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Embarking on my first proper attempt to learn a new language since school days (I'm 41 now). Sadly my very bad experience of French lessons at school left me with a life-long feeling that I was hopeless at foreign languages. The ridiculous thing is that I love English so much - playing with the words and its wonderful subtlety of expression - so I'm sure that deep down I must have an OK language brain. But something went wrong many years ago :( But now I have discovered that everything has changed. So many new and interesting approaches, and I'm really fascinated by some of the "brain-centred" ideas that make the most of how our brains really learn and retain new information. So now I want to hack my brain and see what it can really do! It would be the most amazing thing for me to prove to myself that picking up new languages doesn't have to be the impossible dream I've always believed it to be. For me then this adventure is as much about gradually building my confidence, as it is about developing the skills themselves. :) A little more about me... I'm a software developer, so I'm used to self-learning and problem solving and having to learn ever new and changing detail every day, the kind of stuff that most people would run a mile from! I think there's also a correlation between the precision and rigour required for programming and my appreciation for the correct use of natural language. (There's often quite a cross-over between computer scientists and linguists, after all).
Learning
Russian
Language Skills
EnglishNative
Swedish
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Lesson history
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Completed lessons006
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Teacher reviews
Oksana
Russian
Mar 14, 2016
Simon was nice to work with. He is attentive and concentrated. Thank you Simon!
Oksana
Russian
Mar 5, 2016
You did a good job with your speaking at the lesson! Well done! :)
Oksana
Russian
Feb 26, 2016
Great job! You are learning so fast!
Yulya
Russian
Feb 19, 2016
Спасибо, Simon!
Activities
  • Commented

    Thanks for taking the time to write this guide, I appreciate it.   I wish I could claim success but.... sadly I just can't!  

    When I started Russian almost a year ago I hoped against hope that this dreaded R sound might come after a few months, but no, it never did.  I can sort of do *something*, in certain letter combinations, but I know it's not the true sound because I can only do it when the tongue is in motion - as it flicks from one position to another, like from the D to the I in "Drink" (like the fake Lenin one, it seems?) - I am totally unable to make the continuous "cat purr" sound, and that means I can't make the sound at the end of words, like in телевизор.  I asked both my friend and my Dad if they can make this sound and they both did it, perfectly, right there and then, and they don't even need it!  It's so so so frustrating, and quite honestly I've lost any hope that I'll ever manage it :(


    It's bad enough in Russian, but when I realised that this sound is mandatory in Spanish, and must be voiced so as to avoid confusion with other sounds, I immediately jettisoned my nascent thought of trying Spanish!  I can't go through that again! :)

    0 voted
    January 15, 2017
    0
  • Answered
    The difference is slightly fluid, but generally a teacher refers to a qualified person working under an academic organisation such as a school or college, typically teaching groups of students (classes). The word might also be used for someone doing the same kind of worn on a private 1 to 1 basis, but the word tutor is more specifically used in that case. An instructor tends to be someone who trains someone in a practical skill, often with the goal of achieving a certain standard, perhaps necessary for a career - a driving instructor, a ski instructor, a diving instructor etc. Trainer can be used for someone giving semi-informal classes on a vocational subject, perhaps practical computer skills for example, but is more often used to mean someone who guides in sporting or athletic activities - gym trainer, football trainer, fitness trainer etc. Hope that's useful :)
    0 voted
    April 21, 2016
    1
  • Answered
    The intent of that sentence is to emphasis the labour that would have been involved in doing something (in the past) that we consider very easy today. That sentence, is a really an abbreviated form of a sentence (or two) that might go: [Back then, preparing a] bath would involve heating numerous kettles and pans of water, each boiled on the top of the stove. This was a time-consuming and laborious process that required coal to be carried up from a cellar in order to build a suitable fire.
    0 voted
    March 19, 2016
    0
  • Answered
    We usually use the term "inner-child". "Adults should never forget their inner-child"
    0 voted
    March 19, 2016
    1
  • Answered
    It would only really be correct if you were particularly talking about the process of cataloguing a book, as you might do when organising a library. In the sense that you mean, a more appropriate word would be "classified" (that's still has a rather technical sound to it, however). More naturally, you might simply say: "The book is a work of erotic literature." Other variations, especially if the classification is potentially debatable, might include: "regarded as" / "considered to be": "The book is regarded by many as a work of erotic literature, however if one looks a little deeper it might also be said to be a profound statement on the nature of existence itself" Hope that helps :)
    0 voted
    March 19, 2016
    0
  • Answered
    In this context it does not specifically refer to a place, or a person, rather, a state of being (literally "he is in a state of tax exile"). In other words, one may choose "to go into (enter a state of) tax exile" by taking some particular action that is beneficial from a taxation point of view. In practical terms this typically this means moving to a country with a favourable tax regime (or leaving a country with a heavy tax burden).
    0 voted
    March 9, 2016
    1
  • Answered
    It would be more natural to say "cross a river" than "walk through a river". If you want to specifically make the point that they walk through the water (rather than using a bridge), then you might say "wade across/through a river", or even just "wade a river" (wade = to walk through water).
    0 voted
    March 7, 2016
    2
  • Answered
    This typically refers to the point where the goods leave (are despatched from) the warehouse, after the sale has been placed, agreed and all logistics arranged. When used as a noun, as here, it refers to the organisational unit responsible for overseeing this part of the shipping process.
    0 voted
    March 7, 2016
    0
  • Answered
    This is an idiom that means something like "everybody of importance". Here, the people are considered to be either "somebody" (i.e. "important" in some sense), or a "nobody" - of no importance. Hope that helps :)
    0 voted
    March 7, 2016
    1
  • Answered
    "What is a freshman?" is what you want. If you said "Who is a freshman?", you're asking the person to tell you who is a freshman (say, from a group of people). Or you might be asking a group of students: "Who [here] is a Freshman?", to which you'd expect some of the people to put their hand up.
    0 voted
    March 6, 2016
    0