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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irbytremor
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby irbytremor » Sat May 04, 2019 7:22 am

David1917 wrote:
irbytremor wrote:Must be nice. I got waitlisted from them 2 years in a row for the Russian MPhil and MSc :(

If you've got a free course in Russian, then by all means, that sounds great. Get to a high level, then when you go back you'll reap all the more benefits. I'm not sure what partnerships, if any, Oxford has, but Higher School of Economics in Moscow has Summer University (and SPb & Nizhny - not sure what modules they offer, I did Moscow) but I think they offer the language in all 3 cities.

If the politics/history ever interest you, look up Roy Allison at St Anthony's. He is awesome, and wrote one of the best books on Russian foreign policy.


Thanks, will certainly check him out. Been reading Orlando Figes' book on the Russian Revolution recently, which has been fascinating.
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irbytremor
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby irbytremor » Sat May 04, 2019 7:24 am

IronMike wrote:I know you didn't ask me, but I'l reply anyway. ))

Beauty of Vladimir is it is close enough to Moscow that if you need culture, or you want to pay too much for dinner, you're not too far away.

Other cities to look at that also would be affordable: Ekaterinburg, Khabarovsk, Tyumen, Ufa (my favorite). I absolutely loved Rostov-na-Donu, but as you're getting closer to the water there it might be getting a bit more expensive. There's also Gelendzhik, kinda Sochi-light, so perhaps it would be less expensive? Sure seemed like it was, at least food, beer, that sort of thing, but that's back in 2010 or 11 that I went. But right on the Black Sea. So damn pretty.

Good luck!


Man, I keep getting amazed by the sheer number of different places in Russia, such a huge country, so much to explore. I'll certainly have a look into those cities - I am already tempted by the 4 degree winter temperature in Rostov... :mrgreen:
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MamaPata
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Sat May 04, 2019 7:55 am

Slightly odd recommendation, but I would really suggest that if you are in London (it's only an hour or so, you could easily do a day trip by coach), get a membership to SSEES library at UCL. If you're a student, they have a sort of exchange system so you can go in for free. They have a massive selection of Russian books, books on Russia (particularly literature) and I think the biggest collection of Russian/Soviet films outside Russia. It will definitely be a treasure trove for someone interested in literature (books in Russian and English, as well as other languages).

Personally, I struggle with the idea that capital cities aren't "authentic" - they're part of the country! Moscow is a different experience to Vladivostok, but they're both genuinely Russian. (I'm not less British because I'm from London). Equally, I'm not convinced that one city will have less English than another - everyone learns English in school. I've lived in Chelyabinsk (working) and Moscow (studying) and travelled around a lot - basically nobody spoke to me in English in Moscow. There are pluses and minuses for all places.
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IronMike
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby IronMike » Sat May 04, 2019 3:15 pm

MamaPata wrote:Personally, I struggle with the idea that capital cities aren't "authentic" - they're part of the country! Moscow is a different experience to Vladivostok, but they're both genuinely Russian. (I'm not less British because I'm from London). Equally, I'm not convinced that one city will have less English than another - everyone learns English in school. I've lived in Chelyabinsk (working) and Moscow (studying) and travelled around a lot - basically nobody spoke to me in English in Moscow. There are pluses and minuses for all places.

This is interesting! I spent a bit over four years in Moscow between 2009 and 2018. Traveled to dozens of cities while there. Everywhere I went, with every single Russian I spoke to, I would hear the same thing over and over again after I told my interlocutor that I live in Moscow and love Russia: Ah, Moscow isn't Russia.

Now I know this isn't what you're referring to, MamaPata. Your comment just reminded me of this. Moscow is most assuredly authentically Russian. I can say, however, that Russians outside of Moscow (and St. Petersburg) were far more friendly to foreigners than those in Moscow and St. Pete. In all cities outside of the capital I had absolutely no problem finding people who would speak to me in Russian and not English. In Moscow that was also possible, but there were times when I met Russians who would not speak Russian to me, either wanting to work on their English or telling me "No, no, that's ok. I know English."
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MamaPata
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Fri May 10, 2019 5:04 pm

A twitter thread full of Russian idioms:

https://twitter.com/wonko_the_sane_/sta ... 16737?s=21
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Arnaud
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Arnaud » Thu May 16, 2019 5:38 pm

You can now take the TRKI russian exam in Paris: https://etudes-russes.fr/passer-le-trki/
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Haiku D'etat
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby Haiku D'etat » Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:49 pm

I've been given the advice to learn both imperfective and perfective of each verb I come across.

I'm worried about interference between each pair. What's the best way to learn them (in Anki) without getting them mixed up?
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IronMike
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby IronMike » Tue Jul 09, 2019 10:17 pm

Haiku D'etat wrote:I've been given the advice to learn both imperfective and perfective of each verb I come across.

I'm worried about interference between each pair.

There'll be no interference btwn each pair. They come in pairs for a reason and it is best to learn that from the very beginning.
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CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
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leosmith
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby leosmith » Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:40 pm

Haiku D'etat wrote:I've been given the advice to learn both imperfective and perfective of each verb I come across.

I'm worried about interference between each pair. What's the best way to learn them (in Anki) without getting them mixed up?

I don't use anki to learn; I use it to review only. But I think keeping them both on the same card should be enough to keep them from getting mixed up. What's a lot harder imo is staying on top of all the irregular conjugations, regardless of aspect. With those I created cards with the conjugations. I don't recommend doing that though until you have a feel for the language and know which ones give you trouble - this type of card is tedious so you want to make them sparingly.
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MamaPata
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Re: Russian Study Group

Postby MamaPata » Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:13 am

Some amusing Russian sayings for you all this morning:

https://www.linguajunkie.com/russian/fu ... an-phrases
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