Příspěvek od fujitora17 vložený před 3 lety

I ask because, as a native English speaker, I'm learning Russian. And the language in general is kicking my arse. It's so dissimilar to English that it's almost comical. It often scares me away from learning it, but it always draws me back after I hear a Russian song or watch a Russian television show. I adore the language and, despite its difficulty, I'm determined to master it.

call bomber I recognize that English may be a challenging language at times. For starters, the pronunciation is illogical.

Příspěvek od fujitora17 vložený před 3 lety

I ask because, as a native English speaker, I'm learning Russian. And the language in general is kicking my arse. It's so dissimilar to English that it's almost comical. It often scares me away from learning it, but it always draws me back after I hear a Russian song or watch a Russian television show. I adore the language and, despite its difficulty, I'm determined to master it.

call bomber I recognize that English may be a challenging language at times. For starters, the pronunciation is illogical.

Příspěvek od evaoslik vložený před 3 lety

My guess is that learning Russian might be more difficult (for an English speaking person) than learning English (for a Russian/Czech person). It's because Russian (as well as Czech) has declension – a linguistic practice where nouns, pronouns and adjectives are modified based on gender, number and case..... We always say that we are glad that we don't have to learn Czech as a foreign language:):):)­.......... Also – English is everywhere (computers, TV series......) so our ear gets used to it thanks to that........
That doesn't mean that English is easy. I have heard somebody say it but I disagree..... I don't think it's easy… It's very idiomatic and also the spelling vs pronunciation is not easy if you ask me.........
I wish you the best! Don't get discouraged:), I am sure you will learn Russian well if you like it so much!:):) I myself love Spanish and as I didn't have the energy to learn it normally, I learned quite a lot through listening to TV shows.......

Příspěvek od Franta K. Barták vložený před 3 lety

I have to say I don't fully understand your last sentence – learning by listening to TV shows IS the normal learning, isn't it?  

Příspěvek od evaoslik vložený před 3 lety

Hey, Franta:) Haha:):) I see your point but I am sure you know what I meant......:)
And TBH – I am very grateful for the way I learned Spanish by listening to TV shows, but I have zero knowledge of grammar.. And I am the kind of person that likes to understand the language, understand the structures etc. (that's why I am thinking of getting a Spanich teacher and filling this gap.........)
And as much as I think listening to TV shows (and anything that interests us..) is great and it's very important to surround oneself with as much English (or another language) as possible, I have a lot of respect for the “normal” way of learning. I had a very old English teacher who was pretty strict and I learned so much from her…

Příspěvek od Franta K. Barták vložený před 3 lety

I took me long to understand that there are not only very effective and quick ways of learning a language but, and that I'd like to emphasize, not everybody has to go the same way to get to accomplish their goal.
Therefore, if you feel your way works for you, follow it! 

Příspěvek od Marek Vít vložený před rokem

Totally agree that there is NO BEST WAY to learn a language. What works for one does not need to work for another.

What works for me (now that I'm learning Spanish)? What got me to C1 in a little over a year?

1. motivation (you won't learn if you don't really want to learn)
2. reading (about 60 books)
3. conversations with native speakers (a few hours a week on italki.com)
4. occasional other things (grammar books, movies, TV shows, youtube, audiobooks, music)

Příspěvek od evaoslik vložený před rokem

Amazing! I admire your ability, you must be like a sponge:).....

Příspěvek od Franta K. Barták vložený před rokem

And he was also able to find time for all of that. 🙂

Příspěvek od evaoslik vložený před rokem

Yeah…might have something to do with strong will…