My grammar book has been presenting me with Russian verbs at an alarming rate. I couldn’t keep track of them all, so over the past few days, to help me remember them, I spent quite a bit of…
When guessing at Russian spellings, I constantly write a when what I need is an o. I am thinking Americans probably do this all the time. I did it today with the first vowel in “please,”…
One easy thing about Russian: the verb знать (pronounced znat) apparently works like “to know” in English. In other words, there aren’t two totally different verb equivalents for “to know,” as in languages like Spanish, where you have to decide…
I did Pimsleur on the run today. Or rather, on the walk. Specifically, for a couple of hours, I ran errands around New York (funny that in this expression you say “ran” instead of “walked”) while simultaneously doing language lessons.…
I just finished Pimsleur lessons 17 and 18 of Level III. It was hard to find time for it today. I am undertaking a supreme organizational effort to compensate for all the time I haven’t been organizing lately because of…
Brandt and I are on a week-long vacation in Maine with my family. Today when I woke up, even before coffee, I did Pimsleur lesson 22 (Level III) in the closet. Literally, in our bedroom closet. Brandt was still asleep. The…
I did Pimsleur 30 (Level III) today! It’s the very last of the Russian lessons. Though I need to redo it. I am getting distracted from Russian by my next language. From bed in our Maine vacation rental, and in…
Vacation is over. And so is the Russian grammar book, which I have just finished. I have now also done Pimsleur lesson 30 (Level III) three times. I did okay the last time around, though not as well as I would…
I have my favorite Russian fashion makeover show on. It is gloriously tacky. This is the first time in maybe 10 days that I have watched Russian TV. I do understand more, though I did not achieve what I would call…
Today I took the Acela from New York to D.C., where I am going to teach two days of writing and grammar classes. I haven’t done Pimsleur in two days, and it feels strange. I did, however, spend…
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