Re: Some Starter Questions
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Originally Posted by kristiaan_d
Hi Everyone,
just wondering as a beginner to learning russian, if someone would be so kind to answer some questions for me.
I'm just another Russian student, but I can give you my opinions.
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is it possible to learn to read and write russian without the being able to speak it? as i do not know anyone who speaks russian but have an interest in being able to read and write it.
Why not? People do this all the time with ancient languages. Keep in mind it is not ideal and will really hamper you if you ever want to actually speak to someone in Russian. There are plenty of strange things in Russian pronunciation that require some practice if you want to speak or listen at some point. If your only goal is to be able to translate texts, then you should be fine.
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when trying to translate russian words to english just using the alphabet, most of the words that i translate come out nothing like they should is this me or is there something i am missing?
Not sure what you mean by this. Perhaps some of this has to do with the specifics of Russian pronunciation patterns? Not sure what you mean by translating using the alphabet. I think most people use a dictionary for that purpose. Also, for what it's worth, using a Russian-English dictionary will probably be frustrating at first, but keep at it.
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whats the best ways to learn online as i ride the train to and from work so i have 2+ hours a day free on there and would like to use that time to help improve my knowlage. i have a program for my phone that uses flashcards, and i have a listing of the alphabet.
thanks
Kris
Easy. Get a textbook and a small notebook and pen. Do all of the exercises in your textbook. There are plenty out there. The only one I'd really tell you to avoid is the Russian for Dummies just due to the fact that the publisher decided to remove all of the cyrillic script and replace it with transliterations.
In any event, you won't do very well just by reading alone. Write things out yourself. Copy out the sample sentences. You are in a perfect situation to do one of the beginning audio courses as well, even though you say you only want reading and writing.
Also, if it is practical for you, there is a whole college level Russian course online. Look in the forum for stuff about the "Princeton Course".