Thread: An introduction

I find myself quite shocked at reading what Nastya below wrote. My name is Konstantin and I was born into a russian family in Smolensk and at the age of 14 i moved with my family to the United Kingdom. I live with my birth mother and step dad. I do, however, still regard myself as Russian as of course it is my first language. I speak it now poorer, especially written but it is still my native language and honestly speaking never will change, i still however find it easier for example to count in russian and to speak in russian rather than in english, however i am using english more. The weirdest thing for me is the amount of words one looses. For example, a friend may ask me how do you say such an such and I just can't remember that word.
I go to Smolensk normally at christmas and new year(not this year) in March and in summer for 2 months to stay with my grandmother and she sometimes says that some things i say just don't sound naturaly anymore to her, this for me is quite annoying because I question myself, why does it not sound natural, if i was a native. So i decided to study with the language a bit, but i find that i just can't, as everything i already know that are in courses, obviously I grew up there. So my only way to really study it now is by paying more attention. I understand completely, but I don't pay atttention to what I understand, therefore I am not reusing it. Does this make sense? =) haha

So i thought here i would leave a message. I am of course happy to make recordings etc if anybody would like, and help to best i can. Learning of learners of the russian language!

=)
Kostya

The only thing I cannot understand at all is an ease with which people abandon everything and leave for a completely foreign and unfamiliar country just for fun.

Hello then.

It was not just for the fun of it!
My mother had wanted to come here, and she had fallen in love with the man, who she is still with!
This is the reason!

I understand perfectly how one can lose their native language skills. For some time now I have been volunteering my time at a Middle school to help the new kids from Russia get by in the classes. Imagine sitting in a math or science or social studies class and only knowing a few words in English. Or trying to fit in with other kids that don't understand you. The urge to survive would make it easy for a kid to begin to forget.

Ты зачастую читаешь русские книги? Это мне кажется самый эффективный метод для того, чтобы не подзабыть свой русский.

Originally Posted by basurero

Ты часто читаешь русские книги?

"Зачастую" здесь не подходит.

Интересная цитата.
"...Несмотря на то, что чтение зачастую рассматривается как пассивный навык, исследования в области психолингвистики доказали, что на самом деле это весьма сложный процесс взаимодействия между читающим и текстом. Так, например, читающий не расшифровывает текст на родном языке линейным способом, слово за словом, а его глаза быстро пробегают по странице и помогают ему воспринимать значимые группы слов и соотносить их с обладаемой им невербальной информацией (т.е. к его знанию мира и темы написанного текста), как следствие – происходит извлечение смысла из текста.

Таким образом, чтение может рассматриваться как процесс обработки информации. ..."
http://iaas.msu.ru/res/lomo06/welan/sagoyan.htm

My mother had wanted to come here, and she had fallen in love with the man

Hm, should we replace "and" with "that's why"?

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

My mother had wanted to come here, and she had fallen in love with the man

Hm, should we replace "and" with "that's why"?

Then we'll have to change the word order as well!

Originally Posted by DDT

I understand perfectly how one can lose their native language skills. For some time now I have been volunteering my time at a Middle school to help the new kids from Russia get by in the classes. Imagine sitting in a math or science or social studies class and only knowing a few words in English. Or trying to fit in with other kids that don't understand you. The urge to survive would make it easy for a kid to begin to forget.

tell me about it.

Originally Posted by Kostik

I find myself quite shocked _ reading what Nastya wrote below. My name is Konstantin and I was born into a Russian family in Smolensk and at the age of 14 i moved with my family to the United Kingdom. I live with my birth(?) mother and step dad. I do, however, still consider myself _ Russian as, of course, it is my native language. I speak it now poorer, especially in written form, but it is still my native language and, honestly(?), speaking never will change. I still, however, find it easier, for example, to count in Russian and to speak in Russian rather than in English, however I am using English more. The weirdest thing for me is the amount of words one loses. For example, a friend may ask me how do you say such an such and I just can't remember that word.
I go to Smolensk normally during christmas and new year(not this year) in March and in summer for 2 months to stay with my grandmother and she sometimes says that some things I say just don't sound naturally to her anymore, this for me is quite annoying because I question myself, why does it not sound natural, if I was a native. So I decided to study _ the language a bit, but I find that I just can't, as everything I already know _ are in the courses, as I obviously grew up there. So my only way to really study it now is by paying more attention. I understand Russian completely, but I don't pay atttention to what I understand, therefore I am not reusing it. Does this make sense? =) haha

So I thought I would leave a message here. I am of course happy to make recordings etc if anybody would like, and help to best i can. Learning of learners of the Russian language!

=)
Kostya

Try taking Russian literacy tests, they will help show you the gaps you have in your native language!

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

My mother had wanted to come here, and she had fallen in love with the man

Hm, should we replace "and" with "that's why"?

Maybe because it was crap in Smolensk?

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

My mother had wanted to come here, and she had fallen in love with the man

Hm, should we replace "and" with "that's why"?

Не надо. Предложение не имело бы смысла.

Why are you shocked, Kostya? It seems as our stories are quite similar.

Originally Posted by nikolaevna

Why are you shocked, Kostya? It seems as our stories are quite similar.

Скорее всего, его удивляет, что ты забыла свой русский в такой большой степени. Он опасается, что то же самое могло бы происходить с его русским.

Ah, but this probably will not happen if he goes to Smolensk yearly. There is plenty of opportunity to keep the language fresh with visits

Не надо. Предложение не имело бы смысла.

You didn't get my point. It was not a grammatical suggestion.

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

Не надо. Предложение не имело бы смысла.

You didn't get my point. It was not a grammatical suggestion.

Аххх теперь я понял то, что ты имел в виду...

Может быть, ты прав

as she had fallen in love

In that sentence as = because

Originally Posted by chaika

as she had fallen in love

In that sentence as = because

Да, конечно, но Винсент подразумевал, что она влюбилась в мужщину, потому что хотела переехать в Англию, а не наоборот.