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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Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Systematiker » Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:45 pm

I'm pleased with my progress, slow as it is - I switched resources, so I'm doing an Assimil lesson each day. I just ran into the problem today of having a significant difference between the audio and the text, as I have the 1951 English-vector audio and the ~1950s French-vector text, but it wasn't anything I couldn't figure out.

I've been tempted to work in the Michel Thomas program - I've got it, and forever ago I did the first disc, but the whole point of my starting Russian was to do it through French, and MT wouldn't fit for that plan. Of course, I say that, and you wait, by next week I will have started it.
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Ogrim
Brown Belt
Posts: 1009
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:29 am
Location: Alsace, France
Languages: Norwegian (N) English (C2), French (C2), Spanish (C2), German (B2), Romansh (B2), Italian (B2), Catalan (B2), Russian (B1), Latin (B2), Dutch (B1), Croatian (A2), Arabic (on hold), Ancient Greek (learning), Romanian (on hold)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?t=873
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Ogrim » Wed Jan 25, 2017 1:15 pm

MamaPata wrote:How is everyone going? I've been ill all week so haven't really done anything, let alone Russian study. Hopefully, it's been more successful for the rest of you!

Does anyone have any recommendations for Russian (language) music? I feel like I ought to be listening to more of it.


As I have had to replace my boss who is on sick leave during the whole of January, I have had very little time for studying. I even had to skip my Russian class last week :( I still continue to read a few pages of my Russian books every day and browse through the internet sites of Коммерсант and Комсомольская Правда.

I listen to Russian music a lot. Most of it I come across by chance. I started by buying some mp3 albums with compilations of songs by different artists, then I searched on Youtube to find more songs from the artists I liked and searched for their recordings as well. Last year I signed up to Apple Music, and they actually have a lot of Russian artists available for streaming and download. I don't want to sound like an Apple fanboy, but I have got my money back several times only in Russian music. That is compared to buying the mp3 albums, I am not talking about "free" downloads. ;)

When it comes to Russian music I mostly listen to mainstream pop, and I try to find "lyrical" artists - after all I want to "get" the lyrics and use them as a tool for learning. For songs I really like I search up the lyrics on internet and I have made myself a couple of nice little e-books with my favourite Russian song texts.

I already mentioned Максим over in this thread, and I have shared videos of Константин Бубнов and Александр Серов in my log. Other artists I like (or at least some of their songs) are (in no particular order):
Артур
Сергей Пенкин
Ларисса Долина
Александр Ягья
Сергей Дубровин
Виктория Дайнеко

It is quite easy to find videclips on Youtube of all of them.
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Ich grolle nicht

Mista
Blue Belt
Posts: 608
Joined: Wed May 11, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Norway
Languages: Norwegian (N), English (QN). Studied Ancient Greek (MA), Linguistics (MA), Latin (BA), German (BA). Italian at A2/B1 level. Learning: French, Japanese, Russian (focus) and various others, like Polish, Spanish, Vietnamese, and anything that comes my way. Also know some Sanskrit (but not the script) and Coptic. Really want to learn Arabic and Amharic.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7497
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Mista » Sat Jan 28, 2017 9:14 pm

I just did an online placement test for Russian, giving me 31 correct answers and level A2 (course level, not exam level). Here's the link, if anyone else would like to give it a go:

http://lidenz.ru/courses/online-test/

I'm planning to do the test again in the summer (further comments in my log on that).
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blaurebell
Blue Belt
Posts: 840
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:24 pm
Location: Spain
Languages: German (N), English (C2), Spanish (B2-C1), French (B2+ passive), Italian (A2), Russian (Beginner)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3235
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby blaurebell » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:29 pm

Hei guys, I think I decided a few days ago that I'll be joining this group here.

Why on Earth did I pick Russian:
I'm actually half Russian, but since my wonderfully racist teachers insisted that my parents stop speaking Russian with us when I was in primary school I actually never learned it. Ah well, now I have to do it the hard way and learn it from scratch. The reason why I want to learn is obviously my heritage, but also because I kind of need it for my studies. I have so far managed to work around it, but at the end of my PhD I must know it or I'll look like a fool in the eyes of my supervisor - the opposite of what I'm going for actually ;) Also, I have relatives living in the Ukraine who I would like to visit again after many many years. Since I have some pretty deadly allergies I will have to be very good at explaining to my poor aunt why she won't be able to cook for me at all. You know Russians and their extreme notions of hospitality, so I really need to get this right or I offend my aunt / get extremely ill with possible hospitalisation. High stakes!

How long have I been studying:
I already started it once a couple of years ago in autumn and ran it right into a wall before Christmas after 3 months of getting nowhere. Back then I did Russian World 1 on Youtube and tried a couple of traditional grammar heavy study books which had terrible pacing. I also did a bit of Duolingo when it came out and drummed a ton of anki flashcards into my head with little to no effect on my reading comprehension. Basically it felt like a never-ending hamster wheel with little to no results, although obviously some of the grammatical knowledge and words are still buried somewhere in my brain. I even remember how to touch type in Russian, so I think I won't need that long to get up to speed again.

My goals:
I would like to be able to read the classics without a dictionary and be able to watch movies. I also need to be able to speak to my relatives about all sorts of complicated stuff so as not to offend anybody or poison myself. Also, I have until October to get to a point where I can understand and get by during city travel, since we have half planned to visit Moscow then. This should be fairly doable. Getting to a point where I could read books without a dictionary and watch series took me less than 3 months. With Russian I have prior knowledge, so I think it should be doable in about 5 months. I can then use the rest of the time to focus on speaking.

To achieve my goals I'll be using the same method as I successfully used with French: Assimil - in this case Le Russe! Duolingo from English for grammar, and finally the super challenge, reading 5000 pages - a translation of an American fantasy saga and as the goal War and Peace. It will be intensive reading with Learning with texts. I will also watch Star Trek The next generation dubbed in Russian and then move on to мосфильм classics. I'm really looking forward to this! No flashcards, no grammar drilling beyond Duolingo, just having fun with it, that's the plan. Of course, eventually I will have to go into the nitty gritty of the grammar, but that can wait until after I had tons and tons of input.
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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 » Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:15 pm

blaurebell wrote:I also need to be able to speak to my relatives about all sorts of complicated stuff so as not to offend anybody or poison myself.

So true...variety is the spice of life...especially if you're allergic to certain spices! My Russian vocabulary definitely needs updating every time I visit my in-laws. For starters, an ever-expanding knowledge of herbs, berries and other hedgecraft is essential for chatting about the дача. I'm a million miles away from being a horticulturist, but I think I know the name of more berries in Russian than English now. And a little tip...if you ever open the fridge and find a bottle of liquid labelled "мухомор" sitting next to the квас, be sure not to confuse the two (for those who don't know, the latter is a tasty fermented rye drink, whilst the former, poisonous toadstool juice!!)

Good luck completing your PhD and learning Russian to the level you want to achieve this year, and I love the idea of watching Star Trek in Russian (my wife and I have watched all the episodes and series in English over time, so I imagine it would be a fun way to practice my listening skills in Russian). I wonder if I'll be able to order this from the US...?
Last edited by Teango on Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Fortheo
Green Belt
Posts: 387
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:03 pm
Languages: English (N), French (?) Russian (beginner)
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Fortheo » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:29 am

Radioclare wrote:It sounds like we're at about the same stage as Michel Thomas - I also started the fourth disk last week :) Completely agree about being frustrated by the students in some parts. I'm getting particularly fed up of being told how to pronounce здесь every five minutes :lol:



"Iz disssssssssss"

:lol:
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MamaPata
Brown Belt
Posts: 1019
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:25 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), French (C1*), Russian (B1), Spanish (B1).

Long lost: Arabic and Latin.
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3004
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:51 am

It's another week! How is everyone doing? This is my last week before classes start again, so I am hoping to get a reasonable amount done. I am pushing on with Colloquial Russian 2 and assorted challenges. How about you?

blaurebell wrote:Hei guys, I think I decided a few days ago that I'll be joining this group here.


Welcome! It's great to have you on board. Out of interest, what's your PhD in? (If you don't mind me asking!)
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Corrections appreciated.

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Brun Ugle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Brun Ugle » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:58 am

I'm butting in on your nice little group here because I just have to know: is it really all that common to keep poisonous toadstool juice in your fridge in Russia? :shock: Though it does remind me of a Finnish novel I read once.
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Teango
Blue Belt
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Teango » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:50 am

@Brun Ugle
Let's just say...it's unusual...even in Mother Russia. It was a Gift from an eccentric relative for genuine medicinal purposes, and my lovely in-laws just didn't have the heart to throw it out (just in case she came to visit and asked where it was). I guess the US version would be an embarrassing knitted Christmas jumper, but poisonous...

(I can't believe this is the post that earned me a green belt. @.@)
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4AM
White Belt
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 3:27 pm
Location: Belarus
Languages: Dutch (Native), English (advanced), Russian (advanced), German (intermediate), Turkish (beginner)
Wanderlust: Italian, Polish, Arabic/Persian, Frisian, Belarusian
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3418
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby 4AM » Mon Jan 30, 2017 8:24 am

Brun Ugle wrote:I'm butting in on your nice little group here because I just have to know: is it really all that common to keep poisonous toadstool juice in your fridge in Russia? :shock: Though it does remind me of a Finnish novel I read once.


Quite a few people of the pre-war generation know how to use herbs, mushrooms, etc. for medicinal purposes. But from the people I know, who make such things, nobody keeps poisonous stuff near food items.

For those who might be interested, it used to treat people with tuberculosis, bowel spasms, and bladder problems
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