XO- Please answer

[fatman]

I have a question for ya XO.  I found out this week that my company has been awarded a large contract in Eastern Russia, on the Pacific Ocean, and that I'll be going there for up to a year next year.  Before I go I'd like to learn to speak and write some Russian, but the community college here doesn't offer any courses in Russian (though I can learn to read the Bible in Ancient Greek and take conversational Italian), and the closest place that offers Russian classes is Western Washington University in Bellingam (a 60 mile one way drive).  So that leaves me with two options:

A) Buy a dvd/tape kit that promises to teach the language, something like Rosetta Stone.

B)  Seek out a local Russian immigrant (there are many in this area, or so it seems) and offer payment for their tutorship.  I could probably find someone through a store in town that sells Euro-Centric (especially Eastern European) food.

Which would you, as a foreign language instructor, suggest as the best alternative?

[Amianthus]

First, I'd make sure that Russian is actually the predominant language where you're going... ;-)

[fatman]

The job is in Vladivostok, which is near the Chinese border (I think?).  There are two groups of people going on the job, those that will be there for a month or two, and those of us that will be there considerably longer.  The HR person at my company recommended that those of us that will be there for the longer period brush up on Russian, which I've always wanted to learn anyway.  The job is just more of an incentive for me to do it.

[Amianthus]

The job is in Vladivostok, which is near the Chinese border (I think?).

Yeah, Russian is predominant there. I would point you at a friend of mine that speaks Russian, but he's in Maryland...

[fatman]

Yeah, Russian is predominant there. I would point you at a friend of mine that speaks Russian, but he's in Maryland...

Well, that's a further drive than Bellingham, I can't see that working out.  I'm sure I'll be able to learn it, whether with a language kit or a tutor, or both.

I've always wanted to read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in the original.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I think that if I really wanted to learn Russian, I'd get a language program and use it for maybe a month, to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and to practice pronunciation, then I'd see if I could find a Russian speaker (my guess is that Moscow is the standard pronunciation, just as Omaha is closest to American Broadcast English). A Uruguayan friend of mine came to Miami knowing nothing about English, and advertised in the newspaper "FREE SPANISH LESSONS". then he and several English speakers practiced each other's language on one another. This cost him nothing. There are more Russian speakers who want to learn English in the US than vice versa, and a lot of them are highly educated people. I'd find four or five people of different ages and genders.

Every two or three years they update every language program. This means that when they come out with Rossetta Stone Russian 2009, the 2007 version will go on sale. Or at least that is the way it works with Spanish DVD programs.

I have heard that Rosetta Stone is pretty good, especially for vocabulary acquisition. I have not examined any Russian programs, so I'd check the reviews on Amazon.com, and see what I could buy on craigslist.org.

There are two activities to learning a language (1) learn the words and how to pronounce them and spell them, and (2) how to put them into sentences so they make sense.

Russian is a pretty complicated language compared to English. It has a lot of phonemes (sounds) that English lacks as well as combinations of sounds that do not occur in English. It is fortunately spelled almost phonetically. Lower case letters are identical to upper case letters, just smaller, not like Aa Bb Dd Qq in English, but I think there are 40 letters in all. Cursive writing is a bitch to read until you get used to it. Strangely, there is no present tense of the verb "to be", so "I am Russian" comes out 'I Russian".

The tonal aspect of the language is different from English, but it's not a tonal language like Chinese, where the same syllable can mean six things, depending on rising, falling and other types of tones.

Grammatically, there are more verb tenses, and the nouns are declined (nominative, declarative , accusative, vocative, illiative cases, etc. There are more than there are in German, anyway.

Check the Internet for free Russian websites, by all means. Get as much practice as you can, and always practice orally.

The Soviet Far East has a very interesting history.

Good luck.

[fatman]

Thanks for all of that input XO, I sincerely appreciate it.  In high school I did pretty well in French, and went to France my senior year with the French Club.  I also know enough Spanish that I could get by in even a non touristy place in Mexico, though I've never taken a formal course.

I think that I'll pick up the Rosetta Stone Russian series, and as you suggested, look for a tutor in a month or so. If I practice hard, I'm sure that I could be reasonably fluent by the time we head over there.

Thanks again for the help.

The Soviet Far East certainly has had its interesting moments.  The reason that we're over there is for a natural gas pipeline and processing plant being built, ostensibly to power the naval yard there.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The reason that we're over there is for a natural gas pipeline and processing plant being built, ostensibly to power the naval yard there.

==================================================================
Will the Russkies lease this to the Chinese someday when China has a real navy, one might ask?

The key to learning vocabulary: index cards. Write the Russian on one side (possibly in both phonetic Roman and Russian Cyrrilic) and in English on the other.

WOrk on 10-15 words at a time. First looking at the Russian and saying the Russian and English aloud, then flip them over and look at the English and say the Russian. If you don't recall immediately, flip it over and practice saying it again and again.

[BT]

Perhaps the CIA can underwrite your studies.

[fatman]

The key to learning vocabulary: index cards. Write the Russian on one side (possibly in both phonetic Roman and Russian Cyrrilic) and in English on the other.

WOrk on 10-15 words at a time. First looking at the Russian and saying the Russian and English aloud, then flip them over and look at the English and say the Russian. If you don't recall immediately, flip it over and practice saying it again and again.

Wow, I would never have thought of that, but it certainly makes sense with a word/object association.  Thanks again!

[fatman]

Perhaps the CIA can underwrite your studies.

With my big mouth?  I doubt it 

I have to say though that I'm very excited about this trip.  For starters, the money, which I won't post but is sufficient to allow me to purchase a vacation/retirement property in E WA that I've been looking at.  Further, I love to travel.  I went to Europe several times as a child and adolescent with my grandparents, three of whom were direct immigrants from Europe, the fourth was a second generation American.  I've always wanted to go to Moscow, now I may have an opportunity.  A friend suggested that when the job is finished, that I take a train to Moscow from Vladivostok, which is a very long ride but may be quite interesting.  I'll need to talk to some people and figure out how to word my visa for that, if it's possible.

[Xavier_Onassis]

It would be unexcusable to learn Russian and not take the Trans Siberian RR to Moscow.
I am feeling a desire to watch Dr Zhivago again just thinking about it, and they only got as far as Yuriatin.

I am sure I'd take along a laptop and write a daily journal. And print it out regularly, just in case.

There is a State Dept course in Russian that might be worth investigating. It is available to the public, too.
If there are two, get the shortest one.

[fatman]

It would be unexcusable to learn Russian and not take the Trans Siberian RR to Moscow.

That's pretty much what my friend told me.  A friend of his (who lives far away unfortunately), has toured Russia quite a bit, and taken the railway the full length from Leningrad to Vladivostok.

I am feeling a desire to watch Dr Zhivago again just thinking about it, and they only got as far as Yuriatin.

It's funny, I love old movies, but I've never seen Dr. Zhivago.  I'm going to add it to my Netflix immediately.

I am sure I'd take along a laptop and write a daily journal. And print it out regularly, just in case.

I plan to.  And a webcam so that my partner and I can talk and see each other regularly, if they'll let me take it.

There is a State Dept course in Russian that might be worth investigating. It is available to the public, too.
If there are two, get the shortest one.

I wasn't aware that the State Dept offered language courses.  I'll definitely look into that angle.

[Amianthus]

I plan to.  And a webcam so that my partner and I can talk and see each other regularly, if they'll let me take it.

You have your N800.

[fatman]

You have your N800.

Will that work on a foreign continent?  I think I mentioned before that I'm a sort of modern Luddite (oxymoron), but I've heard that DVD's made here won't play in Europe, and vice versa.  While I really do like my N800, I haven't even scratched the surface of its capabilities.  I was unaware that it could be used as a webcam, but that is certainly good to know.