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[lexabear.livejournal.com]

Hello! Figure I'll do a quick intro. I'm in my 4th semester studying Russian, and I'm excited about there being an LJ community for non-native speakers. To give an idea of my relative facility with Russian, I'm just starting my first "real" translation, reading Chekhov's <<Пари>> (reading via the pause-every-five-seconds-to-look-up-a-word method). So I can help out beginners with basics, but I intend on asking some questions myself!

Comments

[prosewitch.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm also fourth-semester, but not quite ambitious enough to start translating yet. I'm sure my skills would drastically improve if I were to read more in Russian, but those dictionary pauses are just so time-consuming and humbling! =)

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

I know! But looking up stuff in a dictionary really makes you know the alphabetical order! I was confused for the longest time about с being so far back in the list, and then I realized it was the exact same placement as English's S. Л М Н О П Р С Т is the same run as in English. Amazing the obvious things I'd've missed if I didn't have to look up a thousand words.

[sunirk.livejournal.com]

hehe :)
If I may make a suggestion, try reading Russian fairy tails first:
"Колобок"
"Баба-яга"
"Репка"
"Три медведя"
"Жар птица"

It's delightful and will make you look up for a new word only every 30 sec. :)

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

Well the reading material isn't my exact choice, as it's a class assignment. However, I may very well look into those stories. I've previously read many Russian tales in English; the Firebird has always been one of my favorite stories.