Learning German to help access Russian materials?

[Udut, Kenneth]

Oh, I'm always confused :-)

It sounds absurd, and it probably
is absurd - but the reason I ask
(and I should learn to not be so darned vague),
is that I have heard of a language learning
method put together by a Vera F Birkenbihl,
and someone recommended it to me as a way to
furthur my Russian.  However, she wasn't sure
if her materials were available in English.

It doesn't seem like they are - any search
I've done on her, is all in German, although
it looks like one of her books has been
translated into English.

In any case, I already understand a
smattering of German (I had a German
grandmother), and learning to
read it shouldn't be so terribly hard for me -
and would be worth it, if there is information
about language learning available only in German.

Anybody have any information on Vera F Birkenbihl
and her method? Any impressions?  Or am I on
my own?  [but don't worry - I'm still studying
my Russian every day - I just am always looking
for that 'magic bullet', even if I look silly
in the process :) ]

--
-- Kenneth.Udut at SPCORP.COM
--


|-----Original Message-----
|From: Robert Orr [mailto:colkitto at sprint.ca]
|Sent: Monday, November 08, 1999 4:21 PM
|To: SEELANGS at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
|Subject: Re: Learning German to help access Russian materials?
|
|
|I think a couple of ideas are mixed up here.  As a historical linguist
|specialising in Slavic  I find a reading knowledge of German
|(and spoken
|German, for conferences) absolutely essential.  There is just so much
|material in German (especially for those of us whose research
|interests are
|the stage(s) Indo-European > Common Slavic!)
|
|But to help actually learning Russian?
|
|
|
|Robert Orr
|