Thread: Need help...

Hey everyone. I just started learning Russian for about 5 days now. I am currently learning the alphabet and the pronuncation of it. I also have "Learn Russian in your car" and the Pimsleur method. I've been looking for the "New Penguin Russian" in my library but it won't be here until 2 weeks. Also I need to get a good dictionary I suppose. What do you recommend me?
Also...is there a site with the Pimsleur book to go with the cd's? I couldn't find it since it's an audio only method but maybe someone has transcribed it somewhere.
And are there any other tips that you people have for me?

Originally Posted by Mea Culpa

Hey everyone. I just started learning Russian for about 5 days now. I am currently learning the alphabet and the pronuncation of it. I also have "Learn Russian in your car" and the Pimsleur method. I've been looking for the "New Penguin Russian" in my library but it won't be here until 2 weeks. Also I need to get a good dictionary I suppose. What do you recommend me?
Also...is there a site with the Pimsleur book to go with the cd's? I couldn't find it since it's an audio only method but maybe someone has transcribed it somewhere.
And are there any other tips that you people have for me?

Привет

Try these:

* Teach Yourself Russian Complete Course (book + CD pack) by Daphne West
* Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian Script by Daphne West
* Teach Yourself Russian Grammar by Daphne West
* Russian Course, The New Penguin : A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks) by Nicholas J. Brown
* The Oxford Russian Dictionary (Oxford) by Oxford University Press
* Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar by James S. Levine
* Pronounce It Perfectly in Russian (Pronounce It Perfectly) by Thomas R., Jr., Ph.D. Beyer

I am not aware of transcriptions of Pimsleur dialogs.

Good luck! Удачи!

Thanks! How about this one? " The Oxford Starter Russian Dictionary "
It's alot cheaper then the full version and seems to be specialy aimed on noobs like me.

Oxford's new Starter range of dictionaries break new ground in language-learning providing essential information in a completely new way. They have been specially designed for beginners and are not simply scaled-down versions of larger dictionaries, rather they have been written from scratch to provide a totally fresh means of language-learning. Maximum accessibility and clarity: the dictionary page is refreshingly uncluttered with special typefaces and symbols providing a consistent structure for the information both in English and Russian. Subdivisions of text are clearly indicated using bullet points and Arabic numerals. The move from one language to another is explicitly indicated in = signs. No abbreviations: the only abbreviations you will find are those which are entirely self-explanatory. Parts of speech, gender labels, regional markers and grammatical terms are all given in full with a glossary providing explanations and examples of different parts of speech in use. More complex grammatical issues are dealt with in short notes at appropriate points in the text or in the more detailed boxed grammar notes.;The best translation: the language used in examples and in sense indicators (or signposts to the correct translation) is carefully screened to ensure maximum clarity to guide the learner to the right translation. The wordlist contains all the material a beginner will need and reflects current English and Russian in clear, lively examples which are based on up-to-date information from Oxford's language databases. Correct grammar and usage: Points of basic grammar are reinforced using the ! sign and colloquial usage is marked for both English and Russian. Thematic boxes: giving the vocabulary relevant to areas such as age, time, colours, days, months and dates Symbols: colloquial usage is clearly indicated by means of symbols which are explained at intervals at the bottom of the page, alerting users to the complex question of register in the foreign language.

Привет!

I own the Russian starter dictionary, and I must say, it is very helpful. It only has 20,000 words or so, so it won't suffice for reading some news paper articles, but for the every day use of a beginner, it is rather helpful. It has in depth explanations of common topics, like colors, time, and page or more explanations of difficult verbs like "to go" or "to have".

Another thing like about it, is it often gives examples to go with the verbs and prepositions. This is often much more useful than just saying something like "~ не - far from". This dictionary will actually give you examples like "Я живу не далеко от магазина." (Example may be wrong.)

Anyway, good luck with your studies!

Thanks alot! I also have another question. I'd like to be able to type in Russian with a normal Russian keyboard layout. For this I would need keyboard stickers , but to pay 20 euro total for a couple of stupid stickers is not a great idea in my opinion so I have a question.
Is it possible to buy transparent sticker paper for use with a normal printer? That way I would be able to print the letters out and then past them on my keyboard. Or any other tips how to make my own cheap Russian keyboard stickers?

Originally Posted by Mea Culpa

Thanks alot! I also have another question. I'd like to be able to type in Russian with a normal Russian keyboard layout. For this I would need keyboard stickers , but to pay 20 euro total for a couple of stupid stickers is not a great idea in my opinion so I have a question.
Is it possible to buy transparent sticker paper for use with a normal printer? That way I would be able to print the letters out and then past them on my keyboard. Or any other tips how to make my own cheap Russian keyboard stickers?

just write them down with a sharpie and put pieces of scotch tape on top.

Now would be a good time to learn to touch type. I think someone else mentioned this recently in another post but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, it doesn't take that long, although it can be quite frustrating at the start. The great thing is once you've learned that, it is surprisingly easy to learn the Russian keyboard layout. It took me about a week, practising a bit every day. I gradually picked up speed after that. Now I can type Russian characters with relative ease. I can't look at the keyboard though, otherwise I get confused. Maybe I'll get keyboard stickers someday to solve that problem

One weird thing that happens, is that I sometimes get all muddled up and confused if I start typing Russian names using Latin characters in the middle of a message in English. That's usually a good time for me to take a break from the computer and go do something else

Тут можно найти кое-что по теме:

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... 31&start=0

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... 05&start=0

How about the Living Language Russian Course... try that one...

Originally Posted by Cyphyr

Now would be a good time to learn to touch type. I think someone else mentioned this recently in another post but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, it doesn't take that long, although it can be quite frustrating at the start. The great thing is once you've learned that, it is surprisingly easy to learn the Russian keyboard layout. It took me about a week, practising a bit every day. I gradually picked up speed after that. Now I can type Russian characters with relative ease. I can't look at the keyboard though, otherwise I get confused. Maybe I'll get keyboard stickers someday to solve that problem

One weird thing that happens, is that I sometimes get all muddled up and confused if I start typing Russian names using Latin characters in the middle of a message in English. That's usually a good time for me to take a break from the computer and go do something else

I printed out the keyboard mapping and taped it to my monitor. I learned how to type in Russian without stickers. I guess I am too cheap to buy them. I do seem to end a lot of my Russian sentences with the letter "ю".

Originally Posted by kwatts59

I printed out the keyboard mapping and taped it to my monitor. I learned how to type in Russian without stickers. I guess I am too cheap to buy them. I do seem to end a lot of my Russian sentences with the letter "ю".

I did the same thing the first couple of days....now I have done something that took me alot of time but it worked...don't know for how long but it only costed me about a cent. I'll put a picture of it online when I have made one
I'm also a cheap bastard

ангзл мой!

angzl my?
What does it mean?

Originally Posted by Indra

ангзл мой!

angzl my?
What does it mean?

My angel

I'm so cheap. I use a phonetic keyboard layout mapped to english
a = a
b = б
c = ц
d = д
e = е
f = ф
g = г
h = х
i = и
etc.

And because there are more letters, I have letters that are mapped according to what they look like to. Ain't that great?

Originally Posted by Darobat

I'm so cheap. I use a phonetic keyboard layout mapped to english
a = a
b = б
c = ц
d = д
e = е
f = ф
g = г
h = х
i = и
etc.

And because there are more letters, I have letters that are mapped according to what they look like to. Ain't that great?

I didn't like that idea...I want to be able to type on a real Russian keyboard. Not a fake phonetic one...

But it is a faster option to learn I suppose. But I don't think it will take very long for me to adapt to my new keyboard layout as soon as I start typing alot.

Ahh... I really should learn the real russian keyboard. Maybe I'll switch now.

Originally Posted by Mea Culpa

Originally Posted by Indra

ангзл мой!

angzl my?
What does it mean?

My angel

it will be ангел in russian...

Originally Posted by dzh

Originally Posted by Mea Culpa

Originally Posted by Indra

ангзл мой!

angzl my?
What does it mean?

My angel

it will be ангел in russian...

True...very stupid mistake of me indeed...I'll correct it right away...

Good....the "New Penguin Russian" book is in my library now. I'm going to pick it up in about an hour. If it's good then I'll buy it somewhere.

Originally Posted by Darobat

Ahh... I really should learn the real russian keyboard. Maybe I'll switch now.

I think it's a good idea to just bite the bullet on this and learn the real Russian keyboard as soon as possible. It's another thing to have to learn but it's well worth it.

I just used a picture of the keyboard from somewhere on the net (think it was a Microsoft site) and just checked with it until I could remember where every character was, but printing it out and having it alongside the keyboard seems like a good idea. For some reason it never occured to me to do that at the time. Doesn't matter now anyway