[nungesser]

Did Your Learn To Speak Russian? If you answered yes, please take a moment to post below and explain what methods you used to learn Russian.

[momm2be]

Da Kaneshna

I started with Rosetta stone, but quickly realized that program did not teach conversation.

So I moved on to Pimsleur - Comprehensive level I and II. I learned enought to maintain a Russian speaking home with DD for several months until she picked up some English.

[pwnort64]

I had good intentions on learning to be conversational. I listened a couple of times through the first 4 cd's of Pimsleurs Learn to Speak Russian.

In the end, I was only good for the basics: hello, good-bye, thank you, please.

[LilyMoon]

I learned some Russian through Theresa Kelleher's Language and Parenting Guide cassette and booklet. I was able to speak some Russian phrases and get myself prettty much understood by my daughter. I found it very helpful to have learned some basic Russian. Unfortunately, I have forgotten most of it now.

LilyMoon

[Remmy]

The only thing we could really say was thank you in Russian.

My husband kept trying to learn little phrases from the intrepretors there, but I just stuck with thank you.

[Animalcrackers]

We used the Russian Language Now computer program and we tried to make sure that we used what we had been learning while we were there. We were not shy about trying to speak Russian. So we came home with a little more than we had gone in with. Now I have a friend who teaches me some more conversational Russian. I would love to go to school and take some classes though.

[votemom]

I learned about 75 words/phrases all appropriate for a young child (aprox 3-6 yr old).

Since our friends from Siberia visited us last month, I have a renewed interest in taking my Russian to the next level.

After Christmas, I plan to "kick it up a knotch!"

[hbmom]

I used Russian Phrases for Children CD and travel book. It was great (short, sweet, to the point), but my mind just couldn't wrap itself around another language. So, I used about 5 words, but mainly stuck with thank you.

[shamner]

We were recommended to pick up adopting from russia cd and it helped tremendously. I would highly recommend using that if nothing else.
Learning the basics is enough to get by; I wanted to be able to say airplane, car, dog, and other things we saw along the way. Somethings I learned others I had to ask our translator for help.

[cici32]

We pretty much learned the basics and then picked up new words/phrases along the way.

I had all intentions of taking a Russian class during the spring only to find out our local community college only offers it in the fall, which was too late then.

[DebiP]

I learned most of the pleasantries while DH learned quite a bit more. I was quite proud of him he actually could pick up some of the conversation while we were there. He did great at reading signs too. Not me no brain capacity for another language "oddr den what I gots"

DebiP

[Jim_in_PA]

I'm so glad we did learn some Russian, although we are now at that point where we need to temper using it with "encouraging" English. But I wouldn't have wanted to travel without having some of the languge, both for functional reasons and to be respectful of the Russian people.

[Vicki H]

I learned some basics, but am still learning. Nungesser sent me his pimsleur cd's and I am still learning, ever so slowly.
I try to listen in my car, but usually Alex is with me and talks the entire time....LOL.
I wish I would have learned some before our trips.


Vicki

[DET62]

I took a class in basic Russian, plus listened to CD's in the car, plus got some help from a friend of mine who is Russian. I also got a CD of "mommy words" from a fellow adoptive parent and that helped tremendously. I wish I had learned more. I learned enough to barely get by, both in Russia and it talking with my daughter [age 13].

For anyone adopting a child older than an infant I urge you to learn some basic Russian. Even if it's just words of comfort like "everything's OK" and "Mama's here for you" etc.

The judge was very impressed with the fact I had tried to learn some basic Russian and it counted very favorably for me in court - yet another good reason to try.

Dee

[kizibits]

While not "fluent" I took a couple years of Russian in college. I'm doing some refresher stuff right now to rebuild my vocabulary. The hardest part of the language is the grammar--all those Russian declinations make conjugating verbs in French seem like a breeze!