Russian TV as a Learning Tool?

[bhv.livejournal.com]

Dish Network offers up to four Russian language channels for roughly $15.00 each. I am a beginning Russian student and I am wondering how much benefit (if any) I would get from subscribing to one or more of these channels?

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/international/a_la_carte/index.shtml

Obviously I won't understand much at first, but would this have any benefit or simply be a waste of money? Any recommendation of which channel or channels I should select would be appreciated too.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/lizochka_/]

It would definitely help you, but then.. It probably would help more if you were watching with someone who was Russian so if you were like 'What's that word?' they could help you out. But I'm sure it could help. Plus alot of Russian channels show English tv shows/movies and just do voice overs, so you can kind of listen in English and Russian so you can see what they're saying.

What channels are available? Then maybe I could tell you which ones are good. I'm partial to one called TNT. At least here they show Okna. :)))) Which is a talk show. At then you can learn the art of swearing and acting dramatic. ;)

[kniazhna.livejournal.com]

As far as I've checked the site, I was only able to find 2 channels: NTVAmerica and ORT (RTVi doesn't count). I wonder if TNT is being transmitted over Americas at all.

[quem98.livejournal.com]

TV is a scary thing for first year Russian Students because the speech is about 20 times the speed you're used to hearing Russian spoken. It would help to hear how native Russian is spoken, but it doesn't replace formal classes or study abroad, or whatever.

Available Channels

[bhv.livejournal.com]

I thought there were four channels listed in two different places.

1. NTV America
2. Channel One Russia

Then there is a package that consists of

3. RTVi and
4 RTVi Plus

Perhaps some of those are repeats I don't know.

Here's the link to the second two.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/international/packages/russian/index.asp?viewby=1&packid=10206&sortby=1

No Delusions...

[bhv.livejournal.com]

Hopefully I won't get scared off. It should help to remember that American radio and TV announcers are trained to talk much faster than they would in ordinary conversation. Presumably it's the same way in Russia. Perhaps I could also buy a Tivo digital TV recorder and then easily be able to review something I just heard but didn't understand.

[http://users.livejournal.com/lizochka_/]

Ah, well I'm not in America so I guess I might not be much help, lol. NTV isn't that bad though I don't know how NTVAmerica would be.

Re: Available Channels

[kniazhna.livejournal.com]

Yes, I didn't count the 2 RTVi's, only NTV America and Channel 1 which is known as ORT. Why I didn't count the other two: as far as I understand, the RTVi (http://www.rtvi.ru) is not shown in Russia as it had been created for those Russian speakers living abroad. Therefore, I don't consider it a Russian TV channel :).

[imma2qoot4u.livejournal.com]

I think it would be of some help. And like one person said the speech on it would probably be much faster then you would be used to.. like in a school setting.. At my college... we have a Scola channel which shows like hour segments of new programs and such of countries over the world.. I sometime will watch the russian one they show (although i usually find that program boring... im partial to the german program they show) I think a that it would be an interesting thing to try

Re: Available Channels

[object.livejournal.com]

NTV are Channel 1 (known in Russia as ORT) are two most popular channels in Russia. RTV belongs to former NTV owner and broadcasts from outside Russia. However, AFAIK RTVi Plus shows some good old Russian movies that can help in educational process.

NTV America

[bhv.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing that NTV American would be the NTV channel from Russia with commercials targeted at the American market (probably in Russian) spliced in. Perhaps there is someone in American who currently subscribes to NTV America who can tell us for sure.

Are you in Russia?

Re: No Delusions...

[quem98.livejournal.com]

One thing that helped me a lot for the first months in Russia was listening to TV commercials. The vocab is either simple, or pertains in some way to what is being shown on the screen, they're short, and get played over and over again. I'd sometimes snark at my host mom for changing the channel during a commercial. If the commercials are in Russian as well, it may also benefit you.

[quem98.livejournal.com]

That and Bolshaya Stirka. Silly stuff... Much like our Ricky Lake or Jerry Springer...

Re: NTV America

[http://users.livejournal.com/lizochka_/]

Hm.

No, I'm not right now. I moved to UAE last October, lol. But we have alot of Russian channels here. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/lizochka_/]

Well, I think it's kind of important to hear fast speech because usually that is how normal people talk. I know Russians who thought they were English speakers #1 and then they tried to talk to a native English speaker and got completely lost because they couldn't keep up.

So it'll help you understand how people talk. But then again alot of it will be proper talk and you might not understand people talking in slang, lol.

I encourage you to get it. Haha.

[constpd.livejournal.com]

I think that NTV could be really good. The news there are pronounced not very fast and with more traditional (less conversational) intonation than on Channel 1 (that’s my personal opinion). Also both channels often show old Soviet movies.

[camomiletea.livejournal.com]

If you are only beginning, I'm not sure if it's good idea, but it will certainly help. I like 'NTV America', that's a good channel - shows good news, talk-shows and modern Russian detective series. Channel 1 (ORT) is also good, but not as good as NTV. As far as RTVi and RTV+, in the morning on RTV+ they show old Russian cartoons, which I like, but as far as other content on these channels it's all boring: those usually show very old movies.

[ksenia-victoria.livejournal.com]

I like NTV and ORT.
I do not recommend RTV/RTV+
Watching American television has helped me with my English, so I think it's a great idea to get some Russian channels. Good luck!

Russian Soaps?

[bhv.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for the advice. Today I subscribed to NTV America which should be installed on Monday. I may add more channels later.

Several people have told me that they improved their English by watching American soap operas. Does Russian TV feature soap operas? What American shows do you watch to try to improve your English?