(no subject)
Dec. 2nd, 2008 08:22 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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learn_russianHi everyone.
I'm a native Russian speaker and i'm doing a research on how do non-native speakers comprehend Russian. Would you please answer this short questionary:
1. How long have you been studying Russian?
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
And if you can please write your first name, age and country. Thanks a lot!
*I hope administration won't mind this posting )
I'm a native Russian speaker and i'm doing a research on how do non-native speakers comprehend Russian. Would you please answer this short questionary:
1. How long have you been studying Russian?
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
And if you can please write your first name, age and country. Thanks a lot!
*I hope administration won't mind this posting )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 05:44 pm (UTC)I took one formal semester of Russian, but I've had informal lessons here and there.
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
I'm involved in the space industry and the two official languages are English and Russian. Plus my advisor for my masters thesis is threatening to drop me off in the middle of Siberia.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
Speaking.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
Romanian, but I don't really know why since Romanian is closer to Latin. Perhaps its the Slavic influence.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rools are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
Mess, but then I have never found a single language that made sense.
And if you can please write your first name, age and country. Thanks a lot!
Melvin, 27, USA
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 06:13 pm (UTC)For...officially, five years. I started when I was 13 and stopped when I was 18.
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
I went to a really weird state school which specialised in languages, and I love studying languages anyway, and doing new, slightly unusual things, so when I got to pick a second language to study (after French), I picked the only one on the list which came with it's own alphabet. I kept studying it because I enjoyed it and was interested in Russian (and Soviet) history and literature.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
Cases, but really only when I write. I'm a bit odd like that. I'm normally very good at thinking on my feet and my grammar is actually better when I talk than in written Russian. Normally because I have a sense of when something sounds wrong. As someone who's never studied any other language with cases (English and French are evil...), they never were easy.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
This is weird for me, I have to say. I've always found it somewhere between sounding like a romantic language and a guttral germanic language. But not at the same time, if you understand? It has some words which sound very, very fluid and pretty and others which make my throat want to close up (yes, I'm looking at you вход). I guess it sounds sort of powerful, like a Germanic language, but also has moments of incredible beauty (which...I couldn't see happening in a Germanic language, sorry guys.)
5. Do you think Russian grammar rools are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
I think the rules themselves...are a mess. Especially movement verbs. HOWEVER. In comparison to French and English, Russian sticks to the rules it has. There's far less irregularities, really. Which is nice, that once you've learnt the weird rules, you can pretty much stick to them and you'll be fine. Or that's how I figured it.
Kim, 19, the UK
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 06:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 06:35 pm (UTC)and words like "exercices". pff...
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 06:49 pm (UTC)I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 06:58 pm (UTC)2) I decided to learn Russian because I have always loved studying languages, and I had wanted to study Russian ever since I visited Leningrad in 1990. The language sounded gorgeous and fascinating to me while I was there, but I didn't have an opportunity to learn it until I went to college in 1996.
3) I find the vocabulary - and sense of when to use which words - to be the most difficult thing about the language. Also, memorizing the pronunciation of words - I found myself relying heavily on stress marks in my text books, which obviously you don't find in the real world.
4) Oddly enough, it reminds me of Spanish. Maybe that's not so much the way it sounds to my ear, but the way it feels to me to pronounce some of the sounds...
5) Russian grammar makes sense to me. It is much more intricate than English grammar, but I like having cases and find the rules easy to follow (far easier than German!), once the task of memorizing/learning them has been overcome. :) The hardest part of the grammar rules is just remembering all of them.
Valerie - 30 - USA :)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 07:00 pm (UTC)You are lucky - I am the exact opposite. I can (well, could) write okay, when I'm not (wasn't) on the spot, but I'm a horrible conversationalist. I think it is far more useful to be able to speak coherently in real time than to be able to scribble at your leisure. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 07:38 pm (UTC)2. Why did you decide to learn it? I developed a love for Russian culture and I love how the language sounds so I decided to go for it.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian? Grammar and pronunciation, the big words trip me up.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of? Spanish, some of the words sound the same.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rools are quite logical or they are a complete mess? It's logical for the most part, my problem is that grammar was not emphasized in the schools I went to. Therefore I have to learn grammar all over again to understand Russian grammar.
And if you can please write your first name, age and country. Thanks a lot!
Christina 22 USA
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 07:49 pm (UTC)Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 08:15 pm (UTC)- lots of words have many different meanings, they're multipurpose and many words are used only in particular contexts or with certain other words; phrasal verbs and numerous idioms don't make any sense at first glance, often rightly so because their meaning isn't the sum of the meanings of the components (e.g. get over).
- while the accentuation of words in English isn't such a big problem as in Russian, it's also not written in English words and it varies (e.g. control, machine). But the worst is that the language is largely non-phonetic and it's impossible to pronounce many words correctly w/o looking up their pronunciation in the dictionary or having someone say them for you. You should've had spelling problems at school -- that's the other side of the problem (knowing how to pronounce, but not knowing how to spell).
:)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 08:22 pm (UTC)Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 08:27 pm (UTC)It's not odd. I, a native Russian speaker who knows a bit Spanish, find that Spanish phonetics is almost completely INCLUDED in Russian phonetics, i.e., most of sounds Spanish has, Russian has too, but not vice versa.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 08:40 pm (UTC)over four years
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
family history
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
being able to both comprehend the conversation while contributing to it in large groups of people.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
it feels really natural to me because i've been in russia for so long and conduct so much of my life in russian that i can't really say. i guess my early childhood and going to church.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
far more logical than english!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 08:41 pm (UTC)2. I fell in love with Russian language when I watched a film in Russian (with subtitels)in 2000...then I began to read classic russian literature and I was hooked. :)
3. For me aspects are the most difficult part of Russian grammar. And the stress.
4. Nothing, it's unique. I think it sounds wonderful and even now when I understand (almost) everything in a conversation I never get tired of itsvbeautiful sound. Other languages turn just in to "information" when you start to understand them, but not Russian...
5. I think they're logical, but there are so many rules to remember that it gets complicated. But I think that in Russian grammar there's a lot to understand and not so much to memorize (I think that in German you mainly have to memorize grammar, logic seems to absent at all).
-- Barbara, 25, I'm from Germany, but I live in Sweden.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 09:28 pm (UTC)Interesting. I'm a native speaker of Russian, and Romanian to me sounds exactly like Latin spoken by Russians :) Another language that sounded quite familiar was Portuguese (Portuguese Portuguese, not Brazilian.) I even decided that a model Portuguese phrase, phonetics-wise, is "ты сядешь и поедешь" :)
Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 09:31 pm (UTC)Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 09:43 pm (UTC)Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 10:50 pm (UTC)1. Almost four years.
2. It's a story. When I was in eighth grade I did a project on Catherine the Great, and my fourteen year old self thought she was the coolest lady ever. So I started reading more Russian history, and found it over all very interesting. Fast forward to university, I needed a language (for only one year) in order to graduate, and I was sick of Spanish. I was trying to decide between German and Russian. I decided on Russian because the history and culture was so interesting to me and I got to learn a new alphabet. Then I fell in love with the language, and the culture and people are wonderful too.
3. Some of the sounds are physically difficult for me to make, and others to hear. The difference between ш and щ are completely lost to my ears, but then again my Russian host brother couldn't hear the vowel difference between "love" and "laugh" (he spoke English). It took me three years, but I'm finally able to roll my R's and I'm quite pleased with that.
4. I understand the language well enough (though still terribly and in dire need of improvement) that when I hear Russian, I hear strings of meanings (and confusion) as I do with English. So to say what the sounds of Russian are like is difficult for me. Serbian and Italian, oddly, remind me of Russian. It's the phonetics of the first language and the rhythm of the second language.
5. I vote logical. I find the verbs of motion a bit redundant, but I also understand those distinctions feel natural to a native speaker, so it's just my cultural bias. I love that the rules of Russian are very firm, few irregulars, and I think cases make more sense than word order. With that being said, I never got good at cases until I had to think on my feet in Russia all the time...
Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 11:28 pm (UTC)2. I was bored.
3. Verbs of motion make me sad :(
4. When I first started learning I thought it sounded like French, thought I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually. These days I dunno, it just sounds like Russian.
5. Pretty logical and yet still kicks my ass. Grrrr
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 11:36 pm (UTC)Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-02 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 11:58 pm (UTC)Btw, what about Ы?
Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-03 12:08 am (UTC)acescencia
ascensión
nacionalsocialista
fascista
At least there exists the Latin American sort of Spanish, where s=c/z.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 04:21 am (UTC)Six years.
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
I went to St. Petersburg and liked it; it seemed more interesting and exotic than other European languages, but less difficult than Asian languages; and I liked Russian history.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
Now, it's the word order (I mean, making my Russian sound like colloquial native word order), and remembering where the stress is on certain words.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
Nothing. It only sounds like Russian to me.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
Logical. There are just a lot of them.
Leslie, 24, USA
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 04:24 am (UTC)2. Why did you decide to learn it? I took first year Russian for language credit and was totally hooked after that
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian? Verbs of motion, definitely verbs of motion.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of? Simply Russian, it is its own beautiful sound. I love how it is at the same time powerful and lovely, which to me is true of many things Russian.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess? Logical, but at the same time quite complicated.
Betsy, 36, US
я говорю по-русски... нимного...
Date: 2008-12-03 06:57 am (UTC)2. Why did you decide to learn it? My name was on the class roster. I go to a military school.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian? Figuring out where to put the stress in speech. Oh, and the sheer speed of my course. I've been studying Russian for five months and we already have all of the cases (in singular form only, though). Trying to cram all of this in while maintaining sanity is difficult. 8 hours of Russian a day, 5 days a week. And I love it!
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of? The crazy dreams I have that I can't actually understand...
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess? I understand how logical they are. Incredibly so, with MILLIONS of exceptions.
Re: я говорю по-русски... нимного...
Date: 2008-12-03 06:58 am (UTC)Re: I'm just a lurker, but I'm answering this anyway. :)
Date: 2008-12-03 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 02:49 pm (UTC)2. I joined Peace Corps and am in Ukraine and was assigned it
3. CASES! ARgh!
4. Not sure
5. I think they make sense, but I haven't figured out the key yet. ;)
Julia
32
American living in Ukraine
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 03:51 pm (UTC)2.5 years.
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
I read Dostoevsky back in high school and loved him. But the real reason was because I love languages and I wanted to study something that was "exotic". Of the choices open to me, Chinese seemed a little too difficult, Japanese didn't interest me--so I was left with Russian.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
These days it's the vocabulary. I'm okay with the grammar, but I spend a lot of time phrasing and rephrasing what I'm trying to say and consequently forget what I'm saying. At various points I've had trouble with the pronunciation (especially ы) and word stress. Verbs of motion are annoying when I forget the prefixes.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
It sounds harsh to me, and a little gutteral, but I like that in a language.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rools are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
When I first learn a grammatical concept, I think it's incredibly illogical. But once I get the hang of it (e.g. verbs of motion, imperfective/perfective, etc) it's really not so bad. It's a heck of a lot more regular than French grammar.
Adam, 21, USA
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 05:09 pm (UTC)I started studying about 12 years ago (dear lord), but went a few Russian-less semesters in college.
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
In sixth grade, our teacher introduced us to different languages we might study, but he was a bad French teacher. I had been exposed to French before and I could not make heads or tails out of what he was telling us. His Russian wasn't perfect, but at least I could follow along.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
At this point, the sheer mass of unknown vocabulary is the most intimidating factor. In the past though, the answer would likely have been verbs of motion (I still don't love those) or the numbers 2-4. Or maybe difficulty of figuring out how to translate 'any' depending on the English context, or how to deal with the word 'both.'
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
It sounds like a young child whispering, but with a speech impediment, and saying "sh" instead of S. It's a lovely sibilant language.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
What an interesting question. The verb conjugations are not too unreasonable, although the division of the past tense into male, female, neutral, and plural is a little strange. Arabic is similar, but the number of persons is consistent in the past, present and future.
On the other hand, declensions are kind of nuts. In Greek and Latin, cases always govern specific situations- dative of means, accusative of motion toward, genitive of comparison. While it is generally true in Russian that the accusative means motion toward a destination, the genitive means motion away from a point, and the prepositional means location, we can only say 'generally.' К and До toss those notions to the wind, as do several prepositions that relate to location (над, под, перед).
However, once you've memorized all the rules and prefixes and prepositions, Russian is fairly consistent, and you can often (sometimes) guess the right way to say something from what you already know. So I suppose I might say that once you've rearranged your head, it seems pretty logical.
Sarah, 24, American in Ukraine
[The worst thing to say с хвоста.]
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 07:34 pm (UTC)For about two years
2. Why did you decide to learn it?
There are several reasons. I gave it a try a few years ago and failed miserably, but then I started again just recently with more motivation. I'm hoping knowing a bit of Russian will be useful later on, as for getting a job, and I'm also interested in Russian history, art and litterature. I blame Dostoevsky.
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
The verbs, definitely. They all seem to start with a П ... and then Russian is totally unrelated to any other language I've studied, so it's more or less impossible to draw lines to another language and thereby explain some grammar/words/spelling like I can do with English and German and French, for example, and it also makes vocabulary more difficult.
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
......Polish? O.o It's just Russian, I dunno.
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
They make sense. More sense than the Finnish grammar rules and more sense than the English spelling ^^
And if you can please write your first name, age and country. Thanks a lot!
Johanna, 23, Finland.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 04:42 am (UTC)2.) I had to decide what language to take btw german and russian. Russian started second semester and i heard the Professor was nice. I am just generally interested in eastern Europe.
3.) difference btw и and ы in actually saying it, sentence structures, spelling of words. The only thing I really get is the grammar, lol.
4.) It reminds me of nothing I have ever heard.
5.) Most of it is logical. The only thing that I feel is random is genetive plural. There are too many rules and exceptions.
Chelsea, 20, USA
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 09:17 am (UTC)1. 8 years
2. I like languages and Cyrillic seemed like a secret code.
3. Negatives and how they relate to verbs and genitive case. Also, perfective/imperfective in general
4. Whenever I hear old ladies speaking Russian it reminds me of chickens, and vice versa.
5. I think it's mostly logical.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 01:45 pm (UTC)2. Why did you decide to learn it?
3. What is the most difficult for you in Russian?
4. What does the sound of Russian language remind you of?
5. Do you think Russian grammar rules are quite logical or they are a complete mess?
Anna, 26, USA
1. Hmm... for a few years, though I've never really taken an official course/class. I basically know what i know by default/immersion/fiancé/friends/self-study.
2. Because I tend to go back and forth between Russia and the USA quite a often. I also think the language is beautiful and mysterious - have been fascinated by Russian culture since i was little. Also, my fiancé is Russian - which is a rather good incentive for continued learning. :)
3. Speaking confidently with proper grammar. I've no real probs with the pronounciation and sounds; it is more due to my inability to retain all the grammar rules, etc. :P
4. Spanish (South American - Argentinian, mainly)... sometimes... I think maybe the intonations and the 'expressiveness' in how people talk to one another is a bit similar...
5. I don't think they are a complete mess and I do think they are more logical than English grammar rules, though that's not really saying much ;)). It's a struggle trying to remember every singke one and knowing when/how to use it correctly.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 03:21 pm (UTC)So what on earth is the difference between movement and 'rest' verbs???
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 10:38 pm (UTC)If I remember correctly, Stephen Fry also referenced Russian verbs of motion in The Star's Tennis Balls, which makes me think he had some personal experience with them.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 05:16 pm (UTC)