the first 100 words you learn will be the hardest words you ever learn.
Do you mean the first words you learn as a baby? Or in a foreign language?

I know thousands of Russian words and cannot speak even a simple sentence.

Which just goes to show, don't think for one moment that it will just come to you if you keep trying.... people who give advice like that, just ASSUME that you have come kind of common sense.

Alas, I don't have any...it appears. Not that I've given up, mind you, but it does take direction. Requires effort. Homework. Actual study. Learning from experts.

My mistake was I just kept watching Channel One, and looking up words in the dictionary. Damn those 3 wasted years. I'm not even a beginner.

Geez.

sigh.

I feel better.

If someday this starts clicking, its going to be like a dam breaking or a nuclear bomb going off.