I have been watching Steve Kauffman’s videos on youtube, and he says that the best way to learn new vocabulary is to read it through exposure to the language, which Lingq offers.
However, I do have a question. A few questions, in fact.
Should I start out at a level or two above mine so that I can maximize my exposure without overwhelming myself at too high of a level? Or should I read the manuscripts on lingq at my own level?
What should I do when I come across a page in Russian in which I can’t understand 70-90% of the words? Is it effective to translate each word? It’s really discouraging to see things like this because I don’t really know what the best method to approach this is and I feel like I’m doing myself a disservice translating each word. Albeit, I do have a Google chrome extension called TransOver where I can merely hover my mouse over the word and it automatically translate the word.
If you can find interesting material at your present level, just read as much as possible and have fun. After that, continue at a level a little above your present level. If you come across a page in Russian in which you can’t understand 70-90% of the words, you could use Google Translate for that page.
We have a very big choice of the Russian lessons here.
I’ve written more than 1200 Russian lessons and articles for different levels from A1 to C2 for 9 years of my membership in lingq.com. And I’m not the only provider.
You can just go to the library and choose the level that suits you and the content that is interesting for you.
If you had a break in your study, I recommend you to use at the same time an interesting lesson with 25% of the known words to go ahead and some easier lessons from my beginner’s courseS РУССКИЙ С НУЛЯ (96 lessons) and ПЕРВЫЕ ШАГИ (125 lessons) to repeat the main rules and the most popular vocabulary.
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Welcome! I was in a similar position to yours when I started Lingq a couple years back: I had been studying Russian for a few months. Lingq really has made a difference in my learning and I hope it does the same for you.
About your questions: don’t sweat too much. Just make sure you get exposed to the language every day. The exact details don’t matter all that much. Just find material that you enjoy.
One possible strategy is to alternate between not very difficult texts and more challenging content, but again the main point is for you to feel engaged enough and just keep going.
What @ftornay and @bensheelings said. Just don’t let yourself get discouraged and lose motivation. If you find yourself being overwhelmed, find lessons at or just above your level with maybe 15%-20% unknown words. You’ll be constructively reinforcing those 80%-85% “known” words in addition to being exposed to the new ones. If you find can handle a greater percentage of unknown words, though, go for it, or alternate harder and easier lessons. (In Russian many of those unknowns may actually be different inflections of words you already know, especially as you advance.)
If you’ve been watching Steve’s videos, perhaps you’ve heard him reference Dr. Stephen Krashen’s ideas about “comprehensible input”. He (Krashen) appears in some very interesting YouTube videos, too, and he and Steve have appeared together.
Imagine reading, “The starter motor is engaged by the action of the solenoid”, and you know all the words but “solenoid”. You start with a pretty good understanding of what the sentence is about. Then you look up solenoid, or ask someone, and you’ll pretty likely remember what a solenoid is. (Pretty soon you’ll know all about turbo encabulators, too.)
If, on the other hand, you read, “Idiosyncratically euphuistic eccentricities are the promulgators of triturable obfuscation”, and you don’t know what 3 or 5 of those words mean, you’ll be confused about the point of the sentence, and it will be harder to learn any of those words.
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