Denis P Ivanov - Learning Russian Marathon: How to Speak Russian in 10 Years

LEARNING RUSSIAN MARATHON:

How to speak Russian in 10 years

Effective strategies to improve your Russian, solutions to the most common difficulties and video bonuses to put all of this into practice

Denis P. Ivanov

Contents

The language learning formula:
7 simple steps

Why pronunciation is more than just aesthetic, and a look at speech positions. Learn the best way to pronounce Russian properly at normal speed. Bonus Repetition lesson!

Why are we so afraid of speaking Russian? Where does this stress come from? Get ready to try the most effective, stress-free way of speaking fluent Russian. Bonus Storytelling video!

Is Russian speech really that fast? Why is it so hard for us to understand? Find the source of listening comprehension problems and try out a simple solution.

Is your memory good enough to hold a huge vocabulary? Find out what you need to do with your word lists to guarantee youll understand what you hear and be able to use your new vocabulary.

Whats the hardest thing about learning Russian grammar, and what can we do about it? How can we use a textbook properly? Here youll discover the path to mastering the habit of grammar. Grammar Variations video bonus!

Is there any point to written exercises, or are they all boring? Find out just how written exercises can help you sound like a native speaker.

LEARNING RUSSIAN MARATHON:
How to speak Russian in 10 years

Copyright 2015 by Denis P. Ivanov.

All rights reserved.

Text from this book may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

You are of course welcome to reference, share, blog, tweet, or otherwise spread the word of mouth about this book using a reasonable quote from it. When you do, please be kind by crediting the book, its author, and linking back to www.learningrussianmarathonbook.com .

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

For more information contact www.learningrussianmarathonbook.com

First Edition: October 2015

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Preface

Reading this book wont make you magically start speaking Russian, and thats not what its for. 60 pages wouldnt be enough for this and, well, neither would 1,000. But Im more than sure youll find something useful here!

Ive got enough experience to boldly state that around 90% of Russian learners never achieve the result theyre after. Just think about that for a second 90%! Sadly, any honest, professional teacher will tell you the same.

As a rough estimate, learning Russian can take over 1,000 hours. That is a serious investment of time. Before opening up that huge grammar book and diving into endless audio courses, stop and ask yourself: how can I achieve my goal as quickly as possible? How can I avoid wasting my time?

Effective! Youll spend a few hours reading this book and end up saving so much more time on learning Russian. Youll know for sure that you dont need to waste money and time. I created this book to be the most effective time investment you can possibly make.

Practical! Based on years of experience, Ive collected the most common problems learners encounter. There is a solution to each and every one of these problems a method that will rescue any struggling Russian learner.

Easy! All the skills and methods that I will teach you can be put into action right away, without any previous practise. In fact, you often wont even need a teacher. And dont forget to collect your bonuses; theyll kick-start the learning process.

You can be an amazing Russian speaker. Ill teach you how.

Denis P. Ivanov
Dedicated to all those who teach and learn Russian, the veterans and the beginners.

Introduction

According to legend, there once lived a Greek warrior by the name of Pheidippides. He is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a military victory against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. When he reached Athens, he proclaimed, Rejoice, we conquer! and dropped dead. You probably understand what Im inferring here for many people, learning Russian is like running a marathon.

My years of experience have shown me that most Russian learners feel like marathon runners: then run nonstop, apply huge effort to learning, spend money on materials and the finish line is nowhere to be seen.

But here you are, ready to read this book. What are your expectations? To learn the secret sauce to master Russian? To discover the most cutting-edge, latest approach? Native fluency in just one week?

Let me be completely honest with you

I would never say that you cant learn Russian without my help or advice. Look at the 250 million Russian speakers they all somehow managed it without my help.

I havent invented any super-secret techniques for learning Russian, not by a long shot. But what I do is give you the most proven and effective approaches to learning Russian to fluency. All the methods follow a logical progression and are illustrated with practical examples. To make things even clearer, Ive added in some video lessons that you can try right away to apply what you ve learned.

Im hesitant to say that you will achieve miraculous results, but the human brain is capable of incredible things when it is applied properly.

So how can this book help?

Just think how many people have learned Russian before you probably millions! They hit problems, stopped and started and didnt give up. If all those people that came before you already made a wealth of mistakes, why should you have to repeat them? Wouldnt it be better to tap into those years of experience and declare: Guys, here are tens of problems that Russian learners have, and Here is the best and most effective solution to these problems.

Well, I think we can do just that!

This is what I am doing with this book. For every problem, I have a solution and corresponding method. These methods are clear and simple to apply, but highly effective.

Maybe you can make it without my advice

It will probably take you a few hours to read through this book, depending on how quickly you read in English. It will also take about an hour to watch all the bonuses that come with the book www.learningrussianmarathonbook.com (they include demo lessons that help you put what youve learned into practise).

Perhaps a handful of readers might even save some time by skipping this altogether. For those select few, I recommend that you come back and read this book another time.

You should stop reading this book right now if you:

• Have zero problems or issues learning Russian (problems like a small vocabulary, grammar difficulties, or understanding spoken Russian).
• Know how to develop all the necessary language skills in the most optimal fashion.
• Are an experienced language learner and already have your own proven system for learning new languages (although Im sure that experienced learners will love my book too).
• Dont want to change anything in your approach and are 100% happy with your progress.

If that is the case, I am genuinely happy for you, happy that you are moving forward. Put this book aside and come back to it later when you feel you need it, when you need some new ideas, answers, or effective technical approaches. I welcome with open arms any student who wants to better themselves and become smarter.