Aidonian's blog

I know some might disagree with me, but to me Russian language is a very beautiful language, next to English, Greek and Latin. in the summer of 2016 I went to a free class to experience an new language and to learn it. I fell in love with it. A new culture opened up to me.         Russian is part of a group of languages known as east-Slavic language group that included Belarussian, Ukrainian among others. I’m not going into the history of the language because I’m not a linguist. I fell in love with and tried to master it. 7 years later, I’m nowhere near it. I can speak a bit. My level is after 7 years A2. At first I was part of a group class that met weekly, but after 7 months, that group fell apart. I was the only one left. Shortly after, I went to night school to learn Russian where I was part of a group class that stopped after a month, because we were only with 4 people and the class needs at least 12 to be allowed to continue. So i went back to my first teacher, a Russian native who thought me. After a year, i went back to school and stayed there until the spring of 22 when I gave up because switching between online and offline became a challenge for me.

So I started to search for a Russian teacher. I ended up with Daria, a native Russian teacher now living in Saint-Petersburg. I made some progress with her, but it has been slow, like turtle speed slow. The pronunciation, the grammar, the many exceptions of the grammar rules. At times I wonder why I continue doing it. At times, it feels like smashing my head against the wall, again and again. I love learning new words, finding new meanings in the language, listening to Russian music, watching Russian tv and movies. But its extremely difficult to master the grammar. Its known to be one of the hardest languages to learn and it shows. Still, I stil love it even though at times it feels like I’m torturing myself with it. I met amazing people who speak it. Maybe its my tendency to not stop something when I start something? Maybe its because i find meaning in to be able to communicate in a other language next to Dutch or English? All I know is, I have a great and patient teacher who has a hard task ahead of her, trying to help me master the language. For now, I must primarily focus on learning new words, expand my vocabulary otherwise I feel i will be stuck forever and potentially dropping out of it because it. Its through the expansion of the vocabulary that I might see some progress and the grammar might follow later. The second part that I also have to do is to listen and talk more Russian with native speakers. Considering that everyone has a hectic schedule, its not easy to have people come together and to speak it. This is easier said than done. Learning a language doesn’t come easy. Its hard work and takes a lot of practice. For now, i will see what 2024 will bring me? Hopefully by focusing on expanding my vocabulary, I might make strides in mastering the language? Time will only tell? I have to focus more. I have a excellent teacher but it’s the student that has to do the work.