Learning to speak Russian... starting today

Thanks so much for the advice and support, guys and gals. I'll definitely check into your suggestions!I I drive a lot and a purely audio training method would be good in addition to Rosetta.

It's really been interesting to see what languages you know, or want to learn. Gaelic was once an option for me. I have always wanted to learn a dying language in order to help preserve it, and I took private lessons from one of my anthropology professors to start learning Cherokee. Unfortunately I had to move across the country and lost touch with him.

My reasoning for choosing Russian is that we have been at odds with them for close to a century now, I think? It will be useful in the times to come, perhaps even netting me a consistent translation job. I could also do freelance work translating books, etc. It also opens the door to pick up other Slavic languages fairly easily.

If Russian proves too hard for me (which it very well might!) I will give Chinese a whirl.

I'm pretty sure Dizrael said he's also learning Russian and looking for someone to practice with, but I'm really rusty and most of that is pretty basic (only reason I MIGHT be right)...LOL

If Russian proves too hard for me (which it very well might!) I will give Chinese a whirl.

When I was younger, my big dream was to work with the CIA and be an American James Bond.
Turns out, this is NOT how intel works, hehe...but still, I was in a student trainee program.

Long story short....1) My Russian class, though taught by a CIA language instructor, was full of folks fresh from Slavic nations, so the 3 of us in the program were quickly outpaced, even though I'm an A student. 2) Weren't enough folks interested in our Chinese Politics class, so that got cancelled. Then 3) the coup in Russia pretty much meant the end of our specific program. (well, took two weeks after)

Suffice to say, my dreams were pretty much smashed that day, so went on to different things. The coup pretty much dates it, and tells you how long ago this was, hehe...

Really, it all worked out. I'd probably be a bored analyst in Langley or somewhere, or maybe even a fat Case Officer in some sweltering Middle Eastern nation if I had stuck on that path....