Thread: My personal study curriculum

I've two years to become acquainted with the Russian language to the point where I can engage in at least semi-complex conversation, before I go to college in St. Petersburg in an effort to immerse myself in the language. I've planned a cirriculum that I will adhere to over this period of two years, of which I will share with you so that you may offer suggestions and make commentary for my benefit.

Before I begin, you should know that I'm already very comfortable with using the Cyrillic Alphabet, and can employ basic phrases, such as greetings/farewells, and asking for certain things (directions/food).

Over the course of the summer, I'll be taking the Pimsleur audio course (I,II,III) in order to develop some conversational skills that will be of assistance later on in my study process.

Once the school year begins, and I've a proctor available, I'm taking High School Russian I via Brigham Young University's online high school course program. (Details found here: http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/catalog/selec ... subject=88 )

In addition to this, I'll also be hiring a private tutor, of whom was a Russian instructor in Moscow for 40 some odd years, to help me with the material in my Russian course, pronunciation, as well as to assign additional work and exercises. The thing about this, however, is that she doesn't speak a word of English... which is why I'm endeavoring to take the Pimsleur courses before I begin with her. Hopefully the language barrier won't be an object...

I will also purchase a frequency book, so that I can improve my vocabulary on a daily basis:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0415137 ... eader-link

My best friend, Vadim, of whom is fluent in Russian, will also be helping me with developing my conversational skills all the while.

After I've completed Russian I, I'll progress to Russian II, which is the last high school level course available. Seeing that I take the course at leisure (no time commitments, set examination dates, etcetera), and learn very quickly, I can in all likelihood complete both Russian I and II before the allotted one year completion period for two semesters.

... So, tell me what you think.

(Arnold Schwarzenegger voice)Well, you must be very proud of yourself.

As you probably already know by now, the Pimsleur courses are expensive and overrated. And nobody on the forum here likes them. But most people here have only done level I as the other levels are rather expensive. Maybe they become high-quality after the first level or something. But I suppose it could help to develop listening comprehension.

I found it amazing you can take high school Russian courses online, but I didn't bother to look at the link. Did you have to pay money or something? If only I'd found something like that a couple years ago. Oh well. Anyhow, high school language courses are notoriously crappy, and the best thing they usually offer is listening and speaking practice. Through the internet I don't know how that works, and high school lang. classes usually suck at teaching grammar. Tell us how it goes over, OK?

As for your Russian tutor, you can find many tutors that speak English well, one of them I believe I put you into contact with. But, suit yourself.

I didn't bother to look at the link for the freq dictionary(56K, you see, rather tiresome), but it better be Nick J or I'll slap you.

I think it's a sound plan, I suppose, to prepare yourself before college, anyway. Perhaps you will be allowed to skip one of the beginning level classes. Good luck and such. By the way, if you are so interested in Asia, why are you concerning yourself with Russian? You know, there are some very nice Chinese language programs in Hong Kong and Taiwan universities.

Originally Posted by Pravit

(Arnold Schwarzenegger voice)Well, you must be very proud of yourself.

As you probably already know by now, the Pimsleur courses are expensive and overrated. And nobody on the forum here likes them. But most people here have only done level I as the other levels are rather expensive. Maybe they become high-quality after the first level or something. But I suppose it could help to develop listening comprehension.

I found it amazing you can take high school Russian courses online, but I didn't bother to look at the link. Did you have to pay money or something? If only I'd found something like that a couple years ago. Oh well. Anyhow, high school language courses are notoriously cra@@y, and the best thing they usually offer is listening and speaking practice. Through the internet I don't know how that works, and high school lang. classes usually suck at teaching grammar. Tell us how it goes over, OK?

As for your Russian tutor, you can find many tutors that speak English well, one of them I believe I put you into contact with. But, suit yourself.

I didn't bother to look at the link for the freq dictionary(56K, you see, rather tiresome), but it better be Nick J or I'll slap you.

I think it's a sound plan, I suppose, to prepare yourself before college, anyway. Perhaps you will be allowed to skip one of the beginning level classes. Good luck and such. By the way, if you are so interested in Asia, why are you concerning yourself with Russian? You know, there are some very nice Chinese language programs in Hong Kong and Taiwan universities.

- Expensive...? Well, let us say this wasn't so in my case... *coughs* Yeah, I've heard bad things about it, but I purchased the $20 basic course (10 lessons), and it seemed efficient. I would say, however, that there would be no way in hell I could use that alone... a number of words I learned, I pronounced completely wrong--how I THOUGHT I heard them pronounced. After my Russian friends laughed at me, corrected me, and showed me the word in written form, I took note of sounds that I wasn't including in my pronunciation beforehand.

I read Russian very well, I'm told. In my first meeting with my friends tutor, I greeted her, and she asked me to read. She thought I was Russian until they corrected her; they hadn't said anything concerning me beforehand... I suppose that's a good sign.

... As for the tutor, sorry, Pravit; however, thanks for the effort, as well as your concern. My friend wants me to use his teacher, so that is what I'm going to do... unless of course my experience with her turns out to be disastrous.. then I'll give yours a ring. In all honesty, I'm a little apprehensive about the whole thing... so I wouldn't be surprised if thats how things culminated. We shall see.

As for the Russian High School course: Yeah, I'm well aware of the fact that, in all probability, it'll suck. I took Spanish(mandatory) quite some time ago, and based on how the course was structured, I could clearly see there was no way I would retain the material taught... that, and the fact that I wasn't at all enthusiastic about it. To learn a language, one must immerse oneself in that particular language, no? Well; let's just say I don't see myself being immersed in the Spanish language any time soon... no offense to anyone. I took Latin this year(my Sophomore year) as well, and as far as course structure goes, it was a little more conducive than Spanish was, I suppose.

With the online course, I get a text book and an Audio CD... I use this to study. I decide when I am prepared enough to take examinations, make a request, and they are then sent to my proctor. I also think I'll have to call my "instructor" every now and then for oral examinations.

I'm only doing this as I don't want to be distracted by taking one of the languages offered at school (Spanish/French/Latin) while I am studying the Russian language. I'd rather completely immerse myself, as I've said before, in one language at a time. In the state of Texas, for one to graduate, there must be two foreign language credits received... so, I'm obligated to take a language course. As BYU is considered a creditable organization, most High Schools (inclusive of mine) accept their credits, and apply them towards the said students graduation quotas.

Who says I'm not going to learn Mandarin/Tibetan? I haven't lost sight of those ambitions... my penchant for Russia is just as potent as for Asia. I've just chosen to do this first, as it seems to have the most utility for now.

- Stanislav

Originally Posted by Станислав

In addition to this, I'll also be hiring a private tutor, of whom was a Russian instructor in Moscow for 40 some odd years, to help me with the material in my Russian course, pronunciation, as well as to assign additional work and exercises. The thing about this, however, is that she doesn't speak a word of English... which is why I'm endeavoring to take the Pimsleur courses before I begin with her. Hopefully the language barrier won't be an object...

Where did you find this person? Do they live here? I can't seem to find anyone who will help me out. There are a few people from my church, but when I ask them they chuckle and tell me it would take too long. Grrrr....

She's a bit far from Forth Worth. She's in a retirement home on Coit/Parker in Plano, right behind the Cinemark dollar movie theater... I was sent to her by some russian friends, and I'm not exactly sure as to how they got ahold of her. When I call my friend today, I'll get some detailed information to post here for you.

- Stanislav

A good friend of mine who is helping me out with my Montenegrin lives in Plano. It's not that bad. See if you can find out if there's anyone in Ft. Worth though

I'm not very familiar with the Fort Worth area, so I won't be of much help--sorry. Ft. Worth to Plano is quite a treck. If you're willing to make it, I'll be certain to retrieve the information for you when I call my friend tomorrow.

- Stanislav

I make it twice a week, sucks because gas is killing me, but I go once or twice no matter what.