Russian word formation dictionary, which might be of interest to a grammar buff - Словообразовательно-морфемный словарь русского языка.

Thanks.

Here's the correct Wiktionary link though: https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F:%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%8B/en

[aravinda]

[list=1][*]What approach do you recommend that I try? I've never tried using SRS software before, and I'd also like to hear about using textbooks or such.

I have not progressed far in my Russian studies and at the moment I am not actively studying it, so in a way, I am not qualified to make suggestions. However, when I was studying, I too was focused on the reading ability (though I didn't totally ignore other aspects). This is just to add few thoughts to the excellent suggestions already made by others.

In my opinion, you are much more likely to succeed than the average learner due to three reasons: your background in Linguistics, your knowledge of another heavily inflected language, and very specific goals. From my experience, I can suggest the following resources/path.

You can start with one or a combination of following books (I suggest the given order):
1. Russian Made Simple: This is an excellent book. A bit out of date, and there's no audio but it's a very well structured book that gives you a solid foundation.
https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Simple-B ... ade+simple

2. Reading and Translating Contemporary Russian
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Translat ... 917&sr=1-1

3. Reading Modern Russian
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Modern-R ... rn+Russian

Then there are several other books that can help with Russian vocabulary: frequency word lists, a dictionary of inflected forms, books dealing with roots and word formation etc. Also, there are few series of bilingual books and a series of student texts. (If you are interested, let me know - I may need some time to find all the links etc) Two websites you might want to check out are:
Slavica publishers
https://slavica.indiana.edu/catalog

and

L'institut d'études slaves
http://institut-etudes-slaves.fr/les-collections/
Their Le Russe à votre rythme ( 3 volumes) is heavy on phonetics/phonology but will be appealing to a linguistically inclined learner.

One final note: From my (fairly brief) encounter, I can say that Russian is not the beast it is frequently made out to be. (It won't be that difficult for you at least). The script is only a short-lived obstacle. Grammar is complicated but as you have already learned other languages, you can learn it. Vocabulary is the real challenge. Good luck for your experiment in Russian!

Edited: few times to correct typos and syntax.

[Seneca]

[list=1][*]What approach do you recommend that I try? I've never tried using SRS software before, and I'd also like to hear about using textbooks or such.

I have not progressed far in my Russian studies and at the moment I am not actively studying it, so in a way, I am not qualified to make suggestions. However, when I was studying, I too was focused on the reading ability (though I didn't totally ignore other aspects). This is just to add few thoughts to the excellent suggestions already made by others.

In my opinion, you are much more likely to succeed than the average learner due to three reasons: your background in Linguistics, your knowledge of another heavily inflected language, and very specific goals. From my experience, I can suggest the following resources/path.

You can start with one or a combination of following books (I suggest the given order):
1. Russian Made Simple: This is an excellent book. A bit out of date, and there's no audio but it's a very well structured book that gives you a solid foundation.
https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Simple-B ... ade+simple

2. Reading and Translating Contemporary Russian
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Translat ... 917&sr=1-1

3. Reading Modern Russian
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Modern-R ... rn+Russian

Then there are several other books that can help with Russian vocabulary: frequency word lists, a dictionary of inflected forms, books dealing with roots and word formation etc. Also, there are few series of bilingual books and a series of student texts. (If you are interested, let me know - I may need some time to find all the links etc) Two websites sites you might want to check out are:
Slavica publishers
https://slavica.indiana.edu/catalog

and

L'institut d'études slaves
http://institut-etudes-slaves.fr/les-collections/
Their Le Russe à votre rythme ( 3 volumes) is heavy on phonetics/phonology but will be appealing to a linguistically inclined learner.

One final note: From my (fairly brief) encounter, I can say that Russian is not the beast it is frequently made out to be. (It won't be that difficult for you at least). The script is only a short-lived obstacle. Grammar is complicated but as you have already learned other languages, you can learn it. Vocabulary is the real challenge. Good luck for your experiment in Russian!

Edited: few times to correct typos and syntax.

I flipped through a copy of Reading Modern Russian. How is one supposed to learn from it on their own? It seems very much intended for classroom use.

[aravinda]

I flipped through a copy of Reading Modern Russian. How is one supposed to learn from it on their own? It seems very much intended for classroom use.

Indeed, it is an old textbook intended for classroom use with a teacher and there is no answer key. Up to Chapter 18 or so all the vocabulary required for execercises are provided but after that you need a good dictionary. All this makes it quite difficult for an independent learner. However, it starts with high-frequency Western vocabulary and teaches you lot of things that can be very useful in acquiring a reading ability (e.g. word formation). In the abscence of alternatives (something like French for Reading by Sandberg), I think it is a valuable resource to have.