RI Language Group/Club?

[Zombie Glenn Beck]

So in a recently locked thread, a decent amount of people expressed interest in language learning. Anyone down for a language learning group?

[Freitag]

Yes, if anyone else wants to learn Russian

That's the language I'm studying now. I'm a wannabe polyglot who speaks good Spanish and passable German. So although I'd be able to help people with those languages, I'd prefer to stick to Russian because while I'm learning a language, I get confused if I use another foreign language too much.

(I don't know what the other, locked, thread is, and I'm taking the OP at face value... I hope there isn't any weird subtext I'm unaware of.)

[BrandonD]

So in a recently locked thread, a decent amount of people expressed interest in language learning. Anyone down for a language learning group?

That sounds great, if any of you guys are on board for French.

[Wombaticus Rex]

(I don't know what the other, locked, thread is, and I'm taking the OP at face value... I hope there isn't any weird subtext I'm unaware of.)

Ни один.

[DrEvil]

Ja, fy faen! Spraok e goe greie. Stao pao.

[Zombie Glenn Beck]

Id be cool with French or Russian.

[conniption]

Yes, if anyone else wants to learn Russian

That's the language I'm studying now. I'm a wannabe polyglot who speaks good Spanish and passable German. So although I'd be able to help people with those languages, I'd prefer to stick to Russian because while I'm learning a language, I get confused if I use another foreign language too much.

(I don't know what the other, locked, thread is, and I'm taking the OP at face value... I hope there isn't any weird subtext I'm unaware of.)

Learn Russian

Good luck with that!

[82_28]

Good christ does Russian look hard. I dipped my toe in for a sec and basically got scared away.

[Freitag]

Good christ does Russian look hard. I dipped my toe in for a sec and basically got scared away.

Heh. The cyrillic is a big barrier, once you can read the alphabet just like english you're at... well, square one. It's like you have to start at square 0 with the cyrillic. But just learning the alphabet provides a good sense of accomplishment. And that's what language learning is all about.

It's hard to find good introductory material for Russian. I tried the Michel Thomas method (the German version of which worked wonders for me) but I found Pimsleur to be much better. I owe most of my progress to the Pimsleur material. Even more disturbing though is the lack of intermediate-level material. This is a gap I've been floundering in for a while now. The best intermediate stuff I've found is at Red Kalinka. They've got books of exercises, skype lessons, but most importantly (for me) they have audio books. For me, audio material of gradually increasing complexity is key. (I also like dual-language books. With Red Kalinka you get a dual-language book and mp3 files for the same book. IIRC you can pay with PayPal and get an instant digital download.) I'd like to try Skype lessons but my internet access is irregular.

[I had forgotten all about the Red Kalinka material I downloaded a while back... I'm gonna dive into it and pick my studies back up. Thanks conniption for reviving the thread ]

[Joao]

Interested in Russian, as well, but I'll admit it will be difficult for me to consistently find the time. I'm sure that's the case for many here, but it's encouraging to see the mutual interest.

I'm acquainted with some rudiments of the language and FWIW, I've found Cyrillic to be easier than expected. Once you get over the "OMG new alphabet" feeling, as well as the fact that a few of the same letters are used in our Roman alphabet but with different sounds, it's really not so bad. The number of cognates is surprising, as well--It's rewarding to be able to decipher стоп signs, order a мартини, look for a доктор, or dig up materials on шпионаж. (Admittedly, most of those are imported words but there are more sophisticated examples which I can't recall right now--maybe something to do with words that have mutual Greek roots?)

One of the more difficult aspects, to my understanding anyway, has to do with conjugating verbs properly:

The present tense is used much like in English, with a few important exceptions. First, Russians omit the verb 'to be' in the present tense: "She is nice" in Russian is Она симпатичная, with no word for 'is'. A long hyphen or dash is used to equate two nouns together, where the word 'is' or 'are' is used in English: "They are students" is Они – студенты. Second, as discussed more in the page on the future tense, there are times when Russians use the present tense when English wouldn't, such as reporting a story.

Second, there is the concept of verbal aspect: simply put, all verbs in Russian have two words, the imperfective and the perfective. For instance, 'to speak' is говорить and сказать. Which you use is discussed more thoroughly on the specific page, but for our purposed we just need to know that the present tense can only be formed using the imperfective word. So to say "I am speaking", you use the imperfective говорить, not the perfective сказать.

An old linguistics prof even claimed that Russian and English foster subtle but fundamentally different perceptions of time (or at least, how actions occur with respect to time). Take it with a grain of ivory-tower salt, however, since whenever I've asked English-speaking Russians about this they look at me like I'm stupid / crazy (although that seems to be a common Russian reaction generally ).

Anyway, the materials I've purchased but haven't put to much use yet are Pimsleur Russian Phase 1 and Learn in Your Car: Russian, Level 1. The latter was helpful for simple things like "I don't speak Russian" and "Do you speak English?"

[Freitag]

Joao I think you'll like the Pimsleur, it'll get you up and running relatively quickly.

The Russian verbs are weird, and the grammar in general. But I've heard, and I believe to be true, that the biggest challenge in learning Russian is vocabulary. There's not a lot of crossover with English. The words all sound strange and are easy to forget.

But the sense of accomplishment is huge, when you're listening to someone speak Russian and realize you're understanding them. It's kind of surreal, and pretty awesome.

[82_28]

Are there any notable words that we use in English that originate from Russian?

[Freitag]

Are there any notable words that we use in English that originate from Russian?

Not many:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_En ... ian_origin

(I wouldn't have guessed "shaman".)