survey

[ex-qnn171.livejournal.com]

Hello!
I need to take a little survey for our study of status of Russian language in the world (which is being performed by Russian Ministry of Education), so I would be glad to get as many answers to these questions as possible:
1. Why did you decide to learn Russian?
2. Do you intend to visit Russia for the purpose of language practise?
3. Tell something about yourself.
Thanks in advance!

Comments

[belacane.livejournal.com]

1. I decided to learn russian, because a lot of my extended family speaks it (thought not my parents at all. My father can read it, but that's it)... and that's where most of my ancestors come from... so when I had the chance, I just did it.

2. I've lived in russia for a while already. I'm currently in America, but when I raise enough money I intend to move back!!

3. I'm 22 years old. I practice handbalancing and amature contortion in my spare time. I work at a horse stable. I love to travel, and I hope to learn a few more languages before I die...... and travel the world.

[darth-blade.livejournal.com]

Баянище %)

survey

[red-kitti.livejournal.com]

1. I decided to study Russian after the first time I visited in 1991... I was living in Finland as an exchange student and I made a trip to Vyborg (Viipori) for a day and I was absolutely, completely fascinated with the place... Unfortunately, I did not begin studying Russian until just a few years ago, but I'm glad I started.

2. I have been to Russia a few times, but only as a tourist and only when I did not know any Russian other than "Thanks." Next week I will be going to Russia to work for two months and a very big part of the motivation to go there is to improve my Russian.

3. Russian is not my first foreign language - I speak Finnish and Estonian. I love Russian food and I hope to learn to make pelmenie!

Re: survey

[kaersaij.livejournal.com]

We made those at SWSEEL last year!

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

1. Why did you decide to learn Russian?

I wanted to take a "difficult" language at university, which meant Russian, Chinese, or Japanese (and Japanese was full). I didn't really have any practical reason to study Russian. I still don't have a practical reason, other than that knowing languages is good for what I want to study (linguistics).

2. Do you intend to visit Russia for the purpose of language practise?

Definitely! I hope to go for a semester, at least.

3. Tell something about yourself.

Well. Umm. I love languages and hope to study as many as I can. I've taken three years of Russian, which is all my university offers, and hope to take Chinese when I go back to school (I'm on hiatus).

[jodete.livejournal.com]

1. i decided to study russian because i find russian history and culture fascinating. russian attracts me more than any other language. i think part of that reason is because i got really into tatu's music when they first came out. i know that's a stupid reason but listening to their russian songs was what really made me appreciate the language.

2. yes i do, eventually. i think that the best way to learn a language is to go somewhere where they speak it. but i'm going to learn a bit more before i do that so i won't be completely lost when i go there.

3. i just finished high school and have no idea what to do with my life. i know i waqnt to travel. i'm thinking of going to england first and then to russia. i also get bored really easily so i figure learning russian will help me get excited about something.

[juniper949.livejournal.com]

I decided to learn Russian because I had to choose between Russian, French, or German for my linguistics degree. I chose Russian because it differed most from any other language I had studied to that point.

After my first year of studies, I lived and studied in Krasnodar for four months (at Kuban State Univ). The following summer I lived and studied in St. Petersburg for two months (at SPBGU). I'd love to go back to practice more.

I'm studying to become a doctor. I manage drug trials for cancer research. I live to play raquetball and cook.

[loki-fledermaus.livejournal.com]

1. I decided to learn Russian because I have always been curious about languages in general and my University offered free evening classes to all students, so I chose Russian. I also have distant Ukrainian family.
2. I am hoping to spend a month next year at Tver University on an intensive language course that they run.
3. I am training to become a novelist and am studying English and Philosophy at a university near Manchester, England.

[branwen.livejournal.com]

1. My boyfriend (and his family and friends) speak Russian. He was born in Uzbekistan, and he and his family moved to the U.S. almost six years ago.
2. I intend to visit Russia at some point, but not for the purplose of language practice, since I have my own little Russia here ;)
3. I am 20 years old, a self-educated professional, and I live in Texas.

[gnomygnomy.livejournal.com]

1. I took Russian because Spanish was full.

2. I have tentative plans to visit Russia over the New Year's holiday, but other than that, there's little chance I'll really get to go there and stay long enough to really sink my teeth in.

3. I'm aspiring to become a linguist. And a motorcyclist. And to play guitar well, but that might be asking too much.

[bricoleura.livejournal.com]

1)For as long as i can remember i've been fascinated with Russia, and have wanted to travel there. i decided to learn russian because of this. And now i'm in too deep, and have wonderful friends there, and there is no turning back!;)
2)i already have!:) I'm planning on returning soon (i hope)
3)uh... i'm a future Anthropologist!

[lizphiz.livejournal.com]

1.) For several reasons, including: I love the way it sounds. I wanted to study a language that intimidated most of the people I knew. And most of all, possibly, because I love Russia's music and wanted to be able to sing in its native tongue.

2.) I would like to.

3.) I'm a vocal performance major. Not sure what I'll do with that; Russian's my more practical backup. ;)

[24karrot.livejournal.com]

1. Russia's always been a pretty important country to the US, and yet we don't seem to know much about it...it's always peaked my interest as something sort of exotic but still very close in many ways. Plus, it is pretty damn cool. ;)

2. Please!

3. I also study Spanish and I'm picking up Persian. Whoo!

[kaersaij.livejournal.com]

1. I enrolled late, and there were no other electives open. Since then it has changed my life!

2. No.

3. At 29, I still haven't graduated with my bachelor's degree, because I have no interest in anything I've studied, including Russian, German, and piano.

[schwarzer-tod.livejournal.com]

1. Because Russia's history, architecture, language, achievements, music, culture, people and soul are nothing less than fascinating. Now that Communism has fallen into disfavor, it is imperative that we put aside our differences and Russia becomes America's strongest ally.
2. I can practise my Russian online or in Russian expatriate communities. I would only visit after I had a concrete grasp of the language.
3. I know how the world ends.

[ranzigkeit.livejournal.com]

1.To challenge myself.
2.Someday.
3.Russian is my fifth language.

[negativeentropy.livejournal.com]

1. Fascination with Russian history and culture, love of Russian literature, potential usefulness in my field of study.

2. Hopefully, however I would probably be traveling alone and would prefer to know the language well enough beforehand to feel semi-secure in doing so.

3. I am a nineteen-year-old girl studying chemistry and Russian. One is the bane of my existence, and the other is all that keeps me sane.

[patodruida.livejournal.com]

1. I've always had a deep interest in Russia and it's culture, in spite of which, I did not actively seek to marry a Russian... it just happened that way.

2. I have been in Russia already (Moscow and St. Peter) but I did not do it for practice purposes. I simply wanted to.
It is, however, very likely that the missus and I will be relocating there sometime within the next 18 months, so I'd better brush up on my Russian!

3. I am, in no particular order:
31 years old; Mexican; a guitar player obsessed with vintage pedals and valve amplifiers; a few months away from getting a long belated degree; a workaholic; the only person in my circle of acquaintances who speaks Finnish; someone who despairs at my nation' inability to provide at least ONE decent Latin course; blood-related to the late emperor Moctezuma, if family myth is to be believed :)

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

1. I wanted to take something more challenging than Spanish, which I had been studying since I was eight. The Russian class happened to fit with my schedule.

2. I studied abroad (in St. Petersburg) one year in college and am now working for an American NGO in Ekaterinburg.

3. I neither want to translate nor teach English - I'm leaning towards NGO or government work, I just haven't decided which yet.

[dammital.livejournal.com]

1. I'm a little atypical. I read _Fail Safe_ when I was in high school, about 35 years ago. (It's a cold war thriller involving nuclear weapons.) One of the protagonists was a Russian language translator for the American President. I liked the characterization of the translator so much that I went to the local library and borrowed a Russian primer to learn more about the language. The language had a wonderful sound to it, and I resolved to study it at university the next year. Since graduation in 1973 I've forgotten nearly everything I ever learned, and I'm starting over again practically from scratch.

2. It's difficult to justify abandoning my career and children to indulge in language study. Perhaps I'll visit Russia after I retire -- but that's a few years away yet.

3. I'm a computerman, specializing in large IBM mainframes for all my professional life. I'm 52 years old, active in local theatre, a writer of bad (and unpublished) fiction and a pilot who hasn't flown in a dangerously long time. I live in Florida, about halfway between Disney and the Space Center.

[hopeinagpa.livejournal.com]

1. I moved from Southern California to Washington state right as I started first year of High School. A senior took me around for a tour and highly recommended the Russian course at the school. I was skeptical at first about making a brash decision to change from Spanish to Russian, having never even considered the option before, but looking back, I think it was one of the most rewarding decisions I've ever made in my life. The language and culture and history and people are all immensely interesting.

2. Yes!!!! As of now, I'm absolutely planning on doing Junior Year Abroad somewhere in Russia.

3. This year is the beginning of my 4th year studying Russian. This upcoming summer, I will be doing the Summer Intensive Russian course at the Univ. of Washington (for free too. w00t!). I will be pursuing the language in college, but most likely won't be majoring in it. Russian is my third language, English being my second (but right now my best), and Chinese my first (and partially forgotten as well as originally not very well developed).

[gjertsen.livejournal.com]

1) I decided to learn russian after the first time I went to Moscow for work and was terrified. I found even my basic russian useful (unlike other parts of europe where my high school french and german was useless in places where it seemed nearly everyone spoke english.) Though I have changed jobs since then, I went to Moscow 5 times, for several week periods and fell in love with the city and the language. I've kept it up. I'm glad that my first language is English, since it's both incredibly internationally useful and (or so I've heard) rather difficult to master as a second language. But so many countries have russian speakers beside the russian federation and I'd love to visit them all.
2) See the answer to 1. I intend to go back, as a tourist. Working in a country is a great way to get to see a side that tourist's don't see, but because I was so busy when I was there I haven't really been anywhere outside the center of Moscow. My experience is that simply walking around Moscow is language practice and I'd love to do it in a more relaxed way. I'd also like to bring my boyfriend along.
3)I used to work for a theater company and now I work for a museum. Plenty of Russians there too, as it turns out...