(no subject)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

When you want to say "I am learning Russian" and "I teach Russian," would they both be expressed as "Я учу русски?" If so, when reading or talking, how can you tell what's the difference?

And another "difference of" question. What's the difference between заниматься and изучать?

Comments

[roxainaboxa.livejournal.com]

*timidly steps up* I'm no expert, but I think zanimatca (sorry, I have no clue how to type in Cyrillic letters) is "to be occupied with, to have as a hobby" and izuchats is simply "to study." Hope I'm right, that is what I learned in my high school Russian class.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Well I know for a fact that изучать is to study, but I ask because in this grammar book, there's a sentence that goes "Она замимается больше всех" which they say is "She studies more than everybody else," which waved a red flag to me...

[roxainaboxa.livejournal.com]

Ah, hmmm.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_irene_/]

Я учу русский — i am learning russian
Я учу русскому — i teach russian

[unxp.livejournal.com]

When one says "Я учу русский", it is more likely that he means "I learn (or I study) russian".
And when one want to say "I teach russian", more apropriate way would be "Я преподаю русский".

Although, there are cases when you can use word "учу" as "teach". For example "I teach my friend russian language" would be "Я учу своего друга русскому языку".

[cema.livejournal.com]

Я учу русский: well, the "я учу" part can be understood both ways (as "I teach" or "I learn"); however, the whole phrase is likely to be understood the "I learn" way, even though "I teach" is technically possible.

[cema.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and заниматься is broader than just изучать. Plus, there are idiomatic expressions.

[poluzhivago.livejournal.com]

Well, изучать is more like mastering your knowledge about something while заниматься is more about a dedicating a time and an effort to get more knowledge or understanding of something.
It's like difference between to learn and to study but not a 100%.

[vladon.livejournal.com]

I am learning Russian = Я учу (кого? что?) русский [язык].
I teach Russian = Я учу (кому? чему?) русскому [языку].

заниматься & изучать... hmm.. in some cases they have same meaning, in some - not.

заниматься русским языком = изучать русский язык. but here usage of "заниматься" is almost out of date...

but заниматься спортом != изучать спорт
or заниматься вышиванием != изучать вышивание (вышивание = needle work).
or заниматься детьми != изучать детей


PS. in Russian, "заниматься" has one another meaning, differing from "изучать".

заниматься = загораться.

сарай занимается = shed is flaring up

or заря занимается = there is a dawn (?)

[oblomov-jerusal.livejournal.com]

But, curiously, "Я занимаюсь со студентами русским языком" most likely means "I teach students Russian"

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Заниматься generaly means "to be busy with something". All other meanings, except that rare and obscure "заниматься=загораться", derive from that. "Что он делает? Он занимается" - normally means "What is he doing? He is busy [with his textbooks etc.]."

[simonff.livejournal.com]

There is a shorter expression denoting teaching: "вести", as in "я веду русский" - "I teach a Russian class" . It implies that the speaker is a school/college teacher and typically requires establishing the appropriate background first: "Где ты работаешь? - Работаю в университете, веду русский."