Serafín wrote:[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 A bit out of date, and there's no audio but it's a very well structured book that gives you a solid foundation.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+simple2.
Reading and Translating Contemporary Russianhttps://www.amazon.com/Reading-Translat ... 917&sr=1-13.
Reading Modern Russianhttps://www.amazon.com/Reading-Modern-R ... rn+RussianThen 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 publishershttps://slavica.indiana.edu/catalogand
L'institut d'études slaveshttp://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.