I am learning four languages this year through duo lingo free website, Spanish and Italian and German and Russian, trying to do one lesson a day of each. I tend to do German first and Russian last as it's hardest because the alphabet is different. I am now up to what they call 30% fluent in German which I suppose means I have reached nearly one third (33 and a third per cent) of the way through their first, basic course. I am only slightly behind in Russian, but now that I am reaching a slightly harder stage, or maybe losing my initial enthusiasm, I am having to re-do the lessons.
Some of the earlier words in Russian were easy and similar to English. Maybe they put the easy words first. Sestr is sister. Brat is brother - and I remembered 'My brother is a brat'.
Knife is nozh. (That's using the phonetic Russian, the way it sounds, not the Russian alphabet - which is another story.) At the moment I am thinking and speaking to you about the way of remembering the word, regardless of how you write it in the Russian alphabet. Once you know what it sounds like, it's easier to translate into the other alphabet. The Duolingo site is starting to put the words in Russian at the opening page which is off-putting as annoyingly they don't put the phonetic translation underneath.
Knife - Nozh
I use my knife to cut my food to nosh. N - 0 - Z - H. The only change is that the s becomes a Z. They almost sound the same.
Fork - vilka
The i l k have three uprights like the tines of a three prong fork. K at the end of the word fork, fork, villa, f and V are similar sounds. f-v. or remember as if you are German, I vill have a fork-a. Vilka.
When you do the exercise on Duolingo, the words for knife and fork keep coming up again and again. You just need some way of remembering which of the two is which.
Angela Lansbury, author, photojournalist, travel writer and photographer, English teacher (O level, A level, English as a second language, English as a foreign Language) CVs, websites and package translation into English and soon to be languages teacher.
Some of the earlier words in Russian were easy and similar to English. Maybe they put the easy words first. Sestr is sister. Brat is brother - and I remembered 'My brother is a brat'.
Knife is nozh. (That's using the phonetic Russian, the way it sounds, not the Russian alphabet - which is another story.) At the moment I am thinking and speaking to you about the way of remembering the word, regardless of how you write it in the Russian alphabet. Once you know what it sounds like, it's easier to translate into the other alphabet. The Duolingo site is starting to put the words in Russian at the opening page which is off-putting as annoyingly they don't put the phonetic translation underneath.
Knife - Nozh
I use my knife to cut my food to nosh. N - 0 - Z - H. The only change is that the s becomes a Z. They almost sound the same.
Fork - vilka
The i l k have three uprights like the tines of a three prong fork. K at the end of the word fork, fork, villa, f and V are similar sounds. f-v. or remember as if you are German, I vill have a fork-a. Vilka.
When you do the exercise on Duolingo, the words for knife and fork keep coming up again and again. You just need some way of remembering which of the two is which.
Angela Lansbury, author, photojournalist, travel writer and photographer, English teacher (O level, A level, English as a second language, English as a foreign Language) CVs, websites and package translation into English and soon to be languages teacher.
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