#sstars-and-nebulas

[thechekhov]

Hello! I've started learning russian a few days ago (I've managed to understand most of the alphabet, yaaayy!!) I come from a somewhat slavic country so it's not as bad as say, my monolingual friends, but it's still harsh on me. Any tips on how to understand and learn it better? And also maybe how to stay motivated in learning it?

Good job learning the alphabet! It’s really fun to be able to read another set of characters. :) But from here on out, I’m gonna disappoint you I’m afraid.

I am a native Russian speaker. Meaning I learned Russian as my L1 - my first native language. And the first rule of learning a language is “don’t ask native speakers how to learn their language”. Almost every time, they will not be able to give you any useful advice.

Why? Because people who have learned the language as babies never learned it the way YOU are learning it. To them, it was an inevitability, an instinct, something they don’t even remember doing but was essential to them. Can you imagine NOT learning a language as a child? Baby brains are wired to do nothing BUT learn languages. For a good reason, too. 

[Description: Two humanoid figures are standing on either side of a baby-like figure on the flood. The figure on the left is wearing a purple dress. The figure on the right is wearing a red shirt and shorts. The baby is in light blue.

Purple dress figure: Хочешь тортик? Ползи к маме.

Red shirt figure: Хочешь чтоб я оплатил тебе универ в США? Ползи сюда.

Baby: Understanding these people is the key to my survival.]

You speak English at a native level - presumably you learned it as a child. But does that make you qualified to teach English to those who can’t speak it? Most likely not - because all you remember about learning the language is that you went to school and did some grammar drills. The truth is, you were already functionally fluent by age 6. And that experience can’t be applied to an adult learning from zero. Your learning paths will be different. 

My best advice is - find someone who ALSO learned Russian as a second language and ask them. Ask them for books, for materials, for movies to watch, for podcasts to listen to, etc. Ask what helped them and what didn’t. Your source materials should be by native speakers, yes - but your advice on how to navigate those materials should be from someone like you - a person who learned as an adult.

And after you are able to understand basic conversation, THEN you should seek out native speakers and ask them to speak with you, ask for their book/movie recommendations. 

As for how to stay motivated... well, this one I can help with in a general sense because I’ve learned several languages since my first one:

IMMERSE YOURSELF. GIVE YOURSELF NO CHOICE. TRAP YOURSELF IN RUSSIAN WITH NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH.

Sounds terrifying, I know, but hear me out - learning needs a reason. We acquired knowledge to use for SOMETHING. Our brains are built to absorb info we might someday use. (I hear you all screaming ‘How are 1001 shark facts going to be useful? I don’t even live near the ocean! My brain is shit at this!’ and yes, I know, shhh, I know.) This is the reason humans are so wired to learn their first language (as per my first graphic). Essentially, you need to NEED the language, just like you did as a baby.

What I mean is, if you try to learn a language only to then use it once a week, your brain will protest that you’re wasting your time.

[Description: A torso shot of a humanoid figure is shown, with its head comically opened up like a lid, showing the brain inside. The figure is holding something written in cyrillic (Russian) up to the brain as if to hand it over.

Person: Please take this.

Brain: What?! What is that thing?

Person: It’s Russian. I wanna learn it.

Brain: ...are we USING it?

Person: Yeah, once a week for an hour!

Brain: Once?! A week?

The last panel is a closeup of a brain. Despite lacking any facial features, who angry eyebrows have materialized over it’s wrinkled forefront.]

It ain’t gonna fly. Your brain needs more motivation, even if the motivation is fake. What I mean by Immersion is not ‘move to siberia’ although that’s certainly an option.

What I mean is - force yourself to watch your favorite netflix shows ONLY in Russian. Force yourself to watch soviet cartoons before bed (it’s good for your heart.) Even if you don’t understand anything, listen to Russian podcasts. Read Russian children’s books. Have pretend-conversations with yourself while cooking. Write post-it notes in Russian. Change your phone to Russian. 

Fool your brain into believing that this is information that WILL be here to stay and your brain will oblige you the data space. 

But seriously - don’t ask me. I have no idea how I got here! 

[twansgendew]

As an ex monoma rper and stan. I haven't been in the fandom for two years and seeing your profile gave me whiplash. Thank you. Like, seriously. I forgot about him. Gonna draw the bastard now

Lol you're welcome!

If you plan on posting your art of monoma when you finish, could you tag me? :D

[luigra]

Did a collab with @sstars-and-nebulas and @ran-to-the-boo (can't tag you whoops)! :D

Click for quality!

[kalamity]

@sstars-and-nebulas

GO TO SLEEP GO DIRECTLY TO SLEEP

DO NOT KEEP SCROLLING DO NOT STUDY RUSSIAN GO TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW 

[gayintrovert]

They know who they are......@sstars-and-nebulas

having friends in dif time zones is just

[gayintrovert]

Hey...hey @sstars-and-nebulas ,look

Here's a few of the reaction pics I've made:

They're pretty basic, but I hope y'all enjoy them! :)

Feel free to use them, drop a like/reblog or whatever haha

[gayintrovert]

me at @sstars-and-nebulas at 2 am

You and your friend spotting each other from across the store

[gayintrovert]

My dinamic with @sstars-and-nebulas

Breaking news: Local demon overthinks everything if left in charge of the group braincell.

[gayintrovert]

Heh hey @sstars-and-nebulas look at this

zloy im sorry but ur bald so that means hair is free reign

[strohller27]

@sstars-and-nebulas I’m a beginning Russian tutor and have some resources (online and PDF) for anyone who is interested in learning, and another great person to reach out to is @properrussian who can help you learn Russian and is really good at answering any questions you may have! Happy studying!

Hello! I've started learning russian a few days ago (I've managed to understand most of the alphabet, yaaayy!!) I come from a somewhat slavic country so it's not as bad as say, my monolingual friends, but it's still harsh on me. Any tips on how to understand and learn it better? And also maybe how to stay motivated in learning it?

Good job learning the alphabet! It’s really fun to be able to read another set of characters. :) But from here on out, I’m gonna disappoint you I’m afraid.

I am a native Russian speaker. Meaning I learned Russian as my L1 - my first native language. And the first rule of learning a language is “don’t ask native speakers how to learn their language”. Almost every time, they will not be able to give you any useful advice.

Why? Because people who have learned the language as babies never learned it the way YOU are learning it. To them, it was an inevitability, an instinct, something they don’t even remember doing but was essential to them. Can you imagine NOT learning a language as a child? Baby brains are wired to do nothing BUT learn languages. For a good reason, too. 

[Description: Two humanoid figures are standing on either side of a baby-like figure on the flood. The figure on the left is wearing a purple dress. The figure on the right is wearing a red shirt and shorts. The baby is in light blue.

Purple dress figure: Хочешь тортик? Ползи к маме.

Red shirt figure: Хочешь чтоб я оплатил тебе универ в США? Ползи сюда.

Baby: Understanding these people is the key to my survival.]

You speak English at a native level - presumably you learned it as a child. But does that make you qualified to teach English to those who can’t speak it? Most likely not - because all you remember about learning the language is that you went to school and did some grammar drills. The truth is, you were already functionally fluent by age 6. And that experience can’t be applied to an adult learning from zero. Your learning paths will be different. 

My best advice is - find someone who ALSO learned Russian as a second language and ask them. Ask them for books, for materials, for movies to watch, for podcasts to listen to, etc. Ask what helped them and what didn’t. Your source materials should be by native speakers, yes - but your advice on how to navigate those materials should be from someone like you - a person who learned as an adult.

And after you are able to understand basic conversation, THEN you should seek out native speakers and ask them to speak with you, ask for their book/movie recommendations. 

As for how to stay motivated... well, this one I can help with in a general sense because I’ve learned several languages since my first one:

IMMERSE YOURSELF. GIVE YOURSELF NO CHOICE. TRAP YOURSELF IN RUSSIAN WITH NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH.

Sounds terrifying, I know, but hear me out - learning needs a reason. We acquired knowledge to use for SOMETHING. Our brains are built to absorb info we might someday use. (I hear you all screaming ‘How are 1001 shark facts going to be useful? I don’t even live near the ocean! My brain is shit at this!’ and yes, I know, shhh, I know.) This is the reason humans are so wired to learn their first language (as per my first graphic). Essentially, you need to NEED the language, just like you did as a baby.

What I mean is, if you try to learn a language only to then use it once a week, your brain will protest that you’re wasting your time.

[Description: A torso shot of a humanoid figure is shown, with its head comically opened up like a lid, showing the brain inside. The figure is holding something written in cyrillic (Russian) up to the brain as if to hand it over.

Person: Please take this.

Brain: What?! What is that thing?

Person: It’s Russian. I wanna learn it.

Brain: ...are we USING it?

Person: Yeah, once a week for an hour!

Brain: Once?! A week?

The last panel is a closeup of a brain. Despite lacking any facial features, who angry eyebrows have materialized over it’s wrinkled forefront.]

It ain’t gonna fly. Your brain needs more motivation, even if the motivation is fake. What I mean by Immersion is not ‘move to siberia’ although that’s certainly an option.

What I mean is - force yourself to watch your favorite netflix shows ONLY in Russian. Force yourself to watch soviet cartoons before bed (it’s good for your heart.) Even if you don’t understand anything, listen to Russian podcasts. Read Russian children’s books. Have pretend-conversations with yourself while cooking. Write post-it notes in Russian. Change your phone to Russian. 

Fool your brain into believing that this is information that WILL be here to stay and your brain will oblige you the data space. 

But seriously - don’t ask me. I have no idea how I got here!