Quote Originally Posted by BryanK View Post
I intend on traveling to Russia this year or the next. I hope to be fluent in Russian before traveling to Russia.
Ah Bryan...

I know you didn't mean it but you just gave me a great laugh! Welcome to MR!!

As the ONLY person on here not "really" trying to learn Russian but seeing others come and go, let me tell you, it is MUCH harder than you might think. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but as Chaika just mentioned the other day:
Quote Originally Posted by chaika
I have been studying, reading, and to an extent writing Russian for 40 years and still can barely put a substantial sentence together without an error. Just yesterday I used an imperfective verb where it should have been perfective and was immediately corrected (on line, that is). And I am still not totally sure that the imperfective would have worked in the context.
But hey, shoot for the stars and if you don't make it at least you'll fall on top of the world! There are lots of folks on here willing and able to help you out!

You should also read Hanna's travel blog about her adventures to the area and some of her other amazing threads!!

And of course if you do go, you must start your own blog for us!