Уважаемые изучатели:

[stpetersburg.livejournal.com]

Today, I successfully managed to purchase my first railroad ticket, in person, from the Ленинградский вокзал ticket window. However, this was after spending about thirty minutes looking at the information posted in various places and deciding exactly what I was going to say to the cashier before I actually went and said it. While buying it, I understand about 10% total of what came through the little speaker under the window. Thankfully, it was the most important 10 percent (i.e., the price, rounded to the nearest hundred roubles), but still, I was a bit concerned that I caught very little of what was actually said. And it happens that I still tend to catch the minority of what people say, even when talking directly to me.

I seem to think it's not so much my lack of knowledge about the language itself (I can read more or less okay) as much as it is my inability to listen. I try really hard, but so much just either flies right by or is not even in the same time zone. So, what I would like to ask of those in the community who have already learned a second language is this: do most Russians just not speak well (clearly and loudly) or am I just not up to snuff, and if it is the latter, what advice do you have for learning to listen in a second language?

Спасибо вам больше