Quote: (03-11-2015 12:22 PM)RandomGuy1 Wrote:
Fret how is your progress so far, any updates?
A lack of updates in his thread doesn't bode well for his progress although I hope I'm wrong to assume that.
I started hitting the Russian textbooks 14 months ago promising myself I'd do a minimum half an hour a day no matter what. I have pretty much managed to stick to that self-promise. Now it's finally starting to come together and the language is sticking. I went from being able to do simple things 14 months back such as very simple conversations to now being able to watch Russian films and communicate with Russians solely in their own language. I watched Putin do a press conference not long back and realised afterwards that not only were there no subs but I'd understood most of it. It was a good feeling. I'm certainly not fluent and likely never will be but I'm happy with my progress.
When you go on the language learning journey you learn a hell of a lot about yourself and what you're made of in terms of determination and iron will to keep going. You also learn quickly that there are zero shortcuts. Non of that 'Get fluent in 3 months' bullshit. It's all about consistency and persistence. Repetition. Clock up those hours at the coal face day after day, week after week, month after month. It comes eventually. Another thing is accept that your desire to learn will ebb and flow for whatever reason. Some weeks you can sit down and do 2 hours in one sitting and the time flies and you get a kick out of it. The next week just looking at the closed textbook fills you with something akin to revulsion and you think of a thousand excuses not to do the bare minimum. Your body cycles interest naturally just like you can't push your maximum in the gym every single session. Just doing the minimum half hour drags on for an age. Accept it will be like that and just stick to the half hour rule no matter what, the tough times pass and the good will come back in time. It's a feeling of satisfaction when you get through those tough times having stuck to your studies.
I learnt in large part to talk to women but although it has helped me in that department it has also cock blocked me numerous times. When local guys in a bar hear you speak Russian they insist on talking to you, buying you drinks and wanting to hang out. It's a pain in the ass. In Buddha bar 2 tough looking guys from Donetsk heard me speaking Russian. They were drunk. One of them invited me to drink vodka with them but I didn't want to. He turned aggressive and said 'are you trying to offend me?' I diffused it but who needs that? That's rare to face aggression mostly it's friendly. In a small town in Ukraine in a bar I met a bunch of guys from the local power lifting club. They were the nicest guys but insisted on buying me drinks and playing billiards with me all night. Nice gesture and it was a fun evening but the whole time I just wanted to leave and do my own thing. You need to be careful who hears you speak I find and am sure other non native speakers have found too.
Finally I was in Kiev a few months back and went to a bar. I was talking to a girl I was with and the barman overheard our conversation. He turned to me when the girl went to the bathroom and said 'Hey, your Russian is excellent'. I smiled and said thank you and in that moment all those hours and 6 am starts to get a study session in were worth it.
I hope Fret keeps at it.