Russian Study Group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
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Teango
Blue Belt
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Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:55 am
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Teango » Thu Aug 24, 2017 8:00 pm

neofight78 wrote:A good resource for looking up slang words when other resources draw a blank: teenslang.su.

Looking forward to trying out a couple of phrases this evening. ;) I can see this site getting me into hot water with my wife.
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MamaPata
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Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:25 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), French (C1*), Russian (B1), Spanish (B1).

Long lost: Arabic and Latin.
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:10 pm

I recently came across this site - Arzamas Academy. I haven't had a chance to properly look through it, but it seems to offer courses and articles about history, literature, anthropology, philosophy, art, etc. Might be of interest to some of you!
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Arnaud
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Arnaud » Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:43 pm

Audio tracks of textbooks for free:
- The audio tracks of the 3 textbooks "Ruslan" are now free on the official website.
- The audio tracks of the french textbook Kontakt are free here (russian only, very basic level: A1/A2)
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aravinda
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby aravinda » Tue Sep 19, 2017 12:28 am

Arnaud wrote:Audio tracks of textbooks for free:
- The audio tracks of the 3 textbooks "Ruslan" are now free on the official website.
- The audio tracks of the french textbook Kontakt are free here (russian only, very basic level: A1/A2)

Hi Arnaud,
Thank you for the links. If you don't mind, can I ask you few questions on these courses?
I remember reading in your blog that Ruslan was one of the courses you used. Did you use all the components of the course (workbook, online exercises etc) or just some of them? And are the answer keys available? What is your overall impression of the course? Is it good for self-study?
I was not aware of Kontakt. How does it compare with other French-based methods such as Méthode 90 which you have used?
Thanks.
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Arnaud
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Arnaud » Tue Sep 19, 2017 6:52 am

aravinda wrote:Hi Arnaud,
Thank you for the links. If you don't mind, can I ask you few questions on these courses?
I remember reading in your blog that Ruslan was one of the courses you used. Did you use all the components of the course (workbook, online exercises etc) or just some of them? And are the answer keys available? What is your overall impression of the course? Is it good for self-study?
I was not aware of Kontakt. How does it compare with other French-based methods such as Méthode 90 which you have used?
Thanks.
Ruslan is a textbook for classroom, so it contains classroom activities (say your name to your neighboor, etc) but you still can use it when you learn on your own, I think. I used only the textbooks: they contain a few exercises with the keys at the end of the book, so no need of the workbooks if you're a false beginner (that was my case, I already had read other textbooks before, but all my knowledge was wobbly and I needed something to reinforce all that). Personaly, I liked the course, especially the Vol2 (Vol1 was too easy for me, but if you're a complete beginner, you'll need it), but for exemple Tarvos said that she found the dialogs stupid...Well каждому свое, as the saying goes...The Vol 3 is different from the first 2 vol: you don't have the vocab in the book (you need to look for unknown words yourself in a dictionary) and the answer keys of the exercises are only on the website: you have to print them if you want to work exclusively on paper. I found the vol3 far more difficult than the vol2, there is a quality gap between Vol2 and Vol3 that is important, imho (that's also what I read in the comments on Amazon, so I'm not the only one to think that).

As for M90: when I used it, I found the learning curve too steep: I studied the first 25 lessons that explain the basic grammar: you'll know all your cases and declensions after them but after lesson 25, there are lessons about how to drive a car, stuff like that, that uses specialized vocab that is useless and too difficult to learn at that level (just my opinion): I was stuck and I gave up. Plus, the method is a little old now (contrary to german, english or spanish, M90 russian has never been updated, so the method has a little "attic flavor")

Kontakt is a new book: I didn't read it. I just leafed through it quickly at the bookshop and listened to the audio. It's a classic textbook, nothing special, but I think the learning curve is good for a complete beginner, there are corrected exercises and audio, so you can work on your own with it. That's why I mentionned it. A honest textbook, but nothing revolutionary. The editor says you can reach an A2 level, I think it's honest.

Ruslan and Kontakt are classical textbooks: there is a vocabulary list but no translation of the texts à la Assimil. If you prefer translations, find something else. Between M90 and Kontakt, I would advise Kontakt: clearer and the learning curve is accessible to a complete beginner, but you'll need something else after completing it: with an A2 level, native material is not accessible.
The problem is that now, I'm not a beginner anymore and I can rely only on my memories of what I've done, the more I progress the more my views on textbooks for beginners are subjective, so take what I write with caution...
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aravinda
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby aravinda » Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:46 am

Arnaud wrote: Ruslan is a textbook for classroom, so ...

Thank you very much for that detailed reply, Arnaud. Very helpful as always.
No, I am not an absolute beginner. I have studied Russian off and on couple of times but couldn't continue due to different reasons. Nothing to do with the quality of the courses: I liked all the courses I studied with. Actually I have too many Russian courses. :) Still, I am always ready to explore at the merest mention of a (new/unknown) course! :oops:
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ilmari
Orange Belt
Posts: 187
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:12 am
Languages: Fluent - French (N), English, Hebrew, Japanese.
Intermediate - Korean, Finnish, Spanish, Russian.
Studying (now) - Russian, Spanish
Dabbling - Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, Māori, Latin, Esperanto, Swahili
Would love to study - Norwegian, Swedish, Ancient Greek, and so many more.
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby ilmari » Tue Sep 19, 2017 12:04 pm

As for Ruslan, you should also check the new online eBook (subscription), and the old cd-roms. The latter require older Windows version, or a Windows emulator if you are on a Mac (I am using them successfully with VMWare Fusion).
The cd-roms interface is a bit outdated, but the content is excellent. Actually if you have them you do not need the books. They are much better.
You can try the eBook on their website and download sample lessons from the cdroms too: http://ruslan.co.uk/ebook.htm
Supplementary drills for volumes 1 and 2 are also available there: http://ruslan.co.uk/ruslanrussiandrills.htm

I personally like Ruslan very much. I find its content practical, with a not too fast progression and a lot of exercises and repetitions.
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aravinda
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby aravinda » Wed Sep 20, 2017 11:32 am

ilmari wrote:As for Ruslan, you should also check the new online eBook (subscription), and the old cd-roms. The latter require older Windows version, or a Windows emulator if you are on a Mac (I am using them successfully with VMWare Fusion).
The cd-roms interface is a bit outdated, but the content is excellent. Actually if you have them you do not need the books. They are much better.
You can try the eBook on their website and download sample lessons from the cdroms too: http://ruslan.co.uk/ebook.htm
Supplementary drills for volumes 1 and 2 are also available there: http://ruslan.co.uk/ruslanrussiandrills.htm

I personally like Ruslan very much. I find its content practical, with a not too fast progression and a lot of exercises and repetitions.

Thanks, ilmari. I am not much of an e-method person but this "eBook" looks quite good. Have you used the Ruslan Russian Grammar as well?
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ilmari
Orange Belt
Posts: 187
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:12 am
Languages: Fluent - French (N), English, Hebrew, Japanese.
Intermediate - Korean, Finnish, Spanish, Russian.
Studying (now) - Russian, Spanish
Dabbling - Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, Māori, Latin, Esperanto, Swahili
Would love to study - Norwegian, Swedish, Ancient Greek, and so many more.
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby ilmari » Wed Sep 20, 2017 4:22 pm

Thanks, ilmari. I am not much of an e-method person but this "eBook" looks quite good. Have you used the Ruslan Russian Grammar as well?


Yes, the eBook is very good indeed. It also contains the delightful video cartoons they added to volume 1, and these are quite helpful to assimilate the material.

I have not used the grammar book, and as far as I understand, it is not directly linked to the textbooks. But it looks good too. You can find samples and sound files on their website: http://ruslan.co.uk/ruslangrammar.htm
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Tommyknocker
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:20 am
Languages: Russian (N), English (B1)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Tommyknocker » Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:24 am

Hello, everyone.

I'm a native Russian speaker. If someone wants to practice Russian and could help me with English, don't hesitate to PM me. ;)
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