I'm starting to think about language training since I have to nail down a second language (for some reason) for grad school. I'm waffling between honing the French I already know and actually trying to learn a language that makes sense given my subject area. My focus is 20th century American, and specifically, black history, which means there isn't really a foreign language that makes a lot of sense to study, but I have to have one anyway. I'm also interested in labor history, so I thought maybe Polish or German for reading early century immigrant publications like Chicago's Arbeiter Zeitung (spelling is off, apologies), but that's so obscure for my interests that I think it would be a waste of time. Then I thought maybe Spanish for the same purpose, since so many laborers are Spanish today, but again, it's pretty unlikely that I'll actually be interacting with a lot of Spanish speakers even for oral histories.
My French could come in hand if I decide to do any sort of post-colonial cross-Atlantic comparative studies that bridge African-Americans with West African countries or Caribbean cultures, most of which are French speaking, and historically do have some ties from the 50s and 60s. So there's that. But since the Cold War is such a major aspect of my time period, and since African Americans have for so long been pegged as Communists, and indeed, before 1945, a great many of the more active ones were quite close with the Comintern, I thought learning Russian might actually be somewhat handy, and a bit more unique for my field, and could actually lead to something interesting if I ever get over to Moscow to read Russian language files.
Anyway, all that aside, I want to take a crack at teaching myself Russian next semester, and if it goes well, I'll take language class next year. But has anyone used a particular method that works? I'm not shelling out for Rosetta Stone, which I've heard anecdotally is of dubious value anyway. I have a text book from my freshman year of undergrad for the half semester of Russian that I took, it's called Nachalo, and I'd just need to buy the audio cds that go along with it. A cursory check of Amazon has pointed me to these two books as well:
I don't necessarily have a preference with regards to learning style, though I know I'd like to learn it in Cyrillic, and not some roman character transliteration, since if I ever do get over to Russia, it's not like 60 year old Comintern files are going to be transliterated for me. I like audio cds that come with them, especially for Russian, which I already know has some funky rules and customs, to say nothing of the fact that I have to learn a totally new alphabet.
Suggestions appreciated. I'm going to take a good whack at this for the next five months and see if it's worth pursuing. If I can't get a handle on it, I'll just switch back to French, and cram for my language test.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I've had good experiences with audio (on my commute) with both Michel Thomas and Pimsleur. Some of the Pimsleur courses also come with workbooks.
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I'm not a Russian learner, although maybe one day. I have had to learn a second language at short notice, though.
I'd back up the Michel Thomas recommendation - I remember listening to a sample of the Russian course years ago and it was pretty good. (And best of all, the course is not actually recorded by him, so you don't have to pick up his German accent).
They're a great way to deal with the basic grammar issues head-on without it actually causing you any pain or problems.
Shame you're not fluent in French, as I've found the Assimil courses to be very helpful, especially in learning to understand and follow when listening to native speech. But for anyone else thinking of learning a language, I'd recommend them, and a number of courses are available in English (just not Russian).
The other thing I'd say is that when you get the hang of the language a little bit, see if you can find some audiobooks in Russian and read along with the same book in English. Someone told me about doing this, so I tried it and it really, really helps your listening comprehension.
I'd say find dubbed movies and shows etc to watch, but I believe in Russia the dubbing is often pretty basic and it's usually just one boring guy giving an explanation of what's going on while the actors speak quietly in English - so not really as fun as in most of Europe where they do all the voices.
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
The russian dub of the anime Haruhi Suzumiya is actually well regarded and excellent.
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posted
I would suggest also listening to music in the language you are trying to learn. And maybe just watch/listen to movies or shows in that language whether or not they are dubbed or have subtitles. Just hearing the language and how it's spoken in common use is better than just listening to the "teach yourself ________".
This site has TV, movies, music, etc., from various countries.
And of course, all of this is purely my opinion. :-)
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
I would caution only that the inherent complexities of Slavonic grammar are enough to defeat any casual efforts at picking up Russian, although it is by most accounts an easier language than Czech/Slovak or members of the Serbo-Croat group.
The learning curve on Slavonic languages is extremely steep at the outset, as a grounding in declension patters and paradigms is needed. That means all the "moving parts" of the language have to be memorized and drilled just so that you can form a basic sentence properly. The easier aspects are the tense structures, which are simpler, and the verb conjugations, which bear some similarity to the Latin system.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
If you can, I'd take a study trip to Russia with some kind of organization. I did that when I was 15 and it helped tremendously.
It really depends how old you are. I was younger when I started to learn, which gave me more options. There's this place called Concordia Language Village that basically gives you high school language credits for spending a month in a camp that engulfs you in the language. Very useful place because all you do is study this stuff all the time.
Anyway, your first goal should be learning the alphabet, then basic phrases, just like any other language. Russian's a bit more difficult than the romantic languages, like Spanish or French, because it uses a completely different alphabet. However, some of the letters are the same and some of the others are at least similar to their English counterparts. But there's a few that will be completely foreign, so get ready for that.
Once you get through the first batch of information (or semester, if you're in school), it gets a little easier.
Posts: 1324 | Registered: Feb 2011
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posted
I've learned Cyrillic once before, when I took a semester of Russian in undergrad, but that was years ago, and I've since forgotten, but at least I know it's possible.
I know it's hard, which is why I'm going to study hard for a semester to see how far I can get. If after a semester it looks like I'm not picking it up as fast as I'd like, then I switch back to French. I thought about taking first semester Russian here in grad school and then teaching myself from there, but having already done that (albeit a decade ago), I thought it'd be better to try to reteach myself as much as I can before moving on. There's a woman in the history department who is Russian, so I plan on hitting her up for some help whenever I hit a snag, and there are a few tutors as well.
I know it will be hard, but it's still easier than what my backup plan was, which was to learn Arabic and apply to the CIA if a phd program falls through. That's still something I'm considering, but it's not my number one choice.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I would think for anyone trying to learn any language on their own, the software from Rosetta Stone is about as good as it gets. Though it is certainly not cheap.
posted
Some people love Rosetta Stone, but as far as I can tell it's immensely, enormously expensive for what it is. You can get the same or better amount of learning from books and CDs, without the snazzy bells and whistles - but at a tiny fraction of the price.
Plus, you don't have to learn useful phrases like 'the cactus is above the airplane', which, depending on the version, seems to be Rosetta's speciality. It's a program ideal for people who freak out at the idea of learning grammar or picking up a book, or who had a traumatic school language learning experience. Basically, though, I've never met one person who used Rosetta, spent all that money and could actually speak a language afterwards.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I don't have nearly the kind of money I'd need to learn via Rosetta Stone.
quote:Basically, though, I've never met one person who used Rosetta, spent all that money and could actually speak a language afterwards.
Plus, this has been my experience as well. I know several people who used Rosetta Stone before going into the Peace Corps, spent hours and hours on it, and when they got there, found it was almost useless to them.
I don't have a problem cracking a book, though, I certainly want some point of audio component with a language this far afield from English.
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