Is Russian hard? Or does it just seem?

Question

To learn both writing (in the cyrillic alphabet) and speaking, how would you go about learning it if you wanted to learn both? Learn writing first or speaking?

Just wondering.

Answer 1

Besides learning the english language, Russian is without a doubt the second toughest language to learn.

Answer 2

It can be done.. but it will take alot of time, i think russian is most likely the hardest language to learn for people that are raised spreaking english or german or such

Answer 3

It truly depends on the other languages you know...

Answer 4

forget it

Answer 5

Learning the Cyrillic alphabet is not hard - I'm Polish, but I know this alphabet well.

Russian should be easy for you to learn if you know how to speak any Slavic language. Otherwise, it may be hard - the pronunciation and noun declensions are the most difficult things to learn in all Slavic languages.

Answer 6

It's best to start by learning the written alphabet.  

Answer 7

Many think that Russian must be really hard because of the Cyrillic alphabet. But the writing is much more logical than in English. For exemple, in Russian almost every sound corrisponds to only one letter. (In English the same sound can be written sometimes in 5 ways!). I've read in a book written by a woman who speaks 16 languages and in her opinion Russian is the most logical language. In the beginning it can be very hard, but later when somebody knows the basic rules, even the most confusing sentences can be easily created. This woman says that English is the contrary. So, one can learn the basic rules easily but the difficulties come later.

Ti sum up, I think that you should firstly learn the Cyrillic alphabet. It can be useful even if you won't study Russian.  

Answer 8

Nope - you're right - it's good and hard. It's not the alphabet - that'sreally easy! It's Russian grammar and pronunciation.

I say this as a person who usually learns languages fairly easily.

Answer 9

its not that hard. for reading its easyer than englesh. but for talking i have a big accsent and it prity hard. have fun learning

Answer 10

Russian is really not that hard. English and French is more difficult in terms of grammar and stuff like that. The only problem with Russian is the alphabet. And perhaps some of the pronunciation. The rest is quite easy once you get the grasp of it. I suggest you learn speaking first because you can actually write in English letters at first - many people do it at Russian forums etc, when they do not have an access to a Cyrillic keyboard. And when you do start learning learning the alphabet you'll find that many letters are actually similar or the same. For example A is the same, so is M and O. And some letters have reversed meanings, for example P is R. Once you start to remember the letters it would much easier to write, especially if you don't write in the handwritten typeface at first but in the way they write in books. So I suggest learning to speak first because you can always catch up on the alphabet later. Although you will still have to know a little bit, so you can read stuff in textbooks etc. Learning a different language with a different alphabet can seem daunting, but it will get much easier, I promise! :)

Sorry for ranting, and good luck! :)

Answer 11

Yes, it is very hard.

Learn the writing first, obviously.