How difficult is it to learn Russian?

[Head Serf]

I was wondering if anyone here had learned Russian in school/college, and how difficult it is to learn. I speak English and have learned German, and I'm thinking about trying to learn Russian next year in college. Is it difficult to learn? Have you found learning Russian to be a waste of time or is it useful? Is there a better language for me to be learning?

 

[warpus]

Yeah, learn French or Spanish. Far more useful!

Russian is a slavic language; you will find it somewhat.. foreign. You will also have to learn a new alphabet, making it even more difficult.

 

[Kozmos]

On the bright side, if you can get into the slavic mentality an entire new dimension of swear words will open up to you.

 

[homeyg]

On the bright side, if you can get into the slavic mentality an entire new dimension of swear words will open up to you.

Whoah whole new dimension of swear words?!

 

[Mandeville]

Forget Russian, learn German. You'll love Germany.

 

[toh6wy]

Yeah, learn French or Spanish. Far more useful!

Russian is a slavic language; you will find it somewhat.. foreign. You will also have to learn a new alphabet, making it even more difficult.

Don't pick a language simply because it's "more useful." If you want to study Russian, by all means do so; you will find some way to apply your knowledge of it in the working world.

It's not as similar to English as Romance languages, yes, but by no means is it impossible. The bulk of what's difficult about it, IMO, are all the rules surrounding noun/adjective declension and verb conjugation (quite a few compared to English). Other than that, though, it's really not that bad, and in several ways easier than English.

As for the alphabet, you learn it in the first week and move on. I don't know why some people make a big deal out of it.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Make sure you read "A Clockwork Orange" if you learn Russian. Horrorshow.

One of my housemates was doing a Russian degree at Uni so I know the alphabet and I can say "I speak Russian very well" in Russian. But really, I speak Russian plokho.

 

[The Yankee]

I've taken two classes on Russian in college. You won't get advanced, but it's a good start and I would like to continue on my own someday (and relearn some of the things I've forgotten since those classes). You'll have to get used to a few different sounds, but it can be done. The alphabet can also be done. The hardest part for me are the number of conjugations that can be had for verbs and, I must say this, reading handwritten (which is in cursive) Russian letters, since some of them will look so similar, especially if written in combination.

Basically, it's these letters, when handwritten:

ж (less so here because there is a difference to how it is written than the other letters)
и
й (less so here, because of the mark on top and because it's often the last letter)
м
п
ц
ш
щ

I find it will be much more useful for me here in New York because of the large Russian community, but it's also good as a personal interest as well. It's really up to you.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Well, м is the same, but is confusing with another letter I can't remember when handwritten.
п is Greek pi, so that's safe.

I do like the last 3, ch (could be tz though, can't remember), sh and shch, the last one being the best. "shch as in cash-cheque", lol).

My favourite letter has to be the backwards R, "ya", it's so much easier to write than a forwards R.

 

[The Yankee]

Oh, right, I forgot that т looks close to м when handwritten. That one kept biting me.

 

[Bast]

The Greek alphabet is somewhat similar to the Cyrillic alphabet that Russian is based on.

I'm trying to learn Greek so I can pick up the Russian alphabet easier. But I don't think I'll go ahead with learning Russian ever because the sounds are too difficult for me and I don't think it'll ever come naturally to me. I don't see myself wanting to learn Russian that much anyway.

 

[EconomistBR]

You need to make sure you have time available for this 4-5 year endevour and also that you will keep yourself motivated through out this journey.

 

[Red Door]

We're supposed to speak Russian in Russian History, and all I've managed are the names, my name, and crossing myself. This is in 3 months.

 

[Godwynn]

Have you found learning Russian to be a waste of time or is it useful?

Russia's population is declining (I have no idea if the population of Russian speakers is tanking with it or not.) If you live in the United States I would strongly suggest going for Spanish.

 

[Souron]

How difficult is it to learn Russian?

Very difficult. It English only prepositions are conjugated by case. Eg: I/me/my/mine/myself. In Russian every word has to be conjugated. And there are 7 cases instead of 5(3 for most words). Becoming an even half way decent speaker in Russian requires you to be able to automatically conjugate each word in your speech. The rules of conjugation vary depending on ending, gender, person, and number, and most conjugated forms are unique. Adjectives are conjugated too.
Verb conjugations are about as complex as in English, which isn't exactly simple. In addition there are dozens of prefixes and suffixes that can change the meaning of a verb ever so slightly.

And yes there is a different alphabet, but compared to the other stuff I mentioned, that's easy.

It gets complex very quickly if you haven't been brought up speaking it.

 

[warpus]

Don't pick a language simply because it's "more useful."

Then he might as well learn Nicobarese.

He makes it clear he wants the language he learns to be useful; maybe you should take a closer look at the OP.

 

[Maimonides]

I agree with Godwynn. Spanish is the most useful language an American can learn these days. I use my limited Spanish almost daily at work because so many customers (&, occasionally, some employees) don't know English. After that, I'd say some dialect of Chinese. My friends from college who learned Chinese have all scored great, high-paying careers. Allot of big American companies are investing heavily in China & Taiwan & desperately need people who understand the language & culture.

I took two semesters of Russian in college because I was required to take a language, wanted to try something other than Spanish & my grandfather was born in Russia (Ukraine now I think).

The alphabet wasn't hard to learn, but a couple of the letters are nearly impossible for my American tongue to pronounce correctly. It's a bit harder than Latin-based languages for an English speaker to learn. If you are truly interested in Russian culture or history then go for it. You learn so much about a people when you learn their language. If not, don't waste your time.

 

[The Yankee]

After that, I'd say some dialect of Chinese.

Mandarin.

The message you have entered is too short. Please write a dissertation comparing War & Peace to the Jackson 5, with footnotes every four words.

 

[Taliesin]

I've dabbled a little in Serbian (which is in the same family as Russian, of course, though I don't know that they're all that close to each other), and found it easier than I'd expected. Even with all the inflection, basic conversational speech felt natural pretty quickly-- I suspect you'll probably find Russian pronouns and basic verb paradigms somewhat familiar, if you have knowledge of any Latin language.

 

[Lotus49]

These guys are too extreme, since I presume you're not aiming to become assistant translator to Mr. Putin. If you want to take a course in Russian for a year, just for the experience - then go for it. Just like any foreign language, it can be invaluable and enjoyable to learn... but then when you start to become advanced you make the decision of whether or not to focus that hard on it... which I suspect isn't your aim.

I wouldn't be intimidated. Afterall, a little over 100 years ago ~90% of the population of the Russian Empire was illiterate. So, if they can do/speak it, why not you? Practice makes perfect.