Milestone: 3 and a half hours in a Russian conversation

I've been attending a Russian language group in my city over the past few weeks. It attracts a mixture of learners and speakers and it's a great environment to practice my listening and speaking skills. Usually there are 15 to 20 people attending and people naturally split into small group of 3 to 5 people. There's no set agenda, people just talk about what interests them. The most recent meeting lasted about 3 and a half hours and I was immersed in Russian 90% of the time.

I'm listening a lot more than I'm speaking and I sometimes need to ask for a translation to English to make sure I'm still following the conversation. But I feel comfortable with ambiguity, and usually have a good understanding of what each person is saying.

Examples of topics discussed include where to find particular types of restaurants in the city, politics and culture in various countries, work and hobbies.

It's very motivating to be able to take part in a conversation, even with my poor grammar and limited active vocabulary. It's so valuable for identifying weak areas in terms of vocabulary, common expressions and grammar usage.

While the amount of time I spend on studying has not been as much as last year, my motivation hasn't been this great in a long time. I just need to carve out more time, which I hope will be easier in the colder months.


 

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