I'm stuck. Absolutely stuck.

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April 27th, 2005, 03:31 AM
Exalangumna

I'm stuck. Absolutely stuck.

I'd ask for reccomendations on how to keep studying; ways to learn more, but I don't even know how to describe how much russian I know. I'm a beginner, but that's too vague.

I guess what I'm wondering is if there are any ways to gauge one's aptitude with the language, and how to proceed from there.
April 27th, 2005, 03:54 AM
kwatts59

How long have you been studying Russian?
April 27th, 2005, 04:13 AM
Exalangumna

Eh, maybe two years?
April 27th, 2005, 06:26 PM
kwatts59

Maybe you can try this.
Think of some everyday things that you may need to say.
Then translate them into Russian and post them here.

E.g.
I have to go to the store and buy some food because the refrigerator is empty.
Мне нужно идти в магазин чтобы покупать некоторые продукты, потому что холодильник пуст.

This is a real example so I may have made a mistake.
If I did make a mistake, please correct.
April 27th, 2005, 07:12 PM
pranki

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwatts59

E.g.
I have to go to the store and buy some food because the refrigerator is empty.
Мне нужно идти в магазин чтобы покупать некоторые продукты, потому что холодильник пуст.

This is a real example so I may have made a mistake.
If I did make a mistake, please correct.

Yes, there is a little mistake:
Мне нужно идти в магазин, чтобы купить некоторые продукты, потому что холодильник пуст.
April 27th, 2005, 10:49 PM
Drew78

Pranki,

I'm learning Russian too. I thought (forgive me because I'm still working on how to type Cyrillic) that koopity and pakoopaty were synonyms?

Correct me if I'm wrong please. What's the difference?

Thanks.

Drew
April 27th, 2005, 10:54 PM
TATY

Покупать is imperfective (ongoing action)
Купить is perfective (completed action)

Kwatts got confused because usually, if there is a verb pair, the one with po- is the perfective variant.

Я куил шапку - I bought a hat
Я покупал шапку - I was buying a hat
April 28th, 2005, 07:31 AM
kwatts59

Thanks for the help everyone. :D
Chort, I always get those perfective/imperfective verbs mixed up.

Well, I hope this example illustrated my point.
Exalangumna, feel free to post any questions or simple translations and we will be glad to help you. :D
May 9th, 2005, 03:37 AM
Exalangumna

Huh, that's a brick wall; I can't install cyrillic support on my computer because, well, I never owned the OS installation CD.

I could romanize everything, but that looks bad.

I also could write it by hand and scan it, but I'll be damned if anyone in the world can read my handwriting.

I'm thinking about possibly buying a microphone; how much do they cost?

And besides that, any ideas on how to write in russian other than romanizing everything? I mean, I could do that it that's the only option.
May 9th, 2005, 03:43 AM
saibot

Whenever someone needs to know how far they've progressed in russian, i direct them to this link.

http://www.learn-russian-language-so.../tlrustest.htm
May 9th, 2005, 04:24 AM
kwatts59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exalangumna

Huh, that's a brick wall; I can't install cyrillic support on my computer because, well, I never owned the OS installation CD.

I could romanize everything, but that looks bad.

I also could write it by hand and scan it, but I'll be damned if anyone in the world can read my handwriting.

I'm thinking about possibly buying a microphone; how much do they cost?

And besides that, any ideas on how to write in russian other than romanizing everything? I mean, I could do that it that's the only option.

I do not remember how I got cyrillic fonts working on my computer.
It has been a long time. Now I just go into Notepad and type Alt-shift and the keyboard goes to cyrillic.

If that doesn't work, this link may be helpful
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage ... dex_en.htm

If worst comes to worst, go to this site and use the "virtual keyboard" to write your words. Then cut and past them into your posts/documents/etc.
http://mega.km.ru/alphabyte/

Cheap microphones cost about $12 at BestBuy.

EDIT: I found the answer to type cyrillic. Goto this link and click on the question "How to set up your computer to type in Russian"
http://www.freewebs.com/pravit/
May 9th, 2005, 04:51 AM
DDT

You dont need to have owned the OS installation CD, I don't own mine. What system are you using?
May 15th, 2005, 05:21 AM
Exalangumna

I'm using Win2000. When I try the regional options deal, It always asks for the CD.

And I took that test, but it really told me what I already know.

You are at the Intermediate level.

You scored 91 points out of 150.

You scored 60% overall.

PART I: Grammar

You scored 26 points out of 45.

You scored 57% on this section.

PART II: Grammar

You scored 31 points out of 45.

You scored 68% on this section.

PART III: Vocabulary

You scored 14 points out of 30.

You scored 46% on this section.

PART IV: Reading Comprehension

You scored 20 points out of 30.

You scored 66% on this section.
June 17th, 2005, 06:14 PM
tdcinprc

Some ideas:
Read a newspaper, or find news sites in russian and read the texts...learn every word you don't know in the articles...or buy Russian books and do the same thing...

Watch movies in Russian.

Listen to Russian music.

Find a Russian penpal.

You can even use audio chat online to help with speaking...

Basically everything you do that involves using English, use Russian instead...
July 3rd, 2005, 10:10 AM
siberiangoddess

Try translating your favorite book or a script of your favorite movie in Russian and re-read it in the Russian version. I find it's more fun to learn than way than reading a grammar book. You might not get all the grammar rules, but you can get a better grasp of the flow of the language.