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[oikade.livejournal.com]

Master Russian, a resource listed in the community profiles recommends trying The Passive Method to word memorization:

"Record 40 to 50 new Russian words with their translations. Listen to the recording as many times as possible at normal volume level. You don't need to pay any attention to what you hear. After a great deal of playbacks the words will be memorized of their own accord."

I'd really like to try this out. Even if I'm not able to memorize them "automatically" - it would help a lot to be able to listen to groups of words repeatedly, with their english translation. Does anyone know if there are any audio files like this available online - either for download or purchase?

Comments

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

I can't comment on it with Russian, but I once bought some 10-tape "Instant Immersion" packs for this method (variously called "immersion method," "Euro method," etc) for both German and French. They were rather elementary and I didn't use them much, but I'm unsure of the method because it seems too translation-y to me, and I think people probably learn languages better by *not* translating things. Also, I'd venture to say that it's important to know how things are spelled in Russian (which was my main peeve about the French tapes I bought) and you don't get that from listening. Still, I can't knock listening. But I think it's probably better to read and listen if you want to pick up things quicker, though I think listening (without any translations) helps also, i.e. movies, music etc. in a foreign language without any translations/subtitles because it helps one pick up the sound system, rhythm of the language, etc. Just rambling...

[sventhelost.livejournal.com]

This is intriguing, and it might work. Over at Audible.com (http://audible.com/adbl/site/advancedSearch/audiobookResults.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0782144181.1118226069@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccgaddekmkiglkcefecegedfhfdhfm.0&uniqueKey=1118227020341&searchType=audioBooks), they have a few Russian langauge books mixed in among the classics. A while back, I did a sample listen on one of them, and it was basically as you describe - the word said in both langauges. I've thought about getting them just to be able to practice, but haven't wanted to use my two-books-a-month on them. (They have several plans for getting audio books, one that includes getting a free MP3 player, even.)
Tell 'em Jediping sent ya. ;D

[sitlar.livejournal.com]

May be I can help you by recording some Russian words. We can get the English translation from m-w.com...

[aciel.livejournal.com]

You might look into learning your vocabulary with concept maps, as well.

I read a paper the other day for my own research (in computational linguistics) that showed that those who use concept maps memorize much better than those who use lists. Try googling it.

I think I might throw something that combines audio and concept maps together sometime in the future as a research project.

[oikade.livejournal.com]

Thanks. ;) Russian is actually my fourth language so - I am familiar with concept maps.

I know they work well for some people, but I have always found this method tedious and not very useful for remembering words long term. (Although it did help me pass a few French tests!)Worse, I will remember the irrelevant parts of the concept map and forget the piece I meant to memorize. ;)

What I've discovered works best for me is writing down a word, saying it, thinking about it, and especially useful is hearing it spoken properly along with this. Translating stories and poems I also find very helpful for learning words.

Still, I'd be curious to play with something that combines audio and concept mapping. Not a bad research project at all. ;)

[branwen.livejournal.com]

I've been around groups of Russians who almost only speak Russian even when I'm around them, at various times (every day even, for an eight month period) over the last four-ish years, and I still don't know Russian very well. There are some words that I recognize because I've heard them so many times, but still didn't know what they meant. Even when I ask what they mean, I have a hard time remembering. Hearing Russian so much does help me get used to all the sounds, though. My boyfriend and his friends seem to use a rather limited vocabulary, and a not very clean one at that, so sometimes I feel I'm a lot better off listening to tapes, although tapes sometimes mislead you in what words Russians actually use... Okay, end ramble.

[padruka1988.livejournal.com]

As for "it's better to learn without translating" or along those lines...
There is translating involved whenever you learn a new language. I kept reading that and hearing that when I started learning Russian, I shouldn't translate everything. Well, you know, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to the novice language learner. But the fact is that if you listen to these tapes and you hear it over and over again, when you hear... say... "blah blah blah яблоко blah blah blah", you'll pick out the word яблоко and say "Hey! Apple! I know that word!" And then you start understanding other words, and at first, you will translate them... But eventually, someone will just come up to you and say Привет, как дела? and you'll automatically respond with Нормально, а у тебя? or with whatever other emotion you're feeling. I've studied Russian for a year, and what I have studied, for the most part, has already become internalized.

Here's something that I did that really helped me: I made flashcards with the Russian word on the back and a sticker on the front. For example, I had a little sticker of children on the front, and the word was "дети". The image sticks in my head a lot better than the actual word "children - дети", and of all those flashcards with the stickers, I didn't forget one word. I got my stickers from garage sales, but you can also find them at scrapbooking shops, WalMart, etc... Or you could just draw your own doodles (especially when learning emotions... You can draw faces). It's how we learn as children, and it's the easiest way to learn and it keeps it interesting. Of course, I also learned words the old fashioned cut-n'-dry memorization way.

After that long explanation, my point is that I think those tapes are a good idea... But practice your writing, reading, and so forth. Try a ton of different ways... Some things will work, others won't. We're human and we all have different ways of learning. :)

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

"As for "it's better to learn without translating" or along those lines.."

what i mean is while you have to start out translating things, i worry that such methods encourage one to keep translating. i've been in language classes where people refuse to attach a meaning to any word in a foreign language, and insist on using it as a sort of code for english. i was in a french class once where a student insisted on translating every single word instead of properly learning french. occasionally the prof would say and a sentence and she'd exclaim, "that's very poor english!" but it wasn't english! i just worry sometimes about translations causing people more harm than good sometimes. if you have a canine animal, the words "dog" and "chien" could both just as well refer to the animal itself, not to each other.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

i found this link with a few free russian audio lessons. i can't say anything about it because my speakers aren't currently hooked up, but you might want to have a look. supposedly it's a preview of the pimsler courses.

http://www.sybervision.com/freeaudio.htm