Learn Russian

Which of Nabokov's works do you want to read in the original Russian?

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kameil.livejournal.com

Well, I'm reading "Invitation To A Beheading" right now (loving it), but I'd like to read "Pale Fire" next... it'd be nice to just have a Russian copy around to play with while I learn the language.

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I haven't touched the Russian translation of 'Pale Fire.' (Or any Russian version of Nabokov's work.) I think I'd rather read the original Russian 'Invitation to a Beheading' than read one of the originally English novels in Russian.

I'm curious about how difficult it might be for a learner.

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kameil.livejournal.com

Ah ok, I didn't realize Pale Fire was written in English... maybe I'll look for "Invitation to a Beheading" instead. I think I'm delusional about how hard learning the language will be since I feel like learning the script is a huge deal... and the book I'm using uses a lot of cognitive words that sound the same in both Russian and English.

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Most of Nabokov's most famous works (in America, anyway) were written in English, so it seemed a little odd for you to be wanting to learn Russian to read him. Not unlikely for someone who likes his English works and wants more, though.

Learning to read Russian is much easier than learning to speak it, fortunately.

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kameil.livejournal.com

Haha, ok XD Well, maybe I'll find some of Chekov's short stories instead... and yeah, it seems like it'll be a lot harder to speak it than to read it

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ashalynd.livejournal.com

Learning the Cyrillic script is probably somewhere around 1% of the work required to master the Russian language for an English speaker :)

No specific software is required if you are using Windows, because it has built-in support for many alphabets: go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages -> Details -> add Russian there and you will be able to switch between English and Russian keyboard sets (if you want to add more keyboard sets, it is also possible).

This is the very good overview of Russian grammar written in English:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/

It would require some time until you can read Nabokov in Russian. I might suggest starting with the things which he wrote in both languages, like Lolita (so that you can read in Russian and check yourself in English). But this you will be able to do only after you have mastered grammar (cases, verb inflections, and other boring stuff). Russian language is a bit like Latin from the point of grammar, so if you know Latin, it will definitely help.

Good luck in your quest into the new language! :)

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the gift is nabokov's last novel written originally in russian.

cyrillic comes installed on both mac and windows. i don't know how you get it in windows, except that you press shift + alt to switch languages (i've only used russian versions of windows). for macs, go to system preferences, then international, then input menu, and check russian and "show input menu in menu bar". then click on keyboard shortcuts, deselect "spotlight" and select "input." Then you can just toggle back and forth pressing apple + space bar. you might want to get some cyrillic stickers for your keyboard from ebay.

another word about mac and cyrillic--the latest version of firefox doesn't support cyrllic input correctly and just shows ??????????? instead of letters. I had to download the russian version.

as far as cyrillic workbooks, i've never seen one outside of ones made for kids in russia. cyrillic is generally just taught in the normal textbook.

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Writing in Russian: I use http://translit.ru/ - you type in the window English characters, they appear in Russian, "special" characters like "ш", etc. are typed in two characters "sh". All that is shown on top of the window.
Below the window you'll see "проверить орфографию" - that is "spell check", very useful button. Click on it when you complete your writing, then, when you have all text in red fixed click "сохранить и закрыть".

Use copy-paste to move the text where you want it.

Russian books: http://lib.ru/ use search.

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i would put it at perhaps .005% of the work required in learning russian for a native speaker of english :)

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See below.

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Honestly, from my own experience, short stories are better to start with anyway. It's really easy to get burnt-out on reading a novel in a language you're not proficient in, but short stories give you a closer goal. (And you can start something new when you're done!)

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Chekov might be too difficult for a beginner. Maybe members of the community have some suggestions for texts that are easier to start with? Chekov's sentences are pretty complex for someone who only has basic knowledge of the cases.

If you really want to do this, there's not going to be any instant gratification. It will take a lot of work until you get to the point where reading either of these authors is feasible.

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for what?

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For not installing Cyrillic. You can use translit.ru from any machine that has Internet access. From work, for example. No need to install anything.

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eavanmoore.livejournal.com

Learning to read Russian is much easier than learning to speak it, fortunately.

As far as the alphabet goes, yeah. But it's funny... Russian is the only language I'd rather hear than read. The Cyrillic all looks the same to me.

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erekrose.livejournal.com

Windows has a thing called the Language Bar, which allows you to change input languages and keyboard layouts. Right click on the task bar and go to Toolbars > Language Bar to activate it, then right click on the Language Bar and go to Settings. A dialogue box will open and from there you can add Russian (as well as other languages).

You will have to learn the layout of the Russian keyboard, though, to type with this method. I've found this site (http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/) very helpful.

I've not used it before but

russian_bob's suggestion seems to be a very good one as well.

Good luck with your studies!

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oryx_and_crake

I would strongly recommend learning to type in Russian though. When you learn English, you don't do it by learning how to spell English words with Russian letters, do you? Ит вуд би ту хоррибл, донт ю синк соу?

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ksushis.livejournal.com

(sorry if that's off-topic) I just remembered how a bunch of my friends were always transliterating English words into Russian (since transcription wasn't easy to master), fortunately I always thought it was horrible, so it didn't stick to me... But I'm sure lots of people do it. I think it's essential to learn how to write (and type) in Russian if you want to learn the language..

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xorxor.livejournal.com

You dont need any additional software to write in Russian. You have to add support for this language in windows.

Start -> Settings -> Control panel -> Language and regional settings -> Language -> More... -> Add.

Than you can change language in Language Bar.

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oryx_and_crake

Exactly my point. You cannot say you know a language if you don't even know how to write in this language without crutches (i.e. automatic converters).

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nothing in my post said anything about INSTALLATION. ALL mac and windows pc currently being sold have cyrillic input with a russian keyboard already installed. it's all a matter of selecting a box and having the ALREADY-installed cyrillic show up as an option in your menu bar, which is less intuitive on a mac than a pc, so i was explaining this to the op in case she was a mac user.

personally, i would only use that translit site if i were on a public computer where i couldn't access the system preferences/control panel. i switch back and forth way too much to use some site to type in cyrillic. way easier to just select a box somewhere and then press two buttons at the same time. i'm not sure why you explained this to me anyway...

anyway i agree with what oryx and crake said below! if you want to be active on rusnet, or if you have to type term papers in russian, there is no reason to forgo typing normally on a russian keyboard. sorry, but that's really weird advice. :/ as i said before, i would only use translit as a last resort. why would someone who is a russian speaker or a serious student of russian not want to have cyrillic on their computer????????? weird!

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Typing using "russian" keyboard was never a part of knowing Russian language.
I know Russian, but I never knew how to use russian typewriter or keyboard.
So what?
As off being efficient and fast, believe me, when I type in translit I type as fast as I type in English. :)

When you type in translit.ru you do not see english characters, you see Russian characters right away, соу ю шулд`нт би консёрн эбаут зэт. :)

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OK. I did not know about Cyrillic capabilities of regular MAC or Windows, but it seems that it has some problems anyway.

As of using cyrillic keyboard, I use English keyboard for last 20 years. I never used or saw Russian keyboard, does it mean I do not know Russian? I can read and write Russian very well. And with translit I can type in Russian very fast.

I do not know where is Russian "O" on my English keyboard and where is Russian "K", but with translit I can type blindly in Russian as well as in English and I do not need to learn BOTH keyboards.

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