Mimi
Why is Russian so difficult?

I'm aware that Russian is quite a difficult language to learn however I want to know why. I have only recently started learning (barely 2 weeks) and so far I know that there are no articles and that the gender can usually be identified by the ending, and that the word order is quite flexible, which all seems quite good for a learner. I also have picked up the alphabet fairly easily. So what horrible difficulties will come my way? :P

 

I don't want to put myself off but I'm just interested to find out why it is so difficult.

Jul 31, 2014 8:40 PM
Comments · 32
11

Russian is of middling difficulty for native English speakers. It's harder than the romance languages but less alien than say Chinese or Japanese.

 

As others have hinted, the grammar is quite complex. Cases and verbals apect have been mentioned. Also the so-called verbs of motion are complicated in their usage. But in reality all this means is that you have to work at it a bit longer before it becomes second nature. Having said all that I think Russian's repuation is more fearsome than the reality.

 

Enjoy the language, people and culture, you will love learning Russian!

July 31, 2014
10

Some small examples:

1. Let's translate it:

"Еле-еле ели ели ели"

The result is "The firs have been eaten other firs for a long time"

2. or it

"Косил косой косой" - "A squint-eyed man mowed down with a sloping scythe"

3. or this dialog

— Есть пить?
— Пить есть, есть нету.

"-Do you have something to drink?

-Yes, I have. But I have nothing to eat"

4. "Решили послать сходить купить выпить"   - "We decided to send him to buy something to drink"

5. Punctuation is very important in Russian

"Иметь жену — директора банка" means "To have a wife who is a director of a bank"

"Иметь жену директора банка" means "To fuck the bank director's wife"

5. And the last

Imagine the table. In English you say "A bird is on the table" or "A spoon is on the table" etc

But in Russian...

"Птица сидит на столе", "Ложка лежит на столе", "Тарелка стоит на столе"

 

And it's just our pronouns, not a big deal

http://img10.proshkolu.ru/content/media/pic/std/4000000/3920000/3919607-bedc9981700951e5.jpg

 

Good luck:)

August 1, 2014
9

Two of the major challenges in learning Russian have been mentioned by Kenneth: (1) grammatical cases, and (2) verbal aspects.  Russian shows the relationship of the words in the sentence largely by the use of case endings, not word order.  That is, the endings of words change according to the word's function in the sentence, such as subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.  Verbal aspects refers to the fact that there are very often two different words which have the same general meaning, but one is used when the action is repetitive or in process, and the other is used only when the action has been completed.

 

But lurking out there is a third challenge:  Russian prefixes.  Russians take a root, and then create other meanings and nuances by adding a myriad of prefixes to the root.  For the non-native, it's really easy to choose the wrong prefix.

July 31, 2014
5

If Russian is so difficult language then why every Russian child speaks it fluently? :))

August 1, 2014
3

Russian is very mixed, I would say. It changes all the time. I remember when I go to Ukraine, then Russia for the firsts time. Of course I started with formal statements and correct grammar (although I made huge mistakes, because I of my Polish), people who talked to me, were saying some complete double Dutch. I realised that, just like Polish or Czech there is formar language, mostly written and informal oral one.

It is typical for Slavic languages, when I write Polish, I try to write formally, but it is very hard. The same problem is with Czech, Ukrainian. Russian is probably the worst because of many dialects and informalities it is very hard to communicate, especially after gaining a communicative (A2-B1) level.

I was learning Russian formally, about 7-8 years ago, but stopped, I prefer to read, listen or talk with Russian-speaking people.

I agree that Russian is a richer language than English, English is very...primitive I would say. Take swearing, the "F" word has dozens of lexical equivalents, not only in Russian but also in Polish. Yet, in swearing Poles, Ukrainians, Russians (Czechs or other Slavs probably, too)are the real masters. Especially when they got angry or drunk.

August 1, 2014
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