Chaney LaPlante

Russian Blog 2.7 This week has  been rather busy for me and due to this it has made finding time for my Russian increasingly difficult.  I have done several lessons on duolingo and I have watched some more of my Russian tv series. Recently I also went up to billings and went to a bakery owned by someone who moved here from Russia.  I was able to hold a small conversation with her and she was able to give me a few pointers in pronunciation.  Sadly it made me realize how little I truly know at the language too.  Random phrases aren't as useful unless applied to specific situations. The fix to that however is just broadening vocabulary. My favorite from her bakery was a вертушка which roughly translates to spinner or pinwheel for us. On another note, Russia did not have any host families available and they did not get back to my organization in the necessary time so my applications was sent elsewhere and I got accepted in Italy. So, now I have to tak...

Russian Blog 2.6  The list Overall this week I studied how cursive letters connect to each other  I did listening exercises  I did duolingo  I was unable to start Pimsleur Time management was difficult Studying cursive letters I hadn't previously considered how to connect the Russian letters but I found it essential information as I continued my writing practice.  Many of the letters have unique ways to connect to each other.  I was able to learn how to do this through multiple YouTube videos. Listening exercises For listening I resorted to using my movies and music.  I would watch or listen and try to pick out words that I recognized.  Not only does this improve listening capabilities, but it improves confidence with understanding it as a whole.  There are many words that I don't recognize though and that makes the process a little difficult. Duolingo My duolingo is progressing slowly.  Some days the ...

Russian Blog 2.5 This week I have been really busy and as a result my time scheduled for Russian has gone down some.  I am doing my best to reschedule and prioritize things so that I can begin to focus on my language again. On the other hand though, I have still been able to practice easy things throughout the day.  When I am working on homework I listen to my Russian music.  Sometimes if I am doing something that I know the phrase for I repeat it so it sticks better.  I also have been practicing my writing in my free time along with duolingo.  Duolingo has proven to be bit frustrating when it comes to grammar still, but I have taken to reading book on Russian grammar so that has made it a bit more understandable. In the future I plan on finishing a couple more duolingo lessons and i plan to start writing whole words in cursive. 

Russian Blog 2.4 This week I have been working on a variety of tasks for my language learning process.  I have been delayed a bit in my plans to work on grammar in workbooks because they have not arrived in the mail yet.  I have simply found other things to turn my attention to however. I have continued duolingo every day and I am now onto lessons on plurals and locations.  As it is with most languages, the words change based on tenses, genders and in singular or plural form.  This does make it a bit more confusing when trying to pronounce the words because you may grow familiar to it being said a specific way.  The only cure is repetition. I have watched three of my Russian Disney movies and they are awesome.  The voice overs are a little weird at times but for the most part they sound normal.  I was also proud of myself to have noticed that sometimes the Cyrillic subtitles don't match up with what is being spoken.  This is likely ...

Russian Blog 2.3    This week I have been working to memorize the alphabet and some of the grammatical rules of Russian. Before, I knew how to pronounce each of the letters due to duolingo but I did not know the alphabet, which is an elementary thing to learn.     I have been continuing with my duolingo lessons. I find it easy to follow along and memorize. At first I was nervous to spell out words but luckily Russian is phonetic so if you know the alphabet, you can figure out how to spell it.       This week I have also been watching my Russian Disney movies that I ordered. It is good to have movies you are familiar with so that you can translate more easily because you know the words.     My sticky notes around the house are also annoying to see all the time but I find that they are helping so sadly they are staying up.    So overall I am on a good path to fluency and I have been following my plan closely. In th...

Russian Blog 2.2 This week I started making my house more immersive. By surrounding myself with the language, I should be able to learn it faster. In order to do this I have started labelling my whole house in Russian vocab. This way I am constantly seeing and comprehending the words. So far, it has worked pretty well. I have already memorized many of the new words. On the other hand, it has been rather annoying to try to sound out words all around my house. I have also gotten a few headaches from the constant strain. I think in the long run though, it will help me. In the future I also plan on putting on Russian movies, tv shows, and music so that I can listen to it as well.