language maintenance-this is long, so get a cup of tea!

[Susan Bauckus]

Thank you, Nola, for your inspired ideas. I wonder if your suggestion of
asking for ideas for independent learning would be a good in-class project,
or series of projects, during the first year of classroom study. Students
could be assigned, with some guidelines and support, to find a few
activities and areas of inquiry of interest to them, and then have a
general discussion about what they found out and what they might like to do
on their own, with the understanding that anything they did would be
worthwhile. 

Susie


> [Original Message]
> From: Herself <oothappam at EARTHLINK.NET>
> To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
> Date: 4/5/2008 6:05:22 PM
> Subject: [SEELANGS] language maintenance-this is long, so get a cup of
tea!
>
>     On the  topic  of what students could do over the summer:  I think
they should find something- a hobby, an obsession, a real love- that they
normally are very interested in, and study new things about it in Russian.
They can keep their textbooks and dictionaries around in case they need
them, and  hopefully they will end up using those for reference-but NOT put
pressure upon themselves to "keep up the Russian". They DO need to keep it
up, of course,  but not with the attitude that that is what they are doing.
They have to  do something FUN that they already like...and incorporate
Russian into it. Examples: if it is sewing-then find out about Russian
patterns and designs and sewing books-try to buy a Russian pattern and made
something-they'd have to follow the directions in Russian..if it is a
sport, watch it or read about it in Russian, join an online group or
website dedicated to that sport, in Russian. If they love computers,make  a
website in Russian. If someone  has a second computer, buy Russian Windows
and install that and learn to use it. 
>     Students might enjoy this whole question as a summer assignment. It
might be fun to give  students who plan to continue in Russian and who will
be back in the fall this assignment for the summer :  
>                        "Help us find ideas of how students can continue
learning Russian over the summer. Find everything you can in any genre of
media you can, and as you go through your summer, keep a list of things you
found that were fun and also got you thinking about/listening
to/speaking/writing/reading/thinking  in Russian. When you come back in the
autumn, a prize will be awarded to the student with the most useful or long
list--or the list containing the most things that are so useful that we can
incorporate them into our suggested activities".
>  The prize could be something like 2 tickets to a museum exhibit, play,
film, DDT concert or something Russian-related.(If it was me, I'd work hard
to get those DDT tickets!!)
>
>     I am studying on my own and so there is no summer break for me. But I
have noticed things about this studying of Russian. One is that I do need a
break sometimes, despite my high motivation for learning this language. And
with languages, when you are away from the material, you will forget  and
then have to re-learn things again later. So, realizing this, I decided to
make a personal rule for myself: Do something each day, anything, as long 
as it is in Russian. Just something! So when I feel burnt-out from these
grammar books, I do one of the following things: Watch a Russian film (of
course!), watch Russian TV(I have DishNetwork and a few Russian channels.
Watching the news is fun, especially because one of my daughters has  now
"fallen in love" with one of the Russian reporters!  And I love one
particular TV show where a taxi driver picks up people who then become
contestants on the show and have to answer questions during the ride for a
prize. I love seeing the views of Moscow through the cab window, hearing
the popular tunes they play, and observing the behavior of the passengers
and trying to understand the words. ) Browse Russian websites. Use
Google.ru. Listen to Russian songs and get the Russian lyrics and try to
sing along-this is very good! Memorize short Russian poems for children.
Read children's tales. Watch Russian cartoons. Try to cook a recipe from a
Russian cookbook. Look at www.Russiantable.com and decide what chocolates I
want to order and see how I like them. Look at Russian recipe and cooking
websites! Read recipes. Talk to people on Skype who want to practice
Russian or who prefer to speak Russian. Listen to audio files of Винни
пух and read along with the text and try to understand. Watch ridiculous
videos on youtube which are in Russian. 
>     I stop doing something if I start to feel bored, and then go to
something completely different.Even if I am ill, I find something! Listen
to my little mp3 player while in bed, to Pimsleur lessons, or to Russian
songs.
>  
>     I realize that nothing here is new to any of you. I am sure you are
aware of many more things than I've found! And it seems there is an endless
universe of great "Russian stuff" on the internet and in other media.(And I
am sooooo glad!)
>  As long as I follow my self-imposed personal rule, I'm ok. I end up
absorbing things even when I don't realize it. Later I will find a word and
remember that I saw it already somewhere. I might not remember where, but
it is familiar. Doing this every day has taken the strangeness away from
Russian for me. It all seems familiar and comfortable and not so
intimidating. And I like that feeling of joy that I get when something that
seemed unimportant turns up later in a grammar book and I already saw it or
heard it before and it is easier to learn because of that. And memories
need connections to make them really stick. I am at the point now where
this does not feel like drudgery anymore. It is more fun because I have
built up a little foundation  of things that can be connected to, in my
brain. New things I study slways seem to click in there somehow because of
something I saw somewhere before.It is all becoming more meaningful. (And
it may also have something to do with that "Russian language learning
curve")
>
>     Another thing I would like to mention is that because I am on my own,
I have bought a variety of used textbooks. At first it was a little
confusing because I could not really decide which to use as a base. Then I
sort of worked out a system where I would pick one and go as far in that
one as I can, then stop and take up another, and go as far as I can in that
one, and so on. Over time, I would get back to the first one again and see
that I have progressed and can now go much farther in that one..and so then
I continue on again with them all. It was rough  in the beginning because
after the authors finish with the usual introduction of alphabet and
pronounciation rules, then anything goes. Some begin discussing all 6
cases, others do not mention them at all, but start giving simple dialogs.
Some seem to be addressing 6th grade students and others seem to be
addressing very academically motivated graduate students, and the
approaches are all so different. It was very slow going for a while because
each book had me doing something different. Now I have found which books I
like best and use them for my "base" and use the others as extra sources
for reinforcing things or for excercises-in other words, I  don't follow
the others chapter-by-chapter, but use them when I need extra practice or
clarification. And that is the main advantage of this oddball method of
mine- the clarification. I feel fortunate to have   many books because
sometimes the explanation in one about a topic is  really mystifying. And
in the next, I still don't understand it. But in another, the author will
have explained that same thing in a different way and it just hits me the
right way and suddenly I understand! It is like having several people
explain something to me, and finally one explains it in a way which I can
understand.
>
>     I hope something of what I have written is helpful, somehow. I am
having so much fun studying this on my own, that I rather envy kids who get
to study  it at a college or university and who have lots of people around
them who also love the language-that must really be fantastic!
>
> Sincerely,
>
>  Nola G.
>  California
> P.S. I know this will sound crazy,  but it really helps to keep a grammar
book in THE BATHROOM. I have found answers to many questions in there! 
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------