understanding spoken Russian

[johnnatebret]

I have been learning to speak Russian for about 6 months. I feel I am starting to know much, although i am sure my grammar isn't the best. I am looking for someone who speaks it fluently that i can have regular conversations with. I have found that when someone speaks it to me, even though I know the words, i am having a hard time comprehending what it is I am hearing.

[ML]

I have been learning to speak Russian for about 6 months. I feel I am starting to know much,

(this is a false feeling)

although i am sure my grammar isn't the best. I am looking for someone who speaks it fluently that i can have regular conversations with. I have found that when someone speaks it to me, even though I know the words, i am having a hard time comprehending what it is I am hearing.  (and you will still be having this hard time 6-10 years from now)

[mendeleyev]

John, keep up the good work. Reading and listening come first and the speaking typically lags behind. You are correct to want dialogue and appear to be in a stage where that is your next priority.

I'll never forget arriving in Russia to live and thought that 2 years of college Russian would have me up and running immediately. After a good nights sleep I decided to map out the neighborhood while waiting for the guide my employer had provided. I literally drew a map so that I could find my way back and at one point stepped into a small shop/market and tried my Russian on the two ladies inside. (Insert screeching brakes sound effect here.) I didn't understand a single thing they said and they nervously giggled while trying to understand me. I fled in embarrassment!

That base of college study however did prepare me for the next stage. Instead of conversing with other beginning students and a couple of Russian professors who were overwhelmed by the class size, once in Russia I was soon in deep immersion and over time that paid off. Had the internet been a factor back then, I'd have used it fully--it just wasn't much of an option then.

I'm going to suggest looking at http://livemocha.com as one option. They have communities of online speakers and you can either sign up for a weekly tutor or with a speaking companion--you help someone learn English and they assist you with Russian.

My language exchange is another: http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Learn/Russian.asp

See also open course: http://open-of-course.org/courses

There may be ladies here willing to tutor/converse for additional income. I often recommend Viktoria at www.funrussian.com and there are others who offer lessons or conversation via Skype.

For a bit of immersion I recommend that you begin to watch/listen to Russian media and movies. You'll be surprised at how those bits and pieces start to make more and more sense.

Movies with English subtitles are a great way to get started and journalist Kyle Keeton has an excellent series here: http://video.kylekeeton.com/category/movie-for-the-weekend

Russian remote has movies with English subtitles and offers a Russian TV package with all the major Russian networks for $18 per month: http://rurem.tv 

The Mendeleyev Journal has a radio guide here: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/russian-media-broadcast-to-print/russian-radio

Lastly, my Mendeleyev Journal has a page of language learning resources, from books to videos and other options: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/russian-language/russian-language-resources/

[mendeleyev]

Footnote: if you are fortunate enough to live in a city where a University offers Russian language classes, most of these schools now understand the importance of conversational dialogue outside the classroom and offer various free opportunities. At most schools you'd be welcome to participate in these non-classroom events.

When traveling I sometimes drop by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arizona State University in Tempe/Phoenix, Auburn University in Alabama, UCLA in Southern California, etc. Most of these schools post online notices as to when these open conversation sessions are scheduled. UA in Fayetteville for instance does one weekly at a student cafe as does ASU in Arizona.

The first time you'll feel overwhelmed as there are 3 and 4 year students included but soon you'll pick out the 1 and 2 year students as well and they're obviously speaking slower and at a more basic speed.

[johnnatebret]

Thank you for all of your suggestions! I will check them all out. I found it amazing and frustrating at the same time when actually confronted with someone speaking Russian that even though I knew some of the words that were being spoken, my brain would not comprehend what was being said to me. It is definitely one thing to know and speak it and another to be able to understand it when it is being spoken to you.

[SANDRO43]

It is definitely one thing to know and speak it and another to be able to understand it when it is being spoken to you.

Precisely, I had the same problem initially when I moved to London, although my English was already very good then - in many cases, I couldn't understand what they were saying .

IMO Americans are particularly handicapped in this respect for a number of reasons, such as usually not being exposed to foreign languages early on in their school curricula as we are in Europe for historical reasons - we could never know for certain what language our new rulers would be speaking .

One major difficulty with Russian is that it is still a declensional language - like Latin was - and furthermore stress/pronunciation may vary with grammatical cases. It'd help if you have a musical ear to hear any significant differences.

Anyway, you may have experienced a similar though smaller problem in your own country, or in other English-speaking countries. It takes a while for your brain to 'tune in' to a different local speech, even if the language is the same.     

In addition to what others may have suggested, getting English-subtitled Russian films may help in familiarising yourself more with spoken Russian. A further step might be viewing Russian TV channels and listening to Russian radio broadcasts.

[Anotherkiwi]

Perhaps slightly  , but one that I think most (if not all) of the male members here would appreciate - on the second or third day of Wimbledon, one of the TV presenters had "60 seconds with Maria Sharapova."  Apart from the usual cheesy questions, he made time to ask her how she would introduce herself in Russian.
 
Almost without exception, people who speak English as their first language pronounces her surname as "SHARRA-po-va."  It was very interesting (although I expected it  ) to hear her say "Sha-RAR-puh-va."  Funnily enough, nobody has a problem with Petrova!

[mendeleyev]

Anyway, you may have experienced a similar though smaller problem in your own country, or in other English-speaking countries. It takes a while for your brain to 'tune in' to a different local speech, even if the language is the same.

That is an important "note" Sandro. Very helpful advice.

It reminds me the days when my wife would make me sing the phonetic sounds on a billboard or street sign. We'd laugh and it seemed silly at the time but whenever a Russian speaker communicates their surprise that I have spoken something without an accent, I think back to those days and realize that her method was ingenious. Not that I speak fully without an accent, because I don't, but there are times I surprise even myself.

Try to choose songs where the lyrics are enunciated well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvSUMIs0hbA#at=53





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MBoUFwz6Wg#at=81


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RisKqPxDOek#at=56


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEOPK8CARtM#at=78


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phTmOGuzd8g#at=48

[johnnatebret]

I agree with the quote about English. My first trip to the deep south I had a very hard time understanding people who were speaking my own language. Which I guess is the shortcomings of learning a new language. You can learn all the words and all the grammar, but most native speakers will have there own way of speaking according to the region they live. This thought makes me a little less disappointed and a little more motivated. I have also already decided to add the package of Russian channels to my tv subscription. I am sure this will annoy my children.

[Faux Pas]

I agree with the quote about English. My first trip to the deep south I had a very hard time understanding people who were speaking my own language. Which I guess is the shortcomings of learning a new language. You can learn all the words and all the grammar, but most native speakers will have there own way of speaking according to the region they live. This thought makes me a little less disappointed and a little more motivated. I have also already decided to add the package of Russian channels to my tv subscription. I am sure this will annoy my children.

Just a thought; there's plenty of Russian programming online available for free you can use with ear bugs if it becomes to big of a problem

[neo]

Try and get some russian language tapes, recorded books etc and in ear headphones and put them in when you go to bed. Our brain absorbs it subliminally when we are asleep, i tried it and it really works and helps train your ears to the different linguistics.