June 2021

Overview

Language exchange.

Journal

I started the month with a new book, Бедные люди. I’m really enjoying it. Towards the end of the month, I also started the first Percy Jackson book in Russian for the Refold book club. I read some and then listened up to the 7th chapter. The book didn’t grip me. I think I would have liked it more if I’d read it without Бедные люди pulling me in its direction. So I might or might not finish it.

I also found a language partner. I’ve now had four 1-hour language exchange sessions. We speak Russian and English, switching between the languages at the half hour mark. I’ve found that while it takes a lot of effort forming sentences and thinking about what to say next, it has been a very enjoyable experience. My language partner is very kind and patient so that helps a lot. So far, I’ve been able to express whatever I’ve wanted to express. I do make a lot of mistakes though, mainly with cases and verb aspect. However, when they are pointed out, I almost always have an aha moment. This is quite reassuring. I will definitely continue doing this every week for as long as it’s mutually beneficial.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that when I’m just thinking over a conversation in my head, I feel like I’m fluent (in that conversation). Also, as soon as I finish the language exchange session, all the things that I wanted to say or could have said suddenly come to mind all at once. This leads me to believe that I just need more practice to build up my confidence when I speak the language.

On a side note, I haven’t been using Anki lately. I was never too into to begin with, but still I did use it for a quite a while. I really hope I can keep my reading up so it can act as a natural SRS and I never have to touch Anki again.