Positive effects of studying Russian

[Michaela & Johnny Keggler]

Dear David,
 Your message interests me very much and I'd like to give my input (since you
asked for it) although I'm sure you'll get about a million answers. I am 30
 years
old, an undergrad student of Russian at the U of Arizona in Tucson, and Russian
 is
my 8th language. I have learned Czech from day one on,  Swiss-German starting
at the age of two, High German from the age of six, French and Spanish in
highschool starting when I was 13, English when I was 15, I picked up some
Italian along the way. I started learning Russian 3 years ago. That's my
background.

> I have a couple of questions for University/College Seelangers:
>
> 1.  Do you believe that students who begin their study of Russian in
> secondary school
> and continue it in college have any advantages over students who do not
> begin their
> study of Russian until college? If yes, what advantages?
>
                        In my humble opinion, it is still true that the earlier one starts to learn a
language the better. Kids learn with less effort, they still have a good chance
 to
loose their foreign accent, they grow with and into the language and absorb it.
Russian is especially difficult to learn (in comparison with, let's say,
 Spanish),
even for someone like me who already speaks another slavic language. By the
time a person is 20 and goes to college, he/she has already geared the brain,
 and
with it the tongue and thoughts, in a certain way and deviating from it gets
 more
and more difficult. Kids who start learning a language at the age of eight or
 ten,
have nothing but advantages, espacially in an environment where they are
hardly ever exposed to a language in daily life.

> 2.  Would you be interested in taking part in my research project by
> answering a
> short electronic questionnaire?

 Sure, I'll be happy to, if my profile fits your needs. Let me know.

Good luck!
Michaela