Very New to Russian

[queenmaeve.livejournal.com]

I've always been interested in Russia and the Russian language, but I never actually tried to study it until now. I picked up a grammer book/dictionary yesterday, and I've spent about three hours studying the alphabet. Anything- tips, how to study, etc. any of you think that I should know would be most helpful.

Comments

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the club, then. Some of us are native speakers (like this here,) so we are here to answer some more specific questions concerning vocabulary, grammar, word usage etc. etc. As for the alphabet, yes, it's not like Latin and takes time to memorize, so we all wich you success with that. Those of us who really learn Russian would probably be more helpful in terms of studying tips. Have fun, and С Новым Годом!

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

A) The "spelling rules" are actually important. I at first disregarded it but then found that had I known it it would have saved a lot of confusion.
B) Any book you buy in Russian should have accents (surprisingly, some "learn russian" books don't!), because like English, emphasis are random (as opposed to Spanish/Italian).
C) The most AMAZING book ever (although you might want to build up your vocabulary first) for Russian cases/grammar is "Making Progress in Russian: A Second Year Course." It's very pricy, but hey, I got mine through my tutor.
D) Write whatever you feel like in Russian. I.e. "Уилсон," "Майами," and other English NAMES (don't write English words in Russian or else it... just confuses you), and when you start to learn little words, you can start writing little notes such as "Я люблю тебя" (very popular amongst the beginners).
E) Please avoid from learning how to speak Russian through the Latin alphabet. Learn all the rules of pronounciation then learn words, because my blunder is that now, I can't say "пожалуйста" without thinking "pazhalsta."

And I think I've done my good deed for the day! :)

[queenmaeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. It might be a while before I get past the alphabet, though.

[squodge.livejournal.com]

Try to pick up a copy of Sybervision's Speak, Read, and Think Essential Russian - it's essentially a Pimsleur Russian course, but much better because it's incredibly well-designed. Even though Pimsleur courses focus on good pronunciation and conversation, the Sybervision course comes with a booklet that teaches you Cyrillic - I learned to read the letters fluently in less than two weeks.

~ squodge ~

[aciel.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend the Pimsleur Russian series of tapes/CDs. But, learn the alphabet first. It'll make it easier to understand the tapes.

I also hear Rosetta Stone is very good.