(no subject)

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

I am learning to play the song "Vosmiklassnitsa" by Kino and I'm wondering what a line means... 
    
И светят фонари давно
Ты говоришь: "Пойдём в кино"
А я тебя зову в кабак, конечно.

Does the last line mean "But I ask you to the tavern / bar, of course" ?

Pimsleur/Learning strategies

[scifigal.livejournal.com]

So I decided to go through the Pimsleur audios after hearing all the discussions about them here. I'm in Peace Corps, and have been in Ukraine for 10 months, and went through the three month language training they give, as well as have been working with a tutor twice a week.

PC tested me as "high intermediate", and while I have some of the skills required for that level, I feel like there are essential building blocks missing. I can talk around words I don't know, and I can in general elicit the answers to what I'm looking for, I can call a cab and can ask for specialty items in the stores, I can carry on conversations, etc. And yet I'm missing essentials, like all the word forms for Пить and Есть.

So I've been trying to go back and pick up those things that we glossed over. And I understand why I glossed over them. In my daily life talking with Ukrainians, I don't know that I have ever said "They eat" or "We eat", but I need to know how to say "Where can I buy matches" or ask when the train will be coming to my town.

One way I decided to do that is to start from the beginning of the Pimsleur series. I figure if anything, it will help with some of my pronunciation, as well as let me listen to mini-dialogues. Plus, I don't always get a chance to hear "чистый" Russian. Yes, there are some words I have *never* heard Ukrainians say (господин), and with those, I check with my tutor to find out if I should bother learning it.

It's interesting learning in country, because you do realize that to be understood, you don't have to have a huge grasp of the grammar. But it does catch up with you.

I am a TESOL professional, and I remember back in the states I had Saudi Arabian students. Some of them were so advanced--they could talk about scientific advances, about social problems, but those same students couldn't master "I was/I am".

So I wonder what strategies people here are using when you find you have basic gaps. My problem is that I'm way more advanced than beginning, but I need some of those basics, and it's hard to go back through them and not feel bored. So I wonder what you can suggest.

Thanks for listening to me ramble!