Learning a new language

[WhingForPresident]

Hello fine sages of NSC,

I've been looking at various ways in which to learn Russian and I was hoping some on here may be able to share their experience of learning another language.

Had a look at Rosetta Stone but it seems pretty pricey for a programme that has such mixed reviews.

My missus is Ukrainian and has been teaching me the odd bit here or there but I need more than that if I'm ever going to be able to speak the language fluently. Anyone had any good/bad experiences with software? Are classes the only way to become fluent?

Thanks in advance.

 

[albionite]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Total-Russi...0818796&sr=8-2&keywords=michel+thomas+russian

This guy normally gets rave reviews

 

[Gwylan]

Get your girlfriend to speak in Russian, solely in Russian - that's the best way.

I think classes are pretty good as you can hear how things sound (and teachers can correct you) but immersion is the best way. My German was functional until I spent a week in Germany, living in the house of a couple who spoke no English, after a week of being forced to speak German, my ability to speak the language shot up

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Try russianpod101.com - really great lessons on that with audio and done in a web savvy way.

 

[life on mars 73]

I endorse Michel Thomas 100% - his method is just fantastic.

 

[dougdeep]

Get your girlfriend to speak in Russian, solely in Russian - that's the best way.

Won't his wife mind?

 

[Puppet Master]

My missus is Ukrainian

Pics. Immediately.

 

[smeariestbat]

immersion is the best way. spent three years trying to learn norwegian from books, software, and speaking to the mrs in norwegian (she's a native). I could speak a bit, read a little, and if a norwegian spoke to me, like her mum or grandparents etc, i wouldnt have a clue what they said.

Been living in Norway 3 months now and working in a bilingual kindergarten, i can now understand 80% ish of whats being said to me, and can hold my own in a conversation

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Practical immersion in the language is by far the best way. I learned my Italian like that, in a small town where there was only one other native English speaker (and practically no tourists). Learn the language or starve were the options. A good grammar book helps, though, particularly if you want to feel confident in the way you string sentences together. Read newspapers and watch as much TV as you can - if you can find a channel that functions in the language you are learning.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

 

[Nigella's Cream Pie]

I guess it's your wife's idea that you learn to speak Russian:

[yt]eSK3BpSfULo[/yt]

 

[Codner pharmaceuticals]

Get some for free at the local library. They have different brands you can borrow.

 

[tommyseagull]

best way is to get chucked into the deep end, I moved to spain a year ago and I worked with a bloke who didn't speak any English, but now I can talk good spainsh, not fluent but getting there, best just to learn the verb styles etc from a book to help out first though

 

[sant andreu]

Like others have said immersion is the best way.

If this is not an option, 'cos your life is in the UK, you will need to dedicate quite a lot of time towards it! I teach English to people here in Spain, and it is clear as day that the only way people who don't have this option of learning by immersion can progress with any semblance of speed, is by really putting the hours in with extra study. No NOT imagine that a just couple of hours class and 45 mins homework per week will be enough to get you fluent in less than four or five years, at the very earliest!

As well as classes, you need to listen to as much Russian as you can on TV programmes over the internet or films or music of radio programmes - doesn't matter if you don't understand all that much at first, just to get used to the sounds and you will start to recognise which expressions are used all the time. And read. And get your girlfriend to talk with you and explain stuff if she has the patience. And keep on being curious about the meanings of things and using dictionaries or other means to find out. And know, that only this way, if you are patient and persistent, and keep on without giving up, and giving it lots and lots of time, within a year or 2 you may be on your way to getting towards some type of fluency.

Hope you don't mind the reality check, but I see people who get quite frustrated because their progress isn't very fast, but if you can't put in the time...!

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

it's taken me around 5 years to be actually comfortable speaking in French

but,I put very little effort into it in all honesty

I found books & TV not only boring,but I wasn't getting anywhere really

plus if you learn with the locals,you pick up so many words & phrases that are used often,but not found in any text books

good luck!

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

I've been studying Swedish using Rosetta Stone and let me tell you. IT WORKS.

It's incredibly repetitive, at times it's mind-bobblingly frustrating because you get hit with the same words over and over and over and over.... But in the end, you just end up knowing the words, so it works!

If you put the hours in, you will get the results.

 

[DanielT]

Pimsleur worked well for me. It's only about learning to speak the language, so no good for reading/writing.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Cheers for the advice in this thread, good old NSC. Rosetta Stone is on Groupon for £60 at the moment, can't really go wrong at that price so think I will give it a whirl alongside the Michel Thomas audiobook as it seems to have pretty flawless feedback.

I won't be able to give up on learning it as her mum refuses to speak English.. It's very hard to get those essential brownie points from the mother when you don't speak the language!

Oh and apologies for the lack of pics, I don't want to be on the receiving end of the Eastern European temperament should she somehow find out, and I think she probably would.. She seems to have eyes everywhere

 

[daveinprague]

True that. My girl is beautiful, but I need to remember at the end of the day, she was brought up in the Russias. I saw her arguing with her brother once, and her mother just caught her arm as the bottle was coming down on his head.
I was under the impression that Russian and Ukrainian were quite different...?..i mean, they understand each other, but theres lots of nuances.

 

[WhingForPresident]

True that. My girl is beautiful, but I need to remember at the end of the day, she was brought up in the Russias. I saw her arguing with her brother once, and her mother just caught her arm as the bottle was coming down on his head.
I was under the impression that Russian and Ukrainian were quite different...?..i mean, they understand each other, but theres lots of nuances.

Not ones to get on the wrong side of eh! Haven't felt the wrath to that extent just yet but those eyes she gives me when I'm in the wrong would make Chuck Norris shit himself.

Her family communicate in Russian and she uses it as her first language, apparently Ukrainian isn't that widely spoken in the main cities (she's from Kiev). Not sure how true that actually is but that's her reasoning!