Getting Up To Speed in Russian

In 1978, at age 21, I enrolled as the equivalent of a first quarter freshman at the University of Utah after spending two years as a volunteer missionary for the Mormon Church in Germany. The first class I registered for was Russian 101. The desire to learn Russian was first kindled in Germany when I met many Russian refugees from the former Soviet Union. I studied Russian for two years, attaining an average reading ability and a mediocre conversational capacity. In 1980 I was making preparations to spend a semester at Moscow State University when I met my present wife, fell in love and became engaged. That was the end of my formal Russian studies. I ultimately earned a bachelors degree in History and then a law degree. And I let my Russian languish.

I briefly took up the study of Russian again in about 1990 when my family and I sponsored a number of Russian immigrants to the United States.

Since accepting the invitation to teach in Ukraine this November, I have recommenced my study of Russian in earnest. My chief tools have been Rosetta Stone's Russian learning tool and the wonderful help of a Russian tutor, Tatyana, who has come to our house once a week since August to help me get back up to speed. Tatyana grew up in Dniepropetrovsk, and is fluent in both Russian and Ukrainian (and probably other languages she is too modest to mention). She is married now, and living in Salt Lake City, working and attending school. Her English is better than mine, I think. I have made better conversational progress with Tatyana's help than I did in two years of University Russian. I have also listened regularly to the Voice of America in Russian. She has also helped me to improve my grammer, my pronunciation (especially of that most simple word, это--Tatyana pointed out that I was inexplicably pronouncing a rolling "R" when saying the word) as well as Russian jokes and proverbs.


Also, I had a pleasant visit one evening with the suitor of one of our daughter's friends, who recently served a mission in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission of the LDS Church. He taught me such important information as, how to shop in the massive marketplace, or Рынок. He also taught me several little proverbs, such as "У матросов, нет вопросов." (Among the sailors, no questions).