Reading Russian

Hi,

For academic reasons, I'm pursing the Russian language. To begin my quest, I'm reading the New Penguin guide: Russian Course a Complete Course for Beginners by Nicholas J. Brown. Along with this, I'm watching a number of videos, along with taking a class next semester in Russian.

The Russian language and culture, in my opinion, is rich with history and what I'd consider to be "true art," since I share similar the similar taste of Tolstoi. What I mean by "true art" is the rustic and traditional -- with the sentimental and sheer beauty of music composers such as Tchaikovsky. Also, Tolstoi in his definition of art defines it as a drawing point for the rich and the poor. Such ideas, I would like to explore in their original texts.

Though I take an acute interest in Russian now, I do not intend to devote my life to the study. The implications make the notion rather silly for me, and I'm often told to study Greek rather than Russian. But for whatever reason, I endure the taunting and find Russian to be a beautiful tradition that I can only approach as a foreigner.

I'm a новичок, which is pronounced as [no-vee-chok]. This can be translated into "new comer" in English. As this blog progresses, I hope it ever so gradually begins to turn from English prose to Russian, allowing me to improve my writing, encourage me to do more with my talents, and then master the language.

Those who are pessimistic, please leave this blog without comment. I believe those who can not speak Russian after 16 years of study are rather foolish and shouldn't be trying so hard.

Also, I do not come here for political reasons. I'm only concerned for my country as its countryman. I believe to preserve a good life for others and myself, I must first preserve my country. Those who hate their country and dream to be elsewhere should uproot themselves and leave. I love my homeland -- yet I do not despise other nationalities. I am glad to welcome immigrants to my country who embrace its constitution.

Here is a video I use to help me memorize the alphabet.
I am an avid reader of Russiapedia.
I use Google Translate.

Gnome