I have been learning Russian on Duolingo for the past few months. The approach on Duolingo is to spend between 5 to 15 minutes a day on studying a language. There is a complete system of awards I will not go into, mainly because I fail to understand it. I only know that sometimes I run out of "lingots" and that means I can't continue learning or I can't take a final test at the end of a section. That's the part when they try to sell you "lingots" and you have to be strong and say "no". "Lingots" are apparently earned by studying every day consequently. It's enough I skip Friday and of course Shabbat and boom, no "lingots". What a tough world ...
Learning Russian is a hell of a job, and I shall explain. On Duolingo, you learn to speak a language but also to read it and write it. I happen to be familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet since my hubbie and I have been in Bulgaria a few times, so we didn't have much choice but learning how to read signs, as, it turns out, there are not always translations available. So when you are in the subway and the train is coming into the station and the signs that indicate directions are only in Bulgarian, you quickly develop skills for languages and learn to read Cyrillic. After a while, not always a short while, the alphabet sinks in. So reading is not such an easy enterprise but speaking Russian is insane. It requires a lot of work.
You may wonder what motivated me to learn Russian. Actually I am not only learning Russian but also, at the same time, Spanish. I decided to learn two different languages in order to give my brain daily opportunities to exert itself. So far, so good. I rarely have short term memory incidents, at least, less than before. My brain is on activated mode. Sometimes, Russian leaves me quite exhausted mentally. It's not fun everyday. Than I learn Spanish and it feels like a breath of fresh air. So easy! Easy to read, easy to write, easy to speak. No hay comparación.
You are amazing!!
ReplyDeletelove it! shabbath shalom.
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