Completely fell off on vocab, so my grammar workbook (Russian) is harder to get through and I’m feeling frustrated. I really want to be able to read a grade 1 reader with few to no mistakes or unfamiliar words by winter or spring but I think I’m really off track.
Obviously, the solution is to spend more time listening to native speakers and learning vocab, but I’m in a rut. I’ve been exposed to about 6k words but I have a hard time with recall and sentence construction. Right now I feel good about present tense but past tense is a mess.
Russian is hard, remember that! You have done a ton of progress. I know how that feels and you should know its completely normal.
I don’t know specifically about russian, but I recently went “back” and just bought a book from a lower level and did the exercises everyday after work. I feel more confident and learned some words that I had somehow ignored or missed.
Might not be feasible for you, but my advice is just exercising, looking up words you don’t know, write a short sentence with a new word (on paper, with a pen) and if you are missing some grammar rules you know of, look that up too.
Language learning as an adult is tough, but with discipline you’ll get through.
Yeah, I think what I need to do is start another workbook; I have one more focused on exercises that I haven’t taken a good look at yet. The one I’m using now is good (at least it seems to be), but maybe following a few different approaches at once will give me a bit of a “lightbulb moment” with grammar.
Thanks for your help, I think your suggestion about doing impromptu exercises on paper is great and I’ll be trying it out.
Please don’t give up, it’s usually when frustration is at its highest that we have actually made the most progress. It’s just that you understand the language bit more now but you get frustrated by the more difficult parts of the language.
The initial fun of learning common phrases and words wears off quickly but at some point you’ll get that back once you reach a certain level.
When I’m frustrated with immersion, I try to shift my focus from understand-most-of-it to pick-out-something I do understand. From that perspective, I do OK, recognizing some common word pretty often. It’s not much, but I’ll take any small win I can get. On the flip side, maybe pick out certain words that give you trouble and focus on why.
Also, try going back to easier/repeat material. Going back a few chapters in the book or rewatching beginner videos or rereading level 0 graded readers until you’ve practically memorized them. I tend to find some material I can look at and say ‘this used to be hard, I am making some progress at least!’
Motivation is just hard though, good luck!
As someone who’s started and stopped a bunch, I’d say remember the cliche: “The best time to do it was 10 years ago. The second best time is now.” Don’t let any setbacks distract you from making progress. That effort now opens up future possibilities.
Completely fell off on vocab, so my grammar workbook (Russian) is harder to get through and I’m feeling frustrated. I really want to be able to read a grade 1 reader with few to no mistakes or unfamiliar words by winter or spring but I think I’m really off track.
Obviously, the solution is to spend more time listening to native speakers and learning vocab, but I’m in a rut. I’ve been exposed to about 6k words but I have a hard time with recall and sentence construction. Right now I feel good about present tense but past tense is a mess.
Anyone got some tips for motivation?
Russian is hard, remember that! You have done a ton of progress. I know how that feels and you should know its completely normal.
I don’t know specifically about russian, but I recently went “back” and just bought a book from a lower level and did the exercises everyday after work. I feel more confident and learned some words that I had somehow ignored or missed.
Might not be feasible for you, but my advice is just exercising, looking up words you don’t know, write a short sentence with a new word (on paper, with a pen) and if you are missing some grammar rules you know of, look that up too.
Language learning as an adult is tough, but with discipline you’ll get through.
Yeah, I think what I need to do is start another workbook; I have one more focused on exercises that I haven’t taken a good look at yet. The one I’m using now is good (at least it seems to be), but maybe following a few different approaches at once will give me a bit of a “lightbulb moment” with grammar.
Thanks for your help, I think your suggestion about doing impromptu exercises on paper is great and I’ll be trying it out.
Glad to hear I was able to offer something!
Please don’t give up, it’s usually when frustration is at its highest that we have actually made the most progress. It’s just that you understand the language bit more now but you get frustrated by the more difficult parts of the language.
The initial fun of learning common phrases and words wears off quickly but at some point you’ll get that back once you reach a certain level.
When I’m frustrated with immersion, I try to shift my focus from understand-most-of-it to pick-out-something I do understand. From that perspective, I do OK, recognizing some common word pretty often. It’s not much, but I’ll take any small win I can get. On the flip side, maybe pick out certain words that give you trouble and focus on why.
Also, try going back to easier/repeat material. Going back a few chapters in the book or rewatching beginner videos or rereading level 0 graded readers until you’ve practically memorized them. I tend to find some material I can look at and say ‘this used to be hard, I am making some progress at least!’
Motivation is just hard though, good luck!
As someone who’s started and stopped a bunch, I’d say remember the cliche: “The best time to do it was 10 years ago. The second best time is now.” Don’t let any setbacks distract you from making progress. That effort now opens up future possibilities.