Thread: What is the most difficult aspect of learning Russian?

Lol. Zhenya, i don't speak swedish. I know like 6 (or maybe 8 ) words. L0ol. Sorry for confuse.

sorry!

Swedish grammar is fine, I think. Maybe the pluralizing for the different genders is a bother. But I find its iregularities to be minor in that they don't effect one's ability to be understood.
French grammar? ---Sacre bleu! I have no idea what the French linguists think they're doing. You almost need a seperate grammar book per each seperate word of the dictionary!

I think french grammar is quite ok

Me too. Except for the blasted subjonctif.

Oh, in the early to mid-stages, I totally agree. I've had no trouble making it to intermediate level. But once you leave the confines of formal education level, they abreviate every phrase from a five-word sentence into a bloody five letter sentence, and a bundle of appostrophes into the mix. (exageration . But they have infinite two-letter abreviations for word combinations). French is a two-tier process, I think. Some languages are hard to begin, others are hard to master. I think French is easy to begin, and hard to master. But, I acknowledge that everyone has different elements of language that they're good at, so my view may not be entirely universal. But, it is common though. I know a few people who've become fluent in Spanish, Hebrew and a couple others. They went all the way with those, but got discouraged and annoyed with French, so didn't persist. But of course, that could merely mean they weren't as passionate about French as their other languages. My French friend advised me "don't try and make sense of French, you'll be wasting your time". But everyone says "I feel sorry for people who learn ..(my language)" when you're learning their language. So everyone can legitimately say that about their own language. Lord knows I say that about mine. In fairness, French is the only language I'm near fluency in. So, maybe in evry language there's a similar road-block toward the end. The most notable progressions in life are always at the beginning, aren't they? Then it's subtle improvement from then on. Like suddenly doing exercise after a year on the couch. You feel like superman after two weeks, before your ongoing improvement tapers into a gradual one.

abreviate every phrase from a five-word sentence into a bloody five letter sentence,

Could you provide us an example? As for apostrophes, there are set rules for this.

I have no problem with anything but pronunciation and taking part in a converstation. The rote memorization is no problem for me.

I chose vocabulary because I'm stuck here in the USA. As a college student I work and go to school for a living. I don't know if I'll every have enough money or time to be able to travel over to Russia. To me, I think that vocabulary is the hardest as I'm not in an area where I get to use the Russian that I'm learning very much. Grammar wasn't/isn't too terribly dificult for me. My teacher focused almost entirely on grammer in my 101 class. So now that I'm in 102, we're beginning to move on with sentances and vocabulary and stuff. Only problem is that I had a six month break between my 101 and now my 102 courses. So I'm hurting to remember all that I learned before.

Originally Posted by Pravit

abreviate every phrase from a five-word sentence into a bloody five letter sentence,

Could you provide us an example? As for apostrophes, there are set rules for this.

Come on, Brett, I know you read every thread around here(including the old ones )

I also put vocabulary because it is hard to remember if you don't use the words regularaly. Christopher...I think I read that right, you should study abroad.

everyone that put anything besides trying to talk to native speakers has obviously never tried to speak russian.

Dog, I noticed it gets easier the more you do it(that is, listening to spoken Russian), but you're right, there's no denying it's one of the hardest parts of learning Russian. But listening to people speak is passive; you can figure out what someone is trying to say even if you didn't catch every word. It's another thing to actually speak with proper grammar and sound natural - IMO this can only be achieved by people correcting you, how would you guess on your own that there's some secret rule in Russian that things need to be this way or that way?

I can't spell for beans in English, let alone Russian. Stoopid fonicks.

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

everyone that put anything besides trying to talk to native speakers has obviously never tried to speak russian.

If you'll indulge me for a moment, .. "duh".
It's not on the list. And the reason it's especially difficult for Russian is the grammar.

Originally Posted by Pravit

But listening to people speak is passive; you can figure out what someone is trying to say even if you didn't catch every word.

I wish I was better at doing this. I find it hard to just step back and let the language meet me half way. I keep intercepting the process with effortfulness. I've got to let the language show me its stripes, rather than me tell it what its stripes are, or are not.

Watch movies, and listen to radio - it's all about exponation!

I voted grammar/agreement but particularly aspect threw me a good bit of a loop.

Originally Posted by russkayalove

I also put vocabulary because it is hard to remember if you don't use the words regularaly. Christopher...I think I read that right, you should study abroad.

Russkayalove... yes you read my name right. Though I think I might have spelled it wrong. Кристовер is how I thought it would sound if a native tried to pronounce my name. However, after further studies, I believe that the correct spelling would be Христофер. I would like to study abroad, but I'm afraid that I just do not have the money while I'm going to college here in the States. I have to provide for myself, and I have a girlfriend that I enjoy spending time with.

After hitting the books pretty hard last weekend, my russian is beginning to come back to me and I can continue with my course of study. Soon, I should be able to converse a little more freely with the rest of you here!

I am a native Russian speaker posting FREE you-tube videos for you to learn Russian easily!
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