Question by With her head in the clouds: Is Russian a difficult language to learn?
I’ve always loved it and wanted to learn it but being in year 11 at school I don’t have time to put my all into it like I’d want to if I could. I was just wondering how difficult it is learn.
I failed Japanese last year in school and I speak nothing but English btw.
So is Russian difficult? Can I learn it straight off or should I learn an easier European language (I love European language) to use a stepping stone?
Answers and Views:
Answer by kissara89
Russian language will be difficult if you don’t have the passion in learning it. learning a language takes time and patience. since you speak English, it will be easier to learn other European languages.
What do you think? Answer below!
Arno says
Not if you have the good teacher!!!
Try Alexander: http://www.lingueo.com/
or Olga: http://www.lingueo.com/
☠ ☆ says
Just like any other language, it kind of depends on the person learning it. Some people find it VERY difficult, while others catch on quickly.
I am Russian, however I am the only person in my family born in the United States. I had to learn Russian to communicate, this was fairly easy for me because I was used to hearing people speak it.
Right now I'm in the process of teaching my boyfriend some Russian because he too was very curious. He is a quick learner and has already learned how to say 'Hello' "How are you?' 'What's up?" and other simple conversation starters like that.
I'm sure if you could figure it out too and if you needed help I'm sure there are plenty of people out there, including me, who would be glad to help you.. (: Good Luck!
P.S. I wish they taught Russian at my school, they used to but because of the shortage of students willing to learn Russian, they took it out ): I'm about to be in 10th grade. /:
Joanna D says
Russian is like any language, it has it's easier and complicated sides.
For example, one thing that is easier in Russian than in most languages is that the word order can basically be however you want.. For example, there are several ways to say, "I am going to the store"
1. (я иду в магазин – ya idu v magazin) – same word order as in english
but you can also say
idu ya v magazin ~am going I to the store
ya v magazin idu ~I to the store am going
v magazin ya idu ~to the store I am going
idu v magazin ya ~am going to the store I
so you don't really need to think about word-orders
however, grammatically, the hardest part is the verb conjugations in Russian,
verbs are conjugated dependent on gender(feminine, masculine, neutral) of the noun, e.g.
ya idu – I am going/walking
ty idyosh – You're going/walking
on idyot – He goes/walks
my idyom – We are going/walking
vy idyoti – You (plural) are going/walking
oni idut – They are going/walking
but basically, if you have the passion, you'll make it
Russian is one of the few languages that really has been formed by the great amount of Russian and Ukrainian poets, so it has very beautiful synonyms, and visual words that are not found in English.
It is also one of the few languages which can actually give you opportunities and open a new world. Russian music is a very big industry, so is the TV-industry and the movie industry, so you will definitely enjoy the Russian language, especially since it's the same culture (there'll not be a culture clash between an somebody from the English world and someone from the Russian world, if you compare to the difference between English speakers and Japanese)
I was born in New York to a Russian father and a Swedish father, and I learned Swedish when I was little, and I started learning Russian when I was 14 years old, when I was 18 I went to Moscow and discovered the amount of great music (R&B, House music, Electro, Alternative, Rock, all sorts of music!), and I just fell in love with the beautiful lyrics, great melodies, and high-quality music videos.
Learning Russian was the best thing I ever did in my life, and it has really enriched my life so much. I am able to understand historical interviews and speak to practically all of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia! It's really insane, I really do not enjoy the same benefits by knowing Swedish! The two languages can never compare to each other! I still live in America, but I almost never listen to American music, I am so bored of just hearing Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Jason Derulo. In Russia and Ukraine, every month sees the premiere of at least 50 (no exaggeration!) new music videos that are rotated on the main music channels, and all of these songs have meaningful lyrics, very good melodies, and high quality videos.
Also, people will be very flattered if you show that you have tried to study Russian, even if it's not perfect, so you will certainly be considered for a job in Russia, since you know English to.
Danni says
My auntie is russian and she says it is really difficult to learn. I do French and Spanish and they are similar in some ways so maybe you could link a language to japanese and see if that helps you learn more ?
TF says
Russian is not too difficult for Slavic people (Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenians, Croatians, …) but pretty difficult for others