Learning Russian for Engineers

Hey, guys.

I'm an aerospace engineering student seriously considering a masters program in Russia. Even though it is not required to actually speak the language in order to be accepted, it is something that I wish to achieve before I apply.

Considering I have about two and a half years, what is the best course of action to learn, not only basic russian but also to get a grasp on technical terms.

I have access to the pimsleur method and I also take classes with a native speaker, so at least the pronunciation isn't so atrocious, but I can't travel to Russia anytime soon. I'm looking mainly for recommended books and reading assignments.

Thanks a lot!

Hi Julia, I'd recommend that you find out what books are used by schools in your area that teach Russian.
Such books are really easy to follow, they introduce the new concept in a pedagogically logical way, and the format will be familiar to you if you have studied some other language in school. Just buy whatever the kids use.

Pimsleur will help ONLY with getting enough vocabulary to order drinks, taxi, hotel room and exchange pleasantries.

I know a couple of people who learnt Russian that are also engineers. There are special courses for engineers.
Take a look at the uztranslations site, they might have some material there. I have definitely seen German to Russsian and Swedish to Russian engineering courses, so if either of those is your language you are in luck. I did not see English to Russian, but it might well exist.

You should be able to make progress in 2 years, but it depends on how much time you put in and how fast you are able to learn.

Perhaps spend a year just getting familiar with the language and learning some basic vocabulary, then start looking at technical books and add that vocabulary.

Many who use this site watch Russian films from time to time, and listen to Russian music and radio, just to get used to the language and learn while relaxing.

tell me please, what are you area an engineer?

Well, I've been in a similar position before - I'm an engineer and I wanted to learn Russian! The main problem was that I don't have a great head for languages, so I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing! I took as structured an approach as I could and it worked pretty well for me - so I decided to write it up in the hopes that someone else would find it useful too.

It's basically a combination of vocabulary learning using Anki, grammar from the New Penguin Russian Course, and a few other bits and pieces that I do on a regular basis. There are some links to Russian/English word frequency files as well. Hopefully it will be helpful to you. Here's the link: Learning languages for engineers | Paul Raftery's Something New.

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Originally Posted by Julia

Hey, guys.

I'm an aerospace engineering student seriously considering a masters program in Russia. Even though it is not required to actually speak the language in order to be accepted, it is something that I wish to achieve before I apply.

Considering I have about two and a half years, what is the best course of action to learn, not only basic russian but also to get a grasp on technical terms.

I have access to the pimsleur method and I also take classes with a native speaker, so at least the pronunciation isn't so atrocious, but I can't travel to Russia anytime soon. I'm looking mainly for recommended books and reading assignments.

Thanks a lot!

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Я пыта́лась найти́ ресу́рсы для "техни́ческих ру́сски для инжене́ров" всле́дствие о э́той те́ме, но я не успе́ла. Не на И-БЕЙа и́ли АМАЗОНа. Е́сли кто́-нибу́дь зна́ет о како́м ресу́рс так пожа́луйся отправля́йте ссы́лку.

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Originally Posted by Valda

Я пыта́лась найти́ ресу́рсы для "техни́ческих ру́сски для инжене́ров" всле́дствие о э́той те́ме, но я не успе́ла. Не на И-БЕЙа и́ли АМАЗОНа. Е́сли кто́-нибу́дь зна́ет о како́м ресу́рс так пожа́луйся отправля́йте ссы́лку.

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Я пыта́лась найти́ ресу́рсы для "техни́ческий ру́сский для инжене́ров", но я не успе́ла. Не на И-БЕЕ ни на АМАЗОНЕ. Е́сли кто́-нибу́дь зна́ет о тако́м ресу́рсе тогда пожа́луйста отпра́вьте ссы́лку.

http://technical_en_ru.academic.ru/