Russian

[Red Saxon]

Read this if you want, it isn't really relevant to the question.

Next year is a big chapter in my life, university is right around the corner. My guidance counsellor and I have found that I have enough credits to graduate from High School early after only one semester of my Senior year, so I'll be ready for University by January 2011. Anywho, I've decided to major in Secondary Education Social Studies and minor in Russian.

How hard is Russian to learn? I understand that it's level of difficulty has been exaggerated to some extent in the United States.

I already speak French and Hebrew to some degree, I know that matters.

[RedAnarchist]

This might be useful - http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/russian/index.html

[hugsandmarxism]

Ask Andrei Kuznetsov. He's been learning it. Also, Woland knows it well.

[Red Saxon]

This might be useful - http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/russian/index.htmlMuch thanks, it does have useful general info on the tongue.

[Dr Mindbender]

Read this if you want, it isn't really relevant to the question.


How hard is Russian to learn? I understand that it's level of difficulty has been exaggerated to some extent in the United States.

I already speak French and Hebrew to some degree, I know that matters.

If youre starting as a speaker of a latin alphabet language its harder to learn than French or German, but not as hard as Chinese or Japanese.
In terms of difficulty i'd guess its on a par with Greek, with them both having Cryillic alphabets.

Unless youre planning on actually going to Russia or the bordering countries, or getting a job which requires knowledge of Russian youd probably be better off with German or Spanish anyway.

[DancingLarry]

Once you've learned the alphabet, learning pronunciation is remarkably easy. There are no "silent letters" in Russian, each letter has only one sound, and it is pronounced. It's a structurally simple and well-organized language, a huge part of the vocabulary is built off of a relatively small number of root words. Unlike English, you'll have to become familiar with "declension" of "cases", but I found my understanding of grammar not only in Russian but in English as well improved by learning how cases work.