Thursday 16 July 2015

Time is flying!

I can't believe we're already half way through July. I have been so very busy, and I don't think I'll be slowing down any-time soon.

My plans to get into a regular routine with Russian haven't really gone that well. The group lessons I'd signed up for were cancelled due to lack of interest, and it has been difficult to find time, motivation or both. However, I have been pretty much consistent with memrise, doing anything from 5-20 minutes a day. I'm at the point now where it's a regular habit to open the app daily and spend some time on there. I also have a reminder that pops up during the day if I do forget, which is very helpful.



I have managed to find and sign up for another Russian class which is going to start very soon. I took a trial session a few weeks ago, and it was so much fun to be with a real life teacher and group of others who are learning Russian. I know lots of people don't like learning languages in a classroom, and I admit that I hated it at school, but it feels different when it's a decision made as an adult rather than something forced upon me as a teen! As I have some knowledge of the language it doesn't feel too daunting, and I'm looking forward to starting.

I'm also heading to the Polyglot workshop run by Olly Richards, Alex Rawlings and Richard Simcott this weekend! How great (and hopefully motivating) is that going to be! Very excited to be going. Will share my experience here afterwards.



I returned to italki last night, with my first session in 5 months. My last tutoring session was actually the evening before I had the phone call to say my dad was in hospital. It has taken me a little while to contact my tutor and explain why I suddenly disappeared after buying a package of lessons. I was so nervous about the session as it feels as if I've forgotten so much, plus I hadn't spoken any Russian since that last session. However, my tutor was lovely and so patient. We did some basic vocab, and she reminded my how to conjugate verbs and it was all fine! I really hope that the combination of traditional type lessons in a group, and italki sessions will work in a positive way for me.

As well as stumbling along with Russian I'm planning my wedding, honeymoon, and holidays which is all proving far more stressful than I thought. I've used airbnb for the first time (fingers crossed it all goes well!), and will hopefully be doing some small Italian/Dutch learning challenges in the next couple of months as well.

До встречи :)


6 comments:

  1. Privet Emma! :) I'm another student of Russian who just found your blog. Looking forward to following your journey through the language!

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    1. Привет! Очень приятно.Thanks for dropping by, and commenting. How long have you been studying Russian for? I hope you find something interesting or useful here :) ... Пока!

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    2. I started dabbling in Russian 14 years ago but it honestly took 3 solid years to move even a little bit past "Меня зовут Катя" and "Что это?" :p Along the way I nabbed a Russian-speaking spouse, which has helped (oh, the in-laws!).

      Has your new Russian class started yet? Hope you'll share about the experience here!

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    3. I also started many years ago. Stopped when my youngest daughter was born, and then have started and stopped again a few times since! I know what you mean about taking a long time to move on from the basics. I'm sure having a Russian speaking family now is a big motivator for you. I'm working on a post about my Russian classes right now :) will post soon...Do you have a blog I can follow?

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    4. Awesome, can't wait to read about it!

      I do have a blog about learning Russian: http://streetrussian.com/. That feeling of accountability that comes with making language goals public has been really helpful for me :)

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    5. Great. Have had a quick look, and it looks like there's lots of useful info there. Will check out the links as there's several I haven't heard of. Always good to find new ones! Спасибо!

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