Russian Study Group

[Saps]

Another new Russian learner turning in, just wanted to thank you on all these awesome resources!

I started to learn Russian six weeks ago and I’m currently in lesson 40 in Assimil and halfway through the Michel Thomas beginner course. I am in process of adding the vocabulary from Assimil to my Anki deck since I feel like the lessons are getting harder and I am starting to forget vocabulary. I have not dared to try communicating in Russian although I have a couple of Russian friends on Tandem. Perhaps I feel more confident after the Michel Thomas courses.

[Ogrim]

Another new Russian learner turning in, just wanted to thank you on all these awesome resources!

I started to learn Russian six weeks ago and I’m currently in lesson 40 in Assimil and halfway through the Michel Thomas beginner course. I am in process of adding the vocabulary from Assimil to my Anki deck since I feel like the lessons are getting harder and I am starting to forget vocabulary. I have not dared to try communicating in Russian although I have a couple of Russian friends on Tandem. Perhaps I feel more confident after the Michel Thomas courses.

Welcome to the forum and to the Russian group! And good luck with your Russian studies, it is a great language and worth the effort.

[brilliantyears]

I'm spending some time browsing this topic from the start. So if anyone is getting likes for old posts... that's me

[brilliantyears]

Sooo I've browsed through the whole thread and I am now reviewing my own approach to studying Russian. (I also found my first seriously outdated post on page 18 )

My main methods are:

- Evening classes once a week. I'm pretty happy with them. We are advancing at a decent speed (so at least feel like I'm always improving/learning new things), and our teacher is excellent. In class we work with Паспорт в Россию, which is not a bad method. I like that both the class and the book use Dutch as a base. The only complaint I have about our classes is that we have 'too many' people in class (8-9 usually), and spend a lot of time on grammar and not enough time on speaking/listening.
- Memrise. I am using Memrise to study Паспорт в Россию vocab, and have made a course for other vocab that pops up during class.

We've got a three month long summer break right now, so I've got time to add some additional study materials. I want to keep focus though, so I don't want to do too many different things at the same time.

- More Memrise courses. I am thinking of starting the Top 10.000 words course to increase my vocabulary. Anyone's got experience with it?
- Duolingo. I started Duolingo before I took classes, but quit pretty soon (the moment I signed up for class). However, it's a low effort way to study a little Russian every day alongside Memrise, and I'm a sucker for gamification. I will definitely study the Duolingo Russian Memrise course alongside it.
- Lang-8 or iTalki. I revived my old Lang-8 account, but might switch to iTalki.
- Super Challenge: Watch stuff. TV series, movies, musicals... then watch more stuff. Also get in some reading, somehow.

I also have a few questions:

- Does anyone have good source material to use for shadowing? Or other pronunciation tips? In class we don't speak nearly enough, and pronunciation is my weak point, so I can really use some help... I just don't know where to start.
- Can anyone recommend a good iTalki teacher? I haven't decided whether I'll actually use this, but I'd just like to have the option... I am still very much a beginner (A1 (or A1.2 as my course calls it) at best). I mostly want to get in some speaking practice. I want to be able to actually say the things I already know. Current speaking level: virtually non-existent.

[MamaPata]

I have had some great italki teachers, who I suspect would be really good with beginners. Remind me in a fortnight or so and I will spam you with links.

[rfnsoares]

I also have a few questions:

- Does anyone have good source material to use for shadowing? Or other pronunciation tips? In class we don't speak nearly enough, and pronunciation is my weak point, so I can really use some help... I just don't know where to start.
- Can anyone recommend a good iTalki teacher? I haven't decided whether I'll actually use this, but I'd just like to have the option... I am still very much a beginner (A1 (or A1.2 as my course calls it) at best). I mostly want to get in some speaking practice. I want to be able to actually say the things I already know. Current speaking level: virtually non-existent.

- I like the Assimil course for shadowing. The slow audio is perfectly suitable for beginners.
- I had a good italki teacher in the past, but she has reduced her schedule and is only working with old students. It was great, because she typed our entire classes on googledocs. I still take classes ocasionally in order to stay motivated. Besides I have tried other tutors and teachers and usually they are good and type my mistakes in the skype-chat-box. I never took speaking classes at a such lower level, so I do not know exactly what you are looking for.

[rdearman]

There is a PC program called workbookaudio which lets you listen to short sections of audio and even loop it while you shadow. Don't have the link I am on the phone. But Google is your friend.

[MamaPata]

Common Russian mistakes!

[MamaPata]

A little humour to help with the process!

[Nico546]

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