Hello!

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

New to this community and enjoying the exchanges immensely, I just wanted to introduce myself ...

I'm an American woman of French-Canadian descent.  English is, of course, my native language and I've also been speaking my ancestral language (French) since childhood. Almost two years ago, I decided to learn Russian.  Inspired initially by having met a Russian-speaking man, I'm now pursuing my studies out of love for the language itself.  It is rich, it is logical (at least, more so than English or French) and it has become nearly as beautiful-sounding to my ears as French.

As an addition to my intensive studies over the internet with a wonderful teacher in Odessa (whom I even visited in person during the summer of 2007!), I find this community a great help. 

Thanks!

Comments

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Welcome! And -- bravo to the brave ones who decide to dive into the mysterious depths of the "Great, Mighty, Truthful and Free Russian Language"! (quote from Ivan Turgenev)

[pinky-the-cow.livejournal.com]

We'll bury them properly, ay-ye-es ^_^

[moai-s.livejournal.com]

Hello!
I believe that your participation is also a great help. It's great that you speak French and English, both great and beautiful languages. They both sound beautiful, rich in synonyms and “hues” etc. It’s rather difficult to speak good English or French. Both nations have great culture background. As for me, I don't have a good command of English or French, but I like them.
Please come and have potluck with us. You are welcome!

[pigmeich.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

[winterfre6.livejournal.com]

Do you really think russian is a logical language? Even to me, although i am a native speaker, russian is full of things that can only be understood emotionally or intuitively, but not through logic.
And compared to English... I am really perplexed.

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

I think that to achieve true fluency, speakers of any language must acquire the emotional or intuitive understanding that comes only from living for an extended time in a society where the given language is spoken.

There are things about Russian (and even French) that I will never understand.

And, really, I can't fully compare Russian to English ... because I don't know what it's like to be a second-year student in English. :)

I do know this: when I'm reading Russian, I can often deduce meanings quickly and easily -- thanks to the language's use of prefixes and case endings. Although English and French also have prefixes and roots, these elements aren't as prevalent as in Russian. And THAT is the thing that I call "logical" -- like building words with blocks.

[winterfre6.livejournal.com]

it's a really unusual opinion about russian. You must be a quick language learner if you say that.
You might like German as well. The Most Logical Language in the World. It does have flexions, lots of suffixes and prefixes, pretty much like Russian. But all these only help to understand a text, and when you are trying to express your own thoughts - you always find out the germans say it in a different way. Besides German wordstock is pretty similar to English.

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

I love languages which gives me the necessary motivation to learn quickly, I suppose. When I am deducing meanings, it's always the written word. And I have to admit: I'm not very good at speaking or understanding Russian speech -- which means I need to practice those aspects more.

German? Hm ... well, it has never really interested me. Love of language, for me, has much to do with the language's sounds and rhythms. German isn't very pleasant-sounding to me.

[winterfre6.livejournal.com]

I would agree that the beautiful sound is a strong motivation.
Well, if compared with French - I've learn a little french, so I think I can judge - German sounds a bit rude. Barking language. But I will tell absolutely sincere - it is only the first impression. I hear some melodic rhythm in German, can you believe that?
Besides, it depends on the voice very much.
And French is too sweet. Like sweet tea with chocolate. It gives me a headache. English is like sweet tea. German is like tea without sugar ))) But plain tea keeps its original tea, doesn't it?

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree! French can can be a little cloying sounding, it's true -- though the french-canadian form is decidedly more earthy. Russian, to me, has the beautiful sounds of French (including lots of borrowed words) but isn't overly sweet (to carry on your metaphor).

By the way, I have a Russian friend who, upon hearing a french-canadian accent speaking English on television, said to me, "That guy's Russian." So, there is another similarity -- accents when speaking English as a second language.

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

I'm still not convinced about German, though ... but will keep an open mind. Right now, I have my hands full with my attempts to master Russian -- and THAT will probably keep me occupied for a long time. ))

[arina-rus.livejournal.com]

I am Russian. I am interested in learning English and I am searching for Britishmen or people from the USA to improve my English or some pen pals who speak English very well. Of course, if you want to learn Russian, I can help you with it and you will help me with English.
My account - Arina_Rus
My e-mail samoilenko_arina@mail.ru

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

Great! I will send you an e-mail.

[arina-rus.livejournal.com]

Ok. So... Can you tell me something about yourself? I wonder where you are from? And what are you interested in? I mean a language. You want to learn Russian, aren't you? Or do you want to talk to me in English?

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

Let's see ... I'm almost 48 years old and work very hard at my job as a fire and injury prevention specialist at a fire department. Most days, I work from 8:00am until 8:00pm and I can often be found in my office on weekends, too. But I'm single so, when I'm not busy with my work, I have time to pursue my hobbies such as learning languages. Right now, I'm concentrating on Russian. I have three one-hour lessons a week over the internet with my teacher from Odessa. We study grammar and vocabulary, and we also talk. I'm getting the basics from my teacher. But I think I can improve my skills faster with more opportunities to speak and to try to understand spoken Russian. I live in a small town (called Kingston, in the state of Washington -- close to Seattle), so I have very little contact with others who speak it. The internet provides me with my only opportunity to apply my lessons in a real fashion.

[arina-rus.livejournal.com]

I am glad to get aquainted with you.
I believe that you have a very very difficult job, and a very interesting and useful hobby. As you learn Russian, sometimes I can type in Russian if you want.
Well, what can I tell you about myself?
I live in Moscow.
I am 17 years old. I am a first year student.
I have two brothers and two sisters, and I am the last(5th) child of my parents and because of this reason I am a mature and wise person. And I want to learn English and German and Italian. I believe that if I will master several foreign languages, I will be able to go abroad to work.
I love music (especially instrumental and classical music) and I even went to music school. I can play the domra (Russian stringed folk instrument). I love sport. I adore swimming, playing volleyball, ping-pong and badmenton and other sport games. I love to read. I make some bijouterie and accesories for me and my friends from/of( I don't know how it is right) different glass beads and other different materials. This handicraft is my hobby too.
What else...?

[yixiar.livejournal.com]

Здравствуйте, милая женщина, я с удовольствием готов вам помочь с русским.пишите мне на: yixiar@gmail.com

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

А я, с удовольствием, вам напишу.
(And I, with pleasure, will write to you.)

[m-metro.livejournal.com]

Здравствуйте!
I am learning English and looking for English-speaking peoples or pen-pals to improve my English. I will also be glad to help you with your Russian. Please my email: postinfowcm@mail.ru
Thank you!

[fealkin.livejournal.com]

Хочу также присоединиться в ваше замечательное сообщество. Я также недавно начала интенсивно изучать английский и надеюсь уже в этом году начать и говорить, и понимать (пока могу только читать). Мне 42, и я обрадована и восхищена, что вновь встречаю человека, который считает, что учиться чему-либо новому не поздно в любом возрасте! С горячим приветом из Санкт-Петербурга! :)))))))))))))

[chouchou61.livejournal.com]

What a nice message! I'll try and translate it, because the working language of this community is English. Some of the readers aren't advanced enough in their studies (perhaps, myself included) to understand written Russian.

Please correct me if I'm wrong ...

(I also want to participate in your wonderful community. I also recently started to study English intensively and hope this year to begin talking and understanding (so far, I can only read). I am 42, and I am pleased and delighted that I am again meeting a person who thinks that it's not too late to study something new at any age. With warm greetings from Saint Petersburg!)

Я тоже, и особенно рада познакомиться здесь женщину, которая около моего возраста! (Me, too, and I'm especially glad to meet a woman here who is close to my age!)