Thread: New here...

Just found this group. Thought I'd drop by and say hello. My name is Ross. I live in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. I grew up in Indiana, then I joined the United States Marine Corps. I studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. Later I studied in Garmisch, Germany, and at Moscow State University. I worked with the language for quite a few years. Now I'm trying to get back into it. Haven't had any contact with the language for 8 years now.

Anyway, just wanted to drop by and introduce myself.

Привет.

Originally Posted by djscarab

Just found this group. Thought I'd drop by and say hello. My name is Ross. I live in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. I grew up in Indiana, then I joined the United States Marine Corps. I studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. Later I studied in Garmisch, Germany, and at Moscow State University. I worked with the language for quite a few years. Now I'm trying to get back into it. Haven't had any contact with the language for 8 years now.

Anyway, just wanted to drop by and introduce myself.

Sweet, welcome.
There's another dude on the forum who's currently at Monterey studying Pashtu btw.

G'day there Ross old son! Hey, how was the Defense Language program? Did it teach you Russian quickly or was it because you spent so many hours per day studying? I would like to hear your thoughts.

My understanding of it (and this is from other countries as well) is that they just try to teach you enough vocab and very basic grammar in order to be able to express yourself understandably and to be able to understand what people say, with no real attempt being made at perfecting your skills or speaking properly. Would u say that's true?

Well the training at the Defense Language Institute is top notch. There is not a better school for language learning in the U.S. The amount of time (6+ hours per day in the classroom and a couple more hours on your own) devoted to learning is definitely pivotal in the express language learning process. For Russian, this training is basically one year long. At the end of the course the graduates have, at a minimum, a very large vocabulary and a full working knowlege of Russian grammar.

The final result is measured by the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) which is given in three parts (Reading, Listening, and Speaking).
The results of this test for each part is given as 1-3+. There is another test for anyone who has a 4 or better command of the language. 4 would be considered a well educated native speaker. Level 5 speakers would most likely be professional doctorate level types.

Any DLI graduate would be able to live in Russia without any major language problems. Still, having been exposed to a new language for only one year, it is still a very scary feeling. To complete training, you really need to have experience in the country and living with the people.

I'd be happy to answer any questions.

-----POCC

добро пожаловать на форум.

Originally Posted by djscarab

The final result is measured by the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) which is given in three parts (Reading, Listening, and Speaking).
The results of this test for each part is given as 1-3+. There is another test for anyone who has a 4 or better command of the language. 4 would be considered a well educated native speaker. Level 5 speakers would most likely be professional doctorate level types.

Сколько времени требуется на достижение четвертого уровня?

I graduated the basic course at level 3/3/ (1+ in speaking). When I was in the basic course, our focus was on listening and speaking was something that we would probably not have to do. The basic course now has much more emphasis on speaking.

Two years after the basic course I went back for a 6 month intermediate course and graduated with 3/3/3. It was only after this course that I finally went to Europe and was exposed to more native speakers. That is when my speaking level raised to a 3+. I stayed at the 3+ level for 6 years. There was the opportunity for me to test up to level 4, but I never put the effort into doing it. I simply didn't have the time or the need to test further. Nobody really tests for level 4 unless they have a superb knowlege of the language and plenty of in country experience. Level 4 would include cultural knowlege, nuances, special vocab/slang, etc... Your average Russian high school graduate probably wouldn't be considered level 4.

That being said, I would think that one could attain level four with around 4 years of immersion training.

hello djscarab

I forgot to add something about the learning process. For me, a total understanding of the Russian language didn't come until I studied Old Church Slavonic, morphology, and root words.

until I studied Old Church Slavonic,

Eh? What is that for? Noone uses it outside of the church service.

"Аз есьмь еси на небеси" are the only words I know in it...
"Отче наш, иже еси на небеси".

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

"Аз есьмь еси на небеси" are the only words I know in it...

По-моему, "есьмь" и "еси" - это две формы одного и того же глагола

Ну, кстати, многие филологи изучают старославянский (церковнославянский) язык. Курса так с третьего...

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

"Аз есьмь царь!!!"

"Иван Васильевич меняет профессию" © :P

По-моему, "есьмь" и "еси" - это две формы одного и того же глагола

"Аз есьмь магистрати нашеву университети, да пострахайте святейши суть колены господни иерихонская труба спаси сохрани".

М...

Studying Old Church Slavyonic (OCS) can answer a lot of troublesome questions about the Russian language. You know how when you learn a language and there are certain "exceptions"? Well, most likely they aren't exceptions, but actually follow the rules from the early form of the language... For Russian, this means Old Church Slavonic. This can answer questions about spelling, roots, prefixes and suffixes.

I remember one of the problems with learing Russian was how to pronounce the "ery" In OCS the tverdij znak and myagkij znak actually were letters that had sound - "uh" and "ee" . Put those two together and you get the "ery" - pronounced: uh-ee (basically).

Maybe for native Russian speakers, this is all something that is ingrained in you from the beginning and you never think about it. For a student learning the Russian language, these little things can make the difference between "memorizing" and "understanding".

That's my take though. Anyone else have experience with this?

Do you mean that if you want to understand English, and not just memorise it, you must learn Middle English and maybe even Old English?

Not Middle English or Old English, but Latin. This is not a requirement, but having some exposure to Latin will definitely help with your vocabulary and understanding of the language.

The English language is one of the hardest languages to learn. There are so many "exceptions" to the rules of spelling, word order, and pronunciation (not to mention verb tenses)... As with Russian, English "exceptions" are often following the rules, just not the rules that the average person is used to.

Your average native English speaker uses poor grammar. Most don't have perfect spelling or word choice skills. I'll bet there are very few out there who can tell you how many verb tenses we have and even fewer who could name them.

Knowing the language is one thing, but understanding the grammar morphology, and etymology can take you to the next level, where additional learning comes easier.

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

По-моему, "есьмь" и "еси" - это две формы одного и того же глагола

"Аз есьмь магистрати нашеву университети, да пострахайте святейши суть колены господни иерихонская труба спаси сохрани".

М...

Ты типа не согласен, что это две формы одного глагола? Мне просто непонятно, зачем тут моя цитата

Я имела в виду, что:
Аз (я) - есьмь
Ты? - еси ("иже еси на небеси" )
...

The English language is one of the hardest languages to learn. There are so many "exceptions" to the rules of spelling, word order, and pronunciation (not to mention verb tenses)...

I cannot agree... English is one of the easiest...

Studying Old Church Slavonic will also help with undertanding other Slavic languages (Chech, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, etc...)

Studying Latin will help with understanding, English, Spanish, German, French, etc...

Once you learn how languages work, it becomes easier to understand foreign languages.

It's like a sport. Most kids know how to play soccer. Most kids can play without ever knowing the rules. Once you know the rules, you can take your skill to the next level. If you never know the rules, there are certain things that will never make sense to you...but you can still play.