Overview
The approach used in this course is predicated on the perception that non-native students normally begin their studies of the language with Codified Standard Russian (CSR) [i.e. the way that Russians write, not the way they talk]. Therefore, Colloquial Russian (CR) is presented as a modification of CSR with which the student is already familiar. The course shows how CSR constructions are changed into colloquial constructions by the "omission" of elements from the CSR constructions. To a native speaker the omitted elements are implied by the remaining portion of the construction, but to a non-native student of the language these "missing" elements are a great source of confusion. The course presents a series of models to help the non-native student "reconstruct" more familiar CSR constructions from condensed colloquial variants.Student critiques from the courses where this book has been used have been very positive about the material. * "A course of this type was very much needed, and I hope it remains on the curriculum." * "I found it highly interesting, informative and useful." * "Well structured. Plenty of examples." * "This is the first course I've taken that really addresses colloquial Russian." * "I liked learning about condensates in general. Now I keep finding them in English." * "I liked learning about the ways things are carried in dictionaries and the way they change with time."Synopsis
The approach used in this course is predicated on the perception that non-native students normally begin their studies of the language with Codified Standard Russian (CSR) [i.e. the way that Russians write, not the way they talk]. Therefore, Colloquial Russian (CR) is presented as a modification of CSR with which the student is already familiar. The course shows how CSR constructions are changed into colloquial constructions by the "omission" of elements from the CSR constructions. To a native speaker the omitted elements are implied by the remaining portion of the construction, but to a non-native student of the language these "missing" elements are a great source of confusion. The course presents a series of models to help the non-native student "reconstruct" more familiar CSR constructions from condensed colloquial variants.Student critiques from the courses where this book has been used have been very positive about the material. * "A course of this type was very much needed, and I hope it remains on the curriculum." * "I found it highly interesting, informative and useful." * "Well structured. Plenty of examples." * "This is the first course I've taken that really addresses colloquial Russian." * "I liked learning about condensates in general. Now I keep finding them in English." * "I liked learning about the ways things are carried in dictionaries and the way they change with time."