Learning to speak Russian?

Question

i want to go to Russia in a years time, what is the chance learning it on my own and will i be able to understand if they speak to me. Do I have to get a tutor?

Answer 1

russian is a hard language I would suggest a tutor if you can but simple phrases can be picked up easily

Answer 2

Anything is possible...

=)

I think you can get to a decent level of knowledge if you study Russian on your own.

I would first familiarize yourself with the alphabet.  Know the sounds, and practice writing them (just like you had to when you were young for english).

Then learn basic phrases such as hello, nice to meet you, my name is...., where do you live at?,....

Then learn basic words such as.... the colors, the days of the week, animals, objects..

Then go to learn the sentence structure and grammar rules of the Russian language.

You can watch movies in Russian and listen to Russian music to help you with your learning process.  

As to your question if you will understand if they speak to you.....  It just depends on you and how hard you work.  Most likely, it would take you a long time to understand long sentences.  But words such as "hello"....  you would be able to understand.

Learning a language is not easy.  It takes a lot of motivation and hard work.

If you want to get a tutor,.... do so.  But I would try to learn the basics on your own, and then get a tutor to teach you the intermediate level.... as this will save you money.  If you have all the money in the world, then YES, a tutor would be a great idea!  You get one on one time with a native Russian....  Also, if you get someone who only speaks Russian, it's kind of better this way...   because you'll be immersed in the language.  You won't ask "why is it like this?".  You'll just accept it because it's hard for a native to explain why something is the way it is in a language.

Answer 3

If you study it on your own for a year, that will make it a lot easier for when you go there than if you don't know anything. A tutor would definitely help with speaking and understanding. But really, you'll never be really fluent until you go there and have experience speaking with Russian people.