I think Russian is in the top 5 of most popular/influential languages in the world.

I've always been interested in this language but I want to know if any other members have had any experience with learning this language and can provide any storys, tips or material recommendations.

Thanks

1. English
2. Spanish
3. Chinese
4. French
5. ??????


Russians are backwards-ass Europeans. They fail at absolutely everything.

English easily, because it rules the internet and world.
Spanish, because it is spoken by billions in more than 30 countries. Chinese because it is spoken by billions and is gaining popularity. French, because 80%+ of Western philosophy is written in French.

I don't know 5.....

Hmm I forgot about Arabic as well...., but yeah i think Russian is (in my opinion) in the Top 6 (arabic) because of the former superpower status it had, space travel, scientific literature and former/current political influence on the world.

Oh lord, Russian is a pretty hard language to learn. Wish I could help you but I can't even say 'how are you?' with proper pronunciation. :(

Rosetta Stone would probably be the way to go, or another audio based program, because trust me, chances are you won't get pronunciation down by just looking at a book. Shit can get pretty hard to pronounce. :D

I think Russian is in the top 5 of most popular/influential languages in the world.

it´s a language mostly spoken drunk, so how can it have any influence on the cultures of the world?

Russian's my favorite language. It's very hard when you're first starting due to the ridiculous amount of grammar, but I'm at the end of my first year and can actually hold decent conversations with Russian friends.

The Cyrillic alphabet is extremely easy to learn (easier than learning to read English, without a doubt), and the written form is just kind of fun to write in.

The hardest aspects are probably the stress on words, simply because it has to be learned, and verbal aspect. While many Romance languages have tons of tenses and conjugations, Russian just has about 3 types of conjugations (past, present, and future), but it also has alternate forms of every verb, and each alternate form carries a different implied meaning. In addition to understanding all of the nuisances between implied meanings, some of the two forms look nothing alike. The grammar also has an extensive declension system, and the uses of the cases (particularly genitive) goes way beyond most other languages. But the structure of the grammar is very much like a pyramid. You get past the first layer, and then there's less and less, and it's continually getting easier.

The funniest thing is that I'd say Russian is one of the easiest Slavic languages. I've dabbled in Polish, and it really made me appreciate how straightforward Russian is. (Particularly the writing system)

Took a year of Russian at my old community college and fully plan on taking another year at my current university next sems. Russian is probably one of the languages I've had fun learning and speaking (I just found Spainish and German to be boring).

As DerDrache said the Cyrillic alphabet is ridiculously easy to learn, the only problem I had when learning was memorizing and identifing the hard and soft signs (but that past after the first few weeks). Luckly Cyrillic shares many letters that are found in the English and Greek alphabet so you will probably already know how to pronouce a majority of the letters.

I would really recommend searching through the local universities or community colleges and getting enrolled in to a course, it really would be the most effective way of learning (at least in my case). You also have the added advantage of having fellow students to converse with (most classes are usually 4-7 students). You might even "luck out" and get an offer to study over in Russia/Belarus during the summer, although I always turn the trips down (for obvious reasons).

I'm finding Russian to be super hard to learn right now, I think that's because I'm having to learn an entire new alphabet basically. Once you master the alphabet and pronounciation it does get a little easier.
..I hope!

Beautiful fucking language. Beautiful fucking country!
..Not such a pretty past.

I'm finding Russian to be super hard to learn right now, I think that's because I'm having to learn an entire new alphabet basically. Once you master the alphabet and pronounciation it does get a little easier.
..I hope!

Beautiful fucking language. Beautiful fucking country!
..Not such a pretty past.

From what I know of it, Russia's past strikes me as being relatively cool. Much better than Britain, America, and many Western European countries' pasts, that's for sure.

Anyways, how are you learning the alphabet? You should look for a website or workbook that teaches you to write the cursive forms of the letters. You'll need to do that if you want to be able to progress well. Besides, in the process of learning to write it, the sounds of the letters stick to your memory better. (Russians write in a cursive form that's a little different from the typed language)

it´s a language mostly spoken drunk, so how can it have any influence on the cultures of the world?


CCCP much?

there was a time when russia was one of the top world superpowers, they were pretty much in control of the CCCP, and the russian culture and language spread. there are many many places in the former CCCP (nineteen or so countries) where russian culture dominates over the local culture.

im a living example, i grew up in kharkov, the former capital of ukraine, and ukrainian-speaking people were in the minority. russian was the language spoken by everyone in that city, even school was taught in russian, and ukrainian was taught as a second language 45 minutes a week. and this was almost a decade after the CCCP broke up.

also there is no correlation between russian alcoholics (stereotypes ftl) and the influence russian culture has on the world.

it´s a language mostly spoken drunk, so how can it have any influence on the cultures of the world?

Do I even need to point out how ironic it is that a German is saying this? You guys are stereotyped as drunks more than Russians. Russians are usually portrayed as criminals of some sort, while Germans are usually stereotyped as being jovial, beer-guzzling, lederhosen wearing people.

Germans are usually stereotyped as being jovial, beer-guzzling, lederhosen wearing people.

You mean they're not?
:(

also there is no correlation between russian alcoholics (stereotypes ftl) and the influence russian culture has on the world.

you should leave your computer sometimes and take a look into the real world ..

you should leave your computer sometimes and take a look into the real world ..

As in...the real world where Russians are most famous for their literature?

I dont think BSK really beleives the ignorant bullshit he's spouting. It's safe to acknowledge that he's a troll who hopes to aggravate discussion.







From what I know of it, Russia's past strikes me as being relatively cool. Much better than Britain, America, and many Western European countries' pasts, that's for sure.

Heh, maybe you're right. But some of their internal struggles have seemed pretty bad. But then I dont really know much of english, or even american history to compare against so I should stfu.




Anyways, how are you learning the alphabet? You should look for a website or workbook that teaches you to write the cursive forms of the letters. You'll need to do that if you want to be able to progress well. Besides, in the process of learning to write it, the sounds of the letters stick to your memory better. (Russians write in a cursive form that's a little different from the typed language)


Yeah, as you and others have said, I know going to a class is the best way of learning. Unfortunately I just dont have the cash.

I'm hoping atleast in the mean-time till I go to a proper class I can learn to read and write fluent Russian even if I cant speak it or pronounce it. And yeah, you're right.. Handwritten russian is a bitch.

I'd spent so long reading Russian newspapers and books which are all typeset, and was almost confident in the fact I'd actually almost learnt something. I kinda broke down in tears the first time I saw handwritten script.

It's learning a new alphabet..again! sort of.




Off topic, any of you guys heard of Russian fighting style Sambo?
From what I've gathered it's a more close combat version of kickboxing, which is do-able. It looks as though you have to be quite an experienced fighter allready to do it though, which I'm not, really.

Yeah, as you and others have said, I know going to a class is the best way of learning. Unfortunately I just dont have the cash.


I generally don't think classes are necessary for learning languages...and they aren't, but I'd say it'll make your life a lot easier if you take a class for Russian. The main reason you'd want one is so you can learn all of the little nuisances of pronunciation. You can get approximations in a book, but there's no substitution for actually hearing it. If you find a good audio program (ie. Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone) and make sure you understand the concept behind the soft/hard sounds, then I think you'd be fine. [A word on the soft sign: When I first dabbled in Russian, I thought that the soft sign (ь) wasn't really important since it didn't have it's own sound. Don't make that mistake though...in fact, one of the first words you'll learn can mean "mother" or "swear word", based just on that symbol/sound]


I'm hoping atleast in the mean-time till I go to a proper class I can learn to read and write fluent Russian even if I cant speak it or pronounce it. And yeah, you're right.. Handwritten russian is a bitch.


I would look around for a Russian workbook that has the script, and gives you some guidance with the letters. I think the most important rules are as follows:
м,и,ч,т, л, and д don't really look much like the typed letters. "т" and "д" are written like the English cursive "m" and "g". "ч" is written like an English cursive "r".

Lastly, "и", "м" both look similar...kind of like the English cursive "u". The most important thing to remember with these letters is that the м must have a little hook before it. It's what distinguishes it from the и.

Я and л also require little hooks at their beginning. (Without it, the я can look like an е and the л can look like part of a ш.)

So, keep these rules in mind, and if you can't find a workbook, just find a good example via google, and follow it as closely as possible.


I'd spent so long reading Russian newspapers and books which are all typeset, and was almost confident in the fact I'd actually almost learnt something. I kinda broke down in tears the first time I saw handwritten script.

It's learning a new alphabet..again! sort of.



Yeah, learning to write it is MUCH easier than being able to casually read other people's handwriting. Sometimes people will write a letter in a slightly different way, and your brain will just go "Wtf is that letter?". But anyways...learn to WRITE!

I dont think BSK really beleives the ignorant bullshit he's spouting. It's safe to acknowledge that he's a troll who hopes to aggravate discussion.

there are so many russians at my university which drink 4 bottles of vodka on every party, wherever I make holiday in europe there are loud and drunken russians in expensive hotels and whenever I play an online game I have to call them rustards, because people which know that much english have to be drunk if they only make bullshit ..

and as a MATTER OF FACT, it is common part of the culture to drink with everyone you talk to or have a business with. alcohol makes the tongue loose. because russians didn´t trust each other after the revolution and thanks to stalins statistical executions. so if you don´t drink with a russian you won´t become his friend. this is a FACT and not ignorant bullshit ..

and another matter of fact is that many people respect me because of my knowledge, whereas many of these people ask themself why people like you become a mod - I can´t reply to derdrache as because of his non existant knowledge and his usage of online translators to show he knows a language better than me, which is my mother tongue, he is on my ignore list ..

there are so many russians at my university which drink 4 bottles of vodka on every party, wherever I make holiday in europe there are loud and drunken russians in expensive hotels and whenever I play an online game I have to call them rustards, because people which know that much english have to be drunk if they only make bullshit ..

and as a MATTER OF FACT, it is common part of the culture to drink with everyone you talk to or have a business with. alcohol makes the tongue loose. because russians didn´t trust each other after the revolution and thanks to stalins statistical executions. so if you don´t drink with a russian you won´t become his friend. this is a FACT and not ignorant bullshit ..

and another matter of fact is that many people respect me because of my knowledge, whereas many of these people ask themself why people like you become a mod - I can´t reply to derdrache as because of his non existant knowledge and his usage of online translators to show he knows a language better than me, which is my mother tongue, he is on my ignore list ..

Do you know what a run-on sentence is? Do you know that you shouldn't start sentences with "and"? Do you know that it sounds absolutely retarded to say "And another matter of fact is..."?

Lastly, the word is "themselves".

Stop using online translators, you stupid fuck.

Need help with something.

My pimsleur course started rolling their r in the word "paruski"(aka russian), I still haven't even mastered rolling my r yet. (check my other thread)

Is rolling an r really needed in russian?

Do natives roll their r's?

I listened to a little russian music and watched Red Dawn and i noticed that they didn't trill or roll their r's.

Need help with something.

My pimsleur course started rolling their r in the word "paruski"(aka russian), I still haven't even mastered rolling my r yet. (check my other thread)

Is rolling an r really needed in russian?

Do natives roll their r's?

I listened to a little russian music and watched Red Dawn and i noticed that they didn't trill or roll their r's.

Yeah, it's an important part of pronunciation. Zay posted a guide to rolling R's a while back...try searching for it.

It might help to think of it as an "r" and a "d" sound combined. Also: Make sure that you relax your tongue...when you are rolling the r, your tongue should be relaxed and vibrating against the roof of your mouth.

i'm russian born
i'm taking a 5 unit russian couse at my school
supa easy!

Arabic has to be up there, it's a very strong language, and for me easy to learn because I'm fluent in hebrew

they funny thing is that I explain again that derdrache is on my ignore list and I can be sure his post after mine is addressed to me - why doesn´t darwin work in this society anymore ..

they funny thing is that I explain again that derdrache is on my ignore list and I can be sure his post after mine is addressed to me - why doesn´t darwin work in this society anymore ..

There is a "View Post" button, which I'm sure you clicked. As long as I can still read your idiotic posts, and as long as they involve me, you can be sure I'll respond.

and again he replies ..

1. English
2. Spanish
3. Chinese
4. French
5. ??????


Russians are backwards-ass Europeans. They fail at absolutely everything.

English easily, because it rules the internet and world.
Spanish, because it is spoken by billions in more than 30 countries. Chinese because it is spoken by billions and is gaining popularity. French, because 80%+ of Western philosophy is written in French.

I don't know 5.....


latin.

I took russian for a year while i lived in St.Petersburg.
I can hold a conversation,but as said above alot of words that have to be said an specific tones tended to throw people off.

My History teacher and I have small private conversation in class. He took russian back during the time of the cold war. He felt in the event the Ruskies won he could at least beg for his life in Russian or at the best, have a conversation with them.
So I speak.
English
Spanish,
German
Russian
and they all come in handy.


I loled an the Poster who said how different people write there letters different.
I can read all my languages fine when its in print but when its written I tend to just pick out the best written words an decipher from there.

latin.

teehee

dead languages make me giggle


i want to learn russian so bad :(

back in 6th grade my SS teacher was teaching us how to write in crylic alphabet(we were doing like coding and shit for whatever reason a 6th grader needed coding for) and we learned how to speak the sounds and the letters, but never any real russian words. just how to write english in russian. which is weird....i suppose.

it was really easy to learn, and after looking at a few russian words, its not THAT hard to pronounce once your used to the letters sounds.


any online courses that would be easy for a linux user to take?

edit: rofl, just took a like 5 minute vocab flash thing for russian, learned like hello, me you, son daughter, etc, took a quiz, got a 100% WITHOUT even memorizing what the actual word looked like in russian

WTF!! just glanced at it, pretty much focused on how it was said, then the test comes in cryllic

easy

teehee

dead languages make me giggle




well if you say chinese is a language, your ignorant..

i'd say portugese maybe.

some indian dialects, hindi, and bengali is up there as well.
but they are only spoken in those areas.

well if you say chinese is a language, your ignorant..

i'd say portugese maybe.

some indian dialects, hindi, and bengali is up there as well.
but they are only spoken in those areas.

I don't think any of those are even close to being the most popular/influential in the world. Portuguese and Hindi are spoken by many people, but they haven't had much of an influence on the world as a whole, nor are they particularly popular choices. Whenever I bust out the Portuguese, Brazilians assume I have Brazilian parents or something, because they rarely expect foreigners to speak it.

And I can safely say that I've never met anyone who was actively studying Hindi (or Urdu), unless they happened to live in the region.

I'm pretty sure the OP meant languages that had a massive influence on the world as a whole, and/or languages that people often choose to study.

My vote:
English
Spanish
French
Russian
Arabic

English is the key to the modern world. If you're a tourist, you almost always have a good chance of finding someone who knows some English. Pretty much everything science related is published in English, and the bulk of the internet is also in English.

Spanish is spoken in some of North America, much of South America and all of Central America. There also are quite a few people that enjoy learning it. It doesn't have too much applicability outside of particular regions, but the regions in which it is spoken are so large.

French is a common language in Europe...if you can't find someone that speaks English in a random European country, French would be your next best bet. This language also seems to be pretty universally recognized as being the most beautiful or romantic and what not. (I disagree, but whatever.)

Russian gives you access to the largest country in the world (not the most speakers though), and a couple of its neighbors. It also is relatively easy to learn other Slavic languages once you know Russian. Plus, there's an amazing amount of science material and literature published in Russian.

Arabic gives you access to pretty much all of the Middle East. Unfortunately, it has a pretty extensive and varied system of dialects, but amazingly the standard form is the same in all of these countries. This is also the language of the world's second most influential religion.

You guys, the world is changing.

If you're in some business related to offshoring or outsourcing Mandarin and Hindi are great bets. Most people have no idea just how deeply woven the economic ties between america and these two countries is. Nevermind that within the next 20 years India is predicted to be the country with the most english speakers, the latest trend in the business world is to learn a bit of hindi because Indian firms are quickly becoming business partners. Also, while both of these countries are doing the grunt work for us now, a vast amount of research is being in collaboration with scientists over there. All the big companies have research firms over there and universities are outsourcing certain lab work too. Eventually they'll change from being cheap labor pools to mutual consumers of our products.

In short while classic western european languages may seem like they are the most important just because they always have been. France got kicked out of its colonies in the last half of the 20th century(vietnam, algeria) and germany isn't growing either. English is the only one whose influence continues to grow globally. Russia is set to grow as well with them opening up to capitalism too. Spanish seems to be stagnant, but not declining the way other european languages because of all the countries it's spoken in. The funny thing about Spanish is that I read in a newspaper that Chinese is becoming mandatory in a lot of south american schools since they are such an important business influence. The spanish countries are buying chinese manufactured goods and the Chinese are buying Spanish resources and raw materials.

I'm finding Russian to be super hard to learn right now, I think that's because I'm having to learn an entire new alphabet basically. Once you master the alphabet and pronounciation it does get a little easier.
..I hope!

Beautiful fucking language. Beautiful fucking country!
..Not such a pretty past.

Being a bit Russian, I can't even imagine how one can learn to speak Russian if one hasn't been learning it from birth. Many aspects of it are illogical, and can only probably be learned by memorizing every particular instances. There are rules, but almost every rule has a dozen exceptions to it.

The language is beautiful, gives a whole new dimension to literature through it's richness and expressiveness.. but the history of Russia is a story of missed opportunities, good beginnings that were destroyed at their roots, the people treating their ruler as a God no matter how much they are abused by said leader, and nothing ever changing in years and years.

Seriously, read the 19th century Russian literature, and compare the mentality and the state of things to modern-day Russia, and you won't find any differences.

and as a MATTER OF FACT, it is common part of the culture to drink with everyone you talk to or have a business with. alcohol makes the tongue loose. because russians didn´t trust each other after the revolution and thanks to stalins statistical executions. so if you don´t drink with a russian you won´t become his friend. this is a FACT and not ignorant bullshit ..

If you take an average russian, that's oh-so true.
But as with any nation, you don't HAVE to act like that to make friends etc. There are always people that don't agree and that are different, and Russia's no exception.

Whenever a grammatical anomaly comes up in Russian and you can't find an explanation for it, the traditional Russian response is "bogatiy russkiy yazik". Native Russian speakers have a hard time understanding the grammatical nuances of their own language too. :(

This is by far my favorite Russian movie (you don't even need to know the language; very little conversation). A classic film:

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3424736/Vladimir_Motyl_-_Beloe_solntse_pustyni_AKA_White_Sun_of_the_Dese

derdrache, what are the other slavic languages exactly? do they use the same alphabet as russian? do they include hungarian or czech?

derdrache, what are the other slavic languages exactly? do they use the same alphabet as russian? do they include hungarian or czech?

Russian, Slovak, Belrusian, Rusyn, Ukrainian, and Czech are the ones I remember (but my teacher raddled off a list much longer than that).

All of them use a form of the Cyrillic alphabet, although Belrusian is most similar to Russian Cyrillic (to my knowledge).

Russian is very fun. I find myself more motivated to learn it then I ever was with french or Arabic.

Russian is very fun. I find myself more motivated to learn it then I ever was with french or Arabic.

The only really good reason to learn Russian is so that you can read all the awesome books.

The Russian language is more expressive than e.g. the English language - fact; and it shows in the literature.

If you want to learn Russian to speak with the Russians and understand what they're saying - then it's really really easy:

All you need to learn is the word that sounds like hui and the millions of it's derivatives. Surprisingly enough, it won't be very useful with the literature.

Learning Russian allows you to access tons of scientific and historical texts. It's especially useful for the field I am going into and the regions I want to work in. That's why I will start taking Russian in the fall. The literature is also great. I'd be awesome to read Dostoyevsky in his native tongue, but I'm not going to assume I'll be able to. If I learn enough to carry on casual and professional conversations with Eastern Europeans and read some articles and studies, I'll be happy.

аффтар учи олбанский

аффтар учи олбанский

Низачот.