Acquiring Russian The Natural Way

I was on the train yesterday when a Russian lady sat down next to me and started talking with her mother on the phone. I was able to listen to her side of the conversation for about 10 minutes. I had a vague understanding of what they were talking about; birthdays, children, something about work, free time and weekends.  It was a good test of my ability to understand natural Russian. I was able to understand complete short sentences and the overall topic of conversation. But it definitely shows how much of the true meaning of language is in that final 10 - 20% of the vocabulary and grammar.  It was a good bit of positive feedback.

I spent a week in a country that has quite a few Russian speakers and managed to have a few short conversations with people from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Azerbaijan. I also overheard several Russian conversations in public places. While the conversations weren't in depth it was great to converse with 'native' speakers. I was complemented on my accent and was taken seriously as a learner, not someone who has just learned to say привет and cпасибо. Just some more positive feedback and motivational fuel to keep me going.

April 2023 Statistics Passive watching and listening: 14:22 hours Active watching or listening: 0:00 hours Vocabulary and Sentences: 0:08 minutes Reading with Audio: 1:18 hours Reading with no Audio: 0:00 hours Active Study: 4:38 hours Personal Lessons: 0:45 minutes Conversation Practice: 0:45 minutes Total: 21:11 hours Daily Average: 0:41 minutes March 2023 Statistics Passive watching and listening: 24:59 hours Active watching or listening: 0:00 hours Vocabulary and Sentences: 1:04 hours Reading with Audio: 2:10 hours Reading with no Audio: 0:15 minutes Active Study: 0:47 minutes Personal Lessons: 4:30 hours Conversation Practice: 0:45 minutes Total: 34:30 hours Daily Average: 1:06 hours February 2023 Statistics Passive watching and listening: 25:53 hours Active watching or listening: 0:29 hours Vocabulary and Sentences: 2:33 hours Reading with Audio: 2:14 hours Reading with no Audio: 0:44 minutes Active Study: 2:52 hours Personal Lessons: 2:15 hours Total: 37:02 hours Daily Average: