That’s why I regularly have to watch videos of Grandpa Steve giving me a thumbs-up and reminding me to stay the course
я согласен, час это много время 
такова жизнь сейчас. иногда я слишком устаю от чтение. ютуб и подкасты очень полезные и меньше энергии!
Oh, gotcha. I thought you meant grammar notes. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I did that a couple of times myself with some beginner dialogues, I think it helped but I’m too lazy to keep doing it, haha.
Take what Bald and Bankrupt says about cases with a pinch of salt. He is terrible with cases and can be quite painful to listen to. Of course vocabulary is important but you do want to make sure you end up speaking grammatically correctly. Also whilst a lot of the time you may be able to get along without the cases for some basic communication, there are plenty of times when the grammar really does matter!
Привет! Спасибо, что поделилась своим опытом! Russian is not a simple language to learn especially if you want to be grammatically correct. But if you goal is not to pursue a career in Russian (interpreter, diplomat, academic) you don’t have to worry about grammar a whole lot. I know countless number of people who speak Russian as foreign language. Some speak better than others, but rarely there is one who is completely incomprehensible even with all the grammar mistakes. Russians are in general very accepting of foreigners and we find the mistakes they make and accents they have very cute. Being a foreigner you will never be frowned upon for making a grammatical mistake or mispronouncing a word. Russians might be cruel for that to each other, but never to foreigners.
it depends on what you mean by “grammar”. Grammar as a whole is more difficult in Russian than Spanish. If you’re talking about just verb conjugation then Spanish is more difficult, but there is a lot more to grammar than conjugation.
I study here on LingQ and have a private Russian lesson and a group Russian lesson each week. We are fortunate to have a Russian Community center that offers all kinds pf classes-dance, chess, art etc, -in Russian. My teacher believes in handwriting and will have me do my homework in cursive every now and then. She is also a firm believer in having you speak ask much as possible, As someone noted above, the Russians I have met are very patient with grammar mistakes and are intrigued to find Americans who want to learn Russian. If you struggle with cases (who doesnt) there is a great book called 30 Days with Cases. I now feel I have a much better grasp of cases than I did, For the past year I have also skpyed once a week with a guy from Kiev who is learning English. He helps me with Russian, I help with English. It’s great fun, Sorry for the long post. The bottom is to just keep at it.
PS. Laurus is a great book.
Hi Nola, can please you provide a link to the online bookstore with “30 days with cases”?
I can’t seem to find anything like that.
Thank you in advance!
I am not sure where it came from. She gave me a xerox copy and it has no author listed. I will aske her when we meet next and post an answer
I’ve noticed that too! Sometimes I watch videos of foreigners practicing their Russian, and the comments always have at least a few Russians going, “Wow, you are amazing!! Your Russian is so good!! 
”. Even if they COMPLETELY butcher it.
Absolutely. 
I think the main takeaway from B&B was not to let the grammar scare you off from attempting, and that was very helpful at the beginning.
Hi! My name is Dmitry and Russian is my native language. Now my wife and I are preparing to move to Canada and are intensively learning English. If you are interested, we can try to start communicating to help you learn languages together.
Great update. What do you mean by write everything down? Do you write in Russian?
I have studied Russian now for several years and spend at least an hour a day writing and reading Russian. In addition I have a private lesson with a native Russian speaker once a week as well as a group lesson weekly, My teacher strongly encourages us to start speaking as soon as possible. My private lesson is all spoken Russian and so is the largest part of the group time. I was very reluctant to speak at first. But I got over it. Since you dont know any russian speakers when you are ready to talk you might post a request for someone to talk to via Skype or Zoom.
Yes, but for the time being it’s just copying the things I read/hear
That’s a great system!! My speaking skills are still next to nothing. Since writing this post I’ve been fortunate enough to make very good friends with a Russian speaker through an app called HelloTalk. His English is about as bad as my Russian, so it’s forcing us to speak and correct each other in a comfortable way with the help of a translator. I’m still terrible but at least know I know WHY; he’s pointed out how I need to work on my soft signs by relaxing my face, and I’m trying to teach him how to make the “th” sound… it’s a very funny and fun exchange. 
Great. You will find that this will be so helpful with speaking. I also have someone I skype with. Not only language skills also a friendship/
I learned to write Russian using the following two links:
When I first started learning Russian almost 7 years ago, most books tried to teach me cursive script. It’s difficult to learn, honestly. And so for years, I couldn’t write Russian on paper. All my learning was aural, read on a computer screen or cell phone, and typed on a cell phone. Finally, I learned to write in block letters, which is much easier.
xxdb, may I recommend a source for learning the cases?
This is the audio for Modern Russian 1 and 2.
The 6 cases (singular and plural) are presented in the first 18 Lessons. I listened to the audio drills (not the dialogues / conversations that I shared on Lingq, just the drills) during my 30 minute commute to and from work. You will not need the books.
I admit, this is not the input-driven learning method espoused by Lingq users. And I can really only recommend the drills in Modern Russian for someone who specifically desires to improve the skill of speaking.
But, honestly, I don’t see how I can forget the Russian cases. I suppose it takes more than 30 days (it’s about 15 hours of audio for just the cases - and I repeated each lesson several times, as I was not in a hurry). You will not have any hesitation to use the cases in spoken Russian after these drills, I can assure you.
Good luck to you in your learning.
@MoscowJoe: xxdb, may I recommend a source for learning the cases?
This is the audio for Modern Russian 1 and 2.
The 6 cases (singular and plural) are presented in the first 18 Lessons. I listened to the audio drills (not the dialogues / conversations that I shared on Lingq, just the drills) during my 30 minute commute to and from work. You will not need the books.
Joe: Thank you. I’ll give it a whirl.