Quote: (01-13-2019 08:13 AM)Ceasar Wrote:
^^Going "Russian only" is an ideal. Of course, occasionally you might need explanations in English. But when I learned Japanese at a language school where English was banned, what happened is that my fluency in Japanese improved day-by-day. They had methods to teach people with zero Japanese. Even then, a few times I did get an explanation of something in English. But, what I also learned is that if you have lessons which mostly consist of someone explaining grammar to you in English is that, while it may seem beneficial, all those explanations will come at a cost to your fluency. You want to practice having a conversation in the language you want to learn as much as possible.
Also, one of my favorite things to do with a tutor is a grammar lesson, where you practice the grammar and make example sentences, and so forth. I'm not saying don't study grammar, I'm saying don't make studying out of a textbook by yourself the centerpiece of your language learning, especially if you can help it.
I respectfully disagree.
This might give you a big boost and reach an intermediate level pretty fast. But with the intention of absolute fluency you need to understand grammatical mechanisms in and out. Once you have them , you can go to a place where only russian is spoken , listen to russian radio/music , watch russian films ( the best is to find the russian subtitles with it ) .
Speaking a language without understanding the grammar is like being skilled at a sport but without having the appropriate tactical background.
But anyway , people should go to whatever they feel the most comfortable for themselves.
I find Russian to be key if you want to travel to FSU / Central Asia & remote Russia.