The Gun Counter

I'm taking Elementary Russian at my local community college and the semester is about half through. I'm possibly transferring to Hillsdale college pending acceptance and my issue lies there. If I transfer to Hillsdale I have no way of continuing, in class, the language beyond personal studies. If I do not get accepted, I have the CC and another school or two in the area that teach Russian. I was curious to see if there were any Russian speakers here, especially ones who are self-taught or have learned it as an additional language. Also does anyone have general tips on how to keep up with learning, developing and expanding on a language that your just learning?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Well, if you get Eugene drunk, then insult him, you'll probably hear some Russian...

go some where that they only speak that language. Immersion works really well.

I've actually seen some good results from "rosetta stone" though it ain't cheap.

Another option might be to seek out the local immigrant conclave - no doubt you have some native speakers in your area who MIGHT be willing to help you - especially in return for some english help...

DD

Rosetta stone and the local immigrant enclave.

Of course, the software is expensive and approaching a complete stranger for help learning his language is pretty daunting.

The best way to learn a language is to speak it, and hear it spoken regularly. If you cant find anywhere or anyone to practise with, then try to get music, movies, tv-shows etc in the language. It will help develop an ear for it, and get a feel for the grammar and pronounciation.

Immersion works best. I've graduated from a couple of Uncle Sam's language courses, and found that getting stuck in a country and having to speak the language to get by is a powerful incentive to learning it.

My Korean was "better" (in that I didn't sound like I'd learned it in school) after two months in the ROK than after 11 months of language school.

But learning it by immersion, you won't learn the grammatically correct version, you'll learn it the way the locals talk. That is actually helpful, since your accent won't be so glaringly obvious.

In Russia the language learns you!

+1 on immersion. I learned more in two weeks in country than I did in two years of high school Spanish.

My nephew got a degree in Russian with minor in Arabic at Champaign-Urbana. Only one in his class. Had a headstart spent teen years as an ex-pat kid in Almaty, Khazakistan.

He's one heck of a pizza driver. That's about all he could find for initially since he wasn't interested in any .gov work.

Working an internship here now that he hopes will land him work back in K'stan with an NGO.

What I've had was a course at UNO taught by native speakers for folks specifically looking to learn in as much as an immersive environment as they could provide. It's stuck with me and after a short period I still have no doubt, 9 years later, of being able to muddle my way through a large Russian city with only moderate difficulty.