Как?

[lupestripe]

I have started learning Russian at Leeds Met, one of the local universities, a nice campus of early 19th century brick buildings surrounding a central field in Headingley, on the outskirts of the city. The first class was last week but as I was in Canada, I unfortunately had to skip it. Thankfully, all they did was learn the alphabet, which I already know, so I didn't miss much. My first class was last night.

It's going to be a very tough course I think, even if it's just for beginners, but I'm hoping my previous language knowledge will come in handy. Furthermore, the teacher is very good, a native Russian in her fifties who's very supportive. The class is great too, a nice mix of people, old guys and students, British and foreign, so I'm confident it'll go well. Provided I can say something at Russfurrence in February, all will be well.

I met a few new people too, a nice girl called Helen with whom I did role-play and who kindly drove me home despite her broken ankle. She was cool while a few took the piss out of me for knowing the Moscow Olympics was in 1980, calling me a smart arse (the fact it's knowledge learnt on the job is irrelevant).

We are partly learning Russian using a 1980 BBC2 series which makes for a nice piece of nostalgia. I think it was created ahead of said Olympics and details in-depth the Soviet Union and uses the old Soviet names throughout. The vox pops from a local journalist saying hello to loads of strangers (she was a bit odd) was illuminating too, particularly concerning the hair, fashion, architecture and engineering of the time. It was also great seeing backdrops of places I have already been, including Moscow, St Petersburg and Kyiv.

So yep, my first lesson went well, not looking forward to the assessments later on though but hopefully I can stick with this until June. The intellectual stimulation and challenge is most welcome.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Comments

[kvoll.livejournal.com]

Удачи в учебе! =3

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Ooh only three words for all that :D

[kvoll.livejournal.com]

But those are in Russian!
Могу также добавить, что мне было бы любопытно посмотреть на запись, написанную тобой полностью по-русски. =Р

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I can show you the notes sometime if you like. I can now say "This is not a pencil, this is a lake". Useful :)

[kvoll.livejournal.com]

I can imagine those dialogues. x3

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

They were most useful :)

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

You're at Becketts Park; The same campus I was at way back in 1997 - 2001 :)

I was in "The Grange" where my department was based, but I found I spent most of my time in the James Graham library.

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

The main campus, in Cavendish Hall. Love the period architecture there :)

[adia-wolf.livejournal.com]

Ah Russian, I used to speak a little myself - I have a GCSE in it. Do I remember much of it? Not really. I somewhat remember some of the letters, but the only sentence I can remember is "My father works as a civil servant"...not that practical haha xD

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Ooh, we can chat in Russian at the meet. That would rock :)

[adia-wolf.livejournal.com]

^^; I won't be saying much if you do try, I'll be like @_@ and my brain will stall xD

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

It will be fun to try ^^

[goldencollie.livejournal.com]

Udachi v uchebe =)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)