48. Russian language study - update #2
I've now completed 44/80 units of my Russian class - over halfway through the course. I continue to learn dozens of new words each week, but the real shift since my last update has been the introduction of grammar rules. I've learned a bunch of verbs, how to conjugate them in a variety of tenses, and how to change the endings of pronouns and adjectives for various cases and genders. I've always sort of had the opinion that conjugating was not especially relevant for communicating in a foreign language, because people understand what you mean if you just use the infinitive, but I guess I won't have to sound like a complete idiot if I speak a bit more grammatically. I know enough vocabulary now that my teacher can explain unfamiliar words by describing the definition in Russian.
I do think the pace of the class is way too fast because we're covering two or three times more content per session than I can assimilate, but at least some of it is burrowing its way into my brain because I frequently answer questions correctly even though I don't know in my conscious brain what grammatical principle is being addressed or even what some of the words mean. Several times at work I've been able to pick up the general gist of a conversation, although I assume I'm missing 90-95% of the meaning. One conversation was about a colleague's new dog, and the other was about the car another person rented while on vacation in Croatia.
Also, I finally received my language books that were shipped from the United States five weeks ago (I've been using .pdf copies in the interim). In order to release the package from the UPS warehouse in Moscow, I had to provide copies of my passport, work permit, and proof of purchase. That's Russian bureaucracy for you!
I do think the pace of the class is way too fast because we're covering two or three times more content per session than I can assimilate, but at least some of it is burrowing its way into my brain because I frequently answer questions correctly even though I don't know in my conscious brain what grammatical principle is being addressed or even what some of the words mean. Several times at work I've been able to pick up the general gist of a conversation, although I assume I'm missing 90-95% of the meaning. One conversation was about a colleague's new dog, and the other was about the car another person rented while on vacation in Croatia.
Also, I finally received my language books that were shipped from the United States five weeks ago (I've been using .pdf copies in the interim). In order to release the package from the UPS warehouse in Moscow, I had to provide copies of my passport, work permit, and proof of purchase. That's Russian bureaucracy for you!
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