Thread: possibly a new approach to learn rus?

okay... this might sound crazy but i wanted to know what you all thought of it...

what about starting (since I am relatively new to Russian, only about two months of hobbyist-level practice so far) learning the language by way of children's books, written in Russian? Certainly it worked for me as a child, learning English... It seems like the learning would be pretty fluent from these sources, insipid as they might seem to some of the scholarly minds on this site.. and of course, there would be none of the faux-mis-teaching i've heard about from the faultier methods, such as Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur, both of which seem to have their own unique set of iniquities.... The thing is, it occurs to me because the method of learning Russian I am currently using is very, very disjointed and irregular... I have been voracious about collecting solid information I can find on the internet - this website and others like it have been extremely helpful... and that if I am going to succeed with this method, I need tools to fill the gaps... well, when learning English as a kid, children's books did it for me.

So that's my idea. Is it completely crazy? Or as hollywood says, "just crazy enough to work?" Any ideas for books I should start with? Maybe there are Russian childrens' books and fairy tales (simply-worded texts) that you could turn me on to? Anyway thanks for listening..


luck /// life

There are cd book sets for Children in Russian offered on ebay. They are the classic folk and fairytales of Russia.

I would recommend you learn Cyrillic, have a dictionary, and a simple grammar.

I am not sure how well it will work but good luck.

russian kids books are deceptively difficult but you could give it a shot. you might want to try and get some readers and duel language short story books too

Originally Posted by kidkboom

okay... this might sound crazy but i wanted to know what you all thought of it...

what about starting (since I am relatively new to Russian, only about two months of hobbyist-level practice so far) learning the language by way of children's books, written in Russian? Certainly it worked for me as a child, learning English... It seems like the learning would be pretty fluent from these sources, insipid as they might seem to some of the scholarly minds on this site.. and of course, there would be none of the faux-mis-teaching i've heard about from the faultier methods, such as Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur, both of which seem to have their own unique set of iniquities.... The thing is, it occurs to me because the method of learning Russian I am currently using is very, very disjointed and irregular... I have been voracious about collecting solid information I can find on the internet - this website and others like it have been extremely helpful... and that if I am going to succeed with this method, I need tools to fill the gaps... well, when learning English as a kid, children's books did it for me.

So that's my idea. Is it completely crazy? Or as hollywood says, "just crazy enough to work?" Any ideas for books I should start with? Maybe there are Russian childrens' books and fairy tales (simply-worded texts) that you could turn me on to? Anyway thanks for listening..


luck /// life

No.

Firstly, young children's brains are completely different from older children's, teenagers, adults. The capacity to learn decreases with age. Secondly, learning a native language as a child couldn't be more different from learning a foreign language, let alone as an adult / teenager, whatever you are.

The fact is, learning a foreign language is not natural in essence as it requires effort. Children learn their native language passively, through absorbing the language from their local environment. You think you learn English through reading children's books? It probably contributed 5% to your language learning, if that.

There is a reason why people learn foreign languages through books, and through learning grammar, and that's because it's a method that has been used for hundreds of years and works.

If reading children's books in a foreign language actually worked don't you think everyone would be doing it? Also the language used would only be suitable for very basic things, you'd basically be taught "kiddy language".

That said, reading anything in a foreign language will help, but Russian children's literature contains lots of diminutives, i.e. affectionate forms of words and not the normal neutral ones.

The best way to learn (by yourself), is to focus on different areas separately. For example get a book that teaches you grammar, like Nick Brown's New Penguin Beginner's Russian. The examples they give also contain most of the essential basic vocabulary you will need. As your knowledge of the grammar improves you can then start trying to read basic texts, even children's books, in order to increase your vocabulary. The grammar books will also contain exercises to help you write in Russian. Maybe get another course that had CDs to practice pronunciation.

Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur are best avoided. But even they are better than "Learn Russian Through Kids' Books" :P

I suggest you do google search for english/russian books with parallel texts. I have found a few here in Russia for Russians to learn english but nothing for the russian learners. You can try on the net too;
http://www.lonweb.org/daisy/ds-russian-lorna.htm

You had better get a foundation in grammar first of it will take you for ever to decipher most books in Russian. I find childrens fairly tales hard to read!!! But I have a friend who taught herself German, mostly by reading.

awesome advice everybody. the ebay suggestion panned out; found 11 russian children's books that look like they will serve (edit: for $7!); and the new penguin source will help me to filter validity into what i am learning in the childrens' books... and vice versa... this (in addition to the mad rush for information and practice i get on the internet each day) should give me something to go on.... plus i'll have the added joy of reading about Баба Яга in Russian text..

Thanks again for all of your help... You lot are the best foreign-language support group I've ever not paid for...

That is how I started. My high school class had a standard American textbook for the grammar (Stilman and Harkins) and the teacher gave us (or we bought, don't recall) Родная речь, I don't recall what grade it was for. This is/was the standard schoolbook for Russian kids. We memorized poems out of it, but that's all I remember about it (other than the fact that the school board told him we had to all tape a blank piece of paper over the full-page pictures of Lenin!). That was back in '59 or so.

Волк из лесу в деревню забежал,
не в гости а живот спасая....

Originally Posted by chaika

...Волк из лесу в деревню забежал,
не в гости а живот спасая....

http://www.russiandvd.com/store/album_a ... Fnumber=12

Читает Игорь Ильинский

ВОЛК И КОТ

Волк из лесу в деревню забежал,
Не в гости, но живот спасая;
За шкуру он свою дрожал:
Охотники за ним гнались и гончих стая.
Он рад бы в первые тут шмыгнуть ворота,
Да то лишь горе,
Что все ворота на запоре.
Вот видит Волк мой на заборе
Кота
И молит: "Васенька, мой друг! скажи скорее,
Кто здесь из мужичков добрее,
Чтобы укрыть меня от злых моих врагов?
Ты слышишь лай собак и страшный звук рогов!
Все это ведь за мной".- "Проси скорей Степана;
Мужик предобрый он",- Кот-Васька говорит.
"То так; да у него я ободрал барана".-
"Ну, попытайся ж у Демьяна".-
"Боюсь, что на меня и он сердит:
Я у него унес козленка".-
"Беги ж, вон там живет Трофим".-
"К Трофиму? Нет, боюсь и встретиться я с ним:
Он на меня с весны грозится за ягненка!"-
"Ну, плохо ж!- Но авось тебя укроет Клим!"-
"Ох, Вася, у него зарезал я теленка!"-
"Что вижу, кум! Ты всем в деревне насолил,-
Сказал тут Васька Волку,-
Какую ж ты себе защиту здесь сулил?
Нет, в наших мужиках не столько мало толку,
Чтоб на свою беду тебя спасли они.
И правы,- сам себя вини:
Что ты посеял - то и жни".

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