Agreed. It was on day #1 that I realized it was a fools errand to approach Russian with zero knowledge of the grammar. Based on my current understanding, the conjugations of regular verbs and nouns follow a relatively simple configuration, so memorizing these (three?) patterns is simple enough; irregularities on the other hand are a different matter entirely. By saying 'My primary focus isn't grammar', I meant just that, but I'm not going to be totally ignorant.

At this point (going on day #7) I don't see any real benefit of trying to differentiate between crafting original sentences and regurgitating common phrases- so long as they are grammatically correct (and coherent)- because my goal isn't to create original sentences, it's simply to be able to communicate, and my gut instincts tell me I don't need to trouble myself with the obscurities/complexities of Russian grammar to be able to communicate... at least not yet. The plan is to absorb as much input as possible, and hopefully build an intuition for grammatically correct sentences. This way when I do get around to really focusing on grammar (a couple of months from now), I won't be grappling with trying to gain basic vocabulary, learn to read, learn to comprehend spoken word, while simultaneously trying to compile different relationships within the language (aka gain general familiarity). I don't want my mind to have to endure something like that.

Simply put, learning a language by means of grammar seems a lot to me like learning art by means of science; it was never really a question of whether or not it could be done- of course it can be done. The question is why even bother?

I've never studied language, and I'm relying solely on logic here, so if anyone cares to slap some sense into me.. by all means.

Thanks for your comment. Gave me a lot to consider.