(no subject)

[lollydoll.livejournal.com]

Привет, Я говорю немного по-русски. Меня зовут Китти или Кэт. Очень прияатно ^_^;

You can tell I am a beginner, but hoping to get more skilled with the language. I can read the Russian cyrillic almost fluently now, but I am not too good with understanding words or making my own sentences. I am teaching myself the language and have been trying for a few months now. None of the colleges or schools offer Russian, so it's a bit difficult only going by what the book tells you. I don't always understand the placement of the words (noun, verb, adjective, etc) or which word to use, so that dosen't help much either.

In a month or so at most, I will be going to Russia to meet a good friend of mine. He understands English very well, but can't always understand it when spoken. I'd like to do my best at speaking Russian, but with so little time.. :\ I only know some basic sayings. Is there a good program I'd be able to find for download, free trial, or a free version? The most I've had to work with is my Babylon Russian-Eng-Russian dictionary.

Also, do any of you know of some other good Russian bands? I'm not too fond off all the techno that comes on the radio so some industrial or rock would be nice. So far I like БИ-2 (BI-2), Сплин (Splin), Тату (Tatu), Clava Crash and Serch (I'm not sure which way is correct to spell those in Cyrillic. But, that's mostly what comes up in searches.

Спасибо!

Comments

[annyway.livejournal.com]

Hi!
Пришелец means an alien, not a newcomer. :)

[lollydoll.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh, how embarrassing ^^ This dictionary always seems to confuse me :edits:

[annyway.livejournal.com]

Take it easy. :) Any russian (I surely know - I am russian) can understand what you have really intended, and it`s the main thing. :)

[sisyphus.livejournal.com]

UCLA has a good page with interactive audio for pronouncaition:
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/russian/

The Yamada guide has a lot of resources also:
http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/guides/russian.html

As to bands, check out Leningrad. They're cool. Also look up Cheburashka or Krokodil Gena -- they're from an ultra-cool old cartoon.

Spoken Russian...

[squodge.livejournal.com]

If you have little time, get a copy of Pimsleur's Russian courses. Each level has thirty 30-minute audio lessons, and there are 3 levels in total. The first lesson is so easy - "Excuse me, do you speak English... No, I don't speak English... I speak a little Russian... Are you an American? Yes, I'm an American... You speak Russian well."

I finished level 1 and could get by with very basic Russian. Levels 2 and 3 will most likely get you to an intermediate level in spoken Russian. The courses cost about US$300 each level, but you can get cheap copies on Ebay for a few dollars. Try out the "Quick and Easy Russian by Pimsleur" if you need a taster - I think it's about US$20 and contains 10 lessons to get you started; and if I'm correct, it also contains a US$20 voucher to go towards the cost of the full course.

Hope that helps... and GOOD LUCK!

Re: Spoken Russian...

[lollydoll.livejournal.com]

I think I've seen these lessons at the bookstore, but they we're all trashed :\ so no buy. I'll look more into it, and thank you!

Re: Spoken Russian...

[lollydoll.livejournal.com]

Oh, I finally bought the Pimsleur and in one night I learned ALOT! This helps so much. What a great program :D

Re: Spoken Russian...

[squodge.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you managed to get a copy of the Pimsleur course. Let me know how you get on with it... I never did make it to Level 2 because I just don't have time - I'm in my final year at university AND I'm studying Korean, which counts towards my degree. However, my girlfriend is a fluent Russian speaker, so I'll have many opportunities to learn from her in the summer, after my exams :-)

If you do one lesson a day, you should be able to complete it in a month, assuming you have the 30 lesson course. Then you'll be able to talk about simple things in Russian AND have a fairly good accent!

Do svidanya, tovarish!

Re: Spoken Russian...

[lollydoll.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid it's only the 10 lesson course :\ But that will have to do for now. The bookstore had nothing more and hopefully when I get to Russia I will know how to speak some by then, but my boyfriend is a big help as well :) Good luck with Korean.

До Свидания ^^

[smok-armanych.livejournal.com]

You can try to listen Mummy Troll (Мумий Тролль), Nautilus Pompilius, Time Machine (Машина Времени), Aquarium (Аквариум), Zemfira, Ocean Elzy (Океан Эльзы). There are a lot of cool bands in Russia.
Feel free to ask anything that seems difficult in Russian ;) Mail me if you want..

Re:

[lollydoll.livejournal.com]

Oi, thank you. I've heard only one or two songs from each of the artists you've listed on the radio, but haven't looked into them that much.

My opinion...

[fds.livejournal.com]

Думаю, лучше слушать русские сказки, записанные во времена СССР. Их озвучивали профессиональные дикторы. Они отражают ментолитет современного русского человека. Кроме того, среди них много интересных. А рок-группы слушать не нужно. В их текстах много молодёжного жаргона.