language maintenance over the summer?

Thu Apr 3 14:00:10 UTC 2008

These are wonderful suggestions. I would also recommend some of the 
numerous "audioknigi" MP-3 disks available from places like the St. 
Petersburg Bookstore in NY - www.ruskniga.com. These can be 
transferred to iPods. I recommend that students listen to a short 
text (Chekhov's short stories are available) over and over until they 
can understand every word - this greatly improves listening 
comprehension.

FM

>The best method I've found for language maintenance is to pick 
>activities that are language-related and that are entertaining in 
>and of themselves.
>
>1)  Music is one of the main things that comes to mind.  I'd advise 
>students to get ahold of cds or downloaded copies of Russian groups 
>that match their musical tastes.  And if they're not sure what those 
>are, listen to some Russian radio online.  There are many stations, 
>but my husband and I regularly stream http//:www.radiovbc.ru which 
>is a pop station out of Vladivostok.  There is no way that 1st year 
>students will understand all of the between songs commentary, but as 
>a background to have around it'll keep them listening to the music 
>and intonation of the language and here and there they'll pick up a 
>few words they recognize.  Kino is a bit dated, but is one of the 
>easier Russian rock groups for beginning students to understand the 
>lyrics of -- Tsoi tends to sing at a measured pace with long-ish 
>gaps between words.
>
>2)  Movies are another -- and I have personally found that watching 
>a movie WITH subtitles does much to improve ones comprehension of 
>the target language.  Since we typically read a bit faster than 
>actors pronounce their lines, you get the advantage of anticipation 
>of what is going to be said and so the brain can occasionally fill 
>in the gap with an aha! that's what they said.  I got that word!  A 
>very satisfying feeling.  Also Ironia Sud'by is available on Netflix 
>and is one of the easier movies to understand for beginning 
>students.  I figure I got about a third of it when I was a beginning 
>2nd year student.  Plus it's just a classic!
>
>3)  Read Russian translations of English language books that you 
>already know or are reasonably familiar with.  Some of the first 
>books I read from cover to cover in Russian were Agatha Christie 
>novels.  
>Because they were translations the syntax tended to mirror the 
>original English which made for easier reading, and because they 
>were mysteries, I wanted to get to the end and find out whodunit. 
>Also once when I was traveling in Bulgaria, I left my one and only 
>piece of English reading material on a train.  I searched around, 
>but failed to locate a market with foreign literature, but 
>desperately wanted something to read.  I do not speak Bulgarian, but 
>I found a copy of one of my favorite books (from childhood, 
>actually) - Anne of Green Gables in Bulgarian.  Because I knew the 
>contents of the book so well already, I was able to make sense of a 
>lot of the Bulgarian with the help of my knowledge of Russian plus a 
>pocket dictionary.  The point being that translations may seem like 
>not real reading, but they can provide a certain degree of effective 
>practice in the target language.
>
>My two (three?) cents, for what they're worth!
>
>Regards,
>
>Emily Saunders
>
>On Apr 2, 2008, at 8:24 AM, Anne Fisher wrote:
>
>>Dear Seelangers,
>>
>>My first-year Russian students are already asking how they can 
>>maintain their language over the summer. I'd like to suggest 
>>something for them to read, but obviously they will need texts 
>>specially prepared for beginning students of a foreign language.
>>
>>I'd like to find material with an accompanying glossary, or 
>>material that is extremely simple, so that students don't have to 
>>work intensively with their own dictionaries. Does anyone have any 
>>suggestions?
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>Annie
>>
>>____________________
>>
>>"Reading is inescapably a social act."
>>- From John Clifford's introduction to a collection of articles  on 
>>Louise Rosenblatt's seminal Literature as Exploration.
>>____________________
>>
>>Anne O. Fisher
>>Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian
>>Williams College
>>Department of German and Russian
>>995 Main Street, Weston Hall
>>Williamstown, MA  01267
>>anne.fisher AT williams.edu
>>office: 413.597.4723
>>fax: 413.597.3028
>>_____________________
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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-- 
Frank J. Miller
Professor of Slavic Languages
Russian Language Coordinator
Department of Slavic Languages
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027

Phone: 212-854-8155
Fax: 212-854-5009

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