We've made the decision to learn a little Russian. We will have translators with us for any adoption business, but they can't be with us 24/7--I suppose they actually could-- if our pocketbooks were big enough. I have ordered two different language CDs. I just couldn't fork over the $300 in good conscience for the Rosetta Stone series. Instead, I opted for the Pimsleur Russian CD for the bottom basement price of $9.95 and free shipping. I know you may be thinking, "That girl screams cheap!" but I prefer to look at it as a deligent shopper who will suck $100 worth of material out of my $9 find. According to the website, it's what the FBI and CIA use to train their agents. That initially concerned me a bit...our governement dishes out 10 bucks and sends men and women into potentially hostile environments and expect them to "blend in" with knowledge on Russian from 8 easy learning CD discs? Needing to bring closure to this idea that the CIA would be so cheap (unlike me :)), I found out yesterday that there are lots more Pimsleur language CDs out there--for hundreds and hundreds of dollars--and not that I know this personally, but I have to think in my mind that our government agencies dish out the big bucks for those CDs for their agents. Pimsleur is a language acquistion technique--not necessarily a brand of CDs, which is what I originally thought. (Did anyone reading this really need to know that information??)
I listened to a little bit of it yesterday. I learned "excuse me" and the Russian word for English. I've already forgotten what I learned. I am not auditory at all. I have to read it or write it. So, with that in mind, I also ordered a language set made by a Russian adoptive mom, Teresa Kelleher. It is made specifically for adoptions, has flash cards, a book, etc. This is more my way of learning although this CD set might get me a hot dog when I want the chicken since it deals primarily with language needed at the orphanages, court, etc. We shall see. I know I will be wanting to be able to read a bit of Russian so we can find our way around--I'd hate to stay in Russia all that time and have to stay on the hotel's block because if you make 4 right turns you will be right back where you started. I'm sure some Russian teenager would love to be able to go home at night and tell his father the funny story of how he "messed" with two Americans and sent them to Gorky Park instead of TGI Friday's for dinner. I need to avoid that scenario at all costs. My husband needs to avoid that scenario...he's wigged out enough about just going to a foreign country.
I love Pimsleur. It's a language learning system developed by a guy named Paul Pimsleur. I am way too cheap to purchase anything, so I borrow them from the library and download them to my computer. I make CDs to use in the car or on my ipod. I got lucky my library had two different Pimsleur learn Russian sets! Pimsleur taught me enough Czech to get around in Prague and enough Italian to get around Rome. However, I am having a failure to launch with this Russian. It's stinking hard. I have listened to the first few CDs over and over and only mastered; yes, no, please, thank you, I don't understand and a few others.
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